你根本不了解佛教

BUDDHISM—THE DEFINITION

佛教的定义

You may wonder why this topic is chosen. The reason is simply because even some veteran Buddhists in both China and Tibet do not know the real meaning and the scope of Buddhism. Other than the monastics, most farmers and nomads in Tibet think that to be able to help build a stupa or a magnificent temple from time to time, or to recite the six-word mantra of Avalokitesvara, will make them good enough Buddhists. But all these are just doing good deeds, not learning or practicing the Dharma. So, further explanation about Buddhism is certainly necessary.

现在有很多学佛多年的人，还不清楚真正的佛法是什么，其所涵盖的范围究竟为何。不仅在汉地有很多人不懂何为真正的佛法，在藏地也有同样的问题。除了一些僧人以外，一般的农民或牧民大都对佛法的内涵不甚了解，认为只要能修佛塔、经堂或金碧辉煌的寺庙，或者念一点观音心咒，就是很不错的佛教徒了，但这些仅是做善事而已，不是学佛，也不是修行，所以，我们有必要对佛法或佛教的定义略作说明。

The Incorrect Definition of Buddhism

一、佛教的错误定义

Some regard Buddhism as a kind of belief. Belief also means faith. Of course faith is needed in Buddhism, but it would be oversimplified to regard Buddhism as a belief since keeping faith is only one of the aspects of Buddhism. The foundation and the priority of Buddhism are not about belief, but wisdom and compassion. Although Buddhism does advocate the importance of faith, it is not unique to Buddhism; science also calls for faith. For example, people today all want to promote faith in science. If one does not trust science, one probably would not even dare to take airplane. People take planes because they believe in the technology that allows airplane to transport people to their destinations. It takes faith to accomplish anything in this world, the same kind of faith as in Buddhism. Therefore, it is incorrect to equate Buddhism with belief.

有些人认为，佛法是一种信仰。信仰也即信心，佛法当然是需要信心的，但如果因此而说佛法就是信仰的话，又显得过于简单了，由于信心仅仅是佛法的许多观念之一。佛教的基础和重点都不是信仰，而是智慧和大悲。佛法虽然提倡信仰，但除了佛法以外，科学也有对信心的要求。譬如，现代人提倡对科学要有信心，如果有人不相信科学的话，可能连飞机都不敢坐了。正因为相信科技，相信飞机能将人从出发地带到目的地，人们才会去坐飞机。无论做世上的任何事，都要有信心才能成办，而佛教所谓的信心，也就是如此，所以，认为佛教仅是一种信仰是不正确的，信仰不能等同于佛法。

Is Buddhism a kind of philosophy? No. There are Eastern, Western and other types of philosophy. Some of them may enunciate certain thoughts that are similar to that of Buddhism, but their analyses never go as deep. Hence, Buddhism is not a branch of philosophy.

那么，佛教是哲学吗？也不是。哲学有西洋哲学、东方哲学等不同的类别，虽说其中的某些思想与佛教相似，但没有任何哲理所剖析出的深度，能达到佛法的层次，所以，佛教也不等同于哲学。

Is it science? Certain views of Buddhism and some findings of science may be the same, but Buddhism as a whole is not science.

佛教是科学吗？虽然佛教中的某些观点与科学相同，但也不能就此将二者画上等号。