The Meaning of Prayer

　　祈禱的意義

　　Nature is impartial; it cannot be flattered by prayers. It does not grant any special favours on request.

　　自然是公正的，不能以祈禱方式去討好它。

　　Man is not a fallen creature who begs for his needs as he awaits mercy. According to Buddhism, man is a potential master of himself. Only because of his deep ignorance does man fail to realize his full potential. Since the Buddha has shown this hidden power, man must cultivate his mind and try to develop it by realizing his innate ability.

　　人類不是失敗的動物，只有失敗的動物才會乞求牠的需要和等待施舍。佛教認爲人有潛力成爲自己與宇宙的主人。人類是因爲無明而蒙蔽了自己的潛能。因此，佛陀告訴我們，人是有潛能的，人必須提升自我的精神層次，並嘗試了解自我的能力，同時去開發它。

　　Buddhism gives full responsibility and dignity to man. It makes man his own master. According to Buddhism, no higher being sits in judgment over his affairs and destiny. That is to say, our life, our society, our world, is what you and I want to make out of it, and not what some other unknown being wants it to be.

　　佛法給予人類充分的責任感和尊嚴，使人類成爲自己的主人。佛教說，沒有一個「最高」的存在，裁判一個人的行爲和命運。也就是說，我們的生命、我們的社會、我們的世界，是因爲你和我的需要而創造的，並不是爲其它不可知的存在者的需求而創造。

　　Remember that nature is impartial; it cannot be flattered by prayers. Nature does not grant any special favours on request. Thus in Buddhism, prayer is meditation which has self-change as its object. Prayer in meditation is the reconditioning of one”s nature. It is the transforming of one”s inner nature accomplished by the purification of the three faculties

　　thought, word, and deed. Through meditation, we can understand that ”we become what we think”, in accordance with the discoveries of psychology. When we pray, we experience some relief in our minds; that is, the psychological effect that we have created through our faith and devotion. After reciting certain verses we also experience the same result. Religious names or symbols are important to the extent that they help to develop devotion and confidence.

　　記住！自然是公正的，不能以祈禱等方式去討好它，自然不會因爲你的獻媚而特別眷顧你。佛陀清楚的表示過，涅槃的真正快樂，不是通過背誦經典、苦行、祈禱、忏悔、歌頌、誓願等等途徑就能得到的。

　　The Buddha Himself has clearly expressed that neither the recital of holy scriptures, nor self-torture, nor sleeping on the ground, nor the repetition of prayers, penance, hymns, charms, mantras, incantations and invocations can bring the real happiness of Nibbana.

　　Regarding the use of prayers for attaining the final goal, the Buddha once made an analogy of a man who wants to cross a river. If he sits down and prays imploring that the far bank of the river will come to him and carry him across, then his prayer will not be answered. If he really wants to cross the river, he must makes some effort; he must find some logs and build a raft, or look for a bridge or construct a boat or perhaps swim. Somehow he must work to get across the river. Likewise, if he wants to cross the river of Samsara, prayers alone are not enough. He must work hard by living a religious life, by controlling his passion, calming his mind, and by getting rid of all the impurities and defilements in his mind. Only then can he reach the final goal. Prayer alone will never take him to the final goal.

　　有一回，佛陀講述了一則有關祈禱的故事：有一個人想渡河，他坐下來祈禱，希望能到對岸去，可是他的要求落空了。要渡河必須靠自己的努力，去尋找橋梁，或製造木筏或小船，再不然遊泳過去，這一切都要靠自己的努力。同樣的，要渡過生死輪回的河流，單靠祈禱是不夠的，他必須精進、努力于實踐道德化的宗教生活，有效的控製自己的情欲，淨化自己的心識，消除心中不淨的煩惱，才能達到最高的目標──涅槃。只靠祈禱是不行的。

　　If prayer is necessary, it should be to strengthen the mind and not to beg for gains. The following prayer of a well-known poet, teaches us how to pray, Buddhists will regard this as meditation to cultivate the mind:

　　假如祈禱是必然的，那麼應該將它轉向強化內心，而不是祈求。下面有一首詩，告訴我們祈禱的真正意義。

　　”Let me not pray to be sheltered from danger,

　　but to be fearless in facing them.

　　Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain,

　　but for the heart to conquer it.

　　Let me not crave in anxious fear to be saved,

　　but for the patience to win my freedom.”

　　我不以祈禱躲避危險，

　　但是，我不畏懼它的出現。

　　我不祈求緩和我的痛苦，

　　但是，我以心靈之力戰勝它。

　　我不在焦慮、恐懼中祈求得救，

　　但是，我以忍耐贏取我的自由。

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