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Bodhisattva in the Perfection of Wisdom Buddhist Texts
When we talk about the Prajnaparamita, we sometimes get deep into it. To begin, I have always been interested in the fact that before Sakyamuni became the Buddha and gained his enlightenment, he went to other teachers. We don’t often think about what his teachers have taught him. For example, Alara Kalama taught him a meditation where he could experience infinite space and be conscious of infinite space. After being taught about how to meditate in this way and having experienced infinite space, the Buddha thought it was interesting but it wasn’t good enough. He still hasn’t had the release and hasn’t reached moksha. So, he continued to study with other teachers. Uddaka taught him to go deeper into his mind and reach a mental state which is neither perception nor the lack of perception. A very deep and special state. But, once again, it wasn’t sufficient. Why wasn’t it sufficient? What was lacking? Why did he keep pursuing another path? What was the path he pursued? And, what was the difference between what he finally reached and what his great teachers had taught him? I looked into the Eight Thousand-Line Perfection of Wisdom Sutra having these questions in mind. When we look into this sutra, it is interesting to see that when the Buddha had gathered his audience, all of them were arhats. There was not a bodhisattva in sight. Where were all these bodhisattvas then? What we later on defined as a bodhisattva is what the Prajnaparamita Sutras taught for the first time. The Prajnaparamita created the bodhisattvas. In other words, at the time when he started teaching, this was the first Prajnaparamita Sutra. When the Buddha first taught it, there were no bodhisattvas of the type that we later see. Later in the sutra the bodhisattvas appeared. It was a sequential thing. In the beginning, it tells us that everybody was an arhat.
星雲大師不二思想研究——以《心經》詮釋為中心
《心經》篇幅雖短，卻是《大般若經》的中心和宗要，是對整個佛教般若思想的集中表達，在般若體系中占據著重要地位。星雲大師在虔誠信仰佛教的外婆影響下，四、五歲時就會能夠背誦《心經》，足見大師與《心經》之間因緣深厚。星雲大師出家之後，在佛法修行實踐中對《心經》尤其重視，不僅自己堅持時時誦念體解，同時一直鼓勵信徒們在日常生活中「每天至少誦一卷《心經》」。不僅如此，大師還在半個多世紀的弘法過程中，多次向信眾宣講《心經》。據不完全統計，從1955年至2015年的六十年時間裡，星雲大師以公開宣講或者私下講解的方式，為信眾講解《心經》的次數多達十八次。有關統計情況請見文末附表。
星雲大師對般若智慧的現代詮釋——以其《般若經》著述為中心
本文通過星雲大師對《心經》與《金剛經》的現代詮釋著作，探討般若智慧在人間佛教的重要意義。星雲大師倡導「人間佛教」，弘傳適應現代人需要的佛法，以通俗易解的方式講說法義，這種大眾能解、能行的教說非是淺層世俗善法，大師強調般若智慧為其根據，能與般若結合的修行始相應於真實「佛法」。星雲大師指導般若智慧的淺深差別內涵，可用「緣起性空」概括其意旨。運用深入淺出的現代詮釋，引領行者由淺入深進入般若堂奧。星雲大師並將般若空義、佛性思想與禪宗心性思想進行融通，空性的體證是開顯佛性、清淨心的關鑰。大乘般若空慧是全然無執的精神境界，由「真空」以顯「妙有」，無量無邊的智慧作用使具足一切功德的佛智全體豁顯。星雲大師提點行者，人人本來圓具智慧潛能，透過人間的佛法實踐，發揮般若的覺照力量，獲致身心的自在安樂，不疲厭地在生死世間完成自覺利他的菩薩道修學功課。
《大般若經》中的菩薩思想
我們談到般若經典時，常常會做深入的鑽研。首先，我一直都對一件事很感興趣。佛陀在成道之前，曾經拜其他人為師，但鮮少有人想過，他的老師們都教了他什麼？例如，阿羅邏迦藍摩教導他一種能體驗和意識到無限空間的禪定。佛陀學會了這種禪定功夫之後，感覺很有趣，但也知道這並不究竟，因為他還是無法脫離輪迴之苦。於是他便向外找尋其他的名師。鬱陀羅伽教導他進入更深層的意識，達到一種非想也非非想的層次，這一種很深的意識層次，但仍然不夠究竟。原因是什麼呢？到底還缺乏什麼？為什麼佛陀轉向另外一種道的追求？這個道又是什麼呢？他所追尋的這種最終極究竟的道，跟這些老師們所教導他的，又有什麼不同？
「大乘」觀念的嬗變與人間佛教的圓融特質
大乘佛教，一般認為是隨著《般若經》等大乘經典的出現而興起的思潮，時間在公元前後。在古代印度，大乘與被貶為小乘的阿毗達磨佛教之間，在教義面上雖然界限分明，但在教團生活中，信奉和研習大乘經論者，同樣信奉原始佛教以來的佛教戒律，與部派佛教信奉者一起生活，並不存在獨立的大乘佛教僧團。
