佛教常识答问（二）

问：佛是神吗？

Q: Is the Buddha a deity?

答：不，佛不是神。他是西元前六世纪时代的人，有名有姓，他的名字是悉达多 （S.Siddhartha, P. Siddhattha），他的姓是乔达摩（S. Gautama, P. Gotama）。因为他属于释迦（Sakya）族，人们又称他为释迦牟尼，意思是释迦族的圣人。

A: No,the Buddha is not a deity. He was a man who lived in the 6th century BC. He had his own given and family names, his given name being Siddhattha and his family name Gotama. As he belonged to the Sakya clan, people also called him Sakyamuni,meaning a sage of the Sakyas.

问：为什么称他为佛呢？佛的意义是什么？

Q: Why is the Buddha called "Fo" in Chinese? What does it mean?

答：佛字是‘佛陀’的简称，是Buddha的音译（如果用今天的汉语音译，应当是‘布达’），佛陀的意义是‘觉者’或‘智者’。‘佛陀’是印度早就有了的字，但佛教给它加了三种涵义：（1）正觉（对一切法的性质相状，无增无减地、如实地觉了）；（2）等觉或遍觉（不仅自觉，即自己觉悟，而且能平等普遍地觉他，即使别人觉悟）；（3）圆觉或无上觉（自觉觉他的智慧和功行都已达到最高的、最圆满的境地）。

A："Fo" is the abbreviation for "Fotuo" which was used to translate the word "Buddha". (The characters used for "Fotuo" were pronounced "buda" at the time of translation.) Buddha means "an enlightened one "or "an awakened one".  The term "Buddha" existed in India from the earliest times, but Buddhism has attributed three additional connotations to the term. They are follows：(1) enlightenment (Sambodhi, which means thoroughly realizing the properties and appearance of all dhammas as they are);  (2) perfect enlightenment (Samma-sambodhi, which means not only enlightening oneself but also equally and universally enlightening others);  (3) supreme or paramout enlightenment (Anuttara samma-sambodhi, which means one's wisdom and achievement have reached the highest and the most perfect sphere in enlightening both oneself and others)