不要自我放棄

　　No Self Surrender

　　完全仰仗他人，是對自我的努力和信心的放棄。

　　Dependence on others means a surrender of one”s effortand self-confidence.

　　佛教是人文主義的宗教，以公正、和平、平等爲宗旨。而仰仗他力救贖自己，是一種消極的行爲，仰仗自己是積極的。仰仗他力等于是放棄對自我的努力和信心。

　　Buddhism is a gentle religion where equality, justice and peace reign supreme. To depend on others for salvation is negative, but to depend on oneself is positive. Dependence on others means surrendering one”s intelligence and efforts.

　　只有透過自我的努力，才能獲得自我人性的提升。人性的改善必須求助于知識和自己的努力，我不是仰仗「天」。人類不應該成爲自然界外力的奴隸，即使人類臣服于自然界的力量，他仍然能以自己超越的德性來了解或超越它。

　　Everything which has improved and uplifted humanity has been done by man himself. Man”s improvement must come from hi own knowledge, understanding, effort and experience and not from heaven. Man should not be a slave even to the great forces of nature because even though he is crushed by them he remains superior by virtue of his understanding of them. Buddhism carries the Truth further: it shows that by means of understanding, man can also control his environment and circumstances. He can cease to be crushed by them and use their power to raise himself to great heights of spirituality and nobility.

　　佛教肯定，知識和努力是圓成一切的恰當途徑，佛教否定依靠超自然的力量。宗教信仰是相信善法，而不是相信那些不可預知的力量。佛教不僅僅是宗教，還是一種正確的生活方式。從一開始，佛教就向世人宣稱，佛陀是一位理性的導師，今日世人尊敬佛陀，是因爲他是世人理性的導師。佛陀教導人類以「因果定律」尋求幸福，而不是通過一大堆煩瑣的宗教理論。要了解宇宙和自然界，就必須先了解「緣起法」。否則，人類的生命只是一種自我天性的不完整表現。

　　Buddhism gives due credit to man”s intelligence and effort for his achievements rather than to supernatural beings. True religion means faith in the good of man rather than faith in unknown forces. In that respect, Buddhism is not merely a religion, but a noble method to gain peace and eternal salvation through living a respectable way of life. From the very outset, Buddhism appeals to the cultured and the intellectual minds. Every cultured man in the world today respects the Buddha as a rational Teacher. The Buddha taught that what man needs for his happiness is not a religion with a mass of dogmas and theories but knowledge of the cosmic nature and its relationship to the law of cause and effect. Until this principle that life is merely an imperfect manifestation of nature is fully understood, no man can be fully emancipated.

　　佛陀給予宇宙一個全新的诠釋，這是一個獲得永久幸福的新見解。在佛陀的知見裏，充滿了達到究竟的真理。這種真理是全人類的勝利，是無常以外的永恒境界，是純淨的涅槃，是遠離一切變幻無常的世界，最後從煩惱和憂慮中解脫出來。

　　The Buddha has given a new explanation of the universe. It is a new vision of eternal happiness, the achievement of perfection. The winning of the human goal in Buddhism is the permanent state beyond impermanency, the attainment of Nibbana beyond all the worlds of change, and the fina, l deliverance form the miseries of existence.