Summary
s.1When Śāriputra voices amazement at how the Buddha uses words to point out the inexpressible ways in which nothing has true existence, the Buddha responds with an uncompromising teaching on how the lack of true existence and the absence of a self are indeed not simply philosophical views but the very cornerstone of the Dharma. To have understood, realized, and applied them fully is the main quality by which someone may be considered a member of the saṅgha and authorized to teach others and to receive offerings. Those who persist in perceiving anything—even elements of the path and its results—as having any kind of true existence are committing the most serious of all violations of discipline (śīla), and since they fail to follow the Buddha’s core teaching in this way they should not even be considered his followers. The Buddha’s dialogue with Śāriputra continues on the consequences of monks’ violating their discipline more broadly, and he gives several prophecies about the future decline of the Dharma that will be caused by the misbehavior of such monks.
s.1當舍利弗驚嘆佛陀如何用言語指出無法言說的方式，說明一切事物都沒有真實存在時，佛陀以堅定不移的教法回應，闡明缺乏真實存在和沒有自我，實際上不僅僅是哲學觀點，而是法的根本基石。如果有人已經充分理解、證悟並實踐了這一點，這是判斷一個人是否可被視為僧伽成員、是否獲得授權教導他人以及接受供養的主要標準。那些執著於認知任何事物——即使是道路及其成果的界——具有任何形式真實存在的人，都在犯最為嚴重的戒律違犯，而且由於他們沒有遵循佛陀的核心教法，他們甚至不應被視為佛陀的追隨者。佛陀與舍利弗的對話繼續涉及比丘們更廣泛地違犯戒律的後果，他預言了未來法的衰退，這將由這樣的比丘的不當行為引起。