..續本文上一頁g His Teachings. He advised them to consider carefully His Teaching and to determine for themselves whether it was practical or not for them to follow.
佛教不以物質的誘惑來吸引信徒，佛教也不是在利用那些貧窮、病患、文盲和愚癡的人。佛陀告誡那些追隨者，不要急于接受他的教義。佛陀要信徒們要慎重的考慮和判斷他的教義，是否確實和實用。
Buddhism teaches that mere belief or outward rituals are insufficient for attaining wisdom and perfection. In this sense, outward conversion becomes meaningless. To promote Buddhism by force would mean pretending to propagate justice and love by means of oppression and injustice. It is of no importance to a follower of the Buddha whether a person calls himself a Buddhist or not. Buddhists know that only through man”s understanding and exertion will they come nearer to the goal preached by the Buddha.
佛陀教導我們，對外力和儀式的信仰是無法獲得智慧的，因此，對外力和儀式的信仰是沒有意義的。以武力來推動佛教，意味著以壓迫和不公正的手段去宣揚那公正和仁慈的宗教。是否要自稱佛教徒，那是不重要的事，重要的是，要透過自己清楚的了解，和運用自己心識，這樣才能更接近于佛陀所宣說的人生真正目的。
Amongst the followers of every religion are some fanatics. Religious fanaticism is dangerous. A fanatic is incapable of guiding himself by reason or even by the scientific principles of observation and analysis. According to the Buddha, a Buddhist must be a free man with an open mind and must not be subservient to anyone for his spiritual development. He seeks refuge in the Buddha by accepting Him as a source of supreme guidance and inspiration. He seeks refuge in the Buddha, not blindly, but with understanding. To Buddhists, the Buddha is not a savior nor is He an anthropomorphic being who claims to possess the power of washing away other”s sins. Buddhists regard the Buddha as a Teacher who shows the Path to salvation.
宗教狂熱是危險的。不正確的方法得不到好的結果，方法不對，目標也不可能對，一個宗教狂熱者不可能以理性和科學性爲自己的原則。根據佛陀的教義，佛教徒必須是一個自由的人，以開放和不屈服的胸襟尋求心靈的發展。佛教徒皈依佛陀，是把佛陀當作導師和自我鼓勵的對象，是爲了了解，而不是盲從。對佛教徒而言，佛陀不是「救世主」，也不是那擁有極高權威能洗清他人罪孽的「神」。佛教徒把佛陀當作一位老師，一位能指引他邁向解脫之道的老師。
Buddhism has always supported the freedom and progress of mankind. Buddhism has always stood for the advancement of knowledge and freedom for humanity in every sphere of life. There is nothing in the Buddha”s Teaching that has to be withdrawn in the face of modern, scientific inventions and knowledge. The more new things that scientists discover, the closer they come to the Buddha.
佛教支持現代人的自由和進步。佛教在人類生活的各個層次都代表著人性的自由和知識的進展。面對現代科學和知識的沖擊，佛教的教義並未因此而被淘汰或更動。可見佛教教義的科學性。科學的新發現越多，人類就越接近佛教。
The Buddha emancipated man from the thralldom of religion. He also released man from the monopoly and the tyranny of the priestcraft. It was the Buddha who first advised man to exercise his reason and not to allow himself to be driven meekly like dumb cattle, following the dogma of religion. The Buddha stood for rationalism, democracy and practical, ethical conduct in religion. He introduced this religion for people to practise with human dignity.
The followers of the Buddha were advised not to believe anything without considering it properly. In the Kalama Sutta, the Buddha gave the following guidelines to a group of young people:
佛教把人類從宗教束縛中解放出來，也把人類從極權殘暴的神權系統中解放出來。這是佛陀對人類的開示，要人類善于運用自己的智慧，不要像那些孱弱愚笨的畜生一樣，盲目的接受宗教信仰。佛陀在他的教義中，體現了：理性、民主、實用和道德，佛陀是第一位用大衆語言宣說教義的人。佛陀告誡信徒，不要接受那些沒有經過適當思考的事。
佛陀在《卡拉瑪經》(Kalama Sutta)中，對一幫年青人說：
”Do not accept anything based upon mere reports, traditions or hearsay,
「不要接受那些口頭傳說、傳統或聽來的事。
Nor upon the authority of religious texts,
不要相信權威性的宗教經典，
Nor upon mere reasons and arguments,
不要相信理論和爭議，
Nor upon one”s own inference,
不要相信自己的推斷，
Nor upon anything which appears to be true,
這一切，看起來都像真的，
Nor upon one”s own speculative opinion,
但這一切都基于個人的揣測或意見，
Nor upon another”s seeming ability,
或基于別人表面的能力，
Nor upon the consideration: ”This is our Teacher.”
或基于這樣的念頭：
”But, when you know for yourselves the certain things are unwholesome and bad: tending to harm yourself of others, reject them.
「這是我們老師所教導的。」「當你知道這對你不適當或無益時──損人不利己，你就應該拒絕它。」
”And when you know for yourselves that certain things are wholesome and good: conducive to the spiritual welfare of yourself as well as others, accept and follow them.”
「當你知道適合和有益于你時──利人利己，你就應該順從它並接受它。」
Buddhists are advised to accept religious practices only after careful observation and analysis, and only after being certain that the method agrees with reason and is conducive to the good of one and all.
佛教徒只有在仔細的觀察和分析後，才接受和實踐自己的信仰。同時，也確保了信仰的合理性和利人利己。
A true Buddhist does not depend on external powers for his salvation. Nor does he expect to get rid of miseries through the intervention of some unknown power. He must try to eradicate all his mental impurities to find eternal Happiness. The Buddha says, ”If anyone were to speak ill of me, my teaching and my disciples, do not be upset or perturbed, for this kind of reaction will only cause you harm. On the other hand, if anyone were to speak well of me, my teaching and my disciples, do not be over-joyed, thrilled or elated, for this kind of reaction will only be an obstacle in forming a correct judgment. If you are elated, you cannot judge whether the qualities praised are real and actually found in us.”
(Brahma Jala Sutta) Such is the unbiased attitude of a genuine Buddhist.
真正的佛教徒決不依靠外來的力量而獲得解脫，也不希望外力的介入來擺脫痛苦。佛教徒以清除潛在于內心的煩惱，來尋求內在的歡愉。
佛陀在《長部》裏這麼說：「假如有人诋毀我，或我的教義和我的弟子，我不會因此沮喪或煩惱。這麼做，只會帶來傷害。假如有人贊揚我，或我的教義和我的弟子，我也不會因此的感到歡喜、感動或得意。因爲這是造成正確判斷的障礙。如果你沈醉于別人的贊揚中，你就無法判斷贊揚的本質是否屬實，或我們是否真正值得被贊揚。」
The Buddha had upheld the highest degree of freedom not only in its human essence but also in its pine qualities. It is a freedom that does not deprive man of his dignity. It is a freedom that releases one from slavery to dogmas and dictatorial religious laws or religious punishments.
佛陀提倡高度的自由，不單是爲人類，也涵蓋了一切平等的衆生。自由並不是鼓勵放縱。人類自由的從那些奴役人性的宗教權威、神權或宗教懲罰中解放自己。
《宗教自由 Religion of Freedom》全文閱讀結束。