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佛教是孝道的延伸
BUDDHISM AS THE EXTENSION OF FILIAL RESPECT

文/約翰·湯普森 加州大學/神學協會研究生 一九九五年三月十三日
by John M. Thompson Graduate Theological Union University of California at Berkeley March 3, 1995

中國佛教對孝道是這樣的重視,傑出的範例如此之多,因此無法在此一一列舉。在中國家族觀念濃厚的國家,從其傳統的一小部分就可看到她文化的全貌。即使在物欲昌狂的今日文明下,孝風懿德依然可見。在以佛教雕塑聞名的龍門石窟中,刻滿了來自出家、在家二眾對父母、祖先的祝禱之辭。我們可以在不同的經典中找到例證。只要深入研究幾個範例,就可發現佛教的孝道不僅實踐於自身的父母,它更推而廣之擴及到非血親的人身上。

中國最早講孝的經典中有一部叫「安令首傳」,是一部西元四世紀時的作品。故事採用「孝順的女兒」作為主角,這是中國文學中最好的比喻,只不過用偏重於佛教的角度來詮釋這個角色。當年輕的安令首說出她想出家為尼的心意時,其父親強烈地指摘為「自私」。她申辯說她的動機是為了救度眾生,尤其是為了她的父母。她父親將這話對佛教大師佛圖澄說了,佛圖澄大師印證這女孩不僅在過去有一生中做過大法師,甚至在這一世會協助她父母和家人證得涅槃。她的父親於是允許她出家,而她也的確利益了各方的人士。又由於她的美名四播,更替她父親謀得了個官職。安令首所展現的不只是個孝女所應具備的操守,她其實是以出家這種所謂不孝的行為,來超越凡情盡孝的方式。還有一點值得一提的是,佛圖澄,這位收她為徒,可稱得上是她「法身父母」的人,貼切地解釋她是如何地盡孝。實際上,她從頭至尾都沒有出過家,她在得到第二個父親的時候,仍然在侍奉第一個父親。她的擔子雖然沈重,不過她以欣悅的態度圓滿了這個任務。也就在此時,中國佛教徒才真正地認清孝道的真諦。

藉由這篇短文放眼到其他經典上去,就可以看到佛教是如何領納孝的義理並推而廣之。梵網經詳列了各種的戒律,引導菩薩而成正覺。它是由鳩摩羅什大師,這位四世紀末、五世紀初的著名翻譯家引入中國的。根據天台宗的說法,梵網經最初是佛陀成道出定後所宣說的。而我們的目的旨在了解,佛陀明白自己虧欠父母很多,出於孝心,於是開演出這些道德的標準,做為我們報答親恩的依循。我們又一次地見到了孝道與倫理的結合。

這部經典列出了菩薩的基本戒律(十重,四十八輕戒),這些都是基本佛法,所以菩薩一定要守這些戒律。在慧僧法師的淺釋中,他將這些戒律歸納為孝:「廣泛地說,是十重四十八輕戒,但它其實就是孝;不恭敬受持就是不孝。」這很有意思。

待續

The stress on filiality in Chinese Buddhism is so great that it would be impossible to cite all pertinent evidence. Undoubtedly this was in part a (natural?) response of the tradition when encountering such a distinctly family-centered and Confucianized culture, where parental reverence and ancestor worship were de rigueur, and where there was no socially sanctioned pattern of religious mendicancy. As in India, we also find indications of the prominence accorded to filiality in Chinese Buddhism in the material culture. For example, the caves at Longmen, famous for their Buddhist carvings, are replete with inscribed prayers for parents and ancestors from both laity and monastics alike. The best evidence, though, comes from various literary texts. A close look at a few should show how Buddhism not only accepts and approves of filial respect, but extends it beyond immediate relatives to the world at large.

One of the earliest Chinese Buddhist texts to explicitly focus on filial piety is the “Biography of the Nun Anling Shou”, a work set in the fourth century C.E. This tale picks up one of the great tropes in Chinese literature, the filial daughter, but makes its point with a particularly Buddhist twist. As a young girl, Anling Shou expresses her desire to become a Buddhist nun but is soundly denounced by her father for such a “selfish” wish. She protests that her motive is to save all beings, especially her parents. Her father speaks of this to the Buddhist thaumaturge Fo Tudeng, who assures him that his daughter not only was a great monk in a past life, but will in her present life truly aid all her relatives and bring her parents to Nirvana. Her father then permits her to leave home and she brings benefits to people from all walks of life. In fact, so wide is her renown that her father is given a government position. Not only does Anling Shou display all the virtues of a filial daughter, she is able to surpass ordinary filial accomplishments through the allegedly “anfilial” act of leaving home. Perhaps even more significantly, it is Fo Tudeng, the monk who ordains her and so becomes her “Dharma father”, who explains just how filial she is. In a real sense, then, she never leaves home for she gains a “second father” while still serving her first. Her duties, then, are expanded, but she fulfills them quite admirably. Clearly Chinese Buddhists by this time were already “one-upping” their Confucian critics by indicating just what real (i.e. Buddhist) filial devotion meant.

Turning from this text to some actual Sutras, we see how Buddhism takes up the virtue of filial respect and expands upon it even more. The Brahma Net Sutra (Fan wang jing) is a detailed list of various precepts which are meant to guide Bodhisattvas to enlightenment. This Sutra was brought to China by Kumarajiva, the famous late fourth-early fifth century translator, but according to the traditions of the Tian tai school it was first spoken by the Buddha when he emerged out of samadhi upon his enlightenment. For our purposes, however, it is important to note that it was said to have been spoken out the Buddha's own realization of the great debt he owed his parents. So it was on this filial basis that the Buddha issued these moral guidelines. Once again, we see the association of filiality with ethics.

The Sutra provides moral precepts (ten major, forty-eight minor) to be followed by all Bodhisattvas. These are said to be a basic part of the Dharma so that just by being a Bodhisattva one is bound by them. Interestingly, Master Hui Seng in his commentary sums up all these precepts as filiality: “Extensively speaking, they are the Ten Major and Forty-eight Minor Precepts, but in general, they can be described as the practice of filiality. Not to respectfully uphold them is simply not to be filial.”

To be continued

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