Fortune-Telling and Charms

占卜与符咒

Hard work is the luckiest star.

勤奋就是幸运之星。

Although Buddhism does not refute belief in deities, spirits, astrology and fortune-telling, the Buddha's advice was that people should not be slaves to any of those forces. A good Buddhist can overcome all his difficulties if he knows how to make use of his intelligence and will-power. The above mentioned beliefs have no spiritual significance or value. Man must overcome all his problems and difficulties by his own efforts and not through the medium of deities, spirits, astrology or fortune-telling.

佛教从来不鼓励对天神、精灵、星宿、占卜的信仰。佛陀奉劝信徒不要成为这些无聊信仰的奴隶。一位真正的佛教徒，如果善于运用他的智慧和意识，一定能克服一切困难，对天神、精灵、星宿、占卜的信仰，没有宗教的实质意义。人类必须凭自己的努力去克服一切困难，而不是祈求天神、精灵、星宿、占卜等媒体。

In one of the Buddhist Jataka stories, the Bodhisatta said:

在《本生经》里，佛陀这么说道：

'The fool may watch for lucky days,

Yet luck he shall always miss,

The luck itself is luck's own star,

What can mere stars achieve?

He believed that hard work was the luckiest star and one should not waste time by consulting stars and lucky days in order to achieve success. To do your best to help yourself is better than to rely solely on the stars or external sources.

「愚痴的人期待幸运日子的到来，但是幸运却不到来。幸运本身是它自己的星宿，有什么能靠星宿来完成呢？」佛陀相信努力工作是最幸运的星宿，一个人不应该浪费时间在占卜和选择黄道吉日。靠自己的努力，比依赖占卜和外在的力量要殊胜的多。

Although some Buddhists practise fortune-telling and dispense some forms of charms or amulets under the guise of religion, the Buddha at no time encouraged anyone to practise such things. Like fortune-telling, charms come under the category of superstition, and have no religious value. Yet there are many people today who, because of sickness and misfortunes attribute the cause of their illness and ill-luck to the power of charms. When the cause of certain sickness and misfortunes cannot be ascertained or traced, many people tend to believe that their problems are due to charms or some other external causes. They have forgotten that they are now living in the twentieth century. This is the modern age of scientific development and achievement. Our leading scientists have thrown aside many superstitious beliefs and they have even placed men on the moon!

尽管某些佛教徒假借佛教的名义从事算命、占卜、符咒等行业，但是，佛陀从来就没有鼓励他们这么做。占卜、符咒是一种迷信，没有宗教意义。然而，今天很多人把疾病和厄运归咎于符咒的力量，当某些疾病或厄运无法获得充分的理由来解释时，他们认为是符咒在作祟。他们已经忘记了他们生存在科技发达的二十世纪，科学家们早就甩掉所有的迷信，把人送上月球了。

All sicknesses owe their origin to either mental or physical causes. In Shakespeare, Macbeth asked a doctor if there was any medicine that could cure his wife and the doctor replied: 'More needs she the divine than the physician.' What he meant was that some diseases could only be cured if the mind was purified. Some severe mental disorders manifest themselves in a physical manner--ulcers, stomach aches, and so on.

造成疾病的产生主要是心理或生理的因素。在莎士比亚的剧作中，有人问麦比特文医生：「有什么良方可以治疗他的妻子。」医生说：「她需要的是宗教而不是药物治疗。」医生的意思是认为疾病是需要纯净的心灵才能获得痊愈，很多疾病是因为心里问题而造成的，如：肠胃溃疡、胃病等等。

Of course diseases are purely physical and can be cured by a competent doctor. And finally, some inexplicable disorders could be caused by what Buddhist call the ripening of the kammic fruit. This means we would have to pay for some evil deed that we have committed in a past life. If we can understand this in the case of some incurable diseases, we can bear it with greater patience, knowing its real cause.

当然，那些疑难杂症，在一些高明医生的护理下，也能痊愈。一些无法治疗的疾病，就如佛教所说的「业报」，是因为过去时所积累的恶业的展现。了解这一事实，我们就会进一步的了解那些无法治疗的疾病的真正起因，也就会变得更容忍了。

People who cannot be cured of their sickness are advised to consult a medical specialist and obtain specialized attention. If after having gone through a medical check-up, a person still feels in need of attention, then he may want to seek spiritual guidance from a proper religious teacher.

当疾病发生时，就应该找医生诊治，治不好，就要找更高明的专家，再治不好的情况下，才寻求一位适当的宗教导师做心灵的辅导。

Buddhists are strongly advised against falling into the miserable pit of superstitious beliefs and allowing the mind to be troubled by unnecessary and unfounded fears. Cultivate a strong will-power by refusing to believe in the influence of charms.

佛陀告诫所有的信徒，不要让不必要的困扰和没有根据的恐惧──可悲的迷信深嵌于我们的内心，这种令人迷惑的感受，是一种病态的心理作用。培养坚强的意志，就能抗拒这些迷惑了。

A short meditation course may also prove very helpful to clear the mind of unwholesome thoughts. Meditation leads to the purification of the mind. A purified mind automatically leads to a purified and healthy body. The Buddha-Dhamma is a soothing balm to get rid of sickness of this nature.

即使是短暂的，禅修或静坐有助于净化内心不健康的思想。禅定能净化心识，当心灵获得净化后，就能带动纯净和健康的身体。佛法是能使人宽心的镇定剂，也能消除疾病。