Buddha's Love and Human Love

觀音菩薩是佛教諸聖裡最重要的人物之一。祂超越海陸限制，兩千年來一直是佛教徒崇拜供養的焦點，普及的程度也許僅次於釋迦牟尼佛。從古老印度以來，祂在《法華經．觀世音菩薩普門品》的名字「阿婆盧吉低舍婆羅」（Avalokitasvara）就一直被稱頌著，在大乘佛教裡祂一直被視作是大慈與大悲的化身。只要有大乘佛教的地方，就有信仰與崇拜祂的蹤跡，一直到現在，雖然歷經宗教、社會與經濟的變遷，祂仍然是東亞地方實修的對象。鳩摩羅什（約西元406 年）與玄奘（645～664）分別將Avalokitasvara 或Avalokitesvara譯成「觀世音」（簡稱「觀音」）與「觀自在」。長期以來，慈悲的德行就一直持續被讚頌與具象化，終而被描繪成人形，觀音菩薩的圖像隨著模倣印度神祇而迅速產生許多變化。在中國，西元六世紀以後，祂的標準形相從威嚴的男性特徵，徹底轉變為溫柔的模樣：有著淑女一樣的笑容以及優雅的天女形相。有些西方的作者回顧他們第一次接觸觀音圖像時，均被那藝術形相的特徵與迷人的魅力「深深感動」。觀音菩薩信仰的普及性主要是奠基在大乘菩薩的兩種德行上：慈悲是它的實修面，空的洞見則是它的理論面。觀音的理想在大乘信徒間廣泛流傳，不管他們的文化層面是高或低，他們的地域是南亞或東亞，都能在信仰與奉獻這兩方面深深吸引他們。這兩種德行如車之兩輪相互依賴，是菩薩生涯中兩種不可或缺的善巧方便（upaya-kausalya）。而無自性（nihsvabhava）空之洞見則令這兩種德行突出於一切人類的思惟體系之上。本文對於觀音「誓願犧牲自我，以慈悲精神救度一切苦難有情」的德行甚為關注。祂雖然有能力入涅槃但卻堅持不入，除非其他眾生都到達彼岸為止。這種慈悲精神正是從人類善德過渡到解脫成佛的橋樑。本文的三項主要論點是：佛陀的慈悲之所以不同於一般人，關鍵在於愛的施者與受者是不二的。從龍樹依動機所區分的三種慈悲說，深入分析上項原則。從空之洞見所產生的完美溝通，去評估佛教的慈與悲。

關鍵字

佛陀之愛；觀音

並列摘要

Kuan-yin Bodhisattva is one of the most enduring members of the Buddhist Pantheon. Across boundaries of land and ocean, he has continued to be the focus of cultic devotion among Buddhists for two millennia, and is perhaps second only to Sakyamuni Buddha in popularity. Ever since the invocation in ancient India of his name, Avalokitasvara in Sanskrit in the Samanta-mukha Section of the Lotus Sutra,[1] he has been known in the Mahayana branch of Buddhism as the embodiment of the supreme virtue of love and compassion. Traces of belief in and worship of this Bodhisattva are found in all regions where Mahayana Buddhism once spread,[2] and are a living practice in East Asian countries today, despite contemporary political, social and economic changes.[3] Kumarajiva (C.E. 406) and Hsuan-tsang (between 645~664) respectively rendered the Sanskrit Avalokitasvara or Avalokitesvara in Chinese as kuan-shih-yin (or in shortened form as kuan-yin) and Kuan-tzu-tsai. While the virtue of love and compassion continued to be praised, hypostatized and depicted in human form for countless ages, the iconographic image of this Bodhisattva rapidly multiplied into varied forms in India through assimilation of Hindu deities. In China, during the latter half of the first millennium, his standard image radically changed from that of an austere male figure to that of an effeminate figure with a maiden-like smile and refined celestial womanhood. Regarding their initial encounter with Kuan-yin, some writers in the West wrote of being ＂profoundly affected＂ by the artistic representation of the figure and its enchanting spell.[4] The popularity of the cult of Kuan-yin Bodhisattva is due primarily to the dual virtues that Mahayana Buddhism ascribed to the ideal of this Bodhisattva. Love and compassion constituted his practical virtue, while the insight of Sunyata was his theoretical virtue. The ideal of Kuan-yin Bodhisattva fared well among Mahayana Buddhist followers by attracting their belief and devotion, whether in high or low culture and South or East Asia. The said two virtues, interdependent like the two wheels of a cart, represent the two expedient means or criteria (upaya-kausalya) essential to any Bodhisattva's career. What makes the Bodhisattva's dual virtues unique among all human systems of thought is the very insight of Sunyata (emptiness), the principle that whatever is devoid of its own nature (nihsvabhava). In this paper, I am concerned with the subject of Kuan-yin Bodhisattva's virtue as invariably expressed in ＂the vow of self-abnegation for love and compassion toward all sentient beings, especially those in suffering and distress.＂ Because of his vow not to cross to Nirvana, despite his full capacity to do so, Kuan-yin is said to hold midstream until all other beings have been successfully rescued and have crossed to the yonder shore. I think that Kuan-yin's virtue as the embodiment of Buddhist love and compassion is the bridge that links human virtue to that of the enlightened and perfected (Buddhas, Tathagatas). This paper has three main points: (1) distinguishing love and compassion of Buddhas from that of humans in terms of non-duality between the agent of love and the recipient; (2) analyzing this principle in reference to the three motivational contexts of love and compassion; and (3) evaluating Buddhist love and compassion in terms of perfect communication based on the insight of Sunyata.