第五章 第四圣谛：道谛

　　Chapter V. The Fourth Noble Truth

　　Magga: The Path

　　The Fourth Noble Truth is that of the Way leading to the Cessation of Dukkha (Dukkhanirodhagāminipatipadā-ariyasacca). This is known as the ”Middle Path” (Majjhimā Patipapā), because it avoids two extremes: one extreme being the search for happiness through the pleasures of the senses, which is ”low, common, unprofitable and the way of the ordinary people”; the other being the search for happiness through self-mortification in different forms of asceticism, which is ”painful, unworthy and unprofitable”. Having himself first tried these two extremes, and having found them to be useless, the Buddha discovered through personal experience the Middle Path ”which gives vision and knowledge, which leads to Calm, Insight, Enlightenment, Nirvāna”. This Middle Path is generally referred to as the Noble Eightfold Path (Ariya-Atthangika-Magga), because it is composed of eight categories or pisions: namely,

　　第四圣谛就是导致苦之止息的途径——道。这道叫做中道，因为它是避免两个极端的。一个极端就是经由感官的享受去追寻快乐，是“低级、平庸、无益的凡夫之道”。另一个极端是经由各种自虐的苦行以寻求快乐，这是“痛苦、无价质而无益的”。佛自己都曾尝试过这两种极端，深知其无有实益，才由亲身的证验，发现了“能够产生知、见，导致宁静、内证、正觉、涅槃”的中道。这正道一般都称之为八正道，因为它是由八个部份所组成。这八个部份就是：

　　一、正见——正实的知见。

　　Right Understanding (Sammā ditthi)

　　二、正思——正确的思维。

　　Right Thought (Sammā sankappa)

　　三、正语——正直的言语。

　　Right Speech (Sammā vācā)

　　四、正业——端正的行为。

　　Right Action (Sammā kammanta)

　　五、正命——正当的职业。

　　Right Livelihood (Sammā ājiva)

　　六、正勤——正好的努力。

　　Right Effort (Sammā vāyāma)

　　七、正念——正净的忆念。

　　Right Mindfulness (Sammā sati)

　　八、正定——正统的禅定。

　　Right Concentration (Sammā samādhi)

　　Practically the whole teaching of the Buddha, to which he devoted himself during 45 years, deals in some way or other with this Path. He explained it in different ways in different words to different people, according to the stage of their development and their capacity to understand and follow him. But the essence of those many thousand discourses scattered in the Buddhist Scriptures is found in the Noble Eightfold Path.

　　佛献身说法四十五年，几乎在他的全部教诫中都牵涉到这一道谛。他以各种不同的方法、不同的措辞，对不同的人宣说这一真谛。完全视闻法者的根器、智慧以及力行能力，而对机施教。但是藏经里面成千卷佛所说经的要义，不外乎讲的是八正道。

　　It should not be thought that the eight categories or pisions of the Path should be followed and practised one after the other in the numerical order as given in the usual list above. But they are to be developed more or less simultaneously, as far as possible according to the capacity of each inpidual. They are all linked together and each helps the cultivation of the others.

　　读者诸君不可认为上面所列的八条途径，应当依照上开的一般次序而逐条修习。实际上，应当视各人能力所及，尽可能同时修习。这些道彼此之间互有关连。修习一道，也有助于培育其它各道。

　　These eight factors aim at promoting and perfecting the three essentials of Buddhist training and discipline: namely: (a) Ethical Conduct (Sila), (b) Mental Discipline (Samādhi) and (c) Wisdom (Paňňa). [1] It will therefore be more helpful for a coherent and better understanding of the eight pisions of the Path, if we group them and explain them according to these three heads.

　　这八条途径的主要目的，在促进及完成佛教的基本训练：就是所谓的戒、定、慧的三学。［注一］因此，如果将八正道依三学归类，自将有助于对此一真谛获得较有条理的了解。

　　Ethical Conduct (Sila) is built on the vast conception of universal love and compassion for all living beings, on which the Buddha”s teaching is based. It is regrettable that many scholars forget this great ideal of the Buddha”s teaching, and indulge in only dry philosophical and metaphysical pagations when they talk and write about Buddhism. The Buddha gave his teaching ”for the good of the many, for the happiness of the many, out of compassion for the world” (buhujanahitāya bahujanasukhāya lokānukampāya).

　　戒学是建立在对一切众生普遍爱护、慈悲摄持的广大观念之上的。这也是佛教的基础。许多学者们谈到佛教或写作有关佛教的文字的时候，往往耽迷于枯燥的哲学及形上学的歧途之中，而忘记了佛教这一伟大理想，实在市一桩遗憾之至的事情。殊不知佛说法乃是“为了众生的利益，为了众生的福祉，为了悲悯众生之故。”

　　According to Buddhism for a man to be perfect there are two qualities that he should develop equally: compassion (karunā) on one si…

《佛陀的启示 第五章 第四圣谛：道谛 Chapter V· The Fourth Noble Truth - Magga: The Path》全文未完，请进入下页继续阅读…