佛教簡介 梁國雄居士譯註
“佛教”就是佛陀的教誨。“佛陀”是已看透宇宙人生真相，證悟最高真理的覺者，含有能自己覺悟、覺悟他人、覺悟一切的意思。
釋迦牟尼佛於西元前623年生於北印度的釋迦國，是凈飯王的太子。他29歲離家求道，找尋人生意義及解除人生苦惱，於35歲證悟成佛，自此展開弘法生涯，直到進入無餘涅盤，共說法45年。
佛教的經典博大精深，透過開始的口頭背誦，到後來的結集成書，流傳至今。
佛教的中心思想為四聖諦與八正道。四聖諦中的“諦”是真理的意思。這些真理能幫助我們達到崇高的宗教理想，所以也叫做“聖諦”。四聖諦是“苦、集、滅、道”四諦。“苦諦”是“果”，即是苦的現象。“集諦”是欲望和無知，是產生痛苦的“因”。“滅諦”是“果”， 是苦滅的境界。“道諦”是八正道，是斷除痛苦的“因”。
這些基本教義揭示了世間無常、苦及無我的本質。世間的一切有為法皆為因緣和合而生滅，無所謂永恆的現象及真實的主體存在。這包括了眾生的身心和遭遇等。然而，由於未能確實地體驗此真理，眾生產生了無數的煩惱。煩惱即是對真理無知的結果，亦是眾生繼續蒙昧、犯錯和受苦的原因，這導致了無休止的輪回。眾生只有證悟涅盤才能真正的解脫生死輪回。
八正道則是八種正確的修行方法與待人處事的道德標準：正見、正思惟、正語、正 業、正命、正精進、正念、正定。八正道又可歸納為戒、定、慧三學。戒律為佛教 的根本教條。佛教的基本戒就是五戒十善，再依修持層次的不同而分有在家的五戒十善、八戒，以及出家的十戒、比丘戒及比丘尼戒。定和慧則是通過止觀禪修來凈化心靈的修持。
總括來說，佛教可精簡的以四句話來概括：諸惡莫作，眾善奉行，自凈其意，是諸佛教。
【註】欲進一步了解佛陀的原始教義，可精讀以下三書：
(1) 『佛陀的啟示』 羅喉羅化普樂著 顧法嚴譯
（What The Buddha Taught by Walpola Rahula）
(2) 『覺悟之路』 那爛陀長者著 學愚譯 山東人民出版社
（The Buddha and His Teachings by Narada Maha Thera）
(3) 『南傳佛教基本教義』 毗耶達西著 方之譯
（The Buddha's Ancient Path by Piyadassi Thera）
【附錄英原文】：About Buddhism in Buddhastation
Buddhism is the teachings of the Buddha. The word 'Buddha' means the Awakened One or the Enlightened One who has realized the ultimate reality of existence. It also carries the meaning of self-enlightened, ability to enlighten others and knower of all.
Gautama Buddha, the founder of what came to be known as Buddhism today, was born in 623B.C. in Northern India as prince Siddhattha to King Suddhodana of the aristocratic Sakyan clan. At the age of 29, the young prince renounced the world in search for the meaning of life. At 35, he attained enlightenment. Since then he spent the rest of his life engaged indefatigably in teaching his doctrines to the masses. The Buddha passed away into final Nibbana when he was 80 years old, after giving 45 years of invaluable service to mankind.
Buddhist scriptures are enormous in number. It begun with memorizing and oral transmissions from generation to generation before they were written down at about 83 B.C.
The heart of the Buddha's teachings is the Four Noble Truths. These teachings lead us towards the realization of the ultimate goal in Buddhism.
The Four Noble Truths are: (1) the Noble Truth of Suffering, (2) the Noble Truth of the Cause of Suffering, (3) the Noble Truth of Cessation of Suffering and (4) the Noble Truth of the Path Leading to the Cessation of Suffering.
The First Noble Truth explains the phenomena of suffering. The Second Noble Truth, the cause of suffering refers to craving and ignorance, which is the cause of suffering. The Third Noble Truth is the complete cessation of suffering, which is Nibbana, the ultimate goal of Buddhism. It is also the effect of practising the Fourth Noble Truth, the Path. The Fourth Noble Truth is the Noble Eightfold Path, the cause for the elimination of suffering.
The basic teachings of the Buddha reveal the three universal characteristics of all conditioned phenomena, i.e. impermenance, unsatisfactoriness and non-self. There are no permanent conditioned phenomenon. Our minds and bodies are of no exception. However, due to the ignorance of the true nature of these phenomena, we suffer as a result. This is the cause of our never-ending rebirths in Samsara. It is only through realizing Nibbana that we could be free from Samsara.
The Noble Eightfold Path is the moral guidance of right practice and living. It consists of Right View, Right Understanding, Right Speech, Right Livelihood, Right Action, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration. The Noble Eightfold Path can also be classified into three groups, i.e. first, the Precepts group, second, the Concentration group and third, the Wisdom group.
Observance of precepts is the foundation of Buddhism. It starts with the basic five or eight precepts and ten wholesome deeds for laypeople. And then the ten precepts and the Bhikkhu and Bhikkhuni precepts for monks and nuns. It is through meditation practice that one clarifies his/her mind which can then give rise to Concentration and Wisdom.
Buddhism, in a nutshell, means: "Do no evil", that is, be not a curse to oneself and others, "Do good", that is, be a blessing to oneself and others, and "Purify one's mind", that is, to purify one's mind from defilements.
