Part Six

This World And Other Worlds

Chapter 16 Realms of Existence
 
第六篇

此世界与他方世界

第十六章 环境与生存

The Origin of the World

宇宙的起源

'There is no reason to suppose that the world had a beginning at all. The idea that things must have a beginning is really due to the poverty of our thoughts.' (Bertrand Russell)

我们无法假定宇宙有一个起点。认为宇宙有起点，是因为我们的想像力贫乏。─罗素─

There are three schools of thought regarding the origin of the world. The first school of thought claims that this world came into existence by nature and that nature is not an intelligent force. However, nature works no its own accord and goes on changing.

有三种不同的思想派系涉及宇宙的缘起，它们是：一、认为宇宙的存在来自于它的本体，这种本体是非智力性的，但是，由于本体自我不断的继续运作，使所有的事物都起了变化。

The second school of thought says that the world was created by an almighty God who is responsible for everything.

二、认为宇宙是万能的「神」所创造的，「神」创造了宇宙和宇宙的一切事物。

The third school of thought says that the beginning of this world and of life is inconceivable since they have neither beginning nor end. Buddhism is in accordance with this third school of thought. Bertrand Russell supports this school of thought by saying, 'There is no reason to suppose that the world had a beginning at all. The idea that things must have a beginning is really due to the poverty of our thoughts.'

三、认为宇宙的缘起是不可思议的，它无始无终。佛教的宇宙观是属于第三种，西方大哲学家罗素也这么认为：「我们无法假定宇宙有一个起点。认为宇宙有起点，是因为我们的想像力贫乏。」

Modern science says that some millions of years ago, the newly cooled earth was lifeless and that life originated in the ocean. Buddhism never claimed that the world, sun, moon, stars, wind, water, days and nights were created by a powerful god or by a Buddha. Buddhists believe that the world was not created once upon a time, but that the world has been created millions of times every second and will continue to do so by itself and will break away by itself. According to Buddhism, world systems always appear and disappear in the universe.

现代科学家认为，在数亿万年以前，刚冷却的地球是没有生命的，生命缘起于海洋。佛教从来没有宣称这世界、太阳、月亮、星星、风、雨、昼、夜，是「神」所创造。

佛陀认为宇宙不是过去任何一个时刻的创造，世界在每一秒钟都有数以百万计的创造。世界本身在不停的创造，也在不停的毁灭。佛教认为宇宙体系经常出现，也会自己消失。

H.G. Wells, in A Short History of the World, says 'It is universally recognized that the universe in which we live, has to all appearance, existed for an enormous period of time and possibly for endless time. But that the universe in which we live, has existed only for six or seven thousand years may be regarded as an altogether exploded idea. No life seems to have happened suddenly upon earth.'

历史学家H.G.威尔在他的着作《世界简史》里提到：「一般的了解，我们所居住的地球在久远的年代已经存在了，它也可能永远的存在，没有终极点。……人类生存在地球已经有六、七千年的历史了，这也许是一个爆炸性的观念。在这以前人类好像不曾出现在地球。」

The efforts made by many religions to explain the beginning and the end of the universe are indeed ill-conceived. The position of religions which propound the view that the universe was created by god in an exactly fixed year, has become a difficult one to maintain in the light of modern and scientific knowledge.

很多宗教用来解释宇宙的缘起和终结的都是一些拙劣的构思。在宗教立场，认定宇宙是「神」在某一特定的时间作创造的构思，在科学昌明的今天，已经站不住脚了。

Today scientists, historians, astronomers, biologists, botanists, anthropologists and great thinkers have all contributed vast new knowledge about the origin of the world. This latest discovery and knowledge is not at all contradictory to the Teachings of the Buddha. Bertrand Russell again says that he respects the Buddha for not making false statements like others who committed themselves regarding the origin of the world.

今天的科学家、历史学家、生物学家、人类学家以及一些思想家，都在努力的探溯和发掘宇宙缘起的新知识。在最近发现的新知识中，并没有和佛教思想相互矛盾。罗素说：他敬重佛陀，是因为佛陀没有犯下有如其它宗教的有关宇宙缘起的错误。

The speculative explanations of the origin of the universe that are presented by various religions are not acceptable to the modern scientists and intellectuals. Even the commentaries of the Buddhist Scriptures, written by certain Buddhist writers, cannot be challenged by scientific thinking in regard to this question. The Buddha did not waste His time on this issue. The reason for His silence was that this issue has no religious value for gaining spiritual wisdom. The explanation of the origin of the universe is not the concern of religion. Such theorizing is not necessary for living a righteous way of life and for shaping our future life. However, if one insists on studying this subject, then one must investigate the sciences, astronomy, geology, biology and anthropology. These sciences can offer more reliable and tested information on this subject than can be supplied by any religion. The purpose of a religion is to cultivate the life here in this world and hereafter until liberation is gained.

一般宗教对宇宙是缘起，只是接受了推理性的解说，因此，不为现代科学知识份子所接受。甚至佛学者所注释的经典，也被科学家质疑。佛陀并没有浪费他的时间在这个课题，他保持沉默的理由是，佛教的价值在于获得心灵的解脱和智慧，宇宙的缘起并不重要。然而，一个人如果坚持要研究这个科目，他就必须深入的探讨与科学、生物学、地理学和天文学。这些科目能提供比佛教更多也更有参考价值的材料。佛教的价值在于培养今世和来世的生活情操，一直到解脱。

In the eyes of the Buddha, the world is nothing but Samsara--the cycle of repeated births and deaths. To Him, the beginning of the world and the end of the world is within this Samsara. Since elements and energies are relative and inter-dependent, it is meaningless to single out anything as the beginning. Whatever speculation we make regarding the origin of the world, there is no absolute truth in our notion.

在佛陀眼里，这世界只有生死不断循环的「轮回」。对佛陀而言，宇宙的起点和终点都在「轮回」之内，因为物质与能源不断的相互依赖而存在，寻找出宇宙的起点和终点，是一件没有意义的事。实际，所有一切有关于宇宙缘起的思想都是空谈泛论，不是究竟的或绝对的真理。

'Infinite is the sky, infinite is the number of beings,

「虚空无尽，众生无数。

Infinite are the worlds in the vast universe,

宇宙中有无数的世界。

Infinite in wisdom the Buddha teaches these,

佛陀教导我们，

Infinite are the virtues of Him who teaches these.'

智慧无尽，道德也无尽。」

(Sri Ramachandra)

─ 斯里.拉玛詹德拉─

One day a man called Malunkyaputta approached the Master and demanded that He explain the origin of the Universe to him. He even threatened to cease to be His follow if the Buddha's answer was not satisfactory. The Buddha calmly retorted that it was of no consequence to Him whether or not Malunkyaputta followed Him, because the Truth did not need anyone's support. Then the Buddha said that He would not go into a discussion of the origin of the Universe. To Him, gaining knowledge about such matters was a waste of time because a man's task was to liberate himself from the present, not the past or the future. To illustrate this, the Enlightened One related the parable of a man who was shot by a poisoned arrow. This foolish man refused to have the arrow removed until he found out all about the person who shot the arrow. By the time his attendants discovered these unnecessary details, the man was dead. Similarly, our immediate task is to attain Nibbana, not to worry about our beginnings.

一天，木伧伽子(Malunyaputta)要佛陀向他解释宇宙的缘起，如果能令他满意，他就愿意追随佛陀。其实，佛陀并不强迫任何人追随他，因为真理是不需要任何强迫性的支持。佛陀对木伧伽子的问题保持沉默不给予他面的回答。对佛陀而言，回答这个问题是在浪费时间，人们不应该关注于过去的问题，而是应该关心未来的解脱。为了让木伧伽子明白这个道理，佛陀对他开示道：

「有一天，一位愚痴者被毒箭射中，他拒绝医生的诊治，他要先找出箭镞的毒素，当他还没有完成他的想像，就已经毒发身亡了。」

我们最迫切的任务是如何通往涅槃，而不是争执于宇宙的缘起。