親近智者
親近智者 [作者] 菩提尊者
[中譯] 良稹
Association with the Wise
by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi
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| The Maha-mangala Sutta, the Great Discourse on Blessings, is one of the most popular Buddhist suttas, included in all the standard repertories of Pali devotional chants. The sutta begins when a deity of stunning beauty, having descended to earth in the stillness of the night, approaches the Blessed One in the Jeta Grove and asks about the way to the highest blessings. In the very first stanza of his reply the Buddha states that the highest blessing comes from avoiding fools and associating with the wise (asevana ca balanam, panditanan ca sevana). Since the rest of the sutta goes on to sketch all the different aspects of human felicity, both mundane and spiritual, the assignment of association with the wise to the opening stanza serves to emphasize a key point: that progress along the path of the Dhamma hinges on making the right choices in our friendships. | 《大吉祥經》 (Maha-Mangala Sutta) 是一部最常爲人們持誦、被收錄於所有規範巴利課誦本內的佛教經文。在經文開端，一位美麗耀眼的天女於靜夜降臨大地，近詣柢樹園中的薄伽梵，請爲說至高的吉祥。佛陀在應答初偈中宣稱，至高的吉祥來自遠離愚人、親近智者(asevana ca balanam，panditanan ca sevana)。由於餘下經文敘述的，是包括世間與靈性諸側面在內的一切人類福佑，親近智者被置於經偈之首，意在強調一個關鍵點: 佛法之道的進步有賴於正確選擇我們的友伴。 |
| Contrary to certain psychological theories, the human mind is not a hermetically sealed chamber enclosing a personality unalterably shaped by biology and infantile experience. Rather, throughout life it remains a highly malleable entity continually remolding itself in response to its social interactions. Far from coming to our personal relationships with a fixed and immutable character, our regular and repeated social contacts implicate us in a constant process of psychological osmosis that offers precious opportunities for growth and transformation. Like living cells engaged in a chemical dialogue with their colleagues, our minds transmit and receive a steady barrage of messages and suggestions that may work profound changes even at levels below the threshold of awareness. | 與某些心理學理論相反，人類的心靈並非是一個密閉式的容器，在其中封存著由生物學規律與嬰兒期體驗所定型的性格。反之，個體在整個一生當中始終高度可塑，不斷地回應其社會互動而自我再造。我們決非是以固有不變的心性踏入個人的交往圈子，相反，那些定期與頻繁的社會接觸，把我們置於一個心理濡染的連續過程，為我們提供成長與轉化的寶貴機會。正如活細胞與周圍同伴進行著化學對話，我們的心持續地發送與接受著訊息與提示，它們甚至有可能在潛意識的諸層次上，造就深刻的變化。 |
| Particularly critical to our spiritual progress is our selection of friends and companions, who can have the most decisive impact upon our personal destiny. It is because he perceived how susceptible our minds can be to the influence of our companions that the Buddha repeatedly stressed the value of good friendship (kalyanamittata) in the spiritual life. The Buddha states that he sees no other thing that is so much responsible for the arising of unwholesome qualities in a person as bad friendship, nothing so helpful for the arising of wholesome qualities as good friendship (AN 1.vii,10; I.viii,1). Again, he says that he sees no other external factor that leads to so much harm as bad friendship, and no other external factor that leads to so much benefit as good friendship (AN 1.x,13,14). It is through the influence of a good friend that a disciple is led along the Noble Eightfold Path to release from all suffering (SN 45:2). | 對於我們的靈性進步特別重要的，是朋友與同伴的選擇，那些人對我們的個人命運能夠起決定性的影響。佛陀之所以反覆強調善友(kalyanamittata,善知識)在精神生活中的價值，是因為他了解我們的心，何等易受友伴的左右。佛陀說，他不見任何其它事，對引生不善巧素質[惡法]，作用之大，如惡友伴者，他不見任何它事，對引生善巧素質[善法]，作用之大，如善友伴者(AN 1.vii,10; I.viii,1)。他又說，他不見任何其它的外在因素，引生傷害之大，如惡友伴者，他不見任何其它的外在因素，引生利益之大，如善友伴者 (AN 1.x,13,14)。正是藉著善友的熏陶與指點，一位弟子在滅盡諸苦的八聖道上才得以進步(SN 45:2)。 |
| Good friendship, in Buddhism, means considerably more than associating with people that one finds amenable and who share one's interests. It means in effect seeking out wise companions to whom one can look for guidance and instruction. The task of the noble friend is not only to provide companionship in the treading of the way. The truly wise and compassionate friend is one who, with understanding and sympathy of heart, is ready to criticize and admonish, to point out one's faults, to exhort and encourage, perceiving that the final end of such friendship is growth in the Dhamma. The Buddha succinctly expresses the proper response of a disciple to such a good friend in a verse of the Dhammapada: "If one finds a person who points out one's faults and who reproves one, one should follow such a wise and sagacious counselor as one would a guide to hidden treasure" (Dhp 76). | 佛教意義上的善友，其內涵遠甚於結交意氣相投或與之有共同興趣者。實際上它意味著尋找能夠引導與指點自己的智侶。聖友的任務不僅是行道的同伴; 真正的智慧、慈悲之友，乃是一位心懷理解與同情，願意批評、責備、指錯、敦促、鼓勵、視佛法中成長為友誼之終極目標者。佛陀在《法句經》中簡明扼要地表達了一位弟子對此等善友的態度:“如果找到一位願意指錯、批評者，他應當追隨這位智慧、賢明之士，如緊跟一位寶藏的嚮導。” (Dhp76) |
| Association with the wise becomes so crucial to spiritual development because the example and advice of a noble-minded counselor is often the decisive factor that awakens and nurtures the unfolding of our own untapped spiritual potential. The uncultivated mind harbors a vast diversity of unrealized possibilities, ranging from the depths of selfishness, egotism and aggressivity to the heights of wisdom, self-sacrifice and compassion. The task confronting us, as followers of the Dhamma, is to keep the unwholesome tendencies in check and to foster the growth of the wholesome tendencies, the qualities that lead to awakening, to freedom and purification. However, our internal tendencies do not mature and decline in a vacuum. They are subject to the constant impact of the broader environment, and among the most powerful of these influences is the company we keep, the people we look upon as teachers, advisors and friends. Such people silently speak to the hidden potentials of our own being, potentials that will either unfold or wither under their influence. | 親近智者對靈性進步之所以如此重要，是因為聖者的指點常常是喚醒與培育我們的靈性潛力使之開啟的決定性因素。未修之心具有廣泛多樣的潛在可能性，低至自私、自我中心、侵略性，高至智慧、奉獻與慈悲。作為法的追隨者，我們面臨的任務，是抑制非善巧的心性，培育善巧的心性，長養那些趨向覺醒、自由、清凈的素質。然而，我們的內在心性並非在真空中成熟或衰退。它們不斷地受著環境的影響，其中最有力者乃是我們的同伴，我們尊為導師、顧問、朋友者。這些人潛移默化著我們自身隱藏的潛力，使之或者開啟、或者枯敗。 |
| In our pursuit of the Dhamma it therefore becomes essential for us to choose as our guides and companions those who represent, at least in part, the noble qualities we seek to internalize by the practice of the Dhamma. This is especially necessary in the early stages of our spiritual development, when our virtuous aspirations are still fresh and tender, vulnerable to being undermined by inward irresolution or by discouragement from acquaintances who do not share our ideals. In this early phase our mind resembles a chameleon, which alters its color according to its background. Just as this remarkable lizard turns green when in the grass and brown when on the ground, so we become fools when we associate with fools and sages when we associate with sages. Internal changes do not generally occur suddenly; but slowly, by increments so slight that we ourselves may not be aware of them, our characters undergo a metamorphosis that in the end may prove to be dramatically significant. | 因此在佛法修行之中，選擇那些起碼部分地體現我們希望藉修法而自攝之尊貴素質者作為嚮導與同伴，就成為一個關鍵的問題。這一點在我們靈性發展的早期階段特別有必要，那時我們的求善志向尚為新生、柔弱，易受內在的不決感與非同道之損友的破壞。在這個早期階段，我們的心如同變色龍，隨著不同的背景變換色彩。正如這隻奇異的蜥蜴入草而身綠，著地而色棕，我們在親近愚人時亦會轉愚，親近智者時也將得智。內在的轉化通常非是驟然達成，而是逐漸地以可能不為自身覺察的微小幅度遞增，我們的品格經歷著一場最終有可能極其顯著的形變。 |
| If we associate closely with those who are addicted to the pursuit of sense pleasures, power, riches and fame, we should not imagine that we will remain immune from those addictions: in time our own minds will gradually incline to these same ends. If we associate closely with those who, while not given up to moral recklessness, live their lives comfortably adjusted to mundane routines, we too will remain stuck in the ruts of the commonplace. If we aspire for the highest — for the peaks of transcendent wisdom and liberation — then we must enter into association with those who represent the highest. Even if we are not so fortunate as to find companions who have already scaled the heights, we can well count ourselves blessed if we cross paths with a few spiritual friends who share our ideals and who make earnest efforts to nurture the noble qualities of the Dhamma in their hearts. | 我們若與那些嗜好感官之樂、權力、財富與名聲者過從密切，則不應想像自己有可能對那些癮習保持免疫: 我們的心終究將逐漸地傾向同樣的目標。我們若與那些雖未放縱於道德之不端，然已舒適地納入世俗慣習者頻繁交往，也將繼續淪陷於庸碌人生之舊轍。我們若嚮往至高理想，欲達出世的智慧與解脫的高峰，則必須親近那些體現著至高理想的人士。即使我們尚未有幸尋得已達此等高度的同伴，若能夠遇上幾位志同道合、精進努力、在內心培育佛法尊貴品質的靈性賢友，我們也堪稱有福了。 |
| When we raise the question how to recognize good friends, how to distinguish good advisors from bad advisors, the Buddha offers us crystal-clear advice. In the Shorter Discourse on a Full-Moon Night (MN 110) he explains the difference between the companionship of the bad person and the companionship of the good person. The bad person chooses as friends and companions those who are without faith, whose conduct is marked by an absence of shame and moral dread, who have no knowledge of spiritual teachings, who are lazy and unmindful, and who are devoid of wisdom. As a consequence of choosing such bad friends as his advisors, the bad person plans and acts for his own harm, for the harm of others, and the harm of both, and he meets with sorrow and misery. | 面對如何識別善友、區分善惡導師的問題，佛陀給予我們的忠告清晰明了。在《滿月小經》(MN 110)中，他解釋了非善士與善士兩者的同伴之別。非善士選擇無信念、無慚意、不畏惡行、對靈性教導無知、怠惰、無念住、少智慧的人士為朋友與同伴。由於選擇了這等惡友為其咨謀，此人在計劃與行動上害己、害人、兩害，他得到憂苦與不幸的果報。 |
| In contrast, the Buddha continues, the good person chooses as friends and companions those who have faith, who exhibit a sense of shame and moral dread, who are learned in the Dhamma, energetic in cultivation of the mind, mindful, and possessed of wisdom. Resorting to such good friends, looking to them as mentors and guides, the good person pursues these same qualities as his own ideals and absorbs them into his character. Thus, while drawing ever closer to deliverance himself, he becomes in turn a beacon light for others. Such a one is able to offer those who still wander in the dark an inspiring model to emulate, and a wise friend to turn to for guidance and advice. | 佛陀繼續說，反之，善士選擇有信念、知恥、畏惡、於法博學、精勤修心、有正念、具智慧者為友人與同伴。求教於這等賢友，敬其為師長、嚮導，善士以同樣的素質為追求理想，將其吸收納入自己的心性。如此，隨著他本人越來越趨近解脫，轉而成為他人的燈塔。這樣的人，就能夠為那些仍然在黑暗中摸索的人們擔當起一個勵志的榜樣、一位可請得忠告與指點的智友。 |
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