親近智者
[中譯]良稹
Association with the Wise
by Bhikkhu Bodhi
The Maha-mangala Sutta, the Great Discourse on Blessings, is one of the most popular Buddhist suttas, included in all the standard repertories of Pali devotional chants. The sutta begins when a deity of stunning beauty, having descended to earth in the stillness of the night, approaches the Blessed One in the Jeta Grove and asks about the way to the highest blessings. In the very first stanza of his reply the Buddha states that the highest blessing comes from avoiding fools and associating with the wise (asevana ca balanam, panditanan ca sevana). Since the rest of the sutta goes on to sketch all the different aspects of human felicity, both mundane and spiritual, the assignment of association with the wise to the opening stanza serves to emphasize a key point: that progress along the path of the Dhamma hinges on making the right choices in our friendships. 《大吉祥經》 (Maha-Mangala Sutta) 是一部最常爲人們持誦、被收錄于所有規範巴利課誦本內的佛教經文。在經文開端，一位美麗耀眼的天女于靜夜降臨大地，近詣柢樹園中的薄伽梵，請爲說至高的吉祥。佛陀在應答初偈中宣稱，至高的吉祥來自遠離愚人、親近智者(asevana ca balanam，panditanan ca sevana )。由于余下經文敘述的，是包括世間與靈性諸側面在內的一切人類福佑，親近智者被置于經偈之首，意在強調一個關鍵點: 佛法之道的進步有賴于正確選擇我們的友伴。
Contrary to certain psychological theories, the human mind is not a hermetically sealed chamber enclosing a personality unalterably shaped by biology and infantile experience. Rather, throughout life it remains a highly malleable entity continually remolding itself in response to its social interactions. Far from coming to our personal relationships with a fixed and immutable character, our regular and repeated social contacts implicate us in a constant process of psychological osmosis that offers precious opportunities for growth and transformation. Like living cells engaged in a chemical dialogue with their colleagues, our minds transmit and receive a steady barrage of messages and suggestions that may work profound changes even at levels below the threshold of awareness. 與某些心理學理論相反，人類的心靈並非是一個密閉式的容器，在其中封存著由生物學規律與嬰兒期體驗所定型的性格。反之，個體在整個一生當中始終高度可塑，不斷地回應其社會互動而自我再造。我們決非是以固有不變的心性踏入個人的交往圈子，相反，那些定期與頻繁的社會接觸，把我們置于一個心理濡染的連續過程，爲我們提供成長與轉化的寶貴機會。正如活細胞與周圍同伴進行著化學對話，我們的心持續地發送與接受著訊息與提示，它們甚至有可能在潛意識的諸層次上，造就深刻的變化。
Particularly critical to our spiritual progress is our selection of friends and companions, who can have the most decisive impact upon our personal destiny. It is because he perceived how susceptible our minds can be to the influence of our companions that the Buddha repeatedly stressed the value of good friendship (kalyanamittata) in the spiritual life. The Buddha states that he sees no other thing that is so much responsible for the arising of unwholesome qualities in a person as bad friendship, nothing so helpful for the arising of wholesome qualities as good friendship (AN 1.vii,10; I.viii,1). Again, he says that he sees no other external factor that leads to so much harm as bad friendship, and no other external factor that leads to so much benefit as good friendship (AN 1.x,13,14). It is through the influence of a good friend that a disciple is led along the Noble Eightfold Path to release from all suffering (SN 45:2). 對于我們的靈性進步特別重要的，是朋友與同伴的選擇，那些人對我們的個人命運能夠起決定性的影響。佛陀之所以反複強調善友 [kalyanamittata,善知識]在精神生活中的價值，是因爲他了解我們的心，何等易受友伴的左右。佛陀說，他不見任何其它事，對引生不善巧素質[惡法]，作用之大，如惡友伴者，他不見任何它事，對引生善巧素質[善法]，作用之大，如善友伴者 (AN 1. vii,10; I. viii,1)。他又說，他不見任何其它的外在因素，引生傷害之大，甚于惡友伴者，他不見任何其它的外在因素，引生利益之大，甚于善友伴者 (AN 1. x,13,14)。正是借著善友的熏陶與指點，一位弟子在滅盡諸苦的八聖道上才得以進步(SN 45:2)。
Good friendship, in Buddhism, means considerably more than associating with people that one finds amenable and who share one”s interests. It means in effect seeking out wise companions to whom one can look for guidance and instruction. The task of the noble friend is not only to provide companionship in the treading of the way. The …
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