Miraculous Power

神通

If a wicked man can become a pure religious man, this according to Buddhism, is a practical miracle.

将一个不道德的人，转变成正信的教徒，只有佛教能做到，这真是不可思议的神通。

In every religion we hear of miracles being performed by either the founders of these religious or by some of their disciples. In the case of the Buddha, miracles occurred from the day of His birth until His passing away into Nibbana. Many of the psychic powers (so-called miraculous powers in other religions) of the Buddha were attained through His long and intense training in meditation. The Buddha meditated and passed through all the highest stages of contemplation that culminated in pure self-possession and wisdom. Such attainments through meditation are considered nothing miraculous but fall within the power of any trained ascetic.

Using meditation on the night of His Enlightenment, there arose within the Buddha a vision of His previous births, the many existences with all their details, He remembered His previous births and how He had made use of these births to gain His Enlightenment. Then the Buddha had a second and wider vision in which He saw the whole universe as a system of Kamma and Rebirth. He saw the universe made up of beings that were noble and wicked, happy and unhappy. He saw them all continually 'passing away according to their deed', leaving one form of existence and taking shape in another. Finally, He understood the nature of Suffering, the cessation of Suffering and the Path that leads to the cessation of Suffering. Then a third vision arose within the Buddha. He realized that He was completely free from all bondages, human or divine. He realized that He had done what had to be done. He realized He had no more re-birth to go through because He was living with His final body. This knowledge destroyed all ignorance, all darkness, and light arose within Him. Such is the psychic power and the wisdom that arose within the Buddha as He sat meditating under the Bodhi tree.

The Buddha had a natural birth; He lived in a normal way. But He was an extraordinary man, as far as His Enlightenment was concerned. Those who have not learnt to appreciate His Supreme Wisdom try to explain His greatness by peeping into His life and looking for miracles. However, the Buddha's Supreme Enlightenment is more than enough for us to understand His greatness. There is no need to show His greatness by introducing any miraculous power.

The Buddha knew of the power that could be developed by training the human mind. He also knew that His disciples could acquire such powers through mental development. Thus the Buddha advised them not to exercise such psychic power in order to convert less intelligent people. He was referring to the 'miraculous' power to walk on water, to exorcise spirits, raise the dead and perform the so-called supernormal practices. He was also referring to the 'miracles of prophesy' such as thought-reading, soothe-saying, fortune-telling, and so on. When the uneducated believers see the performance of such powers, their faith deepens. But the nominal converts who are attracted to a religion because of these powers embrace a faith, not because they realize the truth, but because they harbor hallucinations. Besides, some people may pass remarks that these miracles are due to certain charms. In drawing people to listen to the Dhamma, the Buddha appealed to their reasoning power.

The following story illustrates the Buddha's attitude towards miraculous powers. One day the Buddha met an ascetic who sat by the bank of a river. This ascetic had practised austerities for 25 years. The Buddha asked him what he had received for all his labour. The ascetic proudly replied that, now at last, he could cross the river by walking on the water. The Buddha pointed out that this gain was insignificant for all the years of labour, since he could cross the river using a ferry for one penny!

In certain religions, a man's miraculous performance can help him to become a saint. But in Buddhism, miracles can be a hindrance for a person to attain sainthood, which is a gradual personal attainment and individual concern. Each person himself must work for his sainthood through self-purification and no one else can make another person a saint.

The Buddha says that a person can gain miraculous power without gaining spiritual power. He teaches us that if we first gain spiritual power, then we automatically receive the miraculous or psychic powers too. But if we develop miraculous powers without spiritual development, then we are in danger. We can misuse this power for worldly gain(Pataligama-Udana). There are many who have deviated from the right path by using their miraculous powers without having any spiritual development. Many people who are supposed to have obtained some miraculous powers succumbed to the vain glory of obtaining some worldly gain.

Many so-called miracles talked about by people are merely imaginations and hallucinations created by their own minds due to a lack of understanding of things as they truly are. All these miracles remain as miracles as long as people fail to know what these powers really are.

The Buddha also expressly forbade His disciples to use miracles to prove the superiority of His teachings. On one occasion He said that the use of miracles to gain converts was like using dancing girls to tempt people to do something. Anyone with the proper mental training can perform miracles because they are simply an expression of mind over matter.

According to the Buddha, the miracle of realization is a real miracle. When a murderer, thief, terrorist, drunkard, or adulterer is made to realize that what he had been doing is wrong and gives up his bad, immoral and harmful way of life, this change can be regarded as a miracle. The change for the better arising from an understanding of Dhamma is the highest miracle that any man can perform.

我们经常听到每一宗教的创始人或门徒展示神通或神迹。佛陀从降世到入灭就是一种神迹。佛陀拥有多种的神通(超能力)，这些神通是从长期、密集、不间断的禅定中锻炼出来的。佛陀的禅定达到了最高的境界，他从禅定中获得心灵的净化和智慧。这种禅定的修行并没有什么神秘，只要肯努力，每个人都能获得同样的成就。通过禅定，佛陀见到了自己的前生，以及许多详细的经历。他记起他的前生，和他如何花一生的精力去完成他的觉悟。他以慧眼看到这世间的一切都是「业力」和「轮回」在作用。他看到这世间的众生有神圣的也有邪恶的，有快乐的也有痛苦的。他看到众生根据自己的「业力」，从一个生命形态转到另一个生命形态(轮回)。最后他发现了解脱苦的真理──四圣谛，苦的本质，苦的起因，苦的熄灭和灭苦的道路。最后，佛陀觉悟到他已经完全解脱了，解脱于生死，解脱于天人及人的所有束缚。他清楚的知道他该做的已经做完了，他不再轮回了，这已是他最后的一生了。觉悟的大智慧冲破了无明和所有的黑暗，光明在他身上生起。这种心灵的力量和智慧，是佛陀在菩提树下所证悟的。

佛陀和常人一样都从母胎诞生。虽然他生活在神圣的境界，可是他还是一个正常的人。但就佛陀的觉悟来说，他是一位特殊的人。一般人不去研究及欣赏佛陀那超然的智慧，反而想透过佛陀而获得神通。然而，佛陀的大智慧已经足够让我们了解佛陀的伟大了。因此，不须要特别在意于佛陀的神通。

佛陀知道神通这种超自然的力量，可以透过心智的训练和发展而得到。他也觉察到他的弟子，能透过训练自己的心智而开发这种力量。因此，佛陀告诫弟子不可以展示神通，去教化资质鲁钝的人。佛陀拥有神通，能在水面行走、能驱赶精灵、能起死回生，佛陀能知一切过去未来的事。当那些没受过教育的信徒，看到佛陀的神通后，加强了对佛陀的崇敬，但是，这些人只是摄服于佛陀的神通，对佛教存有幻觉，在名义上皈依佛教，其实并没有真的了解佛教。因此，佛陀要人们根据自己的理性力量追随他的教义，努力学习和锻炼。

以下的故事可以勾画出佛陀对神通的看法：

有一天，佛陀在河边遇到一位苦行者，这位苦行者修行了二十五年，佛陀问他：「这二十五年来，你学会了什么？」苦行者傲慢的回答道：「我能从水面步行到河对岸。」佛陀说道：「只要花一分钱，船夫便可以将你送到对岸，何必花二十五年的时间呢？」

某些宗教认为展示神通，有助于令他被确认为圣人。佛陀却认为神通是圆成佛道的障碍。圆成佛道是个人渐次努力的成果，需要经过自我不断努力和净化自己来完成。没有人可以使他人变成圣人。

佛陀说，一个人可以透过心智的锻炼而获得神通。佛陀教导我们，如果努力的发展自己的心智，就能获得神通。如果我们沈迷于追求神通，那将是危险的。我们会滥用神通而取得世间的利益。很多人被排除在正道之外，就是因为缺乏心智的发展而滥用神通。很多人因为屈服于虚荣的赞誉里而自己滥用神通。

有些人自称拥有神通，其实是自己的想像，或不了解事物的真相而产生的幻觉。很多人视神通为不可思议的秘密，不想去了解真相。

佛陀严格的禁止信徒展示神通来证明他优越的教导。在一次开示会佛陀说，如果以神通来获得认同，就好像是在利用美丽的舞女诱惑人们做某些违反道德的事。任何人遵循佛陀的教诲进行学习和锻炼，开发自己的心智，都能简单而快捷的获得神通。

佛陀说：对神秘的心法现象有了真的了解就是获得神通。当一个杀人犯、小偷、恐怖份子、强奸犯能真的了解他所犯的过错，决心向善，不再犯错时，这时他们拥有超乎一般的力量，这才是真的获得神通。这种转变是因为真的了解佛陀的教义，这是至高无上的神通，人人都能获得的神通。