佛陀对世界的信息
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中文
佛教在历史上是最重要的宗教——是从历史角度而非从哲学角度而言——因为它是世界上有史以来最为宏大的宗教运动，是冲击人类社会的最巨大的精神浪潮。世界上没有任何文明未在某种程度上受到它的影响。
佛陀的追随者们极为热忱，充满了传教精神。在各宗教的信徒中，他们是最先不满足于母教有限范围的人。他们广泛传播，远行四方。他们向东向西、向北向南传教。他们深入最偏远的西藏；他们前往波斯、小亚细亚；他们到达俄国、波兰以及西方世界的许多其他国家。他们前往中国、朝鲜、日本；他们到达缅甸、暹罗、东印度群岛及更远的地方。当亚历山大大帝通过军事征服使地中海世界与印度接触时，印度的智慧立即找到了传播至亚洲和欧洲广大地区的渠道。佛教僧侣走出去在各民族中传教；随着他们的教化，迷信和教士的欺诈开始如阳光下的薄雾般消散。
要正确理解这一运动，你应当了解佛陀出现时印度的社会状况，正如要理解基督教就必须把握基督时代犹太社会的状态一样。你有必要了解基督诞生前六百年的印度社会，到那时印度文明已经完成了它的成长。
当你研究印度文明时，你会发现
它曾多次衰亡又多次复兴；这是它的特点。大多数民族崛起一次后便永远衰落。世上有两种民族：一种是持续成长的民族，另一种是成长到了尽头的民族。爱好和平的民族，如印度和中国，虽然倒下却能再度崛起；但其他民族一旦衰落便不能再起——他们就此消亡。温良的人有福了，因为他们将享有大地。
佛陀诞生之时，印度正需要一位伟大的精神领袖、一位先知。当时已经存在一个极为强大的教士阶层。如果你回忆一下犹太人的历史，就会更好地理解当时的情况——他们有两种宗教领袖：教士和先知，教士使民众蒙昧无知，将迷信灌输到他们的头脑中。教士所规定的敬拜方式不过是他们控制民众的手段。在整部旧约中，你都能看到先知挑战教士的迷信。这场斗争的结果是先知的胜利和教士的失败。
教士相信有一位上帝，但这位上帝只能通过他们才能被接近和认识。民众只有得到教士的许可才能进入至圣所。你必须向他们纳贡，崇拜他们，将一切交到他们手中。纵观世界历史，这种教士的倾向一再出现——这种对权力的巨大渴望，这种如虎般的渴望，似乎是人性的一部分。教士主宰着你，为你制定千条规矩。他们用迂回曲折的方式描述简单的真理。他们编造故事来支撑自己的优越地位。如果你想在今生兴旺或死后升天，就必须经过他们的手。你必须举行各种各样的仪式和典礼。所有这一切使生活变得极其复杂，使头脑极度混乱，以至于如果我给你直白的话语，你回去反而会觉得不满足。
你已被彻底搞糊涂了。你越不理解，反而感觉越好！先知们一直在警告人们提防教士及其迷信和阴谋；但广大民众尚未学会听从这些警告——教育还未普及到他们。
人必须受教育。如今人们谈论民主，谈论人人平等。但一个人怎样才能知道自己与所有人平等？他必须有一个强大的头脑，一颗清晰的、摆脱了荒谬观念的心智；他必须穿透层层包裹在心智上的迷信外壳，直达其最内在的真我中的纯净真理。然后他才会知道，一切圆满、一切力量已在他自身之内，这些不需要别人赐予。当他认识到这一点时，他在那一刻便获得了自由，便实现了平等。他也认识到其他每一个人都同样圆满如他，他不必对兄弟们行使任何身体的、精神的或道德的权力。他放弃了那种认为曾有人低于自己的想法。然后他才能谈论平等；在此之前则不能。
如我所说，在犹太人中间，教士和先知之间持续不断地进行着斗争；教士企图垄断权力和知识，直到他们自己也开始失去这些，套在民众脚上的锁链也套到了他们自己的脚上。主人总是很快就变成奴隶。这场斗争的顶峰是拿撒勒的耶稣的胜利。这一胜利就是基督教的历史。基督最终成功地推翻了大量的巫术。这位伟大的先知杀死了教士自私自利的恶龙，从其魔爪中夺回了真理的宝珠，并将它赐予全世界，使任何想要拥有它的人都有绝对的自由去获取，而不必仰仗任何教士的恩惠。
犹太人从来不是一个很有哲学头脑的民族：他们没有印度人头脑的精微，也没有印度人的灵性力量。印度的教士，即婆罗门，拥有伟大的智识和灵性力量。正是他们开创了印度的精神发展，并取得了辉煌的成就。但是时代来临，最初推动婆罗门的自由发展精神消失了。他们开始擅自攫取权力和特权。如果一个婆罗门杀了人，他不会受到惩罚。婆罗门仅凭出生便是宇宙的主宰！即使最邪恶的婆罗门也必须受到崇拜！
但在教士昌盛之时，也存在着被称为桑尼亚辛（Sannyasin）的诗人先知。所有印度教徒，无论属于什么种姓，为了获得灵性成就，都必须放弃世俗工作，准备面对死亡。世界不再使他们感兴趣。他们必须出家成为桑尼亚辛。桑尼亚辛与教士发明的两千种仪式无关：念诵某些词语——十个音节、二十个音节等等——所有这些都是废话。
因此，古代印度的这些诗人先知摒弃了教士的做法，宣布了纯净的真理。他们试图打破教士的权力，也取得了一些成功。但两代人之后，他们的弟子又回到了教士迂回曲折的迷信方式——自己也成了教士："你只能通过我们才能得到真理！"真理再次被固化，先知再次出现打破这些硬壳释放真理，如此循环往复。是的，必须始终有这样的人，有先知，否则人类就会死亡。
你也许会奇怪为什么一定要有教士这些迂回曲折的方法。为什么你不能直接通向真理？难道你对上帝的真理感到羞耻
以至于必须将它隐藏在各种复杂的仪式和公式之后？难道你对上帝感到羞耻，以至于不能在世人面前宣告他的真理？你能称之为虔诚和灵性吗？教士是唯一配得上真理的人！大众不配！必须稀释它！掺些水吧！
看看山上宝训和薄伽梵歌——它们本身就是至简的。即使街头的妓女也能理解它们。多么伟大！在其中你找到了清晰而简明揭示的真理。但不，教士不肯接受真理可以如此直接地被发现。他们谈论两千个天堂和两千个地狱。如果人们遵循他们的规定，就能上天堂！如果不服从规矩，就会下地狱！
但民众终将学到真理。有些人害怕如果将全部真理给予所有人，会伤害他们。不应给他们完整的真理——他们如此说。但折中真理并没有使世界变得更好。还能比现在更糟吗？将真理呈现出来！如果它是真实的，它就会带来好处。当人们抗议并提出其他方法时，他们不过是在为巫术辩护。
佛陀时代的印度充满了这一切。那里有广大的民众，他们被剥夺了一切知识。如果吠陀的一个字进入一个人的耳朵，可怕的惩罚就会降临到他身上。教士们将吠陀变成了秘密——而吠陀包含的是古代印度教徒发现的精神真理！
最终有一个人再也无法忍受。他有头脑，有力量，有一颗心——一颗如广阔天空般无限的心。他感受到民众如何被教士牵着鼻子走，教士如何以权力为荣，他想要为此做些什么。他不想对任何人拥有权力，他想要
打破人们精神和心灵的枷锁。他的心胸广大。我们周围许多人也许有这样的心胸，我们也想帮助他人。但我们没有那个头脑；我们不知道帮助他人的方法和途径。但这个人有发现打破灵魂束缚之方法的头脑。他了解了人为什么受苦，并找到了脱离苦难的道路。他是一个成就者，他将一切付诸实践；他无差别地教导每一个人，使他们实现了觉悟的安宁。这就是佛陀。
你们从阿诺德的诗作《亚洲之光》中知道佛陀如何生为王子，世间的苦难如何深深触动了他；虽然在奢华中成长和生活，他却无法从个人的幸福和安全中找到慰藉；他如何出离世间，留下他的公主和初生的儿子；他如何四处游方，从一位老师到另一位老师寻求真理；他最终如何证悟。你们知道他漫长的弘法生涯、他的弟子、他的组织。这些你们都知道。
佛陀是印度教士与先知之间长期斗争的胜利者。关于这些印度教士，有一点可以说——他们过去不是、现在也从来不是宗教上的不宽容者；他们从未迫害过宗教。任何人都被允许反对他们。他们的宗教就是这样；他们从未因宗教观点而骚扰任何人。但他们有着所有教士共同的特殊弱点：他们也追求权力，他们也颁布规章制度，使宗教变得不必要地复杂，从而削弱了那些追随其宗教的人的力量。
佛陀切除了这一切赘疣。他宣讲了最为震撼的真理。他将吠陀哲学的精髓教给每一个人，
无差别地教给每一个人，他向全世界传授，因为他最伟大的信息之一就是人人平等。人皆平等。在这一点上对任何人都没有让步！佛陀是平等的伟大宣讲者。每个男人和女人都有获得灵性成就的同等权利——这就是他的教导。他废除了教士与其他种姓之间的差别。即使是最低等的人也有资格获得最高的成就；他向所有人打开了涅槃之门。他的教导即使对印度而言也是大胆的。再多的说教也不能震撼印度的灵魂，但印度要接受佛陀的教义是很困难的。对你们来说该有多难！
他的教义是这样的：为什么我们的生命中有苦难？因为我们是自私的。我们为自己渴求事物——这就是苦难的原因。出路何在？放弃自我。自我并不存在；现象界，我们感知的这一切，才是存在的全部。在生死轮回之下没有所谓的灵魂。只有思想之流，一个念头接一个念头相继而生，每个念头在同一瞬间生起又归于无有，如此而已；没有思想的思考者，没有灵魂。身体时刻在变化；心念、意识也是如此。因此，自我是一种幻觉。一切自私都源于执着自我，执着这个虚幻的自我。如果我们知道没有自我这个真理，我们就会幸福，也会使他人幸福。
这就是佛陀的教导。而他不仅仅是空谈；他准备为世界献出自己的生命。他说："如果牺牲一只动物是好的，那么牺牲一个人更好"，于是他将自己作为祭品。他说："这种动物祭祀是另一种迷信。上帝和灵魂是两大迷信。上帝不过是教士发明的迷信。如果像这些婆罗门所宣讲的那样有一个上帝，为什么世界上有
这么多苦难？他和我一样，是因果律的奴隶。如果他不受因果律的束缚，那他为什么要创造？这样的上帝完全令人不满意。有一个天上的统治者按照他的意愿统治宇宙，而让我们所有人在苦难中死去——他从来没有仁慈地看我们一眼。我们的一生都是持续的受苦；但这还不够——死后我们还要去受其他惩罚的地方。然而我们却不断举行各种仪式和典礼来取悦这位世界的创造者！"
佛陀说："这些仪式都是错误的。世上只有一个理想。摧毁一切幻觉；真实的东西自会留下。云一散去，太阳就会照耀。"如何消灭自我？变得完全无私，准备好甚至为一只蚂蚁献出生命。不是为了任何迷信而工作，不是为了取悦任何神灵，不是为了得到任何回报，而是因为你在通过消灭自我来寻求自己的解脱。崇拜和祈祷以及所有那些，都是废话。你们都说"感谢上帝"——但他住在哪里？你们不知道，然而你们都为上帝疯狂。
印度教徒可以放弃一切，唯独不能放弃他们的上帝。否认上帝就是将虔信的根基从脚下抽走。虔信和上帝是印度教徒必须紧紧抓住的。他们永远不能放弃这些。而在佛陀的教导中，没有上帝也没有灵魂——只有行动。为了什么？不是为了自我，因为自我是幻觉。当这幻觉消散时，我们才成为真正的自己。世上很少有人能达到那种高度，为行动本身而行动。
然而佛教传播得很快。这是因为在人类历史上，第一次有如此奇妙的爱从一颗博大的心中溢出，
将自己奉献于不仅一切人类、更是一切生灵的服务——这种爱除了为一切众生寻找脱离苦难的道路之外，不在乎任何事物。
人一直在爱上帝，却完全忘记了他的兄弟——人。那以上帝之名能舍弃自己生命的人，也能转过身来以上帝之名杀害他的兄弟。这就是世界的状态。他们会为了上帝的荣耀牺牲儿子，为了上帝的荣耀掠夺国家，为了上帝的荣耀杀害成千上万的生灵，为了上帝的荣耀让大地血流成河。而这是他们第一次转向另一位上帝——人。应被爱的是人。这是对所有人强烈之爱的第一波浪潮——第一波真正纯粹的智慧浪潮——从印度发源，逐渐淹没了一个又一个国家，南北东西。
这位导师要让真理如真理般闪耀。不妥协，不退让，不向教士、权贵、国王献媚。不向迷信的传统低头，无论它多么古老；不仅仅因为典籍来自久远的过去就尊崇其形式和书本。他拒绝了一切经典，一切宗教实践的形式。甚至印度历来用以传授宗教的语言——梵语，他也拒绝使用，以便他的追随者们没有机会吸收与之相关的迷信。
另有一种看待我们所讨论的真理的方式：印度教的方式。我们认为，如果用我们的方式来看，佛陀伟大的无我教义能被更好地理解。奥义书中已经有了真我与梵的伟大教义。真我（Atman），即自性，与梵（Brahman），即上主，是同一的。这个真我就是一切存在；它是唯一的实在。摩耶（Maya），即幻觉，使我们将它看作不同的东西。只有一个真我，而非众多。那一个真我以
不同的形式闪耀。人是人的兄弟，因为一切人都是一体的。吠陀说，一个人不仅是我的兄弟，他就是我自己。伤害宇宙的任何部分，我只是在伤害自己。宇宙就是我的身体。看，这是一种幻觉，以为我是某某先生——这就是幻觉。
你越接近你的真我，这幻觉就越消散。一切差异和分别越消失，你就越认识到一切都是唯一的神性。上帝存在；但他不是坐在云端上的人。他是纯净的灵。他住在哪里？比你自身更近。他就是灵魂。你怎么能将上帝视为与你自身分离和不同的呢？当你将他视为与你分离的某人时，你并不认识他。他就是你自己。这就是印度先知们的教义。
你以为你看到的是某某先生，以为全世界都与你不同，这是自私。你相信你与我不同。你不考虑我的事。你回家吃饭睡觉。如果我死了，你照样吃喝享乐。但当世界上其余的人在受苦时，你不可能真正快乐。我们都是一体的。正是分离的幻觉才是苦难的根源。除了真我之外什么都不存在；没有别的。
佛陀的观念是没有上帝，只有人自己。他摒弃了流行的上帝观念背后的思维方式。他发现那种思维使人软弱和迷信。如果你祈祷上帝赐给你一切，那么出去工作的又是谁呢？上帝来到努力工作的人身边。天助自助者。一个相反的上帝观念会削弱我们的神经，软化我们的肌肉，使我们产生依赖。一切独立的都是幸福的；一切依赖的都是痛苦的。人的内在有无限的力量，他能够实现它——他能够认识到自己就是那个
无限的真我。这是可以做到的；但你不相信。你一面向上帝祈祷，一面却始终备好火药。
佛陀教导的恰恰相反。不要让人哭泣。让他们不再有这些祈祷之类的东西。上帝不是在开店铺。你的每一次呼吸都在向上帝祈祷。我在说话，这就是祈祷。你在倾听，这就是祈祷。你的任何活动，无论精神的还是身体的，有哪一刻不参与到无限的神圣能量之中？这一切都是持续不断的祈祷。如果你只将一组词语称为祈祷，你就使祈祷流于表面。这样的祈祷没有多大用处；它们几乎不能结出真正的果实。
祈祷是一种魔法公式，只要反复念诵，即使你不努力工作，也能获得奇迹般的效果吗？不是的。所有人都必须努力工作；所有人都必须触及那无限能量的深处。在穷人背后，在富人背后，存在着同样无限的能量。不是一个人努力工作，另一个人念几句话就能获得成果。这个宇宙本身就是一个持续的祈祷。如果你在这个意义上理解祈祷，我赞同你。词语是不必要的。沉默的祈祷更好。
绝大多数人不理解这一教义的含义。在印度，任何关于真我的妥协都意味着我们将权力交到了教士手中，忘记了先知的伟大教导。佛陀知道这一点；所以他扫除了一切教士的教义和实践，使人自己站起来。他必须与人民的习惯方式作对；他必须带来革命性的变革。结果，这种祭祀宗教永远从印度消失了，再也没有复兴。
佛教表面上似乎已从印度消失；但实际上并非如此。佛陀的教导中有一个危险的因素——它是一种改革性的宗教。为了带来他所实现的巨大精神变革，
他不得不给出许多否定性的教导。但如果一种宗教过分强调否定的一面，它就有最终被毁灭的危险。一个改革的教派如果仅仅是改革的，就永远无法存续；唯有建设性的元素——即真正的推动力，即原则——才能延续不断。改革完成之后，应该强调积极的一面；建筑完工后，脚手架必须拆除。
在印度恰恰发生了这样的事：随着时间推移，佛陀的追随者过分强调了他教导中消极的方面，从而导致了他们宗教的最终衰落。真理的积极方面被否定的力量所窒息；因此印度摒弃了以佛教之名兴盛的破坏性倾向。这是印度民族思想的裁决。
佛教的消极元素——没有上帝，没有灵魂——消亡了。我可以说上帝是唯一存在的实体；这是一个非常积极的声明。他是唯一的实在。当佛陀说没有灵魂时，我说："人啊，你与宇宙合一；你就是万物。"多么积极！改革性的元素消亡了；但建设性的元素历经时代而长存。佛陀教导了对低等生灵的仁慈；从那以后，印度没有一个教派不教导对一切众生的慈悲，甚至包括动物。这种善良，这种慈悲，这种博爱——比任何教义都更伟大——就是佛教留给我们的遗产。
佛陀的一生有着特别的感召力。我一生都非常喜爱佛陀，但不是他的教义。我对那个人格的崇敬超过其他任何人——那种勇气，那种无畏，和那种巨大的爱！他为人类的福祉而生。其他人或许寻求上帝，其他人或许为自己寻求真理；他甚至不在乎为自己认识真理。他寻求真理是因为人们在受苦。
如何帮助他们，这是他唯一的关切。在他的一生中，他从未有过一个为自己的念头。我们这些无知、自私、心胸狭窄的人怎么能理解这个人的伟大呢？
再想想他那非凡的头脑！没有情绪主义。那伟大的头脑从来不迷信。不要因为拿出了一份古老的手稿就相信，不要因为它是从你祖先那里传下来的就相信，不要因为你的朋友要你信就信——要为自己思考；为自己探寻真理；为自己去实证。然后如果你发现它对一个人和众多人有益，就将它给予人们。头脑软弱的人，意志薄弱的人，胆小懦弱的人，找不到真理。一个人必须自由，胸怀须如天空般广阔。一个人的心智必须清澈如水晶；唯有如此，真理才能在其中闪耀。我们如此充满迷信！即使在你们这个自认为受过高等教育的国家，你们也充满了多少偏狭和迷信！想想看，凭借你们对文明的一切自诩，在你们这个国家，有一次我竟被拒绝提供一把椅子坐，因为我是一个印度教徒。
在基督诞生前六百年，在佛陀生活的时代，印度人民一定受过极好的教育。他们的思想一定极其自由开放。大批民众追随了他。国王放弃了王位；王后放弃了王位。人们能够欣赏和接受他的教导，如此革命性，与教士通过世世代代灌输给他们的如此不同！但他们的心智一定是异常自由和开阔的。
再看看他的死。如果他在世时是伟大的，他的死也同样伟大。他吃了一个类似于你们美洲印第安人的种族成员供奉的食物。印度教徒不碰触他们，因为他们什么都吃。他告诉弟子们："不要吃这些食物，但我不能拒绝。去告诉那个人，他为我做了一生中最大的服务之一
——他使我从肉体中解脱了。"一位老人走来坐在他身旁——他走了许多许多路来看这位大师——佛陀教导了他。当他发现一个弟子在哭泣时，他责备道："这是什么？这就是我全部教导的结果吗？不要有虚假的束缚，不要依赖我，不要虚假地美化这个转瞬即逝的人格。佛不是一个人；佛是一种觉悟。自己去修行解脱吧。"
即使在临终时，他也不愿为自己声称任何特殊地位。我因此而崇拜他。你们所称的佛和基督，不过是某些觉悟境界的名称。在世界所有的导师中，他是最教导我们自立的人，他不仅将我们从虚假自我的束缚中解放出来，也将我们从对被称为上帝或诸神的不可见存在的依赖中解放出来。他邀请每个人进入他所称的涅槃的自由境界。所有人终有一天都必须达到这一境界；而那种达成就是人的完全圆满。
English
Buddhism is historically the most important religion -- historically, not philosophically -- because it was the most tremendous religious movement that the world ever saw, the most gigantic spiritual wave ever to burst upon human society. There is no civilisation on which its effect has not been felt in some way or other.
The followers of Buddha were most enthusiastic and very missionary in spirit. They were the first among the adherents of various religions not to remain content with the limited sphere of their Mother Church. They spread far and wide. They travelled east and west, north and south. They reached into darkest Tibet; they went into Persia, Asia Minor; they went into Russia, Poland, and many other countries of the Western world. They went into China, Korea, Japan; they went into Burma, Siam, the East Indies, and beyond. When Alexander the Great, through his military conquests, brought the Mediterranean world in contact with India, the wisdom of India at once found a channel through which to spread over vast portions of Asia and Europe. Buddhist priests went out teaching among the different nations; and as they taught, superstition and priestcraft began to vanish like mist before the sun.
To understand this movement properly you should know what conditions prevailed in India at the time Buddha came, just as to understand Christianity you have to grasp the state of Jewish society at the time of Christ. It is necessary that you have an idea of Indian society six hundred years before the birth of Christ, by which time Indian civilisation had already completed its growth.
When you study the civilisation of India, you find
that it has died and revived several times; this is its peculiarity. Most races rise once and then decline for ever. There are two kinds of people; those who grow continually and those whose growth comes to an end. The peaceful nations, India and China, fall down, yet rise again; but the others, once they go down, do not come up -- they die. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall enjoy the earth.
At the time Buddha was born, India was in need of a great spiritual leader, a prophet. There was already a most powerful body of priests. You will understand the situation better if you remember the history of the Jews -- how they had two types of religious leaders, priests and prophets, the priests keeping the people in ignorance and grinding superstitions into their minds. The methods of worship the priests prescribed were only a means by which they could dominate the people. All through the Old Testament, you find the prophets challenging the superstitions of the priests. The outcome of this fight was the triumph of the prophets and the defeat of the priests.
Priests believe that there is a God, but that this God can be approached and known only through them. People can enter the Holy of Holies only with the permission of the priests. You must pay them, worship them, place everything in their hands. Throughout the history of the world, this priestly tendency has cropped up again and again -- this tremendous thirst for power, this tiger - like thirst, seems a part of human nature. The priests dominate you, lay down a thousand rules for you. They describe simple truths in roundabout ways. They tell you stories to support their own superior position. If you want to thrive in this life or go to heaven after death, you have to pass through their hands. You have to perform all kinds of ceremonies and rituals. All this has made life so complicated and has so confused the brain that if I give you plain words, you will go home unsatisfied.
You have become thoroughly befuddled. The less you understand, the better you feel! The prophets have been giving warnings against the priests and their superstitions and machinations; but the vast mass of people have not yet learnt to heed these warnings -- education is yet to come to them.
Men must have education. They speak of democracy, of the equality of all men, these days. But how will a man know he is equal with all? He must have a strong brain, a clear mind free of nonsensical ideas; he must pierce through the mass of superstitions encrusting his mind to the pure truth that is in his inmost Self. Then he will know that all perfections, all powers are already within himself, that these have not to be given him by others. When he realises this, he becomes free that moment, he achieves equality. He also realises that every one else is equally as perfect as he, and he does not have to exercise any power, physical, mental or moral, over his brother men. He abandons the idea that there was ever any man who was lower than himself. Then he can talk of equality; not until then. Now, as I was telling you, among the Jews there was a continuous struggle between the priests and the prophets; and the priests sought to monopolise power and knowledge, till they themselves began to lose them and the chains they had put on the feet of the people were on their own feet. The masters always become slaves before long. The culmination of the struggle was the victory of Jesus of Nazareth. This triumph is the history of Christianity. Christ at last succeeded in overthrowing the mass of witchcraft. This great prophet killed the dragon of priestly selfishness, rescued from its clutches the jewel of truth, and gave it to all the world, so that whosoever desired to possess it would have absolute freedom to do so, and would not have to wait on the pleasure of any priest or priests.
The Jews were never a very philosophical race: they had not the subtlety of the Indian brain nor did they have the Indian's psychic power. The priests in India, the Brahmins, possessed great intellectual and psychic powers. It was they who began the spiritual development of India, and they accomplished wonderful things. But the time came when the free spirit of development that had at first actuated the Brahmins disappeared. They began to arrogate powers and privileges to themselves. If a Brahmin killed a man, he would not be punished. The Brahmin, by his very birth, is the lord of the universe! Even the most wicked Brahmin must be worshipped!
But while the priests were flourishing, there existed also the poet - prophets called Sannyasins. All Hindus, whatever their castes may be, must, for the sake of attaining spirituality, give up their work and prepare for death. No more is the world to be of any interest to them. They must go out and become Sannyasins. The Sannyasins have nothing to do with the two thousand ceremonies that the priests have invented: Pronounce certain words -- ten syllables, twenty syllables, and so on -- all these things are nonsense.
So these poet - prophets of ancient India repudiated the ways of the priest and declared the pure truth. They tried to break the power of the priests, and they succeeded a little. But in two generations their disciples went back to the superstitious, roundabout ways of the priests -- became priests themselves: "You can get truth only through us!" Truth became crystallised again, and again prophets came to break the encrustations and free the truth, and so it went on. Yes, there must be all the time the man, the prophet, or else humanity will die.
You wonder why there have to be all these roundabout methods of the priests. Why can you not come directly to the truth? Are you ashamed of God's truth that you have to hide it behind all kinds of intricate ceremonies and formulas? Are you ashamed of God that you cannot confess His truth before the world? Do you call that being religious and spiritual? The priests are the only people fit for the truth! The masses are not fit for it! It must be diluted! Water it down a little!
Take the Sermon on the Mount and the Gita -- they are simplicity itself. Even the streetwalker can understand them. How grand! In them you find the truth clearly and simply revealed. But no, the priests would not accept that truth can be found so directly. They speak of two thousand heavens and two thousand hells. If people follow their prescriptions, they will go to heaven! If they do not obey the rules, they will go to hell!
But the people shall learn the truth. Some are afraid that if the full truth is given to all, it will hurt them. They should not be given the unqualified truth -- so they say. But the world is not much better off by compromising truth. What worse can it be than it is already? Bring truth out! If it is real, it will do good. When people protest and propose other methods, they only make apologies for witchcraft.
India was full of it in Buddha's day. There were the masses of people, and they were debarred from all knowledge. If just a word of the Vedas entered the ears of a man, terrible punishment was visited upon him. The priests had made a secret of the Vedas -- the Vedas that contained the spiritual truths discovered by the ancient Hindus!
At last one man could bear it no more. He had the brain, the power, and the heart -- a heart as infinite as the broad sky. He felt how the masses were being led by the priests and how the priests were glorying in their power, and he wanted to do something about it. He did not want any power over any one, and he wanted to break the mental and spiritual bonds of men. His heart was large. The heart, many around us may have, and we also want to help others. But we do not have the brain; we do not know the ways and means by which help can be given. But this man had the brain to discover the means of breaking the bondages of souls. He learnt why men suffer, and he found the way out of suffering. He was a man of accomplishment, he worked everything out; he taught one and all without distinction and made them realise the peace of enlightenment. This was the man Buddha.
You know from Arnold's poem, The Light of Asia, how Buddha was born a prince and how the misery of the world struck him deeply; how, although brought up and living in the lap of luxury, he could not find comfort in his personal happiness and security; how he renounced the world, leaving his princess and new - born son behind; how he wandered searching for truth from teacher to teacher; and how he at last attained to enlightenment. You know about his long mission, his disciples, his organisations. You all know these things.
Buddha was the triumph in the struggle that had been going on between the priests and the prophets in India. One thing can be said for these Indian priests -- they were not and never are intolerant of religion; they never have persecuted religion. Any man was allowed to preach against them. Theirs is such a religion; they never molested any one for his religious views. But they suffered from the peculiar weaknesses of all the priests: they also sought power, they also promulgated rules and regulations and made religion unnecessarily complicated, and thereby undermined the strength of those who followed their religion.
Buddha cut through all these excrescences. He preached the most tremendous truths. He taught the very gist of the philosophy of the Vedas to one and all without distinction, he taught it to the world at large, because one of his great messages was the equality of man. Men are all equal. No concession there to anybody! Buddha was the great preacher of equality. Every man and woman has the same right to attain spirituality -- that was his teaching. The difference between the priests and the other castes he abolished. Even the lowest were entitled to the highest attainments; he opened the door of Nirvana to one and all. His teaching was bold even for India. No amount of preaching can ever shock the Indian soul, but it was hard for India to swallow Buddha's doctrine. How much harder it must be for you!
His doctrine was this: Why is there misery in our life? Because we are selfish. We desire things for ourselves -- that is why there is misery. What is the way out? The giving up of the self. The self does not exist; the phenomenal world, all this that we perceive, is all that exists. There is nothing called soul underlying the cycle of life and death. There is the stream of thought, one thought following another in succession, each thought coming into existence and becoming non - existent at the same moment, that is all; there is no thinker of the thought, no soul. The body is changing all the time; so is mind, consciousness. The self therefore is a delusion. All selfishness comes of holding on to the self, to this illusory self. If we know the truth that there is no self, then we will be happy and make others happy.
This was what Buddha taught. And he did not merely talk; he was ready to give up his own life for the world. He said, "If sacrificing an animal is good, sacrificing a man is better", and he offered himself as a sacrifice. He said, "This animal sacrifice is another superstition. God and soul are the two big superstitions. God is only a superstition invented by the priests. If there is a God, as these Brahmins preach, why is there so much misery in the world? He is just like me, a slave to the law of causation. If he is not bound by the law of causation, then why does he create? Such a God is not at all satisfactory. There is the ruler in heaven that rules the universe according to his sweet will and leaves us all here to die in misery -- he never has the goodness to look at us for a moment. Our whole life is continuous suffering; but this is not sufficient punishment -- after death we must go to places where we have other punishments. Yet we continually perform all kinds of rites and ceremonies to please this creator of the world!"
Buddha said, "These ceremonials are all wrong. There is but one ideal in the world. Destroy all delusions; what is true will remain. As soon as the clouds are gone, the sun will shine". How to kill the self? Become perfectly unselfish, ready to give up your life even for an ant. Work not for any superstition, not to please any God, not to get any reward, but because you are seeking your own release by killing your self. Worship and prayer and all that, these are all nonsense. You all say, "I thank God"-- but where does He live? You do not know, and yet you are all going crazy about God.
Hindus can give up everything except their God. To deny God is to cut off the very ground from under the feet of devotion. Devotion and God the Hindus must cling to. They can never relinquish these. And here, in the teaching of Buddha, are no God and no soul -- simply work. What for? Not for the self, for the self is a delusion. We shall be ourselves when this delusion has vanished. Very few are there in the world that can rise to that height and work for work's sake.
Yet the religion of Buddha spread fast. It was because of the marvellous love which, for the first time in the history of humanity, overflowed a large heart and devoted itself to the service not only of all men but of all living things -- a love which did not care for anything except to find a way of release from suffering for all beings.
Man was loving God and had forgotten all about his brother man. The man who in the name of God can give up his very life, can also turn around and kill his brother man in the name of God. That was the state of the world. They would sacrifice the son for the glory of God, would rob nations for the glory of God, would kill thousands of beings for the glory of God, would drench the earth with blood for the glory of God. This was the first time they turned to the other God -- man. It is man that is to be loved. It was the first wave of intense love for all men -- the first wave of true unadulterated wisdom -- that, starting from India, gradually inundated country after country, north, south, east, west.
This teacher wanted to make truth shine as truth. No softening, no compromise, no pandering to the priests, the powerful, the kings. No bowing before superstitious traditions, however hoary; no respect for forms and books just because they came down from the distant past. He rejected all scriptures, all forms of religious practice. Even the very language, Sanskrit, in which religion had been traditionally taught in India, he rejected, so that his followers would not have any chance to imbibe the superstitions which were associated with it.
There is another way of looking at the truth we have been discussing: the Hindu way. We claim that Buddha's great doctrine of selflessness can be better understood if it is looked at in our way. In the Upanishads there is already the great doctrine of the Atman and the Brahman. The Atman, Self, is the same as Brahman, the Lord. This Self is all that is; It is the only reality. Maya, delusion, makes us see It as different. There is one Self, not many. That one Self shines in various forms. Man is man's brother because all men are one. A man is not only my brother, say the Vedas, he is myself. Hurting any part of the universe, I only hurt myself. I am the universe. It is a delusion that I think I am Mr. So - and - so -- that is the delusion.
The more you approach your real Self, the more this delusion vanishes. The more all differences and divisions disappear, the more you realise all as the one Divinity. God exists; but He is not the man sitting upon a cloud. He is pure Spirit. Where does He reside? Nearer to you than your very self. He is the Soul. How can you perceive God as separate and different from yourself? When you think of Him as some one separate from yourself, you do not know Him. He is you yourself. That was the doctrine of the prophets of India.
It is selfishness that you think that you see Mr. So - and - so and that all the world is different from you. You believe you are different from me. You do not take any thought of me. You go home and have your dinner and sleep. If I die, you still eat, drink, and are merry. But you cannot really be happy when the rest of the world is suffering. We are all one. It is the delusion of separateness that is the root of misery. Nothing exists but the Self; there is nothing else.
Buddha's idea is that there is no God, only man himself. He repudiated the mentality which underlies the prevalent ideas of God. He found it made men weak and superstitious. If you pray to God to give you everything, who is it, then, that goes out and works? God comes to those who work hard. God helps them that help themselves. An opposite idea of God weakens our nerves, softens our muscles, makes us dependent. Everything independent is happy; everything dependent is miserable. Man has infinite power within himself, and he can realise it -- he can realise himself as the one infinite Self. It can be done; but you do not believe it. You pray to God and keep your powder dry all the time.
Buddha taught the opposite. Do not let men weep. Let them have none of this praying and all that. God is not keeping shop. With every breath you are praying in God. I am talking; that is a prayer. You are listening; that is a prayer. Is there ever any movement of yours, mental or physical, in which you do not participate in the infinite Divine Energy? It is all a constant prayer. If you call only a set of words prayer, you make prayer superficial. Such prayers are not much good; they can scarcely bear any real fruit.
Is prayer a magic formula, by repeating which, even is you do not work hard, you gain miraculous results? No. All have to work hard; all have to reach the depths of that infinite Energy. Behind the poor, behind the rich, there is the same infinite Energy. It is not that one man works hard, and another by repeating a few words achieves results. This universe is a constant prayer. If you take prayer in this sense, I am with you. Words are not necessary. Better is silent prayer.
The vast majority of people do not understand the meaning of this doctrine. In India any compromise regarding the Self means that we have given power into the hands of the priests and have forgotten the great teachings of the prophets. Buddha knew this; so he brushed aside all the priestly doctrines and practices and made man stand on his own feet. It was necessary for him to go against the accustomed ways of the people; he had to bring about revolutionary changes. As a result this sacrificial religion passed away from India for ever, and was never revived.
Buddhism apparently has passed away from India; but really it has not. There was an element of danger in the teaching of Buddha -- it was a reforming religion. In order to bring about the tremendous spiritual change he did, he had to give many negative teachings. But if a religion emphasises the negative side too much, it is in danger of eventual destruction. Never can a reforming sect survive if it is only reforming; the formative elements alone -- the real impulse, that is, the principles -- live on and on. After a reform has been brought about, it is the positive side that should be emphasised; after the building is finished the scaffolding must be taken away.
It so happened in India that as time went on, the followers of Buddha emphasised the negative aspect of his teachings too much and thereby caused the eventual downfall of their religion. The positive aspects of truth were suffocated by the forces of negation; and thus India repudiated the destructive tendencies that flourished in the name of Buddhism. That was the decree of the Indian national thought.
The negative elements of Buddhism -- there is no God and no soul -- died out. I can say that God is the only being that exists; it is a very positive statement. He is the one reality. When Buddha says there is no soul, I say, "Man, thou art one with the universe; thou art all things." How positive! The reformative element died out; but the formative element has lived through all time. Buddha taught kindness towards lower beings; and since then there has not been a sect in India that has not taught charity to all beings, even to animals. This kindness, this mercy, this charity -- greater than any doctrine -- are what Buddhism left to us.
The life of Buddha has an especial appeal. All my life I have been very fond of Buddha, but not of his doctrine. I have more veneration for that character than for any other -- that boldness, that fearlessness, and that tremendous love! He was born for the good of men. Others may seek God, others may seek truth for themselves; he did not even care to know truth for himself. He sought truth because people were in misery.
How to help them, that was his only concern. Throughout his life he never had a thought for himself. How can we ignorant, selfish, narrow - minded human beings ever understand the greatness of this man?
And consider his marvellous brain! No emotionalism. That giant brain never was superstitious. Believe not because an old manuscript has been produced, because it has been handed down to you from your forefathers, because your friends want you to -- but think for yourself; search truth for yourself; realise it yourself. Then if you find it beneficial to one and many, give it to people. Soft - brained men, weak - minded, chicken - hearted, cannot find the truth. One has to be free, and as broad as the sky. One has to have a mind that is crystal clear; only then can truth shine in it. We are so full of superstitions! Even in your country where you think you are highly educated, how full of narrownesses and superstitions you are! Just think, with all your claims to civilisation in this country, on one occasion I was refused a chair to sit on, because I was a Hindu.
Six hundred years before the birth of Christ, at the time when Buddha lived, the people of India must have had wonderful education. Extremely free - minded they must have been. Great masses followed him. Kings gave up their thrones; queens gave up their thrones. People were able to appreciate and embrace his teaching, so revolutionary, so different from what they had been taught by the priests through the ages! But their minds have been unusually free and broad.
And consider his death. If he was great in life, he was also great in death. He ate food offered to him by a member of a race similar to your American Indians. Hindus do not touch them, because they eat everything indiscriminately. He told his disciples, "Do not eat this food, but I cannot refuse it. Go to the man and tell him he has done me one of the greatest services of my life -- he has released me from the body." An old man came and sat near him -- he had walked miles and miles to see the Master -- and Buddha taught him. When he found a disciple weeping, he reproved him, saying, "What is this? Is this the result of all my teaching? Let there be no false bondage, no dependence on me, no false glorification of this passing personality. The Buddha is not a person; he is a realisation. Work out your own salvation."
Even when dying, he would not claim any distinction for himself. I worship him for that. What you call Buddhas and Christs are only the names of certain states of realisation. Of all the teachers of the world, he was the one who taught us most to be self - reliant, who freed us not only from the bondages of our false selves but from dependence on the invisible being or beings called God or gods. He invited every one to enter into that state of freedom which he called Nirvana. All must attain to it one day; and that attainment is the complete fulfilment of man.
文本来自Wikisource公共领域。原版由阿德瓦伊塔修道院出版。