..續本文上一頁有關。在一些文本，它意指符合道德戒律的行爲；有些文本則是指戒律本身；還有一些文本是指由遵守戒律所産生的美德。就「 sila」作爲「戒律」或「原則」的意義而言，它呈顯了道德訓練的形式面向：作爲「德行」的意義而言，代表了精神的提升；而作爲「正當行爲」的意義而言，則是生活中的美德展現。通常，「sila」被正式地定義爲禁絕不善的言行。由于這項定義的重點放在外在行爲，看起來似乎有些膚淺。然而，另一種解釋卻彌補了這個缺點，也顯示「 sila」的意義比它給人的第一印象來得豐富。舉例來說，阿毘達摩將「 sila」等同于叁離心所 —正語、正業、正命，在將兩者畫上等號時，無疑也清楚說明了：藉由道德戒律所耕耘的，乃是心靈。因此，持戒不僅可以禁止不利于社會的行爲，帶來「公共」利益；另一方面，它也能爲個人帶來心靈淨化的利益，指導我們所應該遵循的行爲，讓我們避免受到染汙。
The English word “morality” and its derivatives suggest a sense of obligation and constraint quite foreign to the Buddhist conception of sila; this connotation probably enters from the theistic background to Western ethics. Buddhism, with its non-theistic framework, grounds its ethics, not on the notion of obedience, but on that of harmony. In fact, the commentaries explain the word sila by another word, samadhana, meaning “harmony” or “coordination.”
「morality」這個英文字及其衍生字，意味著某種義務或限製，對于佛教戒的概念來說，這是相當陌生的意涵。「 morality」的這種隱含意義，可能是在有神論的背景之下進入西方倫理學的。而佛教的架構是無神論，它以「和諧」 —而不以「服從」的概念 —作爲其倫理學的基礎。事實上，注釋書中以另一個字來解釋「戒」：samadhana，意即「和諧」或「協調」。
The observance of sila leads to harmony at several levels — social, psychological, kammic, and contemplative. At the social level the principles of sila help to establish harmonious interpersonal relations, welding the mass of differently constituted members of society with their own private interests and goals into a cohesive social order in which conflict, if not utterly eliminated, is at least reduced. At the psychological level sila brings harmony to the mind, protection from the inner split caused by guilt and remorse over moral transgressions. At the kammic level the observance of sila ensures harmony with the cosmic law of kamma, hence favorable results in the course of future movement through the round of repeated birth and death. And at the fourth level, the contemplative, sila helps establish the preliminary purification of mind to be completed, in a deeper and more thorough way, by the methodical development of serenity and insight.
遵守戒之後，可以在數種層次上達成和諧：社會上、心理上、業報上以及禅觀上。在社會層次上，戒有助于建立和諧的人際關系，將一群從屬于不同團體、各自具有私人利益與目標的烏合之衆，整合在一個協同的社會秩序之下，其中的沖突若非完全被消弭，也至少能減少。在心理層次上，戒帶來心靈和諧，讓人免于因僭越道德的罪惡感及悔恨，造成內在分裂。在業報層次上，遵守戒，可以確保與「業」的宇宙法則維持和諧，因此，在未來的生死輪回中，將可以得到善果。在禅觀的層次上，藉由循序漸進地培養平靜與內觀，戒以一種深刻而全面的方式協助我們完成初步的心靈淨化。
When briefly defined, the factors of moral training are usually worded negatively, in terms of abstinence. But there is more to sila than refraining from what is wrong. Each principle embedded in the precepts, as we will see, actually has two aspects, both essential to the training as a whole. One is abstinence from the unwholesome, the other commitment to the wholesome; the former is called “avoidance” (varitta) and the latter “performance” (caritta). At the outset of training the Buddha stresses the aspect of avoidance. He does so, not because abstinence from the unwholesome is sufficient in itself, but to establish the steps of practice in proper sequence. The steps are set out in their natural order (more logical than temporal) in the famous dictum of the Dhammapada: “To abstain from all evil, to cultivate the good, and to purify one”s mind — this is the teaching of the Buddhas” (v. 183). The other two steps — cultivating the good and purifying the mind — also receive their due, but to ensure their success, a resolve to avoid the unwholesome is a necessity. Without such a resolve the attempt to develop wholesome qualities is bound to issue in a warped and stunted pattern of growth.
簡單來說，道德訓練的面向通常是以否定、禁止的詞彙來表達，但戒的意涵卻比「不做錯的事」來得豐富許多。我們將會看到，在戒律中的每項原則實際上都有兩個面向，而它們對于整體訓練是同樣重要的：一個是棄絕不善法；另一個是致力于善法。前者謂之「止持」(varitta)；後者謂之「作持」(caritta)。在剛開始修行時，佛陀強調的是「止持」的面向。他之所以如此教導，並非因爲棄絕不善法本身便已足夠，而是希望能藉此建立一套適切的修行次第。這些次第是依它們自然的呈顯順序排列的(比時間上的順序排列更具邏輯性)，它們出現在有名的《法句經》中：「諸惡莫作，衆善奉行，自淨其意，是諸佛教。」除了諸惡莫作之外，其他的兩個步驟 —衆善奉行，自淨其意 —也都有它們的重要性，但爲了確保它們的成功，決志棄絕不善法是必須的。沒有這樣的決心，發展善的品質的…
《八聖道之正語正業正命 Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood》全文未完，請進入下頁繼續閱讀…