静观的智慧
文／ 美国佛心寺护法会谘询委员、研经班学员 Blaine Frierson
Mahayana Buddhism for the westerner is a complete reorientation of life. In the West, you are trained to take initiative, to reach out, to move forward. It is said, “If you don’t do it, who will?” Being aggressive is the way to success and accomplishment; Those who wait don’t eat; Those who procrastinate don’t succeed. Yet, Buddhism teaches the opposite.
In the West we are also told in our education system to define every item to its most minute degree, and to logically separate those definitions by making distinctions. The so-called critical method of study encourages students to contrast, compare, and make critical distinctions. This is the opposite of Buddhism and thus leads to a different path.
In Mahayana Buddhism, we are taught to “just sit”, to not make distinctions, to not compare and contrast. When we try to assert ourselves, shoving forward into life, we become lost.When we wait, or, just sit, the world and everything in it comes to us! The whole world manifests itself in us. We do not manifest ourselves in the world; we allow all beings, sentient and non-sentient to manifest themselves through us. This is practice. This is enlightenment.
We wait. This is the secret to the Buddhist principle of tolerance. By its definition tolerance does not force itself on other beings. It waits. It listens. It watches the breath. It counts the breath. It watches the watcher.
Tolerance may be defined as the practice of permitting a thing of which one disapproves. It may be also called patience, or long-suffering. In tolerance, we wait; we make no distinction; we do not judge; we see the others as ourselves-us.
As not good, not bad. We allow the intolerant person to manifest themselves through us. This is neither good, nor is it bad. It is not approved and it is not disapproved. It merely exists.
As a young male growing up in the United States, I was trained to not allow anyone to overstep their boundaries with me, to prevent aggression by another, and to “stand up for myself.” This is in contradiction to Buddhism.
My profession is practicing law. When I first started practicing, I wrote one of my first letters to another lawyer, making a demand. The old lawyer called me and said “you need to watch what you say in your letters, for, if you are too demanding you may be committing extortion on others.” I have remembered this lesson forever, but I have never really quite understood the philosophy behind his words.
In Buddhism I have learned the logic behind the lesson. To practice the Buddha Way one must be patient, kind and tolerant. When a person becomes aggressive or raises his/her voice towards me, I try not to speak and say little, to allow them to speak their piece before responding. Then, when I speak, I speak with power; I speak from the heart.
The Buddha way is waiting and being one with the world. The world is one through your sitting. The world comes to you. You do not go to the world. The peace that passes all understanding will come when you wait, if you are tolerant.
（对西方人而言，大乘佛法是一个重新定位的新人生观。在西方，每个人从小就被训练成必须积极主动地向外去争取每一件事。有句话说：“如果你不去做，谁会去做？”只有主动积极，才是成功的不二法门。总是在等待的人，就会没有饭吃；拖延的人，绝不可能成功。然而，佛陀的教法却不尽相同。
西方的教育体制同时教导我们，要精确地去定义每一件事物，运用逻辑去区别比较事物的不同。西方所谓的批判式学习方法，就是鼓励学生去比较、分别。这种训练让我们走在一条与佛法完全背道而驰的路上。
大乘佛法教我们息心而坐，不要起分别、比较的念头。在生活中，强要企图去证明自己的存在时，我们就迷失了。然而，当我们息心静虑之时，就会发现这世界一切现成，一切都本具在我们心中。我们不需突显自己的存在，而是让一切有情与无情的本性自然呈现。这就是修行，也是一种契悟。
静观，就是通往佛法忍辱波罗蜜的秘密。忍辱本身的定义，就是不将自己的意见或情绪强加于众生身上。忍辱是静待、是倾听、是观息、是数息，更是观此能观之心。
从修行上来说，忍辱可说是练习接受我们不认同的事。忍辱也可以说是一种耐心，是一种坚忍的心。在忍辱中，我们静观，不去分别、不去论断，而是体会自他不二，视人如己，无有差别。
世间一切没有绝对的好与坏，接受那些不能包容我们的人的一举一动。这些举动的本身，既非好事，也不是坏事，也不是我们赞不赞成的问题。这一切只是如实地存在。
身为在美国长大的年轻男子，从小我所受的训练是，当有人跨过我的界线时，我必须站起来捍卫自己，以防止他人的侵犯。但这却和佛法相互矛盾。
我是一位律师。在我刚开始执业的时候，曾经写信给另一位律师，要求他达成我的需求。结果，这一位老律师打电话对我说：“要注意你信里的用词，如果用太过命令的口气，可能会犯了勒索敲诈的罪。”虽然，自此以后我永远记得这个教训，但其实我并未真正明白他话中的哲理。
现在回想起来，是佛法让我了解这个事件背后的道理。也就是说，在成佛之道上，必须要学会忍耐、慈悲和包容。当别人攻击我或对我大声嚷嚷的时候，我学会尽量不要回应，让他们先把话讲完，我再回应。于是，当我开始说话时，我的话变得更有力量，而且它完全发自于内心。
成佛之道有赖于静观及与世界融合无碍的智慧。世界的真实相貌会因你的静观而自然呈现，这不是强求而来的。当你能静观和包容时，一种由于全然了解而生的寂静之心，自然现前。）
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