佛教与文明关系论略

On the Relationship Between Buddhism and Civilization

关于宗教与文明的关系,西方宗教学界有很多很好的研究,值得借鉴。应该说,就佛教本身来说,也有着丰富的文明资源,如何运用这些丰富的文明资源来构建"佛化文明",对于有着深厚佛教传统的中国社会来说,是应该受到重视的。古代印度佛教将佛教徒所应掌握的世间法和出世间法概括为"五明",即声明、因明、医方明、工巧名和内名。如果说在古代作为"方外"即社会之外的封闭佛教中,佛教徒掌握"五明"就已足够了的话,那么在当代作为整个社会有机体的一个组成部分的开放佛教中,佛教徒除了要掌握"五明"外,还得要讲求文明。因为在当代开放的佛教语境中,佛教首先是一种社会体系,然后才是一种宗教体系;现代社会对于佛教,先是有文明的诉求,然后才有信仰的诉求。按照"一切法皆是佛法"的大乘佛教基本原理,在现代社会中,把文明纳入佛法体系,在"五明"中增加"文明"成为"六明",这是现代佛教必须完成的课题。佛教界和佛教徒应该在促进当代社会文明建设中做出自己应有的贡献。

With regard to the relationship between religion and civilization, the religious research circles of the West have provided us with numerous studies and valuable references. Buddhism itself has rich resources of civilization. Being a country deeply rooted in Buddhist tradition, it is very important for us to make use of these resources so as to build a ＂Buddhist Civilization＂. According to ancient Indian Buddhism, a buddhist must master the so-called Pancavidya which means five techniques including language, Indian logic, medicine, craftmanship and philosophy. Mastering these five techniques means complete accomplishment to an ancient Buddhist, yet to a contemporary Buddhist it is not enough. A contemporary Buddhist must be civilized besides grasping the five techniques. Actually there are abundant resources of civilization in Buddhism, which can be utilized to form buddhist civilization in today＇s Chinese society to improve the civilized images of the Chinese people. In a word, Chinese Buddhist circles should make their fair share of contribution to the promotion of modem civilization.