無窮

　　Without End

　　有些人認爲，佛教中說一切衆生皆作過自己父母之理，既不現實也不可能，且不論是否有前世，即使有，但世間衆生如此之多，如此之喻如何得以窮盡？

　　The Buddha says all sentient beings have previously been our own mothers and fathers. Many people find this teaching improbable and impossible. Putting aside the argument about the existence of past lives, even if it were true, how could we ever exhaust all sentient beings, as their number is simply innumerable

　　然而，以一般世間人的眼、耳、鼻、舌、身、意來衡量之結果並非正量。《叁昧王經》雲：“眼耳鼻非量，舌身意亦非，若彼等爲量，聖道複益誰？”However, the conclusions reached by the ordinary sense faculties—our eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and consciousness—are not valid in the ultimate sense. The King of Concentration Sutra says:

　　Eyes, ears, and nose are not valid instruments of discernment,

　　Nor are tongue, body, and consciousness reliable.

　　Should their perceptions be true,

　　Whom should the holy Doctrines benefit

　　只有究竟之智慧，方可照見世間萬事萬物之本性。若未依甚深佛智，僅依凡夫之分別念，實難徹見紛纭繁雜的現有表象之本質。

　　It is only with supreme wisdom that the true nature of all phenomena will be revealed. Without relying on Buddha”s profound insight, no amount of ordinary conceptual thinking is able to discern the essence of myriad appearances.

　　無始的概念，一般凡夫的六根是很難揣度的。《親友書》雲：“過去一一生身骨，輾轉積若妙高山，地土丸爲酸棗核，數己形軀豈盡邊。”無始以來，每一衆生流轉輪回的次數，世間的數字是無法表示的。爲業力所轉而互爲親怨的數字也同樣難記其數。《聖者涅槃經》中雲：“此大地土抟成豌豆許丸用以衡量一有情爲自父母之數，則可數盡，然一有情爲自父母之數卻不可勝數。”

　　Likewise, the notion of time without beginning is difficult to grasp using the six faculties of ordinary being. In Letter to a Friend, The sublime Nagarjuna says: “Should the bones we had through our past lives be piled up, they would be as high as Mt. Meru. Should we try to count our bodies with balls of clay the size of juniper berries, we would run out of earth to count.” Since beginning-less time we have had incalculable lives throughout samsara, the number of times that we had relations of affection, enmity, or indifference with every other being is also countless. The Sages” Nirvana Sutra says: “Were this great earth made into little pellets as big as a pea to count the number of times someone had been my father and mother, the whole earth would be used up before I could finish counting.”

　　所以，在未對佛經進行精讀、思維前，切不可對佛教之說法妄加評論。對經論進行精研以後再下結論乃爲智者之所爲。

　　Hence, until we have thoroughly studied and reflected upon the Buddha”s teachings, we should definitely refrain from making reckless remarks. A wise man will choose not to draw any conclusion until he has carefully reviewed the sutras and shastras.

　　壬午年二月十六日 　

　　2002年3月29日 　

　　16th of February, Year of RenWu

　　March 29, 2002