The central figure of Buddhism is not a god but a human being, Siddhartha Gautama. According to Buddhist tradition, Gautama was heir to a small Himalayan kingdom, sometime around 500BC. The young prince was deeply affected by the suffering evident all around him. He saw that men and women, children and old people, all suffer not just from occasional calamities such as war and plague, but also from anxiety, frustration and discontent, all of which seem to be an inseparable part of the human condition. People pursue wealth and power, acquire knowledge and possessions, beget sons and daughters, and build houses and palaces. Yet no matter what they achieve, they are never content. Those who live in poverty dream of riches. Those who have a million want two million. Those who have two million want 10 million. Even the rich and famous are rarely satisfied. They too are haunted by ceaseless cares and worries, until sickness, old age and death put a bitter end to them. Everything that one has accumulated vanishes like smoke. Life is a pointless rat race. But how to escape it?

佛教的核心人物釋迦牟尼不是神而是人，俗名喬達摩·悉達多（Siddhartha Gautama）。根據佛教經典，釋迦牟尼大約在公元前500年是個喜馬拉雅山區小國的王子，看到身邊的人深深陷于苦難之中，而心生不忍。他看到人不分男女老幼，不僅時常受到戰爭和瘟疫等災難襲擊，還無法免于種種焦慮、沮喪和不滿的情緒，似乎這一切都是人生難以避免的事。人類追求財富和權力，獲得知識和財富，生兒育女，建起宮殿和房屋。但不論取得多少成就，卻仍然無法滿足。窮人夢想著要變富，有一百萬的想要兩百萬，有兩百萬的想要一千萬。而且就算真的有錢了、有名了，他們還是不滿意，還是有無盡的煩惱和憂慮，無法從生老病死中解脫。至死，一切如夢幻泡影消失，生命就像是毫無意義的追尋。然而，這個輪回該怎樣才能跳出？

At the age of twenty-nine Gautama slipped away from his palace in the middle of the night, leaving behind his family and possessions. He travelled as a homeless vagabond throughout northern India, searching for a way out of suffering. He visited ashrams and sat at the feet of gurus but nothing liberated him entirely – some dissatisfaction always remained. He did not despair. He resolved to investigate suffering on his own until he found a method for complete liberation. He spent six years meditating on the essence, causes and cures for human anguish. In the end he came to the realisation that suffering is not caused by ill fortune, by social injustice, or by divine whims. Rather, suffering is caused by the behaviour patterns of one’s own mind.

ashram n. 靜修處

whim n. 沖動，心血來潮

在29歲時，釋迦牟尼半夜離宮，拋下了財富和家人，流浪走遍印度北部，希望為這一切痛苦尋找出路。他前往各個修院修行，聆聽各個大師講道，但還是無法完全感到解脫，有什么不滿依然縈繞。他并未絕望，決心反求諸己，直到找到徹底解決的方法為止。他入禪六年，思索各種人類苦痛的本質、原因和解決方式。最后他體會到，一切苦難并非來自噩運、社會不公或是神祇的任性，而是出于每個人自己心中的思想模式。

Gautama’s insight was that no matter what the mind experiences, it usually reacts with craving, and craving always involves dissatisfaction. When the mind experiences something distasteful it craves to be rid of the irritation. When the mind experiences something pleasant, it craves that the pleasure will remain and will intensify. Therefore, the mind is always dissatisfied and restless. This is very clear when we experience unpleasant things, such as pain. As long as the pain continues, we are dissatisfied and do all we can to avoid it. Yet even when we experience pleasant things we are never content. We either fear that the pleasure might disappear, or we hope that it will intensify. People dream for years about finding love but are rarely satisfied when they find it. Some become anxious that their partner will leave; others feel that they have settled cheaply, and could have found someone better. And we all know people who manage to do both.

釋迦牟尼認為，人遇到事情通常就會產生欲念，而欲念總是會造成不滿。遇到不喜歡的事，就想躲開；遇到喜歡的事，就想維持并增加這份愉快。但正因如此，人心就永遠不滿、永遠不安。這點在碰上不悅的時候格外明顯，像是感覺疼痛的時候，只要疼痛持續，我們就一直感到不滿，用盡辦法想要解決。然而，就算是遇上歡樂的事，我們也從不會真正滿足，而是一直擔心這種歡樂終將結束或是無法再持續或增強。有些人多年來一直在尋找愛情，但等到真的找著了愛情，卻還是不滿足。有的開始整天擔心對方可能會離開；有的又覺得自己太過屈就，應該再找更好的人。（而且，我們也都認識某些人，又擔心別人離開，又覺得自己屈就）。

Great gods can send us rain, social institutions can provide justice and good health care, and lucky coincidences can turn us into millionaires, but none of them can change our basic mental patterns. Hence even the greatest kings are doomed to live in angst, constantly fleeing grief and anguish, forever chasing after greater pleasures.

雖然上天可以賜雨，社會機制可以提供公平正義和衛生保健，有好的運氣就可以變成百萬富翁，但不論如何，我們的基本心態都不會改變。因此，就算是最偉大的國王也無法避免焦慮，得不斷逃避著悲傷和痛苦，也總是想要追尋更多的快樂。

Gautama found that there was a way to exit this vicious circle. If, when the mind experiences something pleasant or unpleasant, it simply understands things as they are, then there is no suffering. If you experience sadness without craving that the sadness go away, you continue to feel sadness but you do not suffer from it. There can actually be richness in the sadness. If you experience joy without craving that the joy linger and intensify, you continue to feel joy without losing your peace of mind.

釋迦牟尼找到一種方法可以跳出這種惡性循環。在事物帶來快樂或痛苦的時候，重點是要看清事物的本質，而不是著重在它帶來的感受，于是就能不再為此所困。雖然感受悲傷，但不要希望悲傷結束，于是雖然仍有悲傷，也能不再為此而困。即使仍然悲傷，也是一種豐碩的經驗。雖然感受快樂，但不要希望快樂繼續，于是雖然仍有快樂，也能不失去心中的平靜。

But how do you get the mind to accept things as they are, without craving? To accept sadness as sadness, joy as joy, pain as pain? Gautama developed a set of meditation techniques that train the mind to experience reality as it is, without craving. These practices train the mind to focus all its attention on the question, ‘What am I experiencing now?’ rather than on ‘What would I rather be experiencing?’ It is difficult to achieve this state of mind, but not impossible.

但要怎樣才能讓心里接受事物的本質，而放下種種欲求，知道苦即為苦、樂即為樂？釋迦牟尼制定一套冥想的技巧，能夠訓練心靈感受事物的本質而排除種種欲求。通過訓練，心靈專注在?“我現在是什么感受？”，而不是問：“為什么是我？”這種境界很難達到，但并非不可能。

Gautama grounded these meditation techniques in a set of ethical rules meant to make it easier for people to focus on actual experience and to avoid falling into cravings and fantasies. He instructed his followers to avoid killing, promiscuous sex and theft, since such acts necessarily stoke the fire of craving (for power, for sensual pleasure, or for wealth). When the flames are completely extinguished, craving is replaced by a state of perfect contentment and serenity, known as nirvana (the literal meaning of which is ‘extinguishing the fire’). Those who have attained nirvana are fully liberated from all suffering. They experience reality with the utmost clarity, free of fantasies and delusions. While they will most likely still encounter unpleasantness and pain, such experiences cause them no misery. A person who does not crave cannot suffer.

釋迦牟尼將冥想落實在各種道德規范上，好讓信眾更能專注在實際的感受，而不會落入各種欲求和幻想之中。他要求信眾不殺生、不邪淫、不偷盜，因為這些作為一定會讓欲望如野火燎原，而一心追求權力、感官享受或財富。等到這些火焰徹底撲滅，原本的欲求就換成了圓滿和寂靜，稱為涅槃（梵文的原義就是“熄滅”）。達到涅槃，也就是解脫了所有苦痛，能夠無比清晰地感受身邊的現實，沒有什么幻想和幻象。雖然人們很有可能還是會遇到苦痛，但苦痛已經不再能影響他們。畢竟，無欲則無苦。

According to Buddhist tradition, Gautama himself attained nirvana and was fully liberated from suffering. Henceforth he was known as ‘Buddha’, which means ‘The Enlightened One’. Buddha spent the rest of his life explaining his discoveries to others so that everyone could be freed from suffering. He encapsulated his teachings in a single law: suffering arises from craving; the only way to be fully liberated from suffering is to be fully liberated from craving; and the only way to be liberated from craving is to train the mind to experience reality as it is.

根據佛教經典，釋迦牟尼本人就達到了涅槃，從痛苦中完全解脫。而在這之后他就被稱為“佛陀”，意為“覺悟者”。接著，佛陀一生前往各地普傳佛法，希望讓所有人離苦得樂。佛陀的教誨一言以蔽之：痛苦來自欲望；要從痛苦中解脫，就要放下欲望；而要放下欲望，就必須訓練心智，體驗事物的本質。

This law, known as?dharma?or?dhamma, is seen by Buddhists as a universal law of nature. That ‘suffering arises from craving’ is always and everywhere true, just as in modern physics?E?always equals?mc2. Buddhists are people who believe in this law and make it the fulcrum of all their activities. Belief in gods, on the other hand, is of minor importance to them. The first principle of monotheist religions is ‘God exists. What does He want from me?’ The first principle of Buddhism is ‘Suffering exists. How do I escape it?’

fulcrum n. 支點，支柱

對佛教徒來說，這條“佛法”就是舉世皆同的自然法則，“痛苦來自欲望”這件事舉世皆同，就像在現代物理里E總是等于MC2。所以，所謂的“佛教徒”，就是相信這條法則，將這條法則落實在一切日常活動中的人。另一方面，是不是信仰某個神靈，對他們來說就不是那么重要。一神論宗教的最高原則是：唯一真神確實存在，那么他想從我這里要什么呢？佛教的最高原則，則是：痛苦確實存在，我該如何逃離呢？

Buddhism does not deny the existence of gods – they are described as powerful beings who can bring rains and victories – but they have no influence on the law that suffering arises from craving. If the mind of a person is free of all craving, no god can make him miserable. Conversely, once craving arises in a person’s mind, all the gods in the universe cannot save him from suffering.

佛教并不否認有神祇存在，認為他們有強大的神通，能夠帶來降雨和勝利，然而神祇對于“由欲得苦”這條法則并無能為力。如果能夠無欲無求，任何神祇都無法讓人感到痛苦。相對而言，如果人有了欲望，任何神祇也無法拯救他脫離痛苦。

Yet much like the monotheist religions, premodern natural-law religions such as Buddhism never really rid themselves of the worship of gods. Buddhism told people that they should aim for the ultimate goal of complete liberation from suffering, rather than for stops along the way such as economic prosperity and political power. However, 99 per cent of Buddhists did not attain nirvana, and even if they hoped to do so in some future lifetime, they devoted most of their present lives to the pursuit of mundane achievements. So they continued to worship various gods, such as the Hindu gods in India, the Bon gods in Tibet, and the Shinto gods in Japan.

但也如同一神論的宗教，佛教這種前現代的自然法則宗教還是無法擺脫神祇崇拜。佛教告訴信眾，他們應該不斷追求達到涅槃境界，不要為了名利停下腳步。然而，99%的佛教徒都無法達到這個境界，而且就算他們一心希望最后能達到這個目標，日常生活里多半都還是追求著世俗的成就。于是，佛教徒還是崇拜著各種神祇，像是在印度的佛教徒拜著印度的神，西藏的佛教徒拜著本教（Bon）的神，日本的佛教徒也拜著神道教的神。

Moreover, as time went by several Buddhist sects developed pantheons of Buddhas and bodhisattvas. These are human and non-human beings with the capacity to achieve full liberation from suffering but who forego this liberation out of compassion, in order to help the countless beings still trapped in the cycle of misery. Instead of worshipping gods, many Buddhists began worshipping these enlightened beings, asking them for help not only in attaining nirvana, but also in dealing with mundane problems. Thus we find many Buddhas and bodhisattvas throughout East Asia who spend their time bringing rain, stopping plagues, and even winning bloody wars – in exchange for prayers, colourful flowers, fragrant incense and gifts of rice and candy.

bodhisattva n. 菩薩，開悟的人

forego v. 領先

此外，佛教的幾個教派也隨著時間發展出滿天諸佛菩薩。諸佛菩薩是人也非人，他們已經能夠達到涅槃、解脫痛苦，但為了解脫和幫助還在輪回中的蕓蕓眾生，倒駕慈航重入世間。所以，佛教徒崇拜的并不是神祇，而是這些已經開悟而尚未成佛的人，除了希望他們協助達到涅槃的境界，也希望他們幫忙處理一些世俗的問題。于是，我們就看到整個東亞有許多佛菩薩得負責降雨、醫病，甚至還得保佑殺敵求勝，而信眾也虔心祈禱，為他們焚香，獻上各色鮮花、稻米和甜品。