菩提达摩和禅

　　Bodhidharma, (6th century), semilegendary In- dian Buddhist monk, 28th in the line of transmission from the disciple Kasyapa (a student of the Buddha, the founder of Buddhism) and the founder of the Zen (called Chan in Chinese) school of Buddhism. He is said to have come from Conjeeveram, near Madras, India, and to have traveled to Guangzhou (Canton), China in 520, where he im- pressed the Liana-dynasty (502-557) emperor Wudi by declaring that good deeds were useless for gaining enlightenment. He then went to a monastery near Luoyang in Northern China where his teachings empha- sized meditation and he al- legedly spent nine years staring at a wall.
　　菩提达摩(约6世纪时人)是一个半传奇式的印度佛教僧人。他是佛弟子(亦即佛教创始人佛陀的学生)迦叶以下的第二十八祖，也是佛教禅宗 (日本人称ZEN，中国人称 CHAN)的创宗人。据说他来自印度马德拉斯附近的香至 (Conjeeveram)。520年他来到广州，在南朝梁都给梁武帝 (502-557)留下深刻印象，因为他宣称行功德之事根本无益子菩提觉悟。然后他到了北中国的洛阳附近一个寺庙，在那里传授他强调的禅法。据说他曾有九年的时间面壁静坐。
　　To some modern scholars, Bodhidharma's ac- tual role in the emergence of Zen is obscure, since most authorities regard the sect as a Chinese fusion of im- ported Mahayana Buddhism with native Daoist (Taoist) (see Daoism) doctrines, but legends abound of his spiri- tual determination. For example, it is said that he cut off his eyelids after once failing asleep during medi- ration and meditated so long that his legs fell off. Also there is the account that one of his disciples, Hui-k' o, was so earnest in proving his devotion that he cut off his own arm in front of Bodhidharma. Having at- tained enlightenment at Shao-lin temple, a temple associated with the martial arts, Bodhidharma is cred- ited with being the founder of Shao-lin boxing (Japanese, Shorinji Kempo). He is considered the pro- rector of households, olitical campaigns, and businesses.
　　对有的现代学者说来，菩提达摩在禅宗发生史上的实际作用是不甚清楚的，因为多数权威人士都认为，禅宗是自外输入的大乘佛教与中国本土的道家学说的杂糅。例如，有人说他曾因为自己坐禅时竟会睡过去，便割掉了自己的眼睑又说他人定太深以至双腿都脱掉了。还有一种说法，他弟子之一的慧可为了表达对佛教的矢志不渝，竟然在达摩本人面前砍掉了自己的手臂。达摩在少林寺——该寺的名声是与武功联系在一起的——得证菩提，所以他又被誉为少林拳 (日本人称Shorinji Kempo／少林寺拳法)的创造者。达摩被(日本人)认为是家庭、商业和政治竞选运动的保护神。
　　Chan or Zen, Buddhist school that developed in China and later in Japan. Chan and Zen are, respectively, the Chinese and Japanese ways of pro- nouncing the Sanskrit term dhyana, which designates a state of mind roughly equivalent to contemplation or meditation, although without the static and passive sense that these words sometimes convey. Dhyana denotes specifically the state of conscious- ness of a Buddha, one whosemind is free from the assumption that the dis- tinct individuality of oneself and other things is real. All schools of Buddhism hold that separate things exist only in relation to one another; this relativity of individuals is called their "voidness' (Sanskrit sunyata), which means not that the world is truly nothing but that nature cannot be grasped by any system of fixed definition or classification. Reality is the "suchness'(Pali tathata) of nature, or the world "just as it is" apart from any specific thoughts about it.
　　禅宗先在中国出现，以后在日本发展起来。Chart或Zen两名是中国人与日本人关于同一个梵文词汇Dhyana(禅那)的发音 (略称)。禅所指的是一种精神状态，大致相当于沉思或冥想，但它没有这两个词有时含有的静止义与消极义。禅那表明了成佛者才会有的意识状态。成佛者是克服了物我真实分别的妄执的人。所有的佛教宗派都主张分立各别的一切事物都是相对待的。这种相待性就是“空(梵文sunyata)”。“空”的含义并不是说世上一无所有，而是说任何固有的的定义和分类都不能把握实相本质。实相是指如性(真如／如／英：suchness／巴： tathata)，即远离任何有关具体思想(内容)的“如是境界”。