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何為佛教？
佛教徒稱佛教為佛法，為大覺佛陀所說的，證悟方法的總匯。佛教徒均自認皈依過三寶：
l）徹底覺悟的佛寶。
2）法，或對覺悟途徑的教導。
3）比丘、比丘尼的僧團。正式皈依時，有受過具足戒的比丘主持三皈依儀式：「我皈依佛；我皈依法；我皈依僧。」
佛說所有眾生皆可證得圓滿覺悟，永超生死輪迴之苦。其關鍵在於認清下列兩重無明就是我們的苦因：
l）我們不能明白實質上的「我」，或「靈魂」並非眞實，亦不永存。
2）我們不實地認為我們所生活的世界，存在於我們眞性之外，並依自身之感受而對事物做好惡之分別。眞正看透自我僅為幻相，這本身即是超越；眞正看透我們對世界的認知是曲解不實的，即是無明的止息。
無明止息了就是覺悟，這也是佛教修行的目的。佛開示了許多不同的法門，作為大醫王一般，佛開出了八萬四千種藥，以對治眾生八萬四千種的煩惱，其目的都在於止息我們的無明。
類比——心態和環境生態
如果無明是我們不覺悟的原因，尤其是不認知自我為幻覺的無明，那為什麼我們不用點功考察一番，認清我們的實情，以達到證悟呢？
在理論上這是可行的，可當我們眞去向內心觀照時，卻無法將自心參透，因為我們的心既不寧靜又不清明。我們的心是既混濁，又遷流不息，並且嚴重污染。心靈的污染正是我們不能開悟的原因。探究我們的心靈，不同於要看到清澄寧靜的山泉池塘的底部，而類似於要看到工廠排污用的污染嚴重的水池底部。
這個環境污染的類比很有益處。參究參究，我們就可以清楚地明白內心污染的性質。通過回想環境生態學的原理，我們可以知道心靈生態怎樣才能回復到其本然狀態——清淨、妙明、覺悟。
何為環境污染？當毒物、污染進入某種環境之後，那個環境就失去平衡了。原來天衣無縫的生態系統也無法再正常運作了。為什麼呢？為了求取滿足局部的偏好而造成對全體的損失；因為急功近利；因為太愚癡，人類建造、擴充、精密化了某些東西，然而卻完全不考慮這些活動能引起的副作用。
何為心靈污染？當貪、瞋、癡等心靈毒物污染進入心中後，打擾混濁了心靈。為什麼？因為滿足心中少許對我相的偏好而引起全體的損失。「我」與「我的」感受遮礙了我們對他人的體諒，蒙蔽了我們無所不容的眞性；超出了人我知見範圍的眞性。要清掃環境，僅僅除去垃圾是不夠的。雖然不容易，我們必須要花點時間找到污染的來源；找到之後，我們立法監督，同時努力說服肇事者擴大眼界，不要只顧一己私利。如果能使他們擴大心胸，看到污染對任何人都沒有長遠利益，他們就不會再污染自己了。
要清除心靈污染，先從認識是貪、瞋、癡在毒害我們，接著再不讓它們在生活中明顯地現起。可僅僅這樣還是不夠的，我們必須依其蹤跡找到貪、瞋、癡在心中的根源及其發生的原因。在那裡，我們看到了「我」、「我的」這些組成私心的基本成份及對他人的忽視，使我們每個心念行為都發生扭曲、污染。
佛教倫理和修行
佛陀教授的就是永久去除心靈污染的方法。簡單地說有戒、定、慧三方面，如同鼎的三足缺一不可。同樣的，不持戒，修行就要垮；缺少定，或對事理不明，修行就沒有效率。
要修行，為什麼持戒是必不可少的呢？要回答這個問題，我們先來看一下佛說的基本道德準則：
l）不殺生。2）不偷盜。3）不邪淫。
4）不妄語。5）不飲酒。
人為何殺生？為何不與取？為何強姦邪淫？為何盲目沉迷，以「愛」為其標籤。為何妄語，出口傷人，這樣喜好閒聊？為何要抽菸、喝酒、服毒，吸可可因、打海洛因針，為一時的興奮、飄飄欲仙感而吞食無盡的藥丸？這一切都可歸根於自己所製造出來的，在根本上的一種不安全感與恐懼感。為甚麼呢？因為「自我中心觀」總是想使其虛幻的自性現實化；總是想使無常的「自我中心觀」變得永恆。雖然無法成功，為了對抗根本的不安全感與恐懼感，「自我中心觀」就用面紗覆蓋和迴避根本問題的方式來保護自己。我們以負面的感情——貪心、欲望、瞋恨，為媒介來求財、色、名、權、貪歡縱欲。這一切的目的都在升起心靈極度污染的煙幕，來保護「自我中心觀」那虛幻的自性。我們越向外尋求快樂，「自我中心觀」就越覺得安全，其眞性也就越難顯現出來。
戒律是對治用污染來保護「自我中心觀」的指南。依戒律而行，自然而然污染就會去除，心靈就會淨化。如同「反污染法令」必須要嚴密監督加以執行，我們身心依戒修行也須自己依正念來密切觀照。若能留心行持，我們就能很快找到令心靈濁亂的根源所在，就能將其調整、引導。
內心一旦恢復生態平衡，就不會再用污染來保護虛幻的自我，經轉化引導的能量就可以用來發現污染的源頭——起先被遮蔽的虛幻的自我。
戒是轉化過程的指南，從中可看到將我們的能量重新調整使之契合宇宙本然模式的途徑，我們的陌生感受也就因此消失。當體驗到我們與一切眾生根本上是一體時，我們就完成了內心生態和諧的恢復。我們的內心生態系統自然而神聖，自會流露出眞知的智慧與對一切眾生的慈悲。這就是佛陀開示的基本內容。
最後一點，佛教認為到達這一境界時，我們會清楚地看到一切外界的污染，僅僅是內心污染的反映。我們所共處的環境是每一眾生心念表現在行為上的共業。心中自我的形象是問題的關鍵所在，從個人自我產生了心中關於公司、政治選民、國家的形象。每一環節都是在為「局部而犧牲全體」；因「有限而犧牲無限」，以「自我中心」觀念的動機在製造問題。
當「自我中心」觀念——基本上的自私——去除之後，清明的意願會導引我們達到新的和諧境界。
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本文依 1985年 10月第七期〈正法印〉——「清除我們心靈的污染」一文修正而成。
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WHAT IS BUDDHISM?
Buddhists call Buddhism the Buddha Dharma: the Dharma, a collection of methods for getting enlightened, taught by a Buddha, a Fully Enlightened One. Buddhists refer to themselves as people who have taken refuge with the Three Jewels:
1) the dhas or Fully Enlightened Ones,
2) the Dharma or methods taught for reaching enlightenment,
3) and the Sangha or community of Buddhist monks and nuns,
called Bhikshus and Bhikshunis. In formally becoming a Buddhist one becomes a disciple of a Buddhist master, a fully ordained Bhikshu, who administers the Three Refuges: "I take refuge with the Buddhas; I take refuge with the Dharma; I take refuge with the Sangha."
The Buddha taught that all beings have the potential to become fully enlightened, that is, to transcend permanently the suffering of the cycle of endless birth and death. The key to this transcendence is seeing that the cause of the suffering is our own twofold ignorance:
1) our own inability to understand that what we consider to be the essential "me," that is, our self or soul, has no permanence or ultimate reality; and
2) our distortion of the world we live in, so that we see it as separate from our own true nature and divide it into what is desirable and undesirable to what we take to be ourselves. Truly seeing through the illusion of self is in itself transcendence, and truly seeing through our distorted views of the world is in itself the ending of ignorance.
The ending of ignorance is enlightenment, and that is the goal of Buddhist practice. The Buddha taught that there are many different Paths leading to it. As the Great Physician, he prescribed 84,000 antidotes for the 84,000 afflictions of living beings. All contribute to putting an end to our ignorance.
AN ANALOGY:
THE MIND AND ENVIRONMENTAL ECOLOGY
If ignorance, particularly ignorance of the illusory nature of the self, is the basic cause of our lack of enlightenment, why can't we just do a little introspection and see clearly who we really are and become enlightened?
In theory we can, but when most of us do look within, we cannot fathom the depths of our own minds, because our minds are not clear and still. Instead we find them to be turbid and in constant flux; they are terribly polluted. It is our own mental pollution that keeps us from enlightenment. We try to plumb our minds, but it is more like trying to see to the bottom of a badly polluted pond used as a factory sewer than gazing to the bottom of a clean, clear, still mountain pool.
The analogy of environmental pollution is very helpful. By exploring it, we can understand clearly the nature of our own inner mental pollution. By reviewing the principles of environmental ecology, we can see how mental ecological action can restore our minds to their natural condition, their original pristine nature: clear, pure, and wonderfully bright and enlightened. What do we mean by environmental pollution? Poisons, pollutants, have been introduced into the environment, upsetting the environmental balances, so the holistic ecosystem no longer functions normally, naturally. Why? A part has been favored at the expense of the whole. Because of greed for profit, because of impatience in getting some things done, because of just plain foolishness, some product is manufactured, something is built, grown or refined, completely disregarding the side-effects of that activity.
What do we mean by mental pollution? Mental poisons, such as greed, desire, and anger, have entered the mind. They stir it up and make it turbid. Why? A little part of the mind, the selfish ego of the individual, has been favored at the expense of the whole. The sense of 'me and mine' blinds us to the feelings of others and covers over our true nature, that is all-encompassing, that lies beyond the petty distortions of the view that divides the world of experience into self and other. In cleaning up our environment it is not enough to sweep up the garbage. We must get at the source of the pollution, though it may take us a while to find out where it is actually coming from. When we do find the source, we regulate it through legislation and surveillance, while trying to convince the perpetrators, the selfish special interests, to take a look at the big picture. If we can get them to enlarge their viewpoint and see that in the long run the pollution is beneficial to no one, they will cease polluting of themselves.
Cleaning up our mental pollution begins with recognizing that our greed, desire, and anger are poisoning us, and then moving to ban their coarse manifestations from our every day actions. But that by itself is not enough. We have to trace the pollution back to
where it arises in our minds and find out why it is generated in the first place. At its source we find 'me and mine'—basic selfishness and disregard for others that pollutes and distorts our every thought and action.
BUDDHIST ETHICS AND PRACTICE
What the Buddha taught were practices which enable us to eliminate mental pollution permanently. Simply put, these practices have three aspects: moral precepts, meditational concentration, and wisdom. The three aspects have been compared to the legs of a tripod, which support a vessel. Remove any one of the three and the vessel collapses. Likewise, cease to follow the precepts and your practice collapses; let concentration lapse or become muddled about what is happening, and your practice becomes ineffective.
Why is following the moral precepts essential to successful Buddhist practice?
To answer this question, let us first take a look at the most fundamental moral guidelines taught by the Buddha: abstention from 1) the taking of life; 2) stealing; 3) sexual misconduct; 4) false speech, and 5) intoxicants.
Why do people kill? Why do people take what is not freely given? Why do people commit rape and adultery? Why do they wallow in mindless affairs, blinded by the passions in the name of "love"? Why do they lie, speak harshly and deceptively, and take so much pleasure in gossip? Why do they smoke, drink, take pot, snort cocaine, shoot heroin, and pop no end of pills to go on this "trip" or that? All these activities can be traced back to fundamental insecurity and fear generated by the self. Why? The self is always trying to establish the reality of its own illusory nature; it is always trying to make itself seem permanent when it is basically impermanent. To counteract the basic insecurity and fear generated by this impossible situation, the self tries to establish defenses-veils and diversions~to direct attention away from the basic difficulty. Our negative emotions—greed, desire, and anger—become the vehicles of the quest for wealth, for sexual gratification, for fame and power, for myriad pleasures and pamperings of the body. The real purpose of it all is to erect a tremendous mind-polluting smokescreen that functions as an ego-defense by veiling the fundamentally illusory nature of the self. The more the ego can direct our attention outwardly and involve our energies in external gratification, the safer it feels; the less chance there is that its true nature will be discovered.
The moral precepts are designed as basic guidelines for counteracting the pollution of the ego-defenses. By following the guidelines the pollution is naturally removed and the mind cleared. Just as anti-pollution laws must be closely monitored to insure compliance.
So too the precept-guidelines for our own mental and physical actions must be closely monitored by our own mindfulness. If we conscientiously do so, we will quickly be able to identify the sources of our turbid energies so that we can restructure and redirect them.
As the inner ecological balance is restored, they will no longer function as pollution which screens and protects the illusion of self, but the transformed and redirected energies will become the vehicle for locating and eliminating the source of the pollution—the same illusion of self that it formerly screened.
The precepts are the guidelines for transformation. They show us how to restructure our energies into the original and natural patterns of attunement with the entire universe, so that our sense of alienation is dissolved. When we naturally experience and act out of the fundamental equality of our identity with all living beings, we will have restored the ecological harmony to our minds. Our mental ecosystem will function naturally and holistically, and it will generate the wisdom of clear seeing and compassion for all life. That is the basic teaching of the Buddha.
One final point. According to Buddhist teachings, when we reach this stage of understanding, we see clearly that all outer pollution is merely a reflection of the pollution within our own minds. Our shared environment is the karmic result of the sum total of the thoughts and intentions that every single individual projects outwardly in his or her own actions. Again, self-image is the crux of the problem. From individual selves are generated the self-images of corporations, of political constituencies, and of nations. In each case there is sacrifice of the whole for the part, of the limitless for the limited. Our ego-directed intentions and motivations create the problems. When the ego direction, basic selfishness, is removed, clear intentions and clear motivations lead the way to a new attunment that is also "at-one-ment."
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A revised and expanded version of "Cleaning Up the Pollution in Our Minds," Proper Dharma Seal, No. 7, October 1985.
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