No Sinners

不是罪人

In Buddhism, actions are merely termed as unskillful or unwholesome, not as sinful.

佛教否定「原罪」，佛教认为相信「原罪」的存在是一种愚笨和不健全的行为。

Buddhists do not regard man as sinful by nature of 'in rebellion against god'. Every human being is a person of great worth who has within himself a vast store of good as well as evil habits. The good in a person is always waiting for a suitable opportunity to flower and to ripen. Remember the saying, 'There is so much that is good in the worst of us and so much that is bad in the best of us.'

佛教不认为人类拥有「原罪」，或曾经背叛过「神」。佛教认为每一个人都积累了善与恶不同的业习。人类的「善因」要等待时机开花、结果而后成熟。有句谚语这么说：「在我们里面有最好的，也有最坏的，在我们里面有最坏的，也有最好的。」

Buddhism teaches that everyone is responsible for his own good and bad deeds, and that each individual can mould his own destiny. Says the Buddha, 'These evil deeds were only done by you, not by your parents, friends, or relatives; and you yourself will reap the painful results.' (Dhammapada 165)

佛教指示我们，每一个人都要为自己的善与恶的业行负责，每一个人都能创造自己的命运。

佛陀说：「自己的恶行使自己变得污秽不堪，如果不作恶行，便能使自己清净。清净与否，在于自己，他人无法为你净化。」《法句经》V.165

Man's sorrow is his own making and is not handed down by a family curse or an original sin of a mythical primeval ancestor. Buddhists do not accept the belief that this world is merely a place of trial and testing. This world can be made a place where we can attain the highest perfection. And perfection is synonymous with happiness. To the Buddha, man is not an experiment in life created by somebody which can be done away with when unwanted. If a sin could be forgiven, people might take advantage and commit more and more sins. The Buddhist has no reason to believe that the sinner can escape the consequences by the grace of an external power. If a man thrusts his hand into a furnace, his hand will be burnt, and all the prayer in the world will not remove the scars. The same is with the man who walks into the fires of evil action. The Buddha's approach to the problems of suffering is not imaginary, speculative or metaphysical, but essentially empirical.

人类的烦恼是自己缔造的，不是遗传或施予，更不是神话式的「祖先的原罪」。佛教不接受这世界要我们来受难或考验我们对「神」的信仰。这世界能使我们获得高度圆满的成就，这高度圆满的成就就是幸福、快乐的同义词。假如「原罪」可以获得赦免，那么人类就可以利用更多的机会来犯罪。佛教决不相信「罪」可以透过外在宽恕的力量，去避免它的果报。如果，一个人将他的手伸进点燃的火炉里，他肯定会被烧伤，全世界的祷告者都无法消除他手上的疤痕。任何人走进邪恶的火坑，肯定无法得救。佛陀认为对治一切「苦」，不是单凭想像或猜测，而是建立在观察和经验。

According to Buddhism, there is no such thing as sin as explained by other religions. To the Buddhists, sin is unskillful or unwholesome action? Akusala Kamma which creates Papa - the downfall of man. The wicked man is an ignorant man. He needs instruction more than he needs punishment and condemnation. He is not regarded as violating god's will or as a person who must beg for divine mercy and forgiveness. He needs only guidance for his enlightenment.

All that is necessary is for someone to help him use his reason to realize that he is responsible for his wrong action and that he must pay for the consequences. Therefore the belief in confession is foreign to Buddhism.

佛教否定了其它宗教所谓「原罪」的存在，佛教对「罪」的观点不同于其它宗教。佛教认为相信「原罪」的存在是一种愚笨和不健全的行为。不善的行为使人堕落，邪恶的人是愚痴的，因此，他们需要的是教导，而不是处罚和责难。人类的一切行为并没有违背「神」的旨意，也不需要祈求「神」的仁慈和宽恕，他们所需要的是：有人引导他们走向觉悟。

对人类来说，他们需要的是：别人帮助他理解自己所犯下的错误，并对自己所犯下的错误负责，接受错误的果报。佛教不相信单靠忏悔就能免罪。

The purpose of the Buddha's appearance in this world is not to wash away the sins committed by human beings nor to punish or to destroy the wicked people, but to make the people understand how foolish it is to commit evil and to point out the reaction of such evil deeds. Consequently there are no commandments in Buddhism, since no one can command another for his spiritual upliftment. The Buddha has encouraged us to develop and use our understanding. He has shown us the path for our liberation from suffering. The precepts that we undertake to observe are not commandments: they are observed voluntarily. The Buddha's Teaching is thus: 'Please pay attention; take this advice and think it over. If you think it is suitable for you to practise my advice, then try to practise it. You can see the results through your own experience.' There is no religious value in blindly observing any commandment without proper conviction and understanding. However, we should not take advantage of the liberty given by the Buddha to do anything we like. It is our duty to behave as cultured, civilized and understanding human beings to lead a religious life. If we can understand this, commandments are not important. As an enlightened teacher, the Buddha advised us on how to lead a pure life without imposing commandments and using the fear of punishment.

佛陀出现在人间，并不是为了减免或惩罚人类的罪行，或消灭那些邪恶的人。而是让人们了解善恶的因果关系，指出恶行将获得恶业的果报。佛教也不认为可以透过「他人」或「他力」来提升自己的精神境界。佛陀不仅指示我们解脱于「苦」的八圣道，也鼓励我们开发和运用我们的智慧。我们遵守的是戒律而不是教条，应该自动的去遵守。

佛陀说：「请注意！对我所说的一切，请认真的思考。如果认为我的教诲有助于修行，那么就去实现它，透过修行的经验，你将会看到它的结果。」

宗教的价值不在于教条主义，不是盲目的遵守。我们也不要以为佛陀鼓励我们自由放任、我行我素、胡作非为，我们的举止要文明、有文化、有智慧、有了解并导向神圣宗教生活的责任。如果我们了解这一点，教条主义对我们就不重要了，我们也不必被他人支配，也不怕受到「惩罚」，在佛陀的指引下，过着纯净的生活。