Theravada - Mahayana Buddhism

　　上座部與大乘佛教

　　Ven. Dr. W. Rahula

　　羅睺羅法師(博士)著

　　梁國雄居士譯 V1.0 2010-4-20

　　(From: "Gems of Buddhist Wisdom",

　　Buddhist Missionary Society, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 1996)

　　Let us discuss a question often asked by many people: What is the difference between Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism

　　 To see things in their proper perspective, let us turn to the history of Buddhism and trace the emergence and development of Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism.

　　讓我們討論一個許多人經常會問的問題：究竟大乘與上座部佛教有什麼分別？爲了恰當地處理這個問題，讓我們重溫一下佛教曆史，追溯大乘與上座部佛教的出現與發展過程吧。

　　The Buddha was born in the 6th Century B.C. After attaining Enlightenment at the age of 35 until his Mahaparinibbana at the age of 80, he spent his life preaching and teaching. He was certainly one of the most energetic man who ever lived: for forty-five years he taught and preached day and night, sleeping for only about 2 hours a day.

　　佛陀(釋迦牟尼佛)出生于公元前六世紀，他于叁十五歲覺悟後，至八十歲般涅槃之間的生命，都用來教導衆生，他以四十五年時間，不分日夜地去教導衆生佛法，每日只睡約兩個小時，其精力充沛，是曆史上甚爲罕有的。

　　The Buddha spoke to all kinds of people: kings and princes, Brahmins, farmers, beggars, learned men and ordinary people. His teachings were tailored to the experiences, levels of understanding and mental capacity of his audience. What he taught was called Buddha Vacana, i.e. word of the Buddha. There was nothing called Theravada or Mahayana at that time.

　　佛陀說法的對象包括各式各樣的人，例如：國王、王子、貴族、婆羅門、農夫、乞丐、學者、平民等。他每次的教導，都是因應當時聽衆的經驗、理解力，以及心智水平來度身定造。他的教導被稱爲「佛的言教(Buddha Vacana)」，當時根本就沒有所謂上座部或大乘。

　　After establishing the Order of monks and nuns, the Buddha laid down certain disciplinary rules called the Vinaya for the guidance of the Order. The rest of his teachings were called the Dhamma which included his discourses, sermons to monks, nuns and lay people.

　　在僧團成立後，佛陀更定立了一些稱爲「戒律(Vinaya)」的規則來供僧衆遵守，他的其他教導被稱爲「法(Dhamma)」，那是他與比丘、比丘尼及在家衆等的談話、演講與教導。

　　The First Council

　　第一次結集會議(The First Council)

　　Three months after the Buddha”s Mahaparinibbana, his immediate disciples convened a council at Rajagaha. Maha Kassapa, the most respected and elderly monk, presided at the Council. Two very important personalities who specialised in the two different areas - the Dhamma and the Vinaya - were present. One was Ananda, the closest constant companion and disciple of the Buddha for 25 years. Endowed with a remarkable memory, Ananda was able to recite what was spoken by the Buddha. The other personality was Upali who remembered all the Vinaya rules.

　　在佛般涅槃後叁個月，他的直系弟子在王舍城舉行會議，由年紀最大和最受敬重的大迦葉尊者做主持人，兩位對法與戒律最爲熟悉的重要人物也有出席，一位是阿難(Ananda)尊者，他是佛陀廿五年來的侍者，具有驚人的記憶力，能背誦佛陀說過的所有言教；另一位是優波離(Upali)尊者，他記得所有佛陀說過的戒律。

　　Only these two sections - the Dhamma and the Vinaya - were recited at the First Council. Though there were no differences of opinion on the Dhamma (no mention of the Abhidhamma) there was some discussion about the Vinaya rules. Before the Buddha”s Parinibbana, he had told Ananda that if the Sangha wished to amend or modify some minor rules, they could do so. But on that occasion Ananda was so overpowered with grief because the Buddha was about to die that it did not occur to him to ask the Master what the minor rules were. As the members of the Council were unable to agree as to what constituted the minor rules, Maha Kassapa finally ruled that no disciplinary rule laid down by the Buddha should be changed, and no new ones should be introduced. No intrinsic reason was given. Maha Kassapa did say one thing, however: "If we changed the rules, people will say that Ven. Gotama”s disciples changed the rules even before his funeral fire has ceased burning."

　　在此第一次結集會議，只有法與戒律這兩個部分被背誦出來。雖然當時對法並沒有不同的意見(那時並沒有提到論(Abhidhamma))，對「戒律」卻有一些討論。在佛陀般涅槃前，他曾告訴阿難尊者，如果僧團欲修改一些次要的戒律(minor rules)，那是可以的。由于在佛陀臨終時，阿難尊者傷心欲絕，未有醒覺到要問佛陀什麼是次要的戒律，故此，出席結集的僧衆未能一致同意那些是次要的戒律，于是，大迦葉尊者作了最後決定，對佛陀所定下的戒律，既不改動，也不增加。對此，大迦葉尊者沒有提出任何具體理由，但有說過以下…

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