..续本文上一页是个问题。我们认为，达成这两面的协调，从而在个人的观念与修持中确保内在一致性，关键在于考虑两个根本问题: 第一，佛法教导的目的，第二，为了达到该目的所需的策略。目的是从苦中证得解脱。佛法的本意，并非为我们提供有关世界的实际知识，因此虽与科学兼容，其目标与内涵必然有异于科学。佛法在最主要、最基本的意义上，是一条通往释放心智、摆脱轮回之苦的道路。佛法为我们提供了无可替代的解脱之道，非仅寻求智力上的认同，它指定的态度必然有充分的宗教性。它直指内心深处，于存在的终极意义岌岌可危之际，在那里唤醒了相应的信念、崇敬与坚定。

　　But for Buddhism faith and devotion are only spurs which impel us to enter and persevere along the path; by themselves they cannot ensure deliverance. The primary cause of bondage and suffering, the Buddha teaches, is ignorance regarding the true nature of existence; hence in the Buddhist strategy of liberation the primary instrument must be wisdom, the knowledge and vision of things as they really are. Investigation and critical inquiry, cool and uncommitted, constitute the first step toward wisdom, enabling us to resolve our doubts and gain a conceptual grasp of the truths upon which our deliverance depends. But doubt and questioning cannot continue indefinitely. Once we have decided that the Dhamma is to be our vehicle to spiritual freedom, we have to step on board: we must leave our hesitancy behind and enter the course of training which will lead us from faith to liberating vision. 但是对佛教来说，信念与崇敬只能促使我们走上这条路、并坚持走下去; 它们本身却不能保证解脱。佛陀教导说，束缚与苦的根源，是对真相的无明; 因此佛教的解脱策略中，基本工具必须是智慧，即对真相的如实知见。冷静而不受约束的调查与批判性的探索，构成了通往智慧的第一步，使我们排疑解惑，对解脱所依的真理有一个概念上的把握。但是疑与问不能永久存在。我们一旦决定佛法是通向灵性自由的载体，就得走上前来: 把存犹置于身后，投身于一个修练过程，它会把我们从信仰引向解脱的洞见。

　　For those who approach the Dhamma in quest of intellectual or emotional gratification, inevitably it will show two faces, and one will always remain a puzzle. But if we are prepared to approach the Dhamma on its own terms, as the way to release from suffering, there will not be two faces at all. Instead we will see what was there from the start: the single face of Dhamma which, like any other face, presents two complementary sides. 对那些为了寻求智力或情感的满足而接近佛法的人，它不可避免地以双重面貌存在，其中之一必然始终是个难题。但如果我们做好准备，以佛法本身指定的态度，把它作为灭苦之道，则丝毫不存在双面形式。相反，我们看见的是法的单一面貌，它从起始便这般存在，如一切面貌，皆显现互补的两个侧面。

《佛法的两面性》全文阅读结束。