Religious Section 宗教篇

Part Three 第三部分 Sakyamuni
釋迦牟尼

《中国文化集锦》
A Collection of Choice Specimens from Chinese Culture

英语七十载厚重岁月情缘
Seventy Years of Deep Affection of Knowledge about the English Language

Sakyamuni 釋迦牟尼

Sakyamuni means the Holy one of the Sakyas 釋迦牟尼意即“釋迦族的聖人”, a title of the historical Buddha. “Sakya” was the clan name 釋迦是族名, and “muni” means a saint, sage, holy man or monk牟尼意即聖人. The names have been run together and made up what is probably the best-known name for the Buddha.
Sakyamuni’s right hand symbolizes the taking away of suffering and the left hand that of bestowing happiness. It represents “peace of earth.”
Buddhism became popular after the 4th century and with the support of feudal emperors, it became the most influential religion in China, reaching its peak during the Sui（581-618） and Tang（618-907）dynasties. Before 1949 many Chinese believed in Buddhism. It is estimated that there were about half a million Buddhist monks and nuns and 50,000 Buddhist temples in 1949. In the world today, there are 240 million Buddhist believers who are scattered over many countries like India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, China, Japan, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Cambodia, and Thailand as well
Since 1949, Chinese Buddhists have established relations with Buddhist organizations and individuals in more than 30 countries and have sent delegations to attend world conferences on religion.
The country is estimated to have nearly 100 million Buddhist followers. Chinese mainland has 20,000 Buddhist temples and about 200,000 Buddhist monks and nuns. There are 34 Buddhist schools and colleges.
Buddha is not a god. Sakyamuni was a person living in the 6th century BC釋迦牟尼是西元前六世紀時代的人。Buddha means an enlightened person or an intelligent one 佛是“覺者”或“智者”. His name was Siddhārtha 他的名字叫悉達多and his family name was Gautama 他姓喬達摩. Because he belonged to the Sākya clan因為他屬於釋迦族, people called him Sakyamuni人們叫他釋迦牟尼, meaning holy man of Sākya Clan意思是釋迦族的聖人. Sakyamuni lived in mid-6th century BC（c. 565 BC-c. 486）, about the same period as Confucius (551 BC- 479) lived during the Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC-476) in China. 釋迦牟尼的生卒年代，約當西元前六世紀中葉（西元前565-西元前485），正是我國春秋時代，差不多與孔子是同時代的人。The former was the eldest son of the King Kapilavastu（Kapilavastu意譯“妙德城”）in a small country of ancient Northern India他是當時迦毗羅國（是一個小國，古印度北部） 國王的長子 near today’s Nepalese border（今尼泊爾境內）. His father’s name was Suddhodana父親名淨飯. His mother’s name was Māyā母親名摩耶. According to the ancient customs in India, before giving birth, she must return to her parents’ home. While passing by Lumbini Garden, she took a rest under a tree and gave birth to Prince Siddhārtha. 根據當時的風俗，她必須回到母家去，路過藍毗尼花園，在樹下休息的時候，生下了悉達多王子。
Soon after she gave birth to Prince Siddhartha, she passed away. His aunt named Prajāpati raised the young prince. As a young boy, the prince learnt literature, philosophy, and mathematics. He was a learnt man. Also he trained the martial arts and was capable of hunting on horseback and fencing. His father held that his son had a natural gift of cleverness and looked extremely handsome. His father placed great hope in him, hoping that one day he would succeed to the throne and become a monarch.
摩耶夫人產後不久就去死了。幼年時代的釋迦牟尼是有她的姨母波闍（音shé，佛教指高僧）波提夫人養育的。他自幼從婆羅門學者們學習文學、哲學、算學等等，知識很廣博。又從武士們學習武術，是一個騎射擊劍的能手。他父親淨飯王因為他天資聰慧，相貌奇偉，對他期望很大，希望他繼承王位後，建功立業，成為一個“轉輪王”（統一天下的君主）。
As a child, he had a habit of meditating. Many phenomena he saw made him to think and meditate. The birth, the old, sickness and death, forced him to ponder over a question as for how to solve the problems. The Vedas he read could not solve the problems. His knowledge, the throne and power could not tackle his problems. He made up his mind early on to leave his home and become a monk. Finally, he gave up the throne.
悉達多王子在幼年的時候，就有沉思的習慣，世間許多現象，給他看到，都容易引起他的感觸和深思：生、老、病、死促使他思索著一個問題---如何解脫世界的痛苦。他讀過的《吠（音肺）陀經》（印度婆羅門教的古代經典，共四卷）不能解決他的問題。他學到的知識和他未來的王位、權力也都不能解決他的問題，於是他很早就有了出家的念頭，後來終於捨棄了王位。
過去佛燃燈佛是釋迦牟尼之前世上救度眾生的佛；現在佛釋迦牟尼，他約生於2500年前，是佛教的創始人；東邊為未來佛彌勒（彌勒和觀音、大勢至﹡合稱西方三聖），它是釋迦牟尼之後，未來世上的佛。釋迦牟尼左右有一老一少佛像，左手邊的叫迦葉（讀攝）Kasyapa，釋迦牟尼的十大弟子之一。傳說當時佛經沒有手寫本全憑口誦記憶，釋迦牟尼﹡涅槃後第一次佛教結集“三藏”時，為召集人兼首座。中國禪宗又說他是傳承佛法的第一代祖師。右手邊的是阿難，釋迦牟尼的堂弟，釋迦回鄉時跟從出家，持從釋迦二十五年，為十大弟子之一。阿難善長以記憶，被稱為多聞第一。傳說佛教第一次結集，由他誦出經藏。
Having heard of his son’s decision, the king tried by all means to prevent him from doing this. His father attempted to seduce him with a luxurious life. At the age of 16, the king took a princess from a neighboring state Yasodharā as a concubine for him. Later, a son named Rāhula was born. But all this was of no avail. Eventually one night he secretly left his capital city and went into a forest by himself. Then he took off his prince’s clothes, shaved his hair and became a monk. According to written history, he became a monk at the age of 19 or 29. 他父親淨飯王發覺了他兒子的心思後，曾經想過各種辦法防止他，特別是企圖從生活的享受上束縛他。悉達多王子在十六歲時，父親淨飯王便為他娶了鄰國的王女耶輸陀羅為妃子，生了一個兒子名叫羅怙羅。但是這一切都沒有能夠阻止他，終於在一個夜深人靜的時候，他偷偷地夜半逾城，進入一個森林中，換去王子的衣服，剃去鬚髮，成為一個修行者。關於他出家的年齡，有兩種不同的記載，一種說法是十九歲，另一種說法是二十九歲。
His father tried every means possible to prevent him from becoming a monk. But the result proved fruitless. Finding nothing could be done to dissuade him, the king selected his five closest relatives and followed him as his entourage. Their names were Kaundinya（Konadanna憍）陳如, Bhadrika跋堤, Vāspa跋波, Mahānāma Kulika摩訶男拘利, and Asvajit阿說示. The prince and his followers visited three well-known scholars and learned doctrines from them. But they could not put his heart to peace. Knowing that he could not eliminate sufferings through philosophical thought. He left them and he walked to the tree by Lilaian River and lived together with other monks. To free him, he suffered all kinds of hardships for six years, but he didn’t succeed. Therefore, he went to Nairanjana Lilaian River, took a bath in it and washed away the dirt on his body of the last six years. He was fed with (a bowl of chyle) milk provided by Sujata， a herdswoman and became vigorous. Under such circumstances, the five followers thought that the prince had lost his confidence and would not succeed any more. They left him and went their way to Benares City 波羅奈城to continue their cause. Finally, the prince arrived at a pippala (pipal) tree畢缽羅樹之下（pippala，無花果樹之一種，學名Ficus Religiosa）, regarded as sacred by Buddhism), under which he put the auspicious grass (Kusa) given by a mower on the ground as he sat with crossed legs, facing east. He vowed: “I would rather die and never get up, than not being enlightened.” One night he conquered all worries and got thoroughly enlightened and became a Buddha. Since ancient times, the place where Sakyamuni became a Buddha has been called Buddhagaya, the pippala tree under which Siddhārtha attained Buddhahood, and hence the name , the pippala tree. 他父親曾盡力勸他回去無效，只好在親族中選派五個人隨從他一起，這五個人的名字分別是：Kaundinya（憍）陳如, Bhadrika跋堤, Vāspa跋波, Mahānāma Kulika摩訶男拘利, and Asvajit阿說示. 悉達多王子和他的持者們先後尋訪當時三個有名的學者，從他們學道，都不能滿足他的要求於是知道當時哲學思想中沒有真正解脫之法，便離開了他們，走到尼連禪河，現在叫做Lilaian岸邊的樹林中，和那裏的苦行人（極端刻苦修行的人）在一起。為了尋求解脫，他嘗夠了艱難辛酸，堅持不懈，經過六年之久，但是結果徒勞無功。方才悟到苦行是無益的。於是他到尼連禪河裏去沐浴，洗去了六年的積垢，隨後受到了一個牧女供養的乳糜，恢復了氣力。當時隨從他的五個人見到他的情景，以為他放棄了信心和努力，便離開了他，前往波羅奈城去繼續他們的苦行。王子於是一個人走到一棵畢缽羅樹（畢缽羅樹被特稱為菩提樹 Bodhidruma, 又稱“阿沛多羅樹”、“貝多樹”、意譯“覺樹”、“道樹”）下，敷上刈（音義）草人送給他的吉祥草，向著東方盤腿而座，並發誓說：“我如今不證到無上大覺，寧可讓此身粉碎，終不起此座”。他便這樣在樹下思維解脫之道，終於在一個夜裏，戰勝了最後的煩惱魔障，獲得了徹底覺悟而成了佛陀。釋迦牟尼成佛處，自古稱為菩提道场或菩提伽耶，那裏的畢缽羅樹，因為佛座在樹下成道的緣故，得名菩提樹。

The world-famous Dunhuang Murals, Longmen Grottoes, and Yungang Grottoes have been listed as the cultural relics under the State preservation. They are taken care of by special organizations. 世界聞名的敦煌壁畫、龍門石窟、雲岡石窟等被列為國家重點保護文物，有專門機構負責保管。
相傳，在古印度北部的迦毗羅衛國（今尼泊爾境內）淨飯王。他有個兒子叫喬答摩·悉達多，他年輕時就痛感人世生、老、病、死、各種苦惱，並對當時婆羅門的神權統治及為不滿。於是在他29歲那年，毅然離開王族的豪華生活，出家修道，苦修六年，在佛陀耶菩提樹下成道並創立了佛教。相傳在這一天是我國農曆臘月初八。由於他是釋迦族人，佛教徒門尊稱他是釋迦牟尼（即釋迦族聖人的意思）。