The Ultimate Truth

　　究竟的真理

　　The Ultimate Truth can be found in the Teaching of the Buddhism.

　　究竟的真理，可以在佛陀的教義中發現。

　　Buddhism recognizes two kinds of Truth. The apparent conventional truth and the real or ultimate Truth. The ultimate Truth can be realized only through meditation, and not theorizing or speculating.

　　佛教承認兩種真理的存在──普遍性的真理和究竟的真理。究竟的真理不是理論性或推測性的，唯有透過觀禅的訓練才能獲得。

　　The Buddha”s Teaching is the Ultimate Truth of the world. Buddhism, however, is not a revealed or an organized religion. It is the first example of the purely scientific approach applied to questions concerning the ultimate nature of existence. This timeless Teaching was discovered by the Buddha Himself without the help of any pine agency. This same teaching is strong enough to face any challenge without changing the basic principles of the doctrine. Any religion that is forced to change or adjust its original Teachings to suit the modern world, is a religion that has no firm foundation and no ultimate truth in it. Buddhism can maintain the Truth of the original Teaching of the Master even under the difficult conditions prevailing in the modern world. The Buddha did not introduce certain personal or worldly practices which have no connection with morality or religious observances. To the Buddha, such practices have no religious value. We must make the distinction between what the Buddha taught and what people preach and practise in the name of Buddhism.

　　佛陀的教義是這世間最究竟的真理。佛教不是一種天啓或有組織的宗教。他是人類首創以純粹科學探究終極存在的本質的例子。這種超時空的教義，是佛陀不經任何外在因素所發現的。這教義強而有力，足以面對任何挑戰，而不需要改變其基本原則來適應種種的變遷。許多宗教爲了適應現代社會，而被迫更改或放棄原有的教義，這是因爲他們的宗教缺乏固定的基礎和究竟的真理。在目前世界困難普遍存在 的情況下，佛教還是能夠照樣的保存佛陀原始的教義。

　　Every religion consists of not only the teachings of the founder of that religion but also the rites and ceremonies which have grown up around the basic core of the teachings. These rituals and ceremonies have their origins in the cultural practices of the people who accepted the religion. Usually the founders of the great religions do not lay down precise rules about the rituals to be observed. But religious leaders who come after them formalize the religion and set up exacting codes of behavior which the followers are not allowed to deviated from.

　　Even the religion which we call ”Buddhism” is very different in its external practices from what the Buddha and His early followers carried out. Centuries of cultural and environmental influence have made Burmese, Thai, Chinese, Tibetan, Sri Lankan and Japanese Buddhism different. But these practices are not in conflict, because the Buddha taught that while the Truth remains absolute, the physical manifestation of this truth can differ according to the way of life of those who profess it.

　　佛陀不曾介紹過與道德或宗教無關的個人或世間修持。對佛陀來說，這些修持都是沒有價值的。有些時候，我們必須區別佛陀所說的佛法和一般人所說的佛法，以及利用佛陀名義的修持方法是些什麼？

　　所有宗教的弘法，並非由創始人獨立完成的。有時候，弘法的任務也交由素質較高的弟子來執行。而宗教的創始人，也未曾製訂弘法章程或教育方案。但是後來的宗教領袖卻製定了種種方案來防止信徒的叛離。就算在今天，佛教在形式上也已經和早期不同了。經過了數世紀的傳播，緬甸、泰國、中國、西藏、斯裏蘭卡和日本的佛教，就已呈現不同。但是，這並沒有引起混亂，因爲佛陀所教誨的究竟是真理。這究竟的真理體現，可以根據不同的生活方式顯示出來。

　　A few hundred years after His passing away, the disciples of the Buddha organized a religion around the Teachings of the Master. While organizing the religion, they incorporated, among other concepts and beliefs, various types of miracles, mysticism, fortune-telling, charms, talismans, mantras, prayers and many rites and rituals that were not found in the original Teaching. When these extraneous religious beliefs and practices were introduced, many people neglected to develop the most important practices found in the original Teaching; self-discipline, self-restraint, cultivation of morality and spiritual development. Instead of practicing the original Teaching, they gave more of their attention and effort to self-protection from evil spirits and sought after prosperity or good luc…

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