..续本文上一页an do to blot it out. However, kamma does not come to fruition always as a matter of strict necessity. Kammic tendencies push and tug with one another in complex patterns of relationship. Some tend to reinforce the results of others, some to weaken the results, some to obstruct the results. If we build up wholesome kamma through virtuous actions, this pure kamma can inhibit the unwholesome kamma and prevent it from reaching fruition. There is no guarantee that it will do so, since kamma is a living process, not a mechanical one. But the tendencies in the process can be understood, and since one such tendency is for the wholesome to counteract the unwholesome and hinder their undesired results, a helpful power in overcoming the effects of breaking the precepts is the performance of virtuous actions.

　　VII. The Similes for Sila

　　The texts illustrate the qualities of sila with numerous similes, but as with the three refuges we must again limit ourselves to only a few. Sila is compared to a stream of clear water, because it can wash off the stains of wrong actions which can never be removed by the waters of all other rivers. Sila is like sandalwood, because it can remove the fever of the defilements just as sandalwood (according to ancient Indian belief) can be used to allay bodily fever. Again sila is like an ornament made of precious jewels because it adorns the person who wears it. It is like a perfume because it gives off a pleasant scent, the "scent of virtue," which unlike ordinary perfume travels even against the wind. It is like moonbeams because it cools off the heat of passion as the moon cools off the heat of the day. And sila is like a staircase because it leads upwards by degrees — to higher states of future existence in the fortunate realms, to the higher planes of concentration and wisdom, to the supernormal powers, to the paths and fruits of liberation, and finally to the highest goal, the attainment of nibbana.

　　Notes

　　1.Khuddakapatha-Atthakatha: Saranagatanam ten”eva saranagamanena bhayam santasam dukkham duggatim parikkilesam himsati vidhamati niharati nirodheti.

　　2.It should be remarked that although the ariyan Sangha can include lay persons, the word "Sangha" is never used in the Theravada Buddhist tradition to include the entire body of practitioners of the teaching. In ordinary usage the word signifies the order of monks. Any extension beyond this would tend to be considered unjustified.

　　3.Tappasada-taggarutahi vihatakileso tapparayanatokarappavatto cittuppado saranagamanam.

　　4.Natthi me saranam aññam Buddho (Dhammo Sangho) me saranam varam — traditional Buddhist devotional stanzas.

　　5.Though the traditional literature always explains the breach of the refuge as occurring though a change of allegiance, it would seem that a complete loss of interest in the Triple Gem and the feeling that reliance on a refuge is not necessary would also break the commitment to the threefold refuge.

　　6.Khuddakapatha Atthakatha (Khp. A.), p. 26.

　　7.Khp. A., p. 26.

　　8.Majjimanikaya Atthakatha, Vol. I, p. 202 (Burmese ed.).

　　9.Khp. A., p. 26.

　　10.Khp. A., p. 26.

《Going for Refuge & Taking the Precepts》全文阅读结束。