..續本文上一頁的不僅是是人類的生命，而是全體有情衆生的生命。這種尊敬有情衆生的思想體系，並非僅是爲了對我們有用處，作爲一種工具或達到目的之手段。由此尊敬生命之原則産生了慈悲無私之觀念，而成爲我們行動的指導原則。因此就基因工程而言，即必須排除任何將人類生命或非人類的有情生命作爲工具之使用。如果我有時間，我會報告一些生物科技公司爲了追求利潤，以駭人的方式使用無情的生命，很不幸有時亦使用人類和其他有情的生命作爲其工具。

　　Four aspects of the Buddhist paradigm are somewhat different than the dominant paradigm of Scientism and many of the paradigms that we find within Christian theology. The first aspect that I”d like to mention is Ahimsa**, which is particularly appropriate to our gathering here today. Ahimsa means nonharming; it is the principle of respect for the intrinsic value of the life of all sentient beings, not just human life. This paradigm respects sentient beings not merely for their usefulness to us as tools or means to ends. Out of this principle of respect for life comes the notion of selfless compassion as a guiding principle in our actions, so that, in terms of genetic engineering, it would exclude any instrumental use of human or nonhuman sentient life. If I had time, I would go into the horrific instrumental use of nonsentient life, and sometimes unfortunately human and other sentient life, in the pursuit of profit by biotech companies.

　　第二點我要討論的是超覺；超覺與全人類發展出世智慧和解脫之潛能有關。超覺是無法用科學術語加以敘述的。從科學主義的觀點而言，也沒有方法可說明超覺所具有的意義。

　　The second aspect I”d like to discuss is transcendence. Transcendence refers to the potential of all human beings for developing spiritual wisdom and liberation. Transcendence cannot be couched in scientific terms. Nor is there any way to talk meaningfully about transcendence from the point of view of Scientism.

　　第叁點，佛教的思想體系，是其了解到宇宙是一個開放的系統。與之對比不同的是科學方法，其運作于假設的，人爲的，及封閉的系統，如此去假定其具備某些有意義，但不完全且非完善的相應于「眞實」的世界。以佛教思想體系的觀點來看，毫無疑問的科學方法因其先天的限製，而無法評估在一個開放的系統內，這個世界的生物被遺傳工程改造後，所可能引起的影響範圍。像這樣使用科學的思想體系是不可能有確定可靠的風險評估的。

　　The third aspect of the Buddhist paradigm is the understanding that the cosmos is an open system. In contradistinction, the scientific method operates within hypothesized artificial and closed systems, that are assumed to have some meaningful, but incomplete and imperfect, correspondence with the "real" world. From the viewpoint of the paradigm of Buddhism, it is clear that scientific methodology cannot, because of its inherent limitations, assess the full extent of the possible effects of genetically engineered alterations on living creatures in a world that is an open system. Thus no certainty or reliable risk assessment is possible using the scientific model.

　　最後第四點，于此佛教思想體系中我要指出的，是其不同于笛卡爾哲學的本質。換句話說就是我們的心和精神影響著我們的身體；而我們的身體也影響著我們的心和精神：我們的身、心、精神是「不二的」。究竟而言，叁者彼此不可分開，而且性質上亦無不同。因爲身、心、精神互相牽連，互相影響，佛教思想體系的道德是根源于因果報應，故其強調淨化叁者之重要性。

　　The fourth and final aspect of this paradigm that I would like to mention is its non-Cartesian nature. In other words, our minds and spirits affect our bodies, our bodies affect our minds and spirit, and body, mind, and spirit are nondual. Ultimately, they are neither mutually distinct, nor qualitatively different. Because body, mind, and spirit interrelate with one another and affect one another, the karmabased ethics of the Buddhist paradigm stresses the importance of the purification of all three.

　　由于時間的限製，我對于佛教思想體系四個方面非常簡要的解釋，希望能令您了解其與當今世界主流思想體系是非常地不同的。

　　I hope that you have been able to follow this explanation, which has been very brief because of our time constraints, of these four aspects the Buddhist paradigm, which is so different from the mainstream paradigms of the modern world.

　　最後我希望各位能花一點時間，思考這種可能性的存在，由于身、心、精神叁者互相關聯，而且本源上是不二的，因而基因工程可能會不利地影響到有情生物完成其超覺與解脫的潛能。因爲科學只能處理物質界，科學實驗或科學方法是沒法評估這種風險的。若基因工程即使僅有一點點的可能性，會嚴重影響到人類的精神性與達到超覺的潛能，這已是一件非常令人擔憂的事了。我想你們很多人會同意我的看法。

　　Finally, I would like you all to take a moment to reflect upon the possibility, which exists because of the interrela­tion and ultimate nonduality of body, mind, and spirit, that genetic engineering may adversely influence the po­tential of sentient beings to achieve transcendence and lib­eration. Because science deals only with the physical realm, no scientific experiment or methodology can possi­bly assess this kind of risk. Even if there is only a rela­tively small possibility of genetic engineering having a se­rious effect on the nature of the human spirit and its poten­tial for transcendence, I think many of you will agree with me that it is a very serious cause for concern.

《佛教與生物科技 Buddhism and Biotechnology》全文閱讀結束。