The Buddha”s Service

　　佛陀的奉獻

　　The Buddha was born to dispel the darkness of ignorance and to show to the world how to be free from suffering.

　　佛陀的出現驅走了黑暗，也指示了如何從痛苦中解脫的道路。

　　The Buddha was the embodiment of all the virtues that He preached. During His successful and eventful ministry of 45 years, He translated all His words into actions. At no time did He ever show any human frailty or any base passion. The Buddha”s moral code is the most perfect the world has ever known.

　　佛陀所傳授的教義，是他所有德行的再度體現，他在四十五年多姿多彩的弘法生涯中，他將所有的教義以行動表現出來，從來也沒有顯現過人類脆弱和不純的情欲。佛陀的道德規範是這世間最完美的。

　　For more than 25 centuries, millions of people have found inspiration and solace in His Teaching. His greatness still shine today like a sun that outshines the glow of lesser lights. His Teachings still beckon the weary pilgrim to the security and peace of Nibbana. No other person has sacrificed so much of his worldly comfort for the sake of suffering humanity.

　　二十五個世紀以來，數千萬的人們，從佛陀的教義中得到鼓舞和慰藉。他的偉大仍然像太陽一樣散發出萬丈光芒，一點也不減當年。他的教義仍然在指引那些修行者邁向寂靜的涅槃。這世間沒有一人像佛陀一樣，爲了全人類作出這麼重大的貢獻。

　　The Buddha, was the first religious leader in human history to admonish against animal sacrifice for any reason and to appeal to people not to harm any living creature.

　　佛陀是曆史第一位宗教領袖，他告誡人類不要傷害任何生命，不要以牲畜祭祀鬼神。

　　To the Buddha, religion was not a bargain but a way to enlightenment. He did not want followers with blind faith, He wanted followers who could think freely and wisely.

　　對佛陀來說，宗教不是交易而是走向覺悟的道路。他不要信徒迷信，他要信徒能自由的、智慧的思考一切。

　　The entire human race has been blessed with His presence.

　　佛陀的出世，讓所有痛苦的人類都得到他的祝福。

　　There was never an occasion when the Buddha expressed any unfriendliness towards a single person. Not even to His opponents and worst enemies did the Buddha express any unfriendliness. There were a few prejudiced minds who turned against the Buddha and who tried to kill him, yet the Buddha never treated them as enemies. The Buddha once said, ”As an elephant in the battle-field endures the arrows that are shot into him, so will I endure the abuse and unfriendly expressions of others.(Dhammapada. 320)

　　佛陀從來不會對人不友善，甚至連他的敵人在內。一些對佛陀有成見，企圖殺害佛陀的人，佛陀並不把他們當作敵人。佛陀說過：就像戰象在沙場，要忍受弓箭的傷害，我也一樣要忍受毀謗，因爲有很多邪惡的人的。《法句經》

　　In the annals of history, no man is recorded as having so consecrated himself to the welfare of all living beings as did the Buddha. From the hour of His Enlightenment to the end of His Life, he strove tirelessly to elevate mankind. He slept only two hours a day. Though 25 centuries have gone since the passing away of this great Teacher, His message of love and wisdom still exists in its pristine purity. This message is still decisively influencing the destinies of humanity. He was the most Compassionate One who illuminated this world with loving-kindness.

　　在曆史記載中，沒有一個人像佛陀一樣偉大，他奉獻自己的一生爲人類謀求福利。從他覺悟開始一直到他涅槃，他爲提升人類的素質而努力，從不懈怠，他一天只睡兩個小時。這偉大的導師已經告別我們二十五個世紀了，但他那仁愛與智慧的教義，仍然存在于他那清淨的純樸中。他的教義一直在影響人類的命運。他是最慈悲的，他以大慈悲心照亮了這整個世界。

　　After attaining Nibbana, the Buddha left a deathless message that is still with us. Today we are confronted by the terrible threat to world peace. At no time in the history of the world is His message more needed than it is now.

　　佛陀涅槃後，他所留下的不朽教義與我們並存，今天，世界的和平受到嚴重的威脅，在整個人類的曆史中，再也沒有比這個時候更需要佛陀的教義了。

　　The Buddha was born to dispel the darkness of ignorance and to show the world how to get rid of suffering and disease, decay and death and all the worries and miseries of living beings.

　　佛陀的出現，消除了人類的愚癡和黑暗，他指引人類如何從老、病及悲傷、痛苦中解脫。

　　According to some beliefs, a certain god will appear in this world from time to time to destroy wicked people and to protect the good one. Buddha did not appear in this world to destroy wicked people but to show them the correct path.

　　某些宗教信仰認爲，當神祇來到這世間時，總會懲罰那些邪惡的人和保護那些善良的人，可是，佛陀出現後並沒有那麼做，他只指引了人類應該走的正確的道路。

　　In the history of the world until the Buddha”s time, did we ever hear of any religious teacher who was so filled with such all-absorbing sympathy and love for suffering humanity as was the Buddha

　　 At about the same time as the Buddha, we heard of some wise men in Greece: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle and many others. But they were only philosophers and thinkers and seekers after truth; they lacked any inspiring love for the suffering multitudes.

　　從人類有曆史以來，乃至佛陀時代，我們可曾聽過有哪一位宗教導師有如佛陀一樣，爲了苦難的衆生具備如此寬廣、包容的大慈悲心呢？當佛陀寂滅後的數百年，我們知道希臘出了些哲人，如：蘇格拉底、柏拉圖、亞裏斯多德，但是，他們只是哲學家、思想家或尋求真理者，他們缺乏了佛陀那種胸懷，那種解救衆生于苦難的胸懷。

　　The Buddha”s way of saving mankind was to teach them how to find salvation. He was not interested in alleviating a few chance cases of physical or mental distress. He was more concerned with revealing a Path that all people could follow.

　　佛陀救度衆生的方法是教導他們如何自我尋求解脫苦難，他不致力于減輕衆生身心的痛苦，他認爲最重要的是如何啓發人類，自我修學邁向解脫的八聖道。

　　Let us take all the great philosophers, psychologists, great thinkers, scientists, rationalists, social workers, reformers and other religious teachers and compare, with an unbiased mind, their greatness, virtues, services and wisdom with the Buddha”s virtues, compassion and Enlightenment. One can understand where the Buddha stands amongst all those great people.

　　讓我們舉出所有的大哲學家、大心理學家、大思想家、大科學家、大理論家、大革命家、大社會工作者和其他的宗教導師來做一個比較，以沒有偏袒的態度比較他們的偉大、德行、教化和智慧。如果與佛陀的德行、慈悲心、覺相比較，我們就不難發現，爲什麼佛陀在這些大人物中有這麼突出的地位了。

《佛陀的奉獻 The Buddhas ServiceThe Buddhas Service》全文閱讀結束。