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浴佛節 Bath the Buddha Festival

今天，2023年5月26日，農曆四月初八，是中國佛誕，又稱“浴佛節”，是慶祝佛教創始人釋迦牟尼佛誕辰的日子。 相傳佛祖在藍毘尼出生時，眾龍都來噴水給佛祖洗澡，以示祝福和崇拜。佛誕期間，寺廟會開放供信眾燒香禮佛、沐浴佛像、供養僧人。

Today, 26 May 2023, the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, is the Chinese Buddha's Birthday, also known as the "Bath the Buddha Festival", which is the day to celebrate the birth of the founder of Buddhism, Sakyamuni Buddha. It is said that when the Buddha was born in Lumbini, all the dragons came and sprayed water to bath the baby Buddha as an expression of blessing and worship. On the period of Buddha's Birthday, temples will be open for believers to burn incense, worship Buddha, bath in the figure of Buddha, and make offerings to monks. 

在信奉上座部（小乘）佛教的國家，佛陀的誕生、出家、成道、涅槃都在同一天，稱為“衛塞節”。通過曆法的換算，這一天應該是農曆四月十五。 然而，曆法的轉換，或“衛塞節”，不是本文的主題。

In the countries which follow Theravada Buddhism, the birth, renunciation, enlightenment, and Nirvana of the Buddha are all on the same day, which is called "Wesak Day". Through the conversion of the calendars, this day should be the fifteenth day of the fourth lunar month. However, the conversion of the calendars, or "Wesak Day", is not the topic in this article.

然而，在中國佛教中，佛陀誕生後的第七天，與衛塞節同一天，被稱為“佛吉祥日”。 關於這個節日有兩個傳說。 其一是佛陀的母親摩耶夫人在佛陀誕生的第七天離世，佛陀寶寶放出吉祥光芒來祝福她升天；另一種說法是經過多年的修行和冥想，佛陀終於在這一天開悟了，由此，自然地放出了吉祥的光芒。 “佛吉祥日”在中國被視為佛誕的餘慶，一般不單獨慶祝，而是與佛誕一起慶祝。

However, in Chinese Buddhism, the seventh day after the Buddha's birth, which is the same day as Vesak Day, is called "Buddha's Auspicious Day". There are two legends about this festival. One is that Mrs. Maya, the Buddha, passed away on the seventh day of the Buddha's birth, and the baby Buddha released auspicious light to bless her to ascend to heaven; the other is that the Buddha finally became enlightened in this day after years of practice and meditation, and thus naturally emitted auspicious light. "Buddha's Auspicious Day" is regarded as the aftermath of Buddha's birthday in China, and is generally not celebrated separately, but together with Buddha's birthday.

澳門獨有的傳統節日“醉龍節”，恰逢在中國佛誕節這一天。“醉龍節”。部分魚商會休業一天，以參加在街市附近表演的“醉龍舞”。要想演好醉龍，參賽者必須讓自己喝醉。

The traditional festival unique to Macau, the "Drunken Dragon Festival" , which meet the day of the Buddha's Birthday in China. Some of the fish merchants will be closed for the day to participate in this day for the show near the vegetable market. For performed well as a drunken dragon, the participants must make themselves drunk.

素食在中國的起源 The origin of vegetarian in China

關於素食在中國的起源，眾說紛紜，有研究者認為與佛教傳入中國有關。 

There are different opinions about the origin of vegetarian in China, some of the researchers considered that it is related to the introduction of Buddhism in China. 

對佛教創始人釋迦牟尼佛及其弟子來說，沒有飲食方面的禁忌。不執著他人所施予的食物的種類或味道，這是佛陀時代以來修行無執著的方法之一。但是，為了慈悲修行慈悲，佛陀立下戒律，僧人不能吃專門為他們而殺的、以及目睹或聽到殺生過程的肉。今天，如緬甸、泰國或西藏等這些國家的僧侶，仍然保持著不執著於食物（以及他們的一些日常需求）的傳統。他們需要的是在日常生活中內心的平靜，包括他們的修行和佛法分享。 

There was no taboo on eating for the founder of Buddhism, Sakyamuni Buddha and his disciples. Never being attached to the type or taste of food offered by others, this is one of the ways to practice of non-attached since the period of the Buddha. However, for practice of compassion, the Buddha established precepts that monks could not eat the meat that were killed specifically for them nor witnessed or heard the process of killing. Today, the monks in these countries, such as Burma, Thailand, or Tibet, still retain the tradition of being un-attached to food (and some of their daily needs). What they need is a peace of mind in their daily lives, including their practice and dharma share.

佛教傳入中國後，受到歷代君主的重視，中國的僧人不再需要乞食。一些僧侶改變了他們的修行，轉向更高層次的慈悲：不吃肉以減少殺戮。據說南朝梁武帝（公元464-549年）是一位非常虔誠的佛教徒，是第一個使這種慈悲行為成為常態的人。他發誓永遠戒酒戒肉，並下詔要求全國寺院實行此法門。 After Buddhism was introduced to China, it was valued by the monarchs of different dynasties, and the monks in China no longer needed to beg for food. Some of the monks changed their practice toward a higher level of compassion: no meat eating to reduce killing. It is said that Emperor Liang Wudi (464-549 AD) of the Southern Dynasty, a very devout Buddhist, was the first man to make this practice of compassion a norm. He vowed to abstain from alcohol and flesh forever, and issued an imperial edict requiring monasteries across the country to carry out this practice. 

從梁武帝下詔不吃肉，開創了不吃肉（素食）的文化。這種文化在唐代以前就被認為是中國佛教的戒律，也是社會上流行的飲食方式之一。隨著烹飪技術的發展和提高，當今中國的素食文化已經升級為世界上各種風格的素食主義。 

From the imperial edict of no meat eating by Emperor Wu of Liang, it created the culture of non-meat eating (vegetarian). This culture has been considered a precept of Chinese Buddhism and one of the popular eating styles in society before the Tang Dynasty. With the development and improvement of cooking technology, the vegetarian culture in China nowadays has been upgraded to the various styles of vegetarianism in the world.

慧能和尚與《壇經》 Venerable Hui-Neng and the Altar-Sutra

慧能和尚（公元638年—713年），中國禪宗第六代祖師，唐代最重要的佛教人物。 據《壇經》第一卷記載，慧能和尚沒有受過教育，自幼在山中生活，靠砍柴掙錢養母。 但他在處世哲學上很有天賦，並在很短的時間內通過了禪宗五祖的考驗，被指定為六祖。 無論他的弟子提出什麼難懂的經文或禪理，慧能和尚都能夠簡單明了地回答。
Master Venerable Hui-Neng (638 A.D.–713), the sixth patriarch of Zen Buddhism in China, and the most important Buddhist figure in the Tang Dynasty. According to the first chapter of the Altar-Sutra (An Autobiographical Account in Relation to Dharma), Venerable Hui-neng had no education, he lived in the mountains since his childhood and cut firewood to earn money to support his mother. However, he was very gifted in philosophy of life, and was designated as the sixth patriarch by passing the test of the fifth patriarch of Zen in a short time. Whatever the difficult scripts or Zen principles were raised by his disciples, Venerable Hui-Neng may have responded to them simply and clearly .

《壇經》又名《六祖壇經》或《六祖法寶壇經》，是唯一一部由中國人編纂的佛經（其他中文佛經均為從梵文翻譯的譯本）。這部神聖的經典受到高階修行者的高度重視，因為它是慧能和尚開示的精髓，對解釋禪宗的原則很重要。這部經典分為十章，每一章都側重於佛教哲學和原則的不同方面。這些都是慧能法師的教法，由他的一班弟子（主要是法海和尚）整理而成。
The Altar-Sutra, also known as the Platform Sutra Of The Sixth Patriarch, or the D
harmic Treasure Altar-Sutra Of The Sixth Patriarch, is the only Buddhist scripture compiled by Chinese (the other Buddhist scriptures written in Chinese are translated from Sanskrit). This sacred sutra is highly valued by advanced practitioners as it is the essence of Venerable Hui-Neng's speeches, which are important to interpret the principles of Zen. This scripture was divided into ten chapters, each focusing on different aspects of Buddhist philosophy and principles. All of these are the teachings by Venerable Hui-Neng and compiled by his disciples (mainly by Venerable Fa-hai).

《壇經》流傳了一千多年，衍生出不同的版本。儘管每個版本的章節順序可能不同，或某些章節的文字略有增加或減少，或增加了註釋與誦經儀式。這些並不影響各版本經文的一致性，所以無需擔心哪個是正版。另一個好消息是，一些佛教團體已經製作了《壇經》的外文版本（主要是英文版本）。這意味著外國人也可以用他們的語言按照這部經文來學習和修行。
The Altar-Sutra has been circulated for more than a thousand years, and different versions have been derived. Even though the order of the chapters in each version may be different, or the words in certain chapters may slightly increase or decrease, and annotations or chanting ceremony are added. These does not affect the consistency of the scriptures in each version, thus it is no need to worry about which is the authentic version. The other good news is that foreign language versions (mostly in English versions) of The Altar-Sutra have been made by some Buddhist groups. That means foreigners may study and practise by following this scripture in their language.

“Belief” 與 “Faith” 的分別 The difference between "Belief" and "Faith"

 “Belief” 和 “faith” 在英語中是兩個具有相似宗教含義的名詞，它們經常互換使用，因為都是指相信一種哲學體系（儒家或其他宗教）或某種價值觀的狀態。但是，兩者都有其更深層次的含義。

"Belief" and "faith" are two nouns in English with similar religious meanings, they are often used interchangeably, as both refer to the state of believing in a philosophy system (Confucian or other religions) or a certain values. However, both have their own deeper meaning.

“Belief”是指對宗教或制度的一種理智的信仰態度。它可以通過實證和理性分析來調整。對於正在開始學習基本概念的新信徒來說，這種態度有助於他們避免對宗教產生迷信，從而幫助他們通過消除疑慮和產生智慧成為高階修行者。

"Belief" refers to an intellectual attitude to believing in a religion or a system. It can be adjusted by empirical evidence and rational analysis. For new followers who are starting their learning of the basic concepts, this attitude helps them to avoid being superstitious about the religion, and thus helps them to become advanced practitioners by dispelling doubts and generating wisdom. 

“Faith”是指不經證明（已證明、無需證明或無法證明），直接發自內心深處的對一種宗教或製度的強烈信任，並渴望將這種價值觀轉化為思想、言語和行為規範的狀態。對於修行疑惑已被消除的高級修行者而言，Faith是Belief的升級。既然修行方法在之前已經證明過，便不需要再證明了，所以有助於加快修行進度。然而，對於在修行沒有概念的新信徒來說，沒有理性支持的Faith可能會導致迷信。

“Faith” refers to the state of strong trust in a religion or a system from the depth of mind without proof (proved before, no need to prove, or impossible to prove), and eager to turn this value into the norms of thoughts, words and deeds. For those advanced practitioners whose doubts about their practice have been dispelled, faith is an update of belief. Since the practice method has been proved before and no more proof is needed, so, it helps to speed up their practice progress. However, for new followers with no concept of their practice, faith, without rational support, may lead to superstition.