前期提示：業與因果
業字一語，意思是說一個人的意志行動是受因果律左右的。現在於身口意造什麼業，無論善惡，將來必得什麼果。每一時刻，我們都在承受過去的果，同時也在創造未來的因。業是我們輪迴生死的主宰力。業律清楚地解釋為什麼人得受那種不欲得之報應，或受不求自來之報應。我們身上發生的每一件事，無論善惡，都有一個過去的因。
然而承認因果，並不是說沉迷於因果，無謂地推往測來。因果經上說得很實在，很恰切，它道出我們如何時時於日常生活中，不昧業力因果：
欲知過去因，今生受者是。
欲知未來果，現在作者是。
欲明白佛法中業律，有一點是非常重要的，佛法不說一切皆由過去生或過去的業來定的。關於外道說現在的一切都是過去決定的。宣公上人是這樣說的：
「他們所說的，也有一些因果的道理在裡面。……他們說現在生中所發生的一切，都是因為過去生中所造牧熒~。……他們說對了一部份，所謂如是因，如是果。
但是如果說一切一切都是過去生中決定的，那就錯了。如果他們什麼牧F西都用一個道理來解釋，那是行不通的。」
佛陀反駁這個錯誤的知見－－即個人在一生中所經歷的，好的、壞的、不好不壞的，都是由他過去所做的事情來決定的。
佛批評那些想以過去的業，來為現在所造的惡開脫的人而說：
「如果是這樣的話，那麼一個人由於過去生中已造成的業，今生就會成為犯殺、盜、淫、妄、誹謗、綺語、貪婪、惡毒、顛倒知見的眾生。那些拿過去所做諸業為理由的人，就可以說他們根本沒有意思想做這，或做那；凡他們做的，都可以說是在不知不覺中做的。」
佛這一說反駁了那種決定論－－即我們所遭遇的一切都歸咎於業－－這種宿命論一下子就為那些不為自己生命與行為負責的人大開方便之門。一個人正確理解了業之後不應該變得懈怠、冷漠、不負責任。相反地，他應該更加小心謹慎，勤行眾善，力避眾惡。小心因果的同時，一個人也應該知道業不是死的，不是不可改變的。現在行善，可以彌補過去造的惡業，反之亦然。一把無明火，可以燒盡功德林；一念真懺悔，亦可消無量劫的業。佛法中的業，不是那麼死死的，絕對的，也不等於天命，也不等於上帝，也不預先註定人的所做所為。
待續 |
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From last issue:Karma and Cause and Effect
The word karma means volitional activity that is governed by the law of cause and effect. For every good and bad act of body, speech, and mind performed in the present, there is a corresponding result which is experienced in the future. In every moment, we experience the results of our past karma and simultaneously create new karma which will bear fruit in the future. Thus karma is the primary force which keeps us in the cycle of rebirth. The law of karma clearly explains why people undergo seemingly unwarranted rewards and retributions. Everything that happens to us, whether good or bad, has a reason, a cause, in the past.1
Yet acknowledging karmic causes and effects doesn’t mean indulging in useless hypothesizing about the past or the future. The Sutra on Cause and Effect gives some very practical, level-headed advice on how to maintain awareness of karmic causation in everyday life:
If you care to know of past lives’ causes,
Look at the rewards you are reaping today.
If you wish to find out about future lives,
You need but notice what you’re doing right now.
Crucial as the understanding of law of karma is in Buddhism, Buddhism does not assert that everything is due to past karma or past lives. Master Hua says of those externalists who allege that present circumstances are solely determined by the past:
Their concept has some elements of the principle of cause and effect (...) They say that everything that happens in this life is the creation of what was done in the previous life. (...) There is a certain amount of principle to this, for one reaps the fruits of the causes one plants. But to say [existence] is completely determined by one’s past life is also incorrect, for the world cannot be entirely explained according to a single theory, which is what they try to do.
The Buddha refuted the wrong view that all one’s experiences in life—positive, negative, and neutral--are due to previous action. He criticized those who tried to use past karma as an excuse for their present misdeeds:
So, then, owing to previous action men will become murderers, thieves, unchaste, liars, slanderers, babblers, covetous, malicious and perverse in view. Thus for those who fall back on the former deed as an essential reason, there is neither the desire to do, nor effort to do, nor necessity to do this deed, or abstain from that deed.
This statement counters the deterministic belief that all that happens to us can be attributed to karma. Such a fatalistic view is simply a convenient excuse to take no responsibility for one’s life and actions. A proper understanding of karma does not make one lax, indifferent, or irresponsible. On the contrary, one would strive to be vigorous in doing all good deeds, and extremely careful and cautious in avoiding all evil. While taking karmic causes and effects seriously, one should yet be aware that karma is not rigidly fixed. Present virtuous actions can offset previous bad karma and vice versa. Merit and virtue accrued by manifold good deeds can be burnt up in a flash of anger, while a single thought of sincere repentance and reform can eradicate eons of bad karma. The Buddhist concept of karma is not mechanistic or deterministic. Karma is not equivalent to fate or God, and does not predestine human behavior.
To be continued
Notes:
1. Excerpted in slightly edited form from “Buddhism A to Z” at http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~rone/Buddhist%20Dict/BD%20Contents.htm
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