一九九六年十月五日， 星期六， 萬佛聖城的道源堂內舉行了一場座談會，題目是「智慧與知識」，大約有八十位的「加州州立漢堡大學」學生，於該週末來參訪萬佛聖城，與會者還有聖城的學生和住眾。
座談會的主席團成員是由幾位客方代表，及一些聖城的出家和在家眾組成。司吉伯‧波列克先生擔任司儀。
座談會中恆古師摘讀並講解一首Ｔ‧Ｓ‧伊利特的詩。詩名「磐石」。因原作較長，摘錄如下：
無窮的思想與行動，無盡的發明與實驗，
周流不息，帶來動的知識，
帶不來靜的知識；帶來言說的知識，
帶不來寂靜的知識；帶來世間言辭的知識，
也帶來對真理的無知。
所有的知識，令我們趨近無知；
所有的無知，令我們趨近死亡；
趨近死亡，則遠離上帝。
何處是汲汲營生中迷失的生命?
何處是知識大海中迷失的智慧?
何處是訊息大洋中迷失的知識?
兩千年的造化輪轉流注，
令我們遠離上帝而近於塵土。
雖然T‧S‧伊利特是一位基督徒一位虔誠的英國國教徒，恆古師說此詩具有普遍的意義，亦可依佛教的觀點來品讀和詮釋。她說稱佛所說的教導為「佛教」，並非最恰當。因為佛教並不是另一種教，另一種「主義」，令人為之爭鬥辯論。上人常說佛教乃是眾生教，心教，智慧教。有一點我們應該知道：佛教的智慧，不是一種知識的積累；這種智慧是眾生本具無缺的。故無需四處覓求。修行，在於開啟我們本具智慧，去掉心靈上的塵埃。然而，佛教的智慧並不與知識相衝剋，佛教並不排斥任何事物；恰恰相反，佛教包容諸法。諸科學領域皆不出其中。
下一位發言的是漢堡大學宗教研究系的教授比爾‧赫布列奇摩先生。他感嘆現在高等學府日趨注重知識，而忽略智慧；注重資訊，而輕視真知。電腦科技的推廣帶來資訊的氾濫，已到令人類無暇應接的地步。
但是，如何開發學生的智慧——一種更深的內涵，更深的自我知識，這一問題卻沒有人重視。比爾教授指出，在萬佛聖城的生活方式側重的是對智慧的追求，而不是對知識的追求。智慧與知識，雖然皆不可少，然而更重要的是對那些簡單而深奧的事物的探討。他以四聖諦「苦、集、滅、道」來總結佛教，如果能明白四聖諦，即能明白其它的道理，如「十法界」、「菩薩道」等等。他說：「追求智慧，說來容易行來難。」
待續 |
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On Saturday, Oct. 5, 1996, a panel discussion on the topic of "Knowledge vs. Wisdom" was arranged at Dao Yuan Hall at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. The discussion took place during the weekend visit of about 80 Humboldt State University students, and was attended by the students as well as the great assembly. The panelists consisted of several guest speakers and left-home and lay disciples residing at the City. The master of ceremonies for the evening was Mr. Skip Blake.
Heng Gu Shr began by quoting and doing a brief commentary on a selection from a poem by T. S. Eliot. The following excerpt comes from a longer poetic work, The Rock:
The endless cycle of idea and action,
Endless invention, endless experiment,
Brings knowledge of motion, but not of stillness;
Knowledge of speech, but not of silence;
Knowledge of words, and ignorance of the Word.
All our knowledge brings us nearer to our ignorance,
All our ignorance brings us nearer to death,
But nearness of death no nearer to God.
Where is the life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
The cycles of Heaven in twenty centuries
Bring us farther from God and nearer to the Dust.
Even though T. S. Eliot was a Christian, a devout Anglican, according to Heng Gu Shr the poem is very universal, and as such can be read and interpreted in Buddhist terms as well. She added that actually "Buddhism" is not the best name for the Buddha's teachings. Buddhism is not just another "-ism", something for people to contend, fight, and argue about. The Venerable Master often defined Buddhism simply as the teaching of all living beings, the teaching of the mind, or the teaching of wisdom. The important thing about wisdom in Buddhism is to realize that, in contrast to knowledge which is accumulated, wisdom is something that is inherent to all of us. All living beings have this wonderful wisdom, so we don't need to go looking all over the world for it. Our work in cultivation is to uncover our original wisdom, clean the bright mirror of our mind from the dust. Yet in Buddhism wisdom is not opposed to knowledge, as Buddhism basically does not oppose anything. In fact, Buddhism is so inclusive that all dharmas, all scientific and other disciplines can be said to be included within it.
Bill Herbrechtsmer, Head professor of Religious Studies at Humboldt State University, was the next speaker. He regretted that these daysinstitutions of higher education tend to focus much more on knowledge than on wisdom, concentrating on information as opposed to insight. The spread of computer technology allows people to collect even more information than they can handle.
By contrast, relatively little attention is paid to promoting the students' wisdom, deeper insight, or a deeper form of self-knowledge. Professor Herbrechtsmeyer pointed out that the lifestyle at CTTB emphasizes pursuing wisdom instead of knowledge. Even though both of these are necessary in our technological world, it is important to pursue the simple things, which are ultimately deeper. He summarized Buddhism in terms of suffering, desire, the cessation of suffering, and the Path. If one can understand these, one can also understand other doctrines such as the Ten Dharma Realms and the Bodhisattva Path. "In pursuing wisdom, the issue is very, very simple, but the path is very, very hard."
To be continued |
