..续本文上一页. Such a person will indeed hinder his won spiritual progress.

　　一个伟大的思想家(哲学家、科学家、玄学家)，也可能是一位聪明的笨蛋。他可能拥有聪明才智，有很强的理解力，能够清晰正确的表达自己的思想。但是，如果他不注意自己的言行，也不注意自己言行的结果，甚至一心一意执着于自我或自我的理想，像这样的人，就是一位聪明的笨蛋。一位智慧未开发的聪明人，会深深的影响他自己今后的进步。

　　The Buddha”s Teaching contains practical wisdom that cannot be limited to theory or to philosophy because philosophy deals mainly with knowledge but it is not concerned with translating the knowledge into day-to-day practices.

　　佛陀的教义包括智慧的训练，并不局限于一般的哲学或理论。哲学只是一种学识，无法应用到实际的日常生活中。

　　Buddhism lays special emphasis on practice and realization. The philosopher sees the miseries and disappointments of life but, unlike the Buddha, he offers no practical solution to overcome our frustrations which are part of the unsatisfactory nature of life. The philosopher merely pushes his thoughts to dead ends. Philosophy is useful because it has enriched our intellectual imagination and diminished dogmatic assurance which closes the mind to further progress. To that extent, Buddhism values philosophy, but it has failed to quench spiritual thirst.

　　佛陀强调的是实践和体验。哲学家虽然看到人生的悲恸和不如意，但是，却无法提供实际的方法，来克服我们生命里所遭遇到的挫折和不如意。哲学家把他们的思想推向牛角尖，哲学本身是有益的，可惜不能解决人类精神的飢渴，哲学能丰富我们的知识和想像，减少我们思想的闭塞和不执着于教条主义。就这些而言，佛教对哲学是肯定的。

　　Remember that the chief aim of a Buddhist is to attain purity and enlightenment. Enlightenment vanquishes ignorance which is the root of birth and death. However, this vanquishing of ignorance cannot be achieved except by the exercise of one”s confidence. All other attempts, especially mere intellectual attempts are not very effective. This is why the Buddha concluded: ”These [metaphysical]questions are not calculated to profit; they are not concerned with the Dhamma; they do not lead to right conduct, or to detachment, or to purification from lusts, or to quietude, or to a calm heart, or to real knowledge, or to higher insight, or to Nibbana.” (Malunkyaputta Sutta _ Majjhima Nikaya)

　　佛教主要的目的是达到觉悟和精神的自由和解脱。觉悟克服了「无明」这一生死根源。然而，要克服「无明」，唯有靠个人的努力和坚韧不拔的意志力，任何单纯知识性的努力都是徒然无功的。佛陀曾经这么说过：「那些形而上学的纯理论思想是不会获得任何利益，它们与真理毫不相干，它们不能领导行为，涤净烦恼、执着而获得宁静、安稳、内观智慧或究竟涅磐。」《中部》

　　In place of metaphysical speculation, the Buddha was more concerned with teaching a practical understanding of the Four Noble Truths that he discovered: what Suffering is: what the origin of Suffering is; what the cessation of Suffering is; how to overcome Suffering and realize final Salvation. These Truths are all practical matters to be fully understood and realized by anyone who really experiences emancipation.

　　佛陀排除形而上学的不实际思想和臆测，他要我们专注于他所发现的「四圣谛」及其实用性。「四圣谛」告诉我们苦、集、灭、道的真理，及如何弃除苦而达到最后的解脱。任何人要成就于解脱，就必须先了解什么是「四圣谛」。

　　Enlightenment is the dispelling of ignorance; it is the ideal of the Buddhist life. We can now clearly see that enlightenment is not an act of the intellect. Mere speculation has something alien to it and does not come so intimately into contact with life. This is why the Buddha placed great emphasis on personal experience. Meditation is a practical scientific system to verify the Truth that comes through personal experience. Through meditation, the will tries to transcend the condition it has put on itself, and this is the awakening of consciousness. Metaphysics merely ties us down in a tangled and matted mass of thoughts and words.

　　「觉悟」是驱逐「无明」，这是佛陀对生命的理想。当我们了解学识不能令我们获得觉悟时，就应该更重视佛陀的教义。因此，佛陀强调这是他个人亲身的经历。禅定是实际并具有科学性的，它能验证个人亲身经历的真理。一切形而上学的思维方式，只能令我们更加困扰，生活在纠缠与混乱中。

《佛教与哲学 Is Buddhism a Theory or a Philosophy

　　》全文阅读结束。