佛陀的宗教
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AI-translated. May contain errors. For accurate text, refer to the original English.
中文
昨晚，莱西姆剧院（巴尔的摩）从池座到穹顶座无虚席，这是弗鲁曼兄弟为「动态宗教」所举办系列集会的第二场。到场者约达三千人。希拉姆·弗鲁曼牧师、沃尔特·弗鲁曼牧师，以及正在访问本市的婆罗门高僧斯瓦米·辨喜牧师相继发表演讲。当晚演讲者就坐于台上，辨喜牧师尤为引人注目。他头戴黄色头巾，身披红色长袍，腰间以同色绸带束扎，愈发衬托出他面容的东方气质，令人对他产生一种特殊的兴趣。他的个人风采似乎是当晚的焦点。他的演讲从容不迫，毫无拘束之感，措辞无懈可击，口音类似于一位熟习英语的拉丁裔文化人士。他的部分演讲内容如下：
高僧开口演说
「佛陀在基督诞生前六百年开始创建印度的宗教。他发现彼时印度宗教主要沉湎于对人类灵魂本质的永无止境的论争之中。按照当时盛行的观念，医治宗教痼疾的唯一方法，不外乎牺牲动物、修建祭坛之类。
「就在这一体系之中，诞生了一位出身名门望族的祭司，他便是佛教的创立者。首先，他的事业并非是创立一种全新的宗教，而是一场改革运动。他信奉众生之福祉。他所阐发的宗教，由发现三件事物构成：第一，『存在一种恶』；第二，『这种恶的根源是什么？』他将此归因于人类渴望凌驾于他人之上的欲望，而这种恶可以通过无私来医治。第三，『这种恶可以通过成为无私之人来治愈』。他的结论是，武力无法医治它；污秽无法洗净污秽；憎恨无法消除憎恨。
「这便是他的宗教的基础。只要社会还试图用旨在强迫他人善待邻里的法律与制度来医治人类的自私，就什么也做不成。解决之道并非以诡计对抗诡计、以武力对抗武力。唯一的解决之道，在于培养无私的男男女女。你们也许可以颁布法律来医治当前的诸多弊病，但那将无济于事。
「佛陀发现印度有太多关于上帝及其本质的清谈，而行动太少。他始终坚持这一根本真理：我们要纯洁神圣，并要帮助他人也变得神圣。他相信，人必须去工作并帮助他人；在他人身上寻找自己的灵魂；在他人身上寻找自己的生命。他相信，在为他人做好事的融合中，是我们为自己所做的唯一善事。他相信，世界上始终理论过多而实践过少。今天的印度若有十几位佛陀，将大有裨益，而此国若有一位佛陀亦将大有裨益。
「当教义过于繁冗，对我父辈宗教的信仰过于执迷，理性的迷信过于泛滥，改变便成为必要。这样的教义产生祸害，改革势在必行。」
辨喜先生演讲结束时，台下爆发出热烈的掌声。
莱西姆剧院昨晚几乎座无虚席，这是弗鲁曼兄弟就「动态宗教」举办系列会议的第二场。来自印度的斯瓦米·辨喜作了主要演讲。他以佛教为题，讲述了佛陀诞生之时印度民间存在的种种弊病。他说，彼时印度的社会不平等，比世界上任何其他地方都严重千倍。「基督降生前六百年，」他继续道，「印度的祭司阶层对民众的思想拥有巨大影响，民众在智识与学问的上下石磨之间被碾磨殆尽。佛教是人类超过三分之二信奉的宗教，它并非是作为一种全新的宗教而创立，而是作为一场将当时的腐败一扫而空的改革运动。佛陀似乎是唯一一位凡事为他人、绝无一毫为己的先知。他放弃了家庭与生活的一切享受，将余生用于寻求医治人类苦难这一可怕疾病的良药。在一个人与祭司竞相讨论神祇本质的时代，他发现了人们所忽视的东西：苦难的存在。恶的根源，在于我们渴望凌驾于他人之上的欲望与自私。一旦世界变得无私，一切恶便将消失。只要社会还试图以法律与制度来医治恶，恶就无法被医治。世界已用这种方法徒劳无功地尝试了数千年。武力对抗武力永远无法医治，医治恶的唯一良药是无私。我们需要教导人们遵守法律，而不是制定更多法律。佛教是世界上第一个传教性宗教，但佛教的教义之一，是不与任何其他宗教为敌。各派别因相互交战而削弱了自身行善的力量。」
English
THE RELIGION OF BUDDHA
(Morning Herald, October 22, 1894)
An audience which filled the Lyceum Theatre [Baltimore] from pit to dome assembled last night at the second of the series of meetings held by the Vrooman Brothers in the interest of "Dynamic Religion". Fully 3,000 persons were present. Addresses were made by the Rev. Hiram Vrooman, Rev. Walter Vrooman and Rev. Swarri Vivekananda, the Brahmin High Priest now visiting this city. The speakers of the evening were seated on the stage, the Rev. Vivekananda being an object of particular interest to all. He wore a yellow turban and a red robe tied in at the waste [sic] with a sash of the same color, which added to the Oriental cast of his features and invested him with a peculiar interest. His personality seemed to be the feature of the evening. His address was delivered in an easy, unembarrassed manner, his diction being perfect and his accent similar to that of a cultured member of the Latin race familiar with the English language. He said in part:
The High Priest Speaks
"Buddha began to found the religion of India 600 years before the birth of Christ He found the religion of India at that time mainly engaged in eternal discussions upon the nature of the human soul. There was no remedy according to the ideas then prevailing for the cure of religious ills but sacrifices of animals, sacrificial altars and similar methods.
"In the midst of this system a priest [?] was born who was a member of one of the leading families who was the founder of Buddhism. His was, in the first place, not the founding of a new religion, but a movement of reformation. He believed in the good of all. His religion, as formulated by him, consisted of the discovery of three things: First, 'There is an evil'; second, 'What is the cause of this evil?' This he ascribed to the desires of men to be superior to others, an evil that could be cured by unselfishness. Third, 'This evil is curable by becoming unselfish'. Force, he concluded, could not cure it; dirt cannot wash dirt; hate cannot cure hate.
"This was the basis of his religion. So long as society tries to cure human selfishness by laws and institutions whose aim is to force others to do good to their neighbors, nothing can be done. The remedy is not to place trick against trick and force against force. The only remedy is in making unselfish men and women. You may enact laws to cure present evils, but they will be of no avail.
"Buddha found in India too much talking about God and His essence and too little work. He always insisted upon this fundamental truth, that we are to be pure and holy, and that we are to help others to be holy also. He believed that man must go to work and help others; find his soul in others; find his life in others. He believed that in the conjunction of doing good to others is the only good we do ourselves. [sic] He believed that there was always in the world too much theory and too little practice. A dozen Buddhas in India at the present time would do good, and one Buddha in this country would also be beneficial.
"When there is too much doctrine, too much belief in my father's religion, too much rational superstition, a change is needed. Such doctrine produces evil, and a reformation is necessary."
At the conclusion of Mr. Vivekananda's address there was a hearty burst of applause.
(Baltimore American, October 22, 1894)
The Lyceum Theater was crowded to the doors last night at the second meeting of the series conducted by the Vrooman brothers on "Dynamic Religion". Swami Vivekananda, of India, made the principal address. He spoke on the Buddhist religion, and told of the evils which existed among the people of India, at the time of the birth of Buddha. The social inequalities in India, he said, were at that period a thousand times greater than anywhere else in the world. "Six hundred years before Christ," he continued, "the priesthood of India exercised great influence over the minds of the people, and between the upper and nether millstone of intellectuality and learning the people were ground. Buddhism, which is the religion of more than two-third of the human family, was not founded as an entirely new religion, but rather as a reformation which carried off the corruption of the times. Buddha seems to have been the only prophet who did everything for others and absolutely nothing for himself. He gave up his home and all the enjoyments of life to spend his days in search of the medicine for the terrible disease of human misery. In an age when men and priests were discussing the essence of the deity, he discovered what people had overlooked, that misery existed. The cause of evil is our desire to be superior to others and our selfishness. The moment that the world becomes unselfish all evil will vanish. So long as society tries to cure evil by laws and institutions, evil will not be cured. The world has tried this method ineffectually for thousands of years. Force against force never cures, and the only cure for evil is unselfishness. We need to teach people to obey the laws rather than to make more laws. Buddhism was the first missionary religion of the world but it was one of the teachings of Buddhism not to antagonize any other religion. Sects weaken their power for good by making war on each other."
文本来自Wikisource公共领域。原版由阿德瓦伊塔修道院出版。