佛教臨終與往生助念之理論建構芻議－以《瑜伽師地論》爲主之初探

On the Theoretical Establishment of Buddhist "Chu-nien" for the Dying and Deceased-A Preliminary Inquiry Based on the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra

釋慧開(Venerable Huei Kai)

《生死學研究》 9期 (2009/01) Pp. 81-125

https://doi.org/10.29844/JLDS.200901.0003

摘要

臨終與往生助念在台灣佛教界早已行之多年，但一直欠缺強而有力的理論根據。近年來在台灣，往生助念在形式上已經成為佛教界與佛教徒處理臨終及往生事件的「標準作業程序；而且在民間傳統宗教態度「有燒香就有保庇」的影響與附和下，愈來愈多的非佛教徒也開始在形式及程序上比照辦理。 然而，絕大多數民眾對於往生助念其實還是一知半解，即使是佛教徒也多半是知其然而不知其所以然，甚至摻雜了許多道聽塗說、以訛傳訛的錯誤見解，例如：以為臨終關懷只要為病人誦經念佛就好，或者堅持斷氣後八小時不得移動病人的身體，而不願、甚至拒絕配合醫護人員應該要為病人施作的症狀控制。 本文以一般讀者－包括佛教徒與非佛教徒－為對象，筆者藉助一些實際的案例，並且參照《瑜伽師地論》中有關有情命終的論述，希望能為臨終（往生）助念提出一個超越淨土宗觀點的普遍性理論基礎，並且為絕症病人及其家屬，提供一些確實可行的臨終關懷與安寧照顧實務參考。

關鍵字

助念 ； 臨終助念 ； 往生助念 ； 瑜伽師地論 ； 臨終關懷 ； 安寧照顧

並列摘要

”Chu-nien” chanting or prayer, which means the guiding prayer for the dying and the dead by reciting the Buddha's name, has long been prevalent around the Buddhist circle in Taiwan for many years, but has always lacked a strong theoretical basis. In recent years in Taiwan, ”Chu-nien” chanting has become the ”standard operating procedures” in the formality of dealing with the dying and death events in the Buddhist community and among the Buddhists. Due to the religious attitudes in the folk tradition: ”where there is incense burning offer, there is blessing,” more and more non-Buddhists, going along with the impact, have begun in form and procedure to adopt ”Chu-nien” chanting in handling the dying and deceased.
However, in a matter of fact the overwhelming majority of people have little knowledge about ”Chu-nien” chanting for the loved ones, even the Buddhists are also mostly not so familiar about the details. Their knowledge about this matter is mixed with incorrectly relayed or erroneous message or error of opinion. For example, some thinks that the hospice care for the dying has only to do nothing but Buddhist chanting for the patient, or some insists on no moving the dead patient's body within eight hours after expiration, not willing, or even refuses to cooperate with medical and nursing staff to apply the symptom control for the patient.
This paper is addressed to the general reader, including Buddhists and non-Buddhists. This author uses a number of practical cases, and takes reference from the discourse and exposition of human death and dying elucidated in the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra, in the hope to propose a universal theoretical basis beyond the Pure Land point of view, and to provide some actually pragmatic reference to the practice of hospice care for the terminally ill patients and their families.

並列關鍵字

Chu-nien chanting or prayer ； the guiding prayer for the dying by reciting the Buddha's name ； the guiding prayer for the deceased by reciting the Buddha's name ； the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra ； terminal care ； hospice care