The Sutra of Forty-two Chapters - 13 (2)
佛說四十二章經 第13章（2）
後漢 西域沙門迦葉摩騰 竺法蘭 同譯
Translated jointly by Indian Sramana Kasyapa Matanga and Dharmaraksa in the Later Han Dynasty
法師講解 第42秒開始 單詞 第3分鐘36秒開始
第13章 問道宿命
Queries on Gaining the Wisdom of Past Lives
沙門問佛。以何因緣得知宿命。會其至道。
A monk asked the Buddha: "Under what conditions is it possible to come to the knowledge of the past and to understand the most supreme Way?"
佛言。淨心守志。可會至道。
The Buddha said: "Those who are pure in heart and single in purpose are able to understand the most supreme Way.
譬如磨鏡。垢去明存。斷欲無求。當得宿命
It is like polishing a mirror, which becomes bright when the dust is removed.
Remove your passions, and have no hankering, and the past will be revealed unto you."
英文版經文轉載自 菩提字幕屋，英譯者 D.T. Suzuki
English version sourced from Bodhi Fansubs, translated by D.T. Suzuki
法師講解：問道宿命（2）
Commentary: Queries on gaining the wisdom of past lives (2)
In the six realms of existence, supernatural power is really nothing uncommon. Basically the Buddha had disallowed his disciples to demonstrate supernatural power because the pursuit of it will only nourish people’s desires of greed, hatred and ignorance, which are against the spirit of Buddhism. When our mind becomes pure, supernatural power will manifest naturally, so any purposeful pursuit of it is unnecessary indeed. Apart from the wisdom of complete extinction of afflictions, all other supernatural powers are of no help in liberation.
在六道中，神通並不是什麼稀有的東西，佛陀基本上是禁止弟子示現神通的，因為追求神通只會助長人們的貪嗔痴，這是與佛法精神相違背的。當我們的心境清淨，神通就自然會顯現出來，實在無須特意追求，況且除了漏盡通外，其他神通根本不能讓我們解脫。
In addition, supernatural power is no match for karma. Venerable Master Moggallana, rated number one in supernatural power, is a well known example in this respect. During the lifetime of Sakyamuni Buddha, the troops of Kosala wanted to attack the Sakya clan of Kapilavastu. Moggallana tried to save the people of the Sakya clan with supernatural power by hiding them in his alms bowl and raising them to the sky. After the battle Moggallana fetched the alms bowl only to discover that the Sakya people had been turned into bloody water; supernatural power had failed to save them. As for the cause of such karma, once in a past life there was a pond in a certain village. One day the villagers caught all the fishes in the pond and ate them. In this life, the fishes became the soldiers of Kosala whereas the villagers became the Sakya clan to redeem the debts of karma. It follows that supernatural power cannot violate the laws of karma.
另外，神通力是不敵因果業力的，神通第一的目犍連尊者就是個很著名的例子。釋迦牟尼佛在世時，憍薩羅國的軍隊要攻打迦毗羅衛國的釋迦族，目犍連為解救釋迦族人用神通把他們收於缽中並升到天上，戰亂過後目犍連把缽取回，但見釋迦族人已經化為血水了，神通並沒法解救他們。原因是在過去生有一條村落, 當中有一個池塘，有一天村民把池塘裡的魚全部撈出吃掉。到這一生，那些魚轉生為琉璃國的軍人，而那些村民卻轉生為釋迦族人償還業債, 可見神通是不能違背因果定律的。
Moreover, some diligent heretics might also be able to demonstrate supernatural power. If they were to use supernatural power to relieve people as well, in which case people would not be able to distinguish between the truthful way and the heretical way. The use of supernatural power would only arouse people’s desires that such power could fulfil, and thus would become an obstacle against cultivation. Even if it was used, it would just serve as an expedient measure because ultimately Buddhism is meant to use wisdom to relieve people. In order to draw a distinction between Buddhists and heretics, the Buddha disallowed his disciples to demonstrate supernatural power except for compassion reasons on very limited occasions.
再者，一些有修行的外道也可以有神通，如果大家都利用神通度化他人的話，那人們就無法區分正道與外道了，而且這樣只會勾起神通所能滿足的貪慾，神通反而會成為修行的障礙。就算用的話，也只能是權宜之計，最終必須以佛法的智慧來度人。所以為了與外道劃清界限，除了極少數出於慈悲心的例子外，佛陀一般是不允許弟子們示現神通。
講解 | 釋宏添 北京天開寺
By Bhiksu Hong Tian, Tiankai Temple