答疑

　　Question and Answer

　　閩南佛學院的法師今天問我：“佛陀成佛後能否見衆生？”這是學佛之人常有的疑惑。有人說，佛陀成佛後已無我相、衆生相，自然不能見衆生。又有人說，不能見衆生又如何度化衆生呢？

　　A Dharma Teacher in Minnan Buddhist Academy asked me today: “Does the Buddha still perceive sentient beings after having attained Buddhahood

　　” This is a question many Buddhists often raise. Some people say: “An enlightened Buddha has eliminated all perceptions of self and of beings; therefore, to him there are no sentient beings to be seen.” Still others wonder: “How can the Buddha tame sentient beings if he does not perceive them

　　”

　　對此問題應如此回答，佛陀成佛後于如所有智前，一切平等無礙，無相無衆生；而于盡所有智前，能照見一切衆生之起心動念，但無迷亂相，無有執著。

　　The answer to these questions can be stated as follows: To the enlightened Buddha, in his wisdom that knows the nature of all phenomena, all appearances are indistinguishably equal; to him there are neither forms nor beings. In his wisdom that knows the multiplicity of all phenomena, the Buddha knows every thought and idea of all sentient beings; however, to him there is neither confusion nor clinging.

　　近代藏地著名大德俄巴活佛，曾得彌勒菩薩攝受，法王如意寶曾于其前聽聞過佛法。他于《辯宗派見解論》中引用榮索班智達的教義舉例說：如同兩人于一房中，其中一人做夢，另一人具他心通，而得知其夢境，但因知其爲夢，而不生執著。若此時做夢之人因夢中遭遇惡境而生大苦惱，清醒之人可用神通入其夢境，令其消除恐怖直至蘇醒。同樣，佛陀也了知衆生之境現及分別念，但無相執，卻能以方便法，令各種根器衆生逐漸趨入解脫道。

　　Tulku Dewopa, once cared for by Lord Maitreya, is a renowned contemporary Tibetan siddha from whom our Choeje (King of Dharma) Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche had received teachings. In the shastra Discerning the Views of Sects, the Tulku cites teachings from Pandita Rangjung as examples: There are two persons in a room; the first person is dreaming while the second one, who has the psychic power of knowing other minds, is awake. The second person sees the first one”s dream with no clinging because he clearly knows it is a dream. Should the dreamer have a nightmare and suffer tremendously, the second person can through his miraculous power enter the dream, dispel the horror, and wake up the dreamer. In the same way, the Buddha knows sentient beings” conceptual thoughts and their perceived phenomena. The Buddha has no attachment and, with his skillful means that suit each inpidual, leads all beings gradually onto the path of liberation.

　　如來的智慧、功德，即使得地菩薩也不能如實了知，凡夫之分別念就更難以揣度。法稱論師雲：“如來智慧不可思。”

　　Even Bodhisattvas who have advanced to the level of bhumis cannot fathom thoroughly the wisdom and qualities of the Tathagata, what needs to be said of ordinary people with conceptual minds

　　 Master Dharmakirti says it well: “The wisdom of the Tathagata is just inconceivable.”

　　對于如來之究竟智慧，應以信心與教證了知，絕非以分別念思維推理所能決斷。

　　Only through strong faith and scriptural evidence can one comprehend the ultimate wisdom of the Tathagata. It can never be resolved by the thinking and reasoning of a conceptual mind.

　　壬午年叁月十二日 　

　　2002年4月24日

　　12th of March, Year of RenWu

　　April 24, 2002