..續本文上一頁. Such a person will indeed hinder his won spiritual progress.

　　一個偉大的思想家(哲學家、科學家、玄學家)，也可能是一位聰明的笨蛋。他可能擁有聰明才智，有很強的理解力，能夠清晰正確的表達自己的思想。但是，如果他不注意自己的言行，也不注意自己言行的結果，甚至一心一意執著于自我或自我的理想，像這樣的人，就是一位聰明的笨蛋。一位智慧未開發的聰明人，會深深的影響他自己今後的進步。

　　The Buddha”s Teaching contains practical wisdom that cannot be limited to theory or to philosophy because philosophy deals mainly with knowledge but it is not concerned with translating the knowledge into day-to-day practices.

　　佛陀的教義包括智慧的訓練，並不局限于一般的哲學或理論。哲學只是一種學識，無法應用到實際的日常生活中。

　　Buddhism lays special emphasis on practice and realization. The philosopher sees the miseries and disappointments of life but, unlike the Buddha, he offers no practical solution to overcome our frustrations which are part of the unsatisfactory nature of life. The philosopher merely pushes his thoughts to dead ends. Philosophy is useful because it has enriched our intellectual imagination and diminished dogmatic assurance which closes the mind to further progress. To that extent, Buddhism values philosophy, but it has failed to quench spiritual thirst.

　　佛陀強調的是實踐和體驗。哲學家雖然看到人生的悲恸和不如意，但是，卻無法提供實際的方法，來克服我們生命裏所遭遇到的挫折和不如意。哲學家把他們的思想推向牛角尖，哲學本身是有益的，可惜不能解決人類精神的飢渴，哲學能豐富我們的知識和想像，減少我們思想的閉塞和不執著于教條主義。就這些而言，佛教對哲學是肯定的。

　　Remember that the chief aim of a Buddhist is to attain purity and enlightenment. Enlightenment vanquishes ignorance which is the root of birth and death. However, this vanquishing of ignorance cannot be achieved except by the exercise of one”s confidence. All other attempts, especially mere intellectual attempts are not very effective. This is why the Buddha concluded: ”These [metaphysical]questions are not calculated to profit; they are not concerned with the Dhamma; they do not lead to right conduct, or to detachment, or to purification from lusts, or to quietude, or to a calm heart, or to real knowledge, or to higher insight, or to Nibbana.” (Malunkyaputta Sutta _ Majjhima Nikaya)

　　佛教主要的目的是達到覺悟和精神的自由和解脫。覺悟克服了「無明」這一生死根源。然而，要克服「無明」，唯有靠個人的努力和堅韌不拔的意志力，任何單純知識性的努力都是徒然無功的。佛陀曾經這麼說過：「那些形而上學的純理論思想是不會獲得任何利益，它們與真理毫不相幹，它們不能領導行爲，滌淨煩惱、執著而獲得甯靜、安穩、內觀智慧或究竟涅磐。」《中部》

　　In place of metaphysical speculation, the Buddha was more concerned with teaching a practical understanding of the Four Noble Truths that he discovered: what Suffering is: what the origin of Suffering is; what the cessation of Suffering is; how to overcome Suffering and realize final Salvation. These Truths are all practical matters to be fully understood and realized by anyone who really experiences emancipation.

　　佛陀排除形而上學的不實際思想和臆測，他要我們專注于他所發現的「四聖谛」及其實用性。「四聖谛」告訴我們苦、集、滅、道的真理，及如何棄除苦而達到最後的解脫。任何人要成就于解脫，就必須先了解什麼是「四聖谛」。

　　Enlightenment is the dispelling of ignorance; it is the ideal of the Buddhist life. We can now clearly see that enlightenment is not an act of the intellect. Mere speculation has something alien to it and does not come so intimately into contact with life. This is why the Buddha placed great emphasis on personal experience. Meditation is a practical scientific system to verify the Truth that comes through personal experience. Through meditation, the will tries to transcend the condition it has put on itself, and this is the awakening of consciousness. Metaphysics merely ties us down in a tangled and matted mass of thoughts and words.

　　「覺悟」是驅逐「無明」，這是佛陀對生命的理想。當我們了解學識不能令我們獲得覺悟時，就應該更重視佛陀的教義。因此，佛陀強調這是他個人親身的經曆。禅定是實際並具有科學性的，它能驗證個人親身經曆的真理。一切形而上學的思維方式，只能令我們更加困擾，生活在糾纏與混亂中。

《佛教與哲學 Is Buddhism a Theory or a Philosophy

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