解惑篇──生活漫談　／雲老禪師主答　英譯．陳曌

１、客問：師父您是不是乘願再來？將來是否還會再來？

Q: Master, did you make a vow to return as a human? Will you be back? 

師答：每一個「我」都會再來，差別在往那裡去？及怎麼來！所以你問我沒有用，最好問自己那個「我」。佛陀降世時說：「天上天下，唯我獨尊」――每個人都有我，只有自己的我才是最可信的；問題是你能不能去維護、修養？畢竟那個「我」是別人所無法代替的。

A: The ‘I’ or ‘me’ in every single one of us shall return. The question is where does one end up? And how does one get there? So, it’s no use asking me. Rather, you should ask the ‘me’ in you. When the Buddha was born, he announced: “Between heaven and earth, ‘I’ am supreme!” There is an ‘I’ in each and every one of us, and it’s the only thing we can trust. The question is:  what can we do to nurture and cultivate this ‘me’ of ours. After all, it is the only thing that no one can take away from us or replace.

２、客問：推拿時應以何種心態面對患者？ 

Q: What is the correct attitude to adopt when we give others a massage?

師答：這個問題我沒法回答你。如果說推拿，還要看是屬於什麼推拿，是中國功夫方面的推拿，或按摩學校方面的推拿…...，這個很難說；若問要以什麼心態？我一貫認為：如果你是男的就讓男的推拿，如果你是女的，就讓女的推拿，我還是這麼認為。這不是頑固保守，畢竟人有的時候嘴裡說沒有什麼，但往往一些很微細的意念很難把握。為什麼有時候社會上會發生一些事？大部分問題還是關係到對自己的行為、自己的起心動念有所約束，可是畢竟要瞭解：你自己能約束自己，能不能約束別人？尤其人有某些不可思議的行為，真的很難解釋，若只是告訴你提起正念，或者念佛號，這都不太可信。 

A: I don’t think I can answer your question. It all depends on what kind of massage it is, the Chinese therapeutic message or the massage that is taught by commercial massage schools? It’s hard to say. But if you ask what sort of attitude we should adopt, my advice is pick a masseur of the same sex. This has nothing to do with being conservative or modest. After all, we humans do not always verbalise our thoughts but may harbour some other ideas, obscured they may be. This is why we often hear of things going terribly wrong in our society. It has to do with our own behaviours and thoughts.  We need to be mindful of one thing: While we may be in control of our own thoughts, we cannot control the thoughts of others. Furthermore, one may be able to keep one’s behaviour in check, there is no guarantee others are able to do the same. Humans are capable of some crazy things which we find hard to explain. Merely telling oneself to keep one’s mind on the straight, or focus on chanting is quite unreliable.

３、客問：朋友結婚一年多，有孕近八個月，婦產科醫師卻在這時檢驗確定她的胎兒是「唐氏症兒」，基於將來的社會成本及家庭負擔，醫生建議拿掉孩子，依一個相信因果的學佛人，該如何處理才好？ 

Q: A friend of mine has been married for more than a year and is now eight months pregnant. Her gynaecologist recently told her that the foetus is a mongoloid. Considering the child will put both the family and society under much strain, the doctor has advised termination. As a Buddhist, how should one approach this situation?

師答：為什麼等了八個月才請醫生檢查？這是我先要反問的問題。因為根據醫學上的報告，早就應該去檢查，如果依照生命來說一個月、二個月、八個月都是一條生命，有一個問題，如果早幾個月去檢查拿掉，就可以少受幾個月的罪，對不對？如果現在這種情況，倒是有一想法，不要自己一個人決定，可和家人商量，不過要先聲明是和自己的先生商量或公婆商量，不是和自己娘家的人商量，也可慎重其事的開個家庭會議，我認為比較可靠。

如何以學佛的方式處理？若以學佛的方式面對，有二種說法，一個可能是過去世的惡緣，另一個呢？叫你認命，但我絕不會講這種話，因為佛法是覺悟之法，不是叫你去迷信，這一點要特別注意！不是要你迷信前世是欠他的，這一世必須還他，否則就是殺生啦！我不會以這種方式告訴你。

佛法是覺悟之法，你究竟覺了多少？必須去思考，這是一個問題；還有一個問題，最好和你先生或公婆開個家庭會議來決定這事，如果你先生能做得了主，你公婆可能同意；如果你先生做不了主，公婆在意，而他們可能迷信的話，醫生講的真的可信嗎？你該怎麼辦？所以這種事件最好和你有利害關係的人好好商量。

A: The first question I have is why did she wait eight months to have a check-up? Proper medical procedure would require her to be examined right from the start. A foetus, be it one, two or eight months, it’s a life. If termination is done earlier, there would be much less suffering. Am I right? I reckon she should talk things over with other family members and not make any decision on her own. It is important that any decision reached is after discussion with the husband or the in-laws, not one’s own parents. A family conference is best.

As to how the situation should be handled, from a Buddhist’s perspective, there are two explanations. One is due to undesirable connection established in past lives. The other is fate. But I will never out it this way because Buddhism is about realization, not fatalism. One must be absolutely clear about this. Neither it is a case of you incurring some debts in your past life and it’s pay-back time now. Otherwise it is killing.

Buddhism is about enlightenment and you need to ask yourself how much have you realized? You need to think. The issue is best handled by holding a family meeting. If your husband is able to decide, his parents may be agreeable. If your husband is not able to decide, and if his parents are against it, especially when they are superstitious, they may not believe the doctor. What do you do then? Therefore, it is best to talk it over with those who are involved.