..续本文上一页 extra austere practice, such as not lying down on the Uposatha night, which means the effort to try and meditate in the three postures of walking, standing, and sitting all night.

　　This is the practice in brief, of "entering to stay at" (uposatha) a monastery in Asia. Obviously a Buddhist who has no facilities like these in a non-buddhist country must spend his Uposatha differently. Perhaps the first thing to consider is whether it is worth trying to keep the Uposatha days. Why are they kept on the phases of the moon

　　 The origin of the Uposatha days in Buddhist teachings is found in the following story:

　　The occasion was this: The Blessed One was living at Rajagaha on the Vulture-Peak Rock, and at that time Wanderers of other sects were in the habit of meeting together on the Half Moons of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth and the Quarter Moon of the Eighth and preaching about Dhamma. People went to hear about the Dhamma from them. They grew fond of the Wanderers of other sects and believed in them. So the Wanderers gained support.

　　Now while Seniya Bimbisara, king of Magadha was alone in retreat he considered this, and he thought: "Why should the venerable ones not meet together too, on these days

　　"

　　Then he went to the Blessed One and told him what he had thought, adding: "Lord, it would be good if the venerable ones met together too, on these days."

　　The Blessed One instructed the king with a talk on the Dhamma; after which the king departed. Then the Blessed One made this the occasion for a discourse on the Dhamma and he addressed the bhikkhus thus: "Bhikkhus, I allow meetings on the Half Moons of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth and the Quarter Moon of the Eighth."

　　So the bhikkhus met together on those days as allowed by the Blessed One, but they sat in silence. People went to hear the Dhamma. They were annoyed, and they murmured and protested: "How can the monks, the sons of the Sakyans, meet together on these days and sit in silence dumb as hogs

　　 Ought not the Dhamma to be preached when they meet

　　"

　　Bhikkhus heard this. They went to the Blessed One and told him. He made this the occasion for a discourse on the Dhamma, and he addressed the bhikkhus thus: "Bhikkhus, when there is a meeting on the Half Moons of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth and the Quarter Moon of the Eighth, I allow preaching of the Dhamma.

　　— The Life of the Buddha, trans. by the late Bhikkhu Ñanamoli, p. 157

　　We can see from this that the Uposatha day was already popular at that time; in fact India had already a lunar calendar. The Buddha sometimes allowed popular practices when he had investigated them to see whether they were profitable. In this case he saw that there were advantages for Dhamma-practice in the Uposatha days, so he allowed them. But we should understand clearly that Dhamma in its various aspects was not taught by him out of conformity with pre-Buddhist traditions. (How often one sees statements like "The Buddha accepted and taught the Hindu doctrine of karma and reincarnation"!) Dhamma was taught by him based on Enlightenment — having seen everything as it truly is. So the teaching — for instance, of kamma — was because he had seen the truth of this for himself. Similarly with the Uposatha days, the importance of which are underlined by a number of discourses on the subject in the Anguttara-nikaya, the Book of the Eights (see the Appendix).

　　But if the timing of the Uposatha days in Buddhist tradition was fixed merely to coincide with the existing lunar calendar and the traditional observances connected with it, then today when most people work in countries which do not follow a lunar calendar it would seem sensible to have days for special Buddhist observance during the weekends. Is there any other significance to the Uposatha days falling…

《Lay Buddhist Practice - Uposatha》全文未完，请进入下页继续阅读…