The Buddhist Way of Life for Householders

　　佛教徒的家庭生活

　　The Buddha considered economic welfare as a requisite for human happiness, but moral and spiritual development for a happy, peaceful and contented life.

　　佛陀認爲經濟利益是人類幸福的泉源。但是，只有道德和心靈的發展，能讓人活得更快樂、安祥和美滿。

　　A man named Dighajanu once visited the Buddha and said, ”Venerable Sir, we are ordinary laymen, leading a family life with wife and children. Would the Blessed One teach us some doctrines which will be conducive to our happiness in this world and hereafter

　　有一回，一位名叫迪噶伽努(Dghajanu)的人，問佛陀：「尊敬的佛陀！我是一位擁有妻子兒女的普通人，請您指示我如何使我現在的生活過得更有意義、更快樂，及如何獲得未來的幸福。」

　　The Buddha told him that there are four things which are conducive to a man”s happiness in this world. First: he should be skilled, efficient, earnest, and energetic in whatever profession he is engaged, and he should know it well (utthana-sampada); second: he should protect his income, which he has thus earned righteously, with the sweat of his brow (arakkha-sampada); third: he should have good friends (kalyana-mitta) who are faithful, learned, virtuous, liberal and intelligent, who will help him along the right path away from evil; fourth: he should spend reasonably, in proportion to his income, neither too much nor too little, i. e., he should not hoard wealth avariciously nor should he be extravagant

　　 in other words he should live within his means (sama-jivikata).

　　佛陀告訴他，在這世間有四種方法，能使人活得更幸福。

　　一、要有一技之長，工作要有效率、有熱誠、有幹勁，對自己從事的事業要有認識和內行。

　　二、要辛勤的勞動，以正確的方法賺取及保護自己的收入。

　　叁、要結交耿直、有智慧、有道德，能夠協助自己棄除惡習，輔佐自己走正道的良師益友。

　　四、理智的處理自己的收入，不奢侈也不吝啬，要布施，不要浪費，要適當的節製自己。

　　Then the Buddha expounds the four virtues conducive to a layman”s happiness hereafter: (1) Saddha: he should have faith and confidence in moral, spiritual and intellectual values; (2) Sila: he should abstain from destroying and harming life, from stealing and cheating, from adultery, from falsehood, and from intoxicating drinks;

　　(3) Caga: he should practise charity, generosity, without attachment and craving for his wealth;(4) Panna: he should develop wisdom which leads to the complete destruction of suffering, to the realization of Nibbana.

　　佛陀也推薦了四種有益于在家人未來幸福的修行方法：

　　一、信心(Saddha)：一個信徒應該對道德、心靈和智慧的價值，具有一定的信心。

　　二、戒行(Sila)：信徒應該持戒，不殺害生命、不偷盜、不邪淫、不妄語、不喝酒。

　　叁、布施(Càga)：信徒應該學習如何仁愛、慷慨、不執著也不揮霍自己的財富。

　　四、智慧(Pa¤¤a)：信徒應該發展智慧，通過智慧的發展，進入無苦、無煩惱的清淨涅槃。

　　Sometimes the Buddha even went into details about saving money and spending it, as, for instance, when he told the young man Sigala that he should spend on fourth of his income on his daily expenses, invest half in his business and put aside one fourth for any emergency.

　　有時，佛陀也開示了有關節省和消費方面的問題。有一回，佛陀對一位年青人夏嘎拉(Sagala)說：「應該把收入分爲四份，一份做爲家庭的正常開支，一份發展自己的生意，一份做爲應急之用，一份用來布施。」

　　Once the Buddha told Anathapindika, the great banker, one of His most devoted lay disciples who founded for Him the celebrated Jetavana monastery at Savatthi, that a layman who leads an ordinary family life has four kinds of happiness. The first happiness is to enjoy economic security or sufficient wealth acquired by just and righteous means (atthi-sukha); the second is spending that wealth liberally on himself, his family, his friends and relatives, and on meritorious deeds (bhogo-sukha); the third to be free from debts (anana-sukha); the fourth happiness is to live a faultless, and a pure life without committing evil in thought, word or deed (anavajja-sukha).

　　有一回，佛陀對給孤獨長者(Anàthapiõóika，一位富翁，佛陀忠實的在家弟子，祇園精舍的創建者)說，有四種幸福等待人們去發掘。

　　一、享用以正當手段賺取的財富。

　　二、以寬容的心對待自己、家人、朋友和眷屬。

　　叁、不舉債度日。

　　四、不要犯身、語、意叁業，過著清淨無瑕的生活。

　　It must be noted here that first three are economic and material happiness which is ”not worth part” of the spiritual happiness arising out of a faultless and good life.

　　請注意，這四點中的前叁點，都是物質或金錢帶來的快樂，這些都不是提升精神生活，以臻完美境界有價值的部分。

　　From the few examples given above, one can see that the Buddha considered economic welfare as a requisite for human happiness, but that He did not recognize progress as real and true if it was only material, devoid of a spiritual and moral foundation. While encouraging material progress, Buddhism always lays great stress on the development of the moral and spiritual character for a happy, peaceful and contented society.

　　從以上的舉例中，我們不難發現，佛陀認爲經濟利益是人類幸福的泉源。但是，佛陀也認爲，只有通過道德和心靈的發展，才能讓人們活的更快樂、更安祥和更美滿。假如只有物質的享受，缺乏心靈和道德的基礎，就無法了解真正生活的意義。在鼓勵物質生活的同時，佛陀爲了社會的安甯與幸福，把大部分的精力放在促進人類精神的文明與道德的發展。

　　Many people think that to be a good Buddhist one must have absolutely nothing to do with the materialistic life. This is not correct. What the Buddha teaches is that while we can enjoy material comforts without going to extremes, we must also conscientiously develop the spiritual aspects of our lives. While we can enjoy sensual pleasures as laymen, we should never be unduly attached to them to the extent that they hinder our spiritual progress. Buddhism emphasizes the need for a man to follow the Middle Path.

　　有些人認爲，要成爲一位真正的佛教徒，就必須放棄一切物質的需求，這是不正確的觀念。佛陀認爲我們可以享有物質帶來的快樂，但是不要過于執著。在享受物質帶來快樂的同時，我們不要忘記心靈的發展。唯有心靈充分發展的人，才是真正的佛教徒。佛教徒不偏執于物質或心靈，這就是中道，也就是八聖道。

《佛教徒的家庭生活 The Buddhist Way of Life for Householders》全文閱讀結束。