《觀音玄義》性惡問題之探討

A Study of the Vice Problem in The Significance of Kuangyin Sutra

陳英善(Ying-Shan Chen)

《中華佛學學報》 5期 (1992/07) Pp. 178-196

https://doi.org/10.6986/CHBJ.199207.0178

摘要

近代研究天台思想的學者往往認為性惡說為天台思想之特色，而有關「性惡說」的觀念，主要出自《觀音玄義》一文中，此是由於《觀音玄義》有明文提到「性惡」兩字，且花了些篇幅來說明性惡。因此，學者們往往以此為依據，大倡性惡說為天台思想之特色，不明「性惡」之真正涵義，一味的主張性惡為天台思想之核心。亦有學者就性具等來說明性惡說，認為性惡乃是性所本具。然據筆者個人之研究，發現《觀音玄義》中之性惡說，是就緣因了因上來說的，且是對五時教之涅槃時鈍根眾生而開設的法門，藉由對緣了因根源探討為方便，以導引眾生悟入非緣非了的正因佛性。此可說是《觀音玄義》論說性德善性德惡之宗旨。而並非如近代學者所理解下的本體之性惡說，如近代學者往往將《觀音玄義》緣了因所論述的性德善惡之涵義，從一切法之根源上來理解。 因此，性惡說成了性具思想之必然性，即性本身已具一切法，認為必然亦具有惡。而主張此看法，認為天台思想是性具，必然會導出性惡說，具性惡說才能真正代表天台思想之特色。然若從天台教理—緣起中道實相論來看此問題，會發現性具性惡說之論調，根本是與天台教理相背離的。然《觀音玄義》本身亦有其表達不周延之處， 其不周延之處，成了天台實相論之困擾。針對上述諸種問題，本章節擬從就《觀音玄義》一文加以探討。先從《觀音玄義》的結構組織入手，以便了解緣了因中對性德善惡之處理，進而從天台緣起中道實相來看性惡問題。

並列摘要

Of late years, some scholars of the Tien-tai school have regarded the idea of vice as one of the characteristics of the school. In The Significance of Kuangyin Sutra the idea of vice is clearly stated, and quite a few words are written to explain it. Therefore, based on this fact some scholars speak and write in support of the theory that the Tien-tai school is characteristic of the idea of vice. In fact, they do not understand what the idea of vice really means, arbitrarily considering the vice to be the central idea of the Tien-tai school. And there are still some others who are confident that the vice is born by nature. However, in accordance with the studies by the author, the idea of vice in The Significance of Kuangyin Sutra comes from the idea of environing cause and revealing cause. It is a special way for all the flesh of gradual attainment of the Tien-tai five divisions, leading the flesh to the Buddha-nature of non-environment and non-causation. This is the very purpose of virtue and vice, different from what recent scholars understand. For instance, recent scholars try to understand the virtue and vice of developing cause in. The Significance of Kuangyin Sutra, through the originality of all dharmas. Thus, the idea of vice becomes the inevitability of nature-possession...... nature itself is possessed of all dharmas and inevitably is inclusive of vice. Those who are of this opinion believe that the Tien-tai thought is of nature-possession, and must lead to the idea of vice, which forms one of its features. If we look at such a problem from the standpoints of conditional causation, the mean, and reality......the teachings of the Tien-tai school, we are easy to find that the nature-possession and the idea of vice are contradictory to each other. Yet, in The Significance of Kuangyin Sutra some ideas are stated not so well that they raise some difficulties to the theory of reality. In order to solve the problems mentioned above, the following chapters intend to make a study of the structure and system of The Significance of Kuangyin Sutra, then to have an understanding of the virtue and vice in developing cause, and finally to take a look at the vice problem through the Tien-tai conditional causation, the mean, and reality.

參考文獻

觀音玄義。