Rebirth

　　轮回

　　Unsatisfied desire for existence and sensual pleasures is the cause of rebirth.

　　感官的不满足是造成轮回的最大原因。

　　Buddhists regard the doctrine of rebirth not as a mere theory but as a verifiable fact. The belief in rebirth forms a fundamental tenet of Buddhism. However, the belief in rebirth is not confined to Buddhist; it is also found in other countries, in other religions, and even among free thinkers. Pythagoras could remember his previous birth. Plato could remember a number of his previous lives. According to Plato, man can be reborn only up to ten times. Plato also believed in the possibility of rebirth in the animal kingdom. Among the ancient people in Egypt and China, a common belief was that only well-known personalities like emperors and kings have rebirths. A well-known Christian authority named Origen, who lived in 185-254 A. D., believed in rebirth. According to him, there is no eternal suffering in a hell. Gorana Bruno, who lived in the sixteenth century, believed that the soul of every man and animal transmigrates from one being to another. In 1788, a well-known philosopher, Kant, criticized eternal punishment. Kant also believed in the possibility of rebirth in other celestial bodies. Schopenhauer(1788-1860), another great philosopher, said that where the will to live existed there must be of necessity life. The will to live manifests itself successively in ever new forms. The Buddha explained this ”will to exist” as the craving for existence.

　　轮回对佛教来说，不仅是理论而且还是可证实的事实。信仰轮回成为佛教的基本教义。然而轮回的信仰不仅存在于佛教，在其它国度、其它宗教里，甚至以下自由的思想家里，都有信仰轮回的人。希腊的毕达哥拉斯(Pythagoras)能记得起他的前世，柏拉图(Plato)也能记起他好几个前世，柏拉图相信人能轮回十世。同时也会轮回到畜生界里。在古代的中国和挨及，一般都相信贵族和帝王能转世轮回。一名基督教权威奥里根(Orgen, 185-254)也相信轮回，他认为没有永远受苦的地狱。十六世纪的意大利哲学家果拉那.布鲁诺(Gorana Bruno)，相信每一个人或畜生的灵魂都是由另一个众生的转世。在一七八八年著名的哲学家康德，批评了「永 久 的 惩 罚 」， 康 德 也 相 信 轮 回 于 其 他 天 国 的 可 能 性 。 另 一 位 哲 学 家 叔 本 华(Schopenhauer, 1788-1860)认为：「只要有生存的意志，就必然有生命，就是生存的意识令生命得以持续运转。」佛陀诠释这种「生存意志」为：对「生」的「执着」。

　　It is possible but not very easy for us to actually verify our past lives. The nature of mind is such that it does not allow most people the recollection of their previous lives. Our minds are overpowered by the five hindrances: sensual desire, ill-will, sloth, restlessness and doubt. Because of these hindrances, our vision is earth-bound and hence we cannot visualize rebirths. Just as a mirror does not reflect an image when it is covered with dirt, so the mind does not allow most people the recollection of previous lives. We cannot see the stars during daytime, not because they are not there in the sky, but because they are outshone by the sunlight. Similarly, we cannot remember our past lives because our mind at present is always over-burdened with many thoughts in the present, day-to-day events and mundane circumstances.

　　要实际验证我们的过去世，是可能的，但并不容易。心的本质的转变，使大多数人无法记忆起他们的往世。我们的心被贪、嗔、痴、慢、疑五种障碍所左右，因为有这些障碍的存在，我们的「识」受了限制，因此无法识别往世。这有如一面镜子被灰尘蒙蔽，照不出影像一样。因此大多数的人不能回忆前世。白天，我们看不见星星，并不是星星不存在，而是太阳的光比它们还要强烈。同样的，我们无法回忆起我们的往世，是因为我们现在的「心」一直负荷过重，我们对每天遇到诸多的事故，生起了种种的思虑，因此，导致「心」的真性被蒙蔽了。

　　A consideration of the shortness of our life-span on earth will help us to reflect on rebirth. If we consider life and its ultimate meaning and goal, and all the varied experience possible for man, we must conclude that in a single life there is not enough time for man to carry out all that is intended by nature, to say nothing about what man himself desires to do. The scale of experience is enormous. There is a vast range of powers latent in man which we see and can even develop if the opportunity is presented to us. This especially true today if special investigation is made. We find ourselves with high aspirations but with no time to attain them. Meanwhile, the great troop of passions and desires, selfish motives and ambitions, make war within us and w…

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