The Buddha's Silence

佛陀的沉默

When the questioner himself was not in a position to understand the real significance of the answer to his question and when the questions posed to Him were wrong, the Buddha remained silent.

当发问的人没有能力了解答案时，或所问的问题存在根本的错误时，佛陀保持沉默。

The scriptures mention a few occasions when the Buddha remained silent to questions posed to Him. Some scholars, owing to their misunderstanding of the Buddha's silence, came to the hasty conclusion that the Buddha was unable to answer to these questions. While it is true that on several occasions the Buddha did not respond to these metaphysical and speculative questions, there are reasons why the Buddha kept noble silence.

When the Buddha knew that the questioner was not in a position to understand the answer to the question because of its profundity, of if the questions themselves were wrongly put in the first place, the Blessed One remained silent. Some of the questions to which the Buddha remained silent are as following:

Is the universe eternal? Is it not eternal? Is the universe finite? Is it infinite? Is soul the same as the body? Is the soul one thing and the body another? Does the Tathagata exist after death? Does He not exist after death? Does He both (at the same time) exist and not exist after death? Does He both (at the same time) neither exist nor not exist? The Buddha who had truly realized the nature of these issues observed noble silence. An ordinary person who is still unenlightened might have a lot to say, but all of it would be sheer conjecture based on his imagination. The Buddha's silence regarding these questions is more meaningful than attempting to deliver thousands of discourses on them. The paucity of our human vocabulary which is built upon relative experiences cannot hope to convey the depth and dimensions of Reality which a person has not himself experienced through Insight. On several occasions, the Buddha had very patiently explained that human language was too limited and could not describe the Ultimate Truth. If the Ultimate Truth is absolute, then it does not have any point of reference for worldlings with only mundane experiences and relative understanding to fully comprehend it. When they try to do so with their limited mental conception, they misunderstand the Truth like the seven blind men and the elephant. The listener who had not realized the Truth could not fathom the explanation given, just like a man who was blind since birth will have no way of truly understanding the color of the sky.

The Buddha did not attempt to give answers to all the questions put to Him. He was under no obligation to respond to meaningless questions which reflected gross misunderstanding on the part of spiritual development. He was a practical Teacher, full of compassion and wisdom. He always spoke to people fully understanding their temperament, capability and capacity to comprehend. When a person asked questions not with the intention to learn how to lead a religious life but simply to create an opportunity for splitting hairs, the Blessed One did not answer these questions. Questions were answered to help a person towards self-realization, not as a way of showing His towering wisdom.

According to the Buddha, there are several ways of answering various types of questions. The first type of question is one that requires a definite answer, such as a 'yes' or 'no'. For example, the question, 'Are all conditioned things impermanent?' is answered with a 'Yes'. The second type of question is one requiring an analytical answer. Suppose someone says that Angulimala was a murderer before he became an "Arahant'. So is it possible for all murderers to become Arahants? This question should be analyzed before you can say 'Yes' or 'No'. Otherwise, it will not be answered correctly and comprehensively. You need to analyse what conditions make it possible for a murderer to become a saint within one lifetime.

The third type of question is one where it is necessary to ask a counter question to help the questioner to think through. If you ask, "Why is it wrong to kill other living beings?' the counter question is, 'How does it feel when others try to kill you?' The fourth kind of question is one that should be dropped. It means that you should not answer it. These are the questions which are speculative in nature, and any answer to such questions will only create ore confusion. An example of such a question is, 'Does the universe have a beginning or not?' People can discuss such questions for years without coming to a conclusion. They can only answer such questions based on their imagination, not on real understanding.

Some answers which the Buddha gave have close parallels to the kind responses which are given in nuclear science. According to Robert Oppenheimer, 'If we ask, for instance, whether the position of the electron remains the same, we must say 'no'; if we ask whether it is in motion, we must say 'no'. The Buddha has given such answers when interrogated as to the conditions of a man's self after his death; but they are not familiar answers in accordance with the tradition of seventeenth and eighteenth century science.'

It is important to note however that the Buddha did give answers to some of these questions to His most intellectually developed disciples after the questioner had left. And in many cases, His explanations are contained in other discourses which show us, who live in an age of greater scientific knowledge, why these questions were not answered by the Buddha just to satisfy the inquisitive minds of the questioners.

经典中记载，佛陀在某些集会，对发问者的问题，不给予回答，保持沉默。一些学者误解了佛陀的沉默，轻率的下结论，认为佛陀不懂得回答那些问题。的确，佛陀不回答那些有关形而上的玄学或猜测性的问题。

当佛陀了解到发问者还不能理解答案的时候，或所提出的问题根本就是错误的。佛陀就保持沉默，不给予回答。令佛陀保持沉默的问题如下：

一、世界是永恒的？

二、世界是不永恒的？

三、世界有终结的？

四、世界是没有终结的？

五、灵魂是否与肉体一样？

六、灵魂是灵魂，肉体是肉体？

七、如来死后还存在？

八、如来死后不存在？

九、如来死后即存在也不存在？

十、如来死后即不存在也非不存在？

佛陀很清楚这些问题的本质，因此保持沉默。一个普通人在还没有觉悟的阶段，对这些问题的理解只凭直觉或想像，会对这些问题产生争议。

佛陀对这些问题保持沉默，事实比回答他们要来得实际。有些现象因为缺乏词汇无法说得清楚。在某些集会，佛陀非常耐心的应用人类有限的语言词汇，来解说真理，只要真理是绝对正确的，不管用什么语言或方式来表达都是一样的，不需要特别的去造作。如果想这么做，那么以人类那有限的观念，将会误导事实。这就是七个瞎子摸象的故事，谁也不能真的了解大象长得怎么样。一个先天视觉障碍的人，从来就不知道天是什么颜色。

佛陀并不打算回答所有的问题──那些没有意义的问题，或发问者目前尚未能理解答案的问题。佛陀是个很重实际的导师，充满慈悲心和智慧。他以浅白容易理解的言辞向人们讲述真理，让他们彻底的了解和让他们主动的去开发智慧。如果发问者提出与自我修行无关的问题，佛陀不给予回答。佛陀解答问题是要协助人们证悟自我，而不是展现他那无上的智慧。

佛陀用各种不同的方法来解答各种不同的问题。

第一种解答方法。只须要直接的回答「是」或「不是」。例如：「是不是所有事物都属无常？」答案是：「是」。

第二种解答方法。属于需要分析和思考的问题。比如有人问道：「安古里玛拉在成就阿拉汉之前是一位残暴的凶徒，他根本就没有资格成为阿拉汉。」凶徒是否有资格成为阿拉汉？这是一个需要分析和思考的问题，不能直接回答：「是」或「不是」，要不然，就不是正确的答案了。需要分析各种主观和客观的条件，经过思考后，才下定论，凶徒是否有资格在他这一生就证悟阿拉汉。

第三种解答方法。以反提出问题的方式，使发问者解决自己的疑惑。比如有人问道：「杀生为什么是一种罪行？」如果反问他：「如果其他众生杀害你，你有何感想？」那么这个问题就不需要再解答了。这是一种很自然的现象，如果解答了反而会造成混淆。

第四种解答方法。将问题搁置一旁，比如有人问道：「这个世界是什么时候开始存在的？」这个问题人类至今都无法找到正确的答案，只能能靠推理或想象，没有确实的答案。

佛陀给予的答案中，有很多和今日昌明的科学相吻合。罗拔.奥本海默说：「当我们问道：『电子的排列是否都一样？』答案是『不』。当我们问道：『电子是否都静止』，答案是『不』。或问：『电子是否在运动』，答案也是『不』。」佛陀针对人死后的情况，曾给予相同的答案。但是，这些都不是十七、八世纪科学家所能了解的。

必须要认清楚，佛陀对某些问题不给予明确答案。可是在经典里却存在着佛陀许多惊人的科学观点。这也就是为什么佛陀不愿满足那些好奇者，给予他们正面的回答。