苦痛之意義及其反思：以《阿含經》與《莊子》為依據之哲學研究

The Significance of Suffering and its Reflection: A Philosophical Research Based on Agama Sutras and the Zhuangzi

洪嘉琳(Chia-Lynne Hong)

指導教授 ： 陳鼓應 ； 蔡耀明

國立臺灣大學/文學院/哲學研究所/博士(2010年)

https://doi.org/10.6342/NTU.2010.00201

摘要

本文乃以「苦痛」之概念為探討對象，並以《阿含經》與《莊子》為經典資源，檢視「苦痛」之意義及其反思。經審視之後，本文以為「苦痛」主要是指困境或障礙，且可區分為「聖道」與「俗行」兩層面來觀察。「聖道」謂以成聖為目標所開展出來之道路，「俗行」謂不以成聖為念者之所作所為；順此，「聖道苦」乃就從事聖道修行者而言之苦痛；而「俗行苦」乃就俗者而言之苦痛。

第一章「緒論」：旨在說明研究動機、目的、題目、架構及方法。

第二章「基本說明」：提出對顯閱讀法作為選取文獻材料的方法之一。透過此方法，本文指出：於《阿含經》以「苦諦」為首之四聖諦中，其所欲止息、滅除之苦，主要為生死流轉。此外，亦可發現《阿含經》於苦樂議題上，有著某種聖俗層次之別。再者，藉由探討《莊子》之「逍遙」概念，可以發現其對於「苦痛」之理解，當以「困縛」、「受限」為基本意義。透過「至樂」所對顯出來的苦痛，則有聖與俗之別，且可分為苦痛情境、苦痛情感及非聖境界等三面向。基於上述之討論，本文提出聖道苦與俗行苦之區別，作為本文之基本架構。

第三章「俗行苦之意義及其反思」：對於無意修習聖道之俗者而言，其所認知的「苦痛」，大抵可以分為苦痛情境與苦痛情感二面向。若無後者，前者未可定位為「苦痛的」情境；若無前者，後者亦無由生起。二者雖密切相關，但卻有分別論述之可能。就苦痛情境而言，本文借用了《阿含經》於「苦諦」中之說法，將之歸類為相關於生存的與相關於價值之苦痛情境；前者如生、老、病、死，後者如怨憎會、愛別離等情境。透過分析此等情境，可發掘出兩階段的苦痛情感：初時情感與後時情感。前者為一開始經驗到某情境之感受，包括自己親身感受到的，及聽聞或目睹他人經驗而知的感受；如被燙傷時所遭遇到的疼痛。後者為透過對前一情境、經驗、感受之認知或思考後，對該情境而有之情感或心態；如對貧賤、生死等等所持有的悅惡之情。大抵而言，《阿含經》多著墨於初時之苦痛情感；《莊子》則兼論此二階段之情感。

本文所關切者，不在於如何改變或避免俗行苦之苦痛情境，毋寧是聚焦於此二階段情感表現之間的層次、異同，乃至過渡地帶，冀能有助於生命體觀察其認知、思考某情境之角度或態度。此外，本文主張不僅應釐清苦痛情感中之初時情感與後時情感，甚至應該利用此二情感，以為追求聖道、擺脫聖道苦之用。

第四章「聖道苦之意義及其反思」：分別就潛在面與實現面談論聖道苦。就潛在面而言，可以《阿含經》之「苦諦」為代表，而作如下之理解：

首先，根據「苦諦」詞組中「諦」之意義，意味著此處之「苦」，乃作為一種真實、正確無誤的斷言；而本文以為，「苦諦」或為「『一切皆苦』是正確斷言」之簡稱。

其次，「一切皆苦」可說來自「一切無常」與「無常則苦」二命題合作之結果。其中，「一切」可以指稱所有緣起而成的身心現象。「無常」指出緣起之身心現象、知覺經驗等，作為因緣和合而成者，沒有恆常不變之性質，故曰無常。
最後，「無常則苦」者，或應解讀為「凡無常者皆會導致生命體苦受」，此命題所側重者，乃導致生命體苦受之傾向(disposition)：一旦因緣條件配合，便會使生命體生起苦受。就《阿含經》之主張而言，若非從事聖道、修行以致涅槃者，此致苦傾向終有現前為苦受之時。可以說，《阿含經》之論聖道苦，主要乃在於潛藏於無常現象中的致苦傾向。

就聖道苦之實現面而言，《莊子》以「受限」為核心意義，呈現出三種層面之聖道苦：
一，受限於形軀、感官：滿足生理基本需求與追求感官欲望之滿足，可謂不同層次之事；《莊子》強調感官欲望乃使生命體受限的面向之一。
二，對於價值、規範之執著：就《莊子》的角度來觀察，此可謂非聖境界。如該生命體以為未達致該標準、價值，或未符合某規範，則生起苦痛情感，從而以此等「不足」為苦痛情境。
三，終身對於自己之受限與盲從無所覺察：《莊子》指出，生命體不僅盲從於感官欲望或世間價值、規範等等，甚至終身因而汲汲營營、疲於奔命而無所自覺。如此終身無所覺察、隨波逐流，乃「心死」之說可傳達出來的聖道苦。

由此三層面觀之，《莊子》所提供聖道苦之例子，毋寧是就生命體當下之生命狀態、境界而言的，即當生命體之現狀是受限的、有所困縛的，即可視為聖道苦。

綜合觀之，《阿含經》與《莊子》一方面豐富了聖道苦之層次，一方面也指出了生命體可留心之處，不僅在於當下之生命狀態，也應在於傾向層面。進而，二者更關心的是如何使生命體擺脫聖道苦。就此而言，二者所指出之聖道苦──傾向面與實現面──，一方面可視為對生命體之警示，一方面又指出了生命體脫離聖道苦之著手處。

第五章「結論」：分別設「本文核心觀點」與「各章要點」以總結本文。

關鍵字

苦 ； 苦痛 ； 阿含經 ； 莊子 ； 聖 ； 俗

並列摘要

This dissertation inquires into the significance of the concept of suffering. It takes Āgama sutra and the Zhuangzi, two important scriptures in Indian Buddhist and Chinese Daoist traditions, as primary source material. Both works shed light on the concept of suffering, and are hence relevant to my philosophical concerns.

The first chapter introduces the research scope, the materials, methodology, and main goal. This chapter also clarifies the framework of my research, i.e. a basic distinction between two kinds of suffering that takes account of the variety of living beings. On the one hand, the spiritual suffering (聖道苦/ shengdao ku), or the suffering conceived by those who pursue sainthood; on the other, the ordinary suffering (俗行苦/ suxing ku), or the suffering recognized by those who do not have a spiritual goal in mind. For ordinary living beings, ‘suffering’ mainly denotes difficulties or hardship in life. For the sainthood pursuers, however, ‘suffering’ amounts to a dissatisfaction regarding their spiritual destination(s). More elaborate discussion concerning these two types of suffering is found in chapters three and four.

In chapter two, I propose a methodology--which I call contrastive reading methodology--to read and select materials within these two scriptures. After a detailed analysis based on this methodology, I point out the gist of the concept of suffering in Āgama sutra and the Zhuangzi: it denotes saṃsāra—the circle of life and death, in the former, while it connects to notions of ‘being constrained’ in the latter. In addition, analysis also reveals multiple dimensions of the concept of suffering: suffering situations, suffering feelings, suffering as dissatisfaction regarding sainthood, and a distinction between sainthood pursuers and ordinary living beings.

The third chapter consists of two major domains of suffering situations in an ordinary sense: existential suffering and value-related suffering. The former deals with birth, aging, sickness, and death, while the latter can be divided into two kinds: separating from what one favors, and joining with what one dislikes.

Through detailed discussion and analysis, I argue that situations as such are neutral in terms of suffering, and that it is the feeling of suffering experienced by a living being that turns something into a ‘suffering’ situation. Moreover, even when a living being experiences difficulty, one’s feeling may move through different stages, such as sadness changing into a more positive view of the same situation. Such unfixed relation between situations and feelings, therefore, leaves room for philosophical counseling.

Chapter four deals with spiritual suffering. In discussing Āgama sutra, I challenge a common interpretation of ‘dukkha sacca’ and statements such as ‘whatever is impermanent is suffering’ and ‘everything is suffering’ among Buddhist scholars. First of all, I suggest reading ‘dukkha sacca’ as ‘the statement(s) of dukkha is/are true assertion(s) (sacca).’ Secondly, instead of classifying such dukkha as a metaphysical issue or an eventual result of everything in this world, as generally suggested by Buddhist scholars, I propose the concept of ‘disposition’ to interpret dukkha in such statements. In this sense, ‘whatever is impermanent is suffering’ may be reinterpreted as ‘whatever is impermanent has the disposition to lead to feelings of suffering in living beings.’

As for the Zhuangzi, what the sainthood pursuers regard as suffering can be understood as a kind of dissatisfaction of ‘being constrained’. There are three kinds of constraint in the Zhuangzi: being constrained by sense organs, being constrained by given notions, and being unaware of one’s own constraint. In contrast to Agama sutra, spiritual suffering in the Zhuangzi centers on the present state of living beings rather than on the disposition of suffering feelings.

Chapter five, which concludes this dissertation, summarizes the previous chapters and offers an overall picture of the main ideas.

並列關鍵字

Āgama Sutra ； Zhuangzi ； dukkha ； suffering ； sainthood ； constraint

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