從「正念」現象看佛教教義的世俗化與理性化趨勢

The secularization and rationalization of the teachings of Buddhism from the perspective of the phenomenon of ＂mindfulness＂

唐秀連(Tang Hsiu Lien)

《無礙法界．正教弘傳：人間佛教在東亞與東南亞的傳佈》 2020年 (2020/04) Pp. 666-696

摘要

近代以來，宗教面臨著諸多衝擊和挑戰。隨著科學及其背後的理智主義的崛起，理性逐漸取代神明的權威位置，成為被信仰的對象，產生了韋伯稱之為「世界的祛魅」（disenchantment of the world）的理智化過程。在嚴謹的科學實證要求底下，也許因為正念治療本身就是心理醫學的產物，擁有大量臨床數據作為科學實證的依據，同時又跟佛教淵源深厚，被認為可助成傳統佛教禪法與精神醫學、科學理性主義之匯流，職是之故，正念治療中的「正念」意義，在佛教界內日漸普遍流傳，有時更被當成是佛教正念的替代性解釋。不過，若貿然將世俗正念與佛教正念並為一談，會否使原本導向圓滿覺悟的佛教正念修持，簡化為一種增進身心健康的技巧，令佛教禪修淪為現世利益的註腳，失去了生命解脫的高度？這是本文的關注所在。本文先以佛典的「正念」和正念治療的對比為引子，展示佛教向理智主義靠攏的趨向，為漢傳禪思想帶來的挑戰。接著，探究佛教在理性化和世俗化的進程上，是否可能揭橥聖者內證無分別智的崇高性，以及佛教教法的反知解面向，從而在專注於此世的社會中，守住佛教教義不共世法的神聖性（sacredness）和主體性。

關鍵字

正念 ； 正念治療 ； 世俗正念 ； 世俗化 ； 理性化

並列摘要

Religion has come under different assaults and challenges since the coming of the modern period.With the rise of science and rationalism that supports it, rationality has slowly gradually taken the place of authority of the gods and deities, and become an object of faith and belief, a process known by Max Weber as the ＂disenchantment of the world.＂ Under the strict demand of scientific evidence, mindfulness-based therapy, a product of psychological medicine with its voluminous clinical data and its basis in scientific experiments on the one hand, and its deep connection with Buddhism on the other, has been accepted as a confluence of traditional Zen Buddhism, psychological medicine, and scientific rationalism. For this reason, the ＂mindfulness＂ of mindfulness-based therapy has gradually come to widespread circulation, and has sometimes been used to explain the mindfulness in Buddhism. However, if we uncritically equate the secular idea of mindfulness with Buddhist mindfulness, are we simplistically reducing the mindful cultivation of Buddhism with its original purpose of leading us to complete enlightenment to a health technique in promoting physical and psychological well-being, thereby relegating Buddhism Zen cultivation to be a footnote to worldly pursuit with the result of compromising its lofty position as a mean to liberate one from the burdens of life? This is the main concern of this article. By contrasting the mindfulness of the Buddhist scriptures with that of ＂mindfulness-based therapy＂, this article will begin by laying out the challenges posed to the Chinese Chan tradition by the trend towards rationalism in Buddhism. It will then turn to explore whether in its process of rationalization and secularization, Buddhism could highlight the nobility of an enlightened sage's self-awakening undefiled wisdom, as well as the anti-rational facet of the teaching of Buddhism, in such a way as to adhere to the sacredness and subjectivity of Buddhism as distinct from secular values.

並列關鍵字

mindfulness ； mindfulness-based therapy ； secular mindfulness ； secularization ； rationalization