Eternalism and Nihilism

　　常見與斷見

　　The Buddha rejected both extremes of eternalism and nihilism.

　　佛陀反對常見與斷見這兩個極端。

　　To develop Right View or Perfect View, we must first be aware of two views which are considered imperfect or wrong.

　　要了解什麼是見？首先必須先認識到「常見」和「斷見」，這兩個極端都是不完整和不正確的。

　　The first view is eternalism. This doctrine or belief is concerned with eternal life or with eternal things. Before the Buddha”s time, it was taught that there is an abiding entity which could exist forever, and that man can live the eternal life by preserving the eternal soul in order to be in union with Supreme Being. In Buddhism, this teaching is called sassata ditthi ----the view of eternalists. Such views still exist even in the modern world owing to man”s craving for eternity.

　　「常見」，是一種認爲生命或萬物可以永恒存在的信仰。在佛陀降世之前，這是一種主流思想，認爲宇宙有一種持久存在的本質，能導致萬物永久的存在。因此，人類稱這種思想爲「常見」(Sassata diññhi)。「常見」，源于人類「永恒」的期望，即使在今天還是一樣存在。

　　Why did the Buddha deny the teaching of eternalism

　　 Because when we understand the things of this world as they truly are, we cannot find anything which is permanent or which exists forever. Things change and continue to do so according to the changing conditions on which they depend. When we analyse things into their elements or into reality, we cannot find any abiding entity, any everlasting thing. This is why the eternalist view is considered wrong or false.

　　爲何佛陀要否定「常見」？當我們觀察一般人認爲真實的世間一切事物時，我們無法發現有任何事物是永恒的，一切事物都是「無常」的。導致事物不停的變化就是因緣條件。當我們分析事物到最後的單元或最後的真實性時，我們不難發現，根本無法找到任何持續性的本質或永恒的事物。因此，「常見」被認爲是不完整和錯誤的。

　　The second false view is nihilism or the view held by the nihilists who claim that there is no life after death. This view belongs to a materialistic philosophy which refuses to accept knowledge of mental conditionality. To subscribe to a philosophy of materialism is to understand life only partially. Nihilism ignores the side of life which is concerned with mental conditionality. If one claims that after the passing away or ceasing of a life, it does not come to be again, the continuity of mental conditions is denied. To understand life, we must consider all conditions, both mental and material. When we understand mental and material conditions, we cannot say that there is no life after death and that there is no further becoming after passing away. This nihilist view of existence is considered false because it is based on incomplete understanding of reality. That is why nihilism was also rejected by the Buddha. The teaching of kamma is enough to prove that the Buddha did not teach annihilation after death; Buddhism accepts ”survival” not in the sense of an eternal soul, but in the sense of a renewed becoming.

　　「斷見」，就是指斷滅論。有些人認爲人死後就一了百了，這些是屬于唯物哲學的錯誤觀點。唯物哲學家們拒絕接受心智緣起的知識，以唯物觀點來了解生命，因此，它們只說對了部分而不是全部。佛教重視心智緣起的部分，如果有人主張任何事物在停止或消失後，就不複存在，那麼他等于在否定心智緣起。我們必須了解所有的緣起包括心識和物質兩方面。當我們了解了心識與物質的緣起條件後，我們就不可能再說「死後就一了百了」了，或東西消失後就不複存在了。「斷見」是錯誤的觀點，因爲它不全面。因此，佛陀否定「斷見」。佛陀對業力的闡述，充分的證明了 「死」並非滅絕。佛教認爲死後還存在，但不是永恒的靈魂，而是「識」的重新開始。

　　Throughout the Buddha”s long period of teaching the Dhamma to His followers, He actively discouraged speculative arguments. During the 5th century B. C. India was a veritable hive of intellectual activity where scholars, yogis, philosophers, kings and even ordinary householders were constantly engaged in the philosophical arguments pertaining to human existence. Some of these were either ridiculously trivial or totally irrelevant. Some people wasted valuable time arguing at great length about all manner of subjects. They were far more concerned about proving their powers in mental gymnastics than seeking genuine solutions to the problems that beset humanity.

　　佛陀在四十五年的弘法生涯裏，遇到不少人提出有關生命的真相或緣起等問題，他都一一的把問題給解答了。在公元前五世紀，印度的文化空前的發達。出現了很多的學者、瑜伽行者、哲學家、國王，甚至一些普通的在家人，他們提出了有關人類存在的哲學問題，有些人甚至還帶著嘲弄或刁難的心理。有些人花了很多時間在研究這些課題，可是它們的研究卻遠離了修行體證的範圍。

　　(In the 18th century Jonathan Swift satirized a similar pastime in England when he showed the Lilliputians in ”Gulliver”s Travels” waging a war to decide whether an egg should be broken on its sharp end or its broad end).

　　The Buddha also refused to get involved in speculations regarding the universe. He stated very clearly that the problem facing mankind is not in his past or his future but in the immediate present. Knowledge about Eternalism or Nihilism can in no way help man to break the present fetters which bind him to existence and which are the source of all his feelings of discontent which arise from his inability to completely satisfy his cravings. The Buddha stated that before one can begin to tread the path which leads to Nibbana one must have Right View. Only when one knows clearly what one is seeking will one be able to attain it.

　　佛陀不願回答宇宙緣起的問題。佛陀認爲人類所面對的問題，不是過去，也不是未來，而是現在的問題。明了「常見」和「斷見」，將能引導他破除各種煩惱與障礙，了解存在的真相，和各種因欲望得不到滿足，而生起不滿情緒的原因。佛陀聲明要證悟涅槃，必需先要擁有「正見」。唯有擁有確知正見的人，才能證悟涅槃。

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