Theravada - Mahayana Buddhism

　　上座部与大乘佛教

　　Ven. Dr. W. Rahula

　　罗睺罗法师(博士)著

　　梁国雄居士译 V1.0 2010-4-20

　　(From: "Gems of Buddhist Wisdom",

　　Buddhist Missionary Society, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 1996)

　　Let us discuss a question often asked by many people: What is the difference between Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism

　　 To see things in their proper perspective, let us turn to the history of Buddhism and trace the emergence and development of Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism.

　　让我们讨论一个许多人经常会问的问题：究竟大乘与上座部佛教有什么分别？为了恰当地处理这个问题，让我们重温一下佛教历史，追溯大乘与上座部佛教的出现与发展过程吧。

　　The Buddha was born in the 6th Century B.C. After attaining Enlightenment at the age of 35 until his Mahaparinibbana at the age of 80, he spent his life preaching and teaching. He was certainly one of the most energetic man who ever lived: for forty-five years he taught and preached day and night, sleeping for only about 2 hours a day.

　　佛陀(释迦牟尼佛)出生于公元前六世纪，他于三十五岁觉悟后，至八十岁般涅槃之间的生命，都用来教导众生，他以四十五年时间，不分日夜地去教导众生佛法，每日只睡约两个小时，其精力充沛，是历史上甚为罕有的。

　　The Buddha spoke to all kinds of people: kings and princes, Brahmins, farmers, beggars, learned men and ordinary people. His teachings were tailored to the experiences, levels of understanding and mental capacity of his audience. What he taught was called Buddha Vacana, i.e. word of the Buddha. There was nothing called Theravada or Mahayana at that time.

　　佛陀说法的对象包括各式各样的人，例如：国王、王子、贵族、婆罗门、农夫、乞丐、学者、平民等。他每次的教导，都是因应当时听众的经验、理解力，以及心智水平来度身定造。他的教导被称为「佛的言教(Buddha Vacana)」，当时根本就没有所谓上座部或大乘。

　　After establishing the Order of monks and nuns, the Buddha laid down certain disciplinary rules called the Vinaya for the guidance of the Order. The rest of his teachings were called the Dhamma which included his discourses, sermons to monks, nuns and lay people.

　　在僧团成立后，佛陀更定立了一些称为「戒律(Vinaya)」的规则来供僧众遵守，他的其他教导被称为「法(Dhamma)」，那是他与比丘、比丘尼及在家众等的谈话、演讲与教导。

　　The First Council

　　第一次结集会议(The First Council)

　　Three months after the Buddha”s Mahaparinibbana, his immediate disciples convened a council at Rajagaha. Maha Kassapa, the most respected and elderly monk, presided at the Council. Two very important personalities who specialised in the two different areas - the Dhamma and the Vinaya - were present. One was Ananda, the closest constant companion and disciple of the Buddha for 25 years. Endowed with a remarkable memory, Ananda was able to recite what was spoken by the Buddha. The other personality was Upali who remembered all the Vinaya rules.

　　在佛般涅槃后三个月，他的直系弟子在王舍城举行会议，由年纪最大和最受敬重的大迦叶尊者做主持人，两位对法与戒律最为熟悉的重要人物也有出席，一位是阿难(Ananda)尊者，他是佛陀廿五年来的侍者，具有惊人的记忆力，能背诵佛陀说过的所有言教；另一位是优波离(Upali)尊者，他记得所有佛陀说过的戒律。

　　Only these two sections - the Dhamma and the Vinaya - were recited at the First Council. Though there were no differences of opinion on the Dhamma (no mention of the Abhidhamma) there was some discussion about the Vinaya rules. Before the Buddha”s Parinibbana, he had told Ananda that if the Sangha wished to amend or modify some minor rules, they could do so. But on that occasion Ananda was so overpowered with grief because the Buddha was about to die that it did not occur to him to ask the Master what the minor rules were. As the members of the Council were unable to agree as to what constituted the minor rules, Maha Kassapa finally ruled that no disciplinary rule laid down by the Buddha should be changed, and no new ones should be introduced. No intrinsic reason was given. Maha Kassapa did say one thing, however: "If we changed the rules, people will say that Ven. Gotama”s disciples changed the rules even before his funeral fire has ceased burning."

　　在此第一次结集会议，只有法与戒律这两个部分被背诵出来。虽然当时对法并没有不同的意见(那时并没有提到论(Abhidhamma))，对「戒律」却有一些讨论。在佛陀般涅槃前，他曾告诉阿难尊者，如果僧团欲修改一些次要的戒律(minor rules)，那是可以的。由于在佛陀临终时，阿难尊者伤心欲绝，未有醒觉到要问佛陀什么是次要的戒律，故此，出席结集的僧众未能一致同意那些是次要的戒律，于是，大迦叶尊者作了最后决定，对佛陀所定下的戒律，既不改动，也不增加。对此，大迦叶尊者没有提出任何具体理由，但有说过以下…

《上座部与大乘佛教 Theravada - Mahayana Buddhism》全文未完，请进入下页继续阅读…