在時間中修行——從僧肇、法藏與奧古斯丁的時間哲學論東西修行觀之異同

Practicing Sādhana in Time: Similarities and Differences in the Philosophy of Time in Sengzhao, Fazang, and Augustine

由宗教哲學角度觀之，中國的僧肇（384-414）、法藏（643-712）與西方的奧古斯丁（354-430）可以做為中國大乘佛學與基督教兩大宗教的代表人物。無獨有偶，三人均提出了體察時間的洞見，並於時間觀中隱約批露對於修行的看法。嚴格來說，「修行」一詞為中文佛教資料專用詞，對中東與歐洲宗教來說，意指「修養工夫」、「修煉」或「實踐」。本文對於「修行」一詞在中西語彙的內涵上採取一廣義且普世的定義，意即透過「以身體之」的修煉以達成對其行為、思想產生修正之意。而時間在修行中扮演什麼角色？時間給予修行何種助力？為何時間對於修行如此迫切而重要？本文聚焦於此三位自四世紀至八世紀東西方之修行者的時間觀所透顯出的修行意義，藉以探究中國大乘佛學、基督教二大宗教在時間課題下揭示的修行面向之特色、差異與交會。

From the perspective of religious philosophy, the practitioners from the East and the West—such as Sengzhao (384-414), Fazang (643-712) and St. Augustine (354-430)—may be regarded as representatives of the two major religious traditions between Chinese Mahāyāna Buddhism and Western Christianity. Each offers profound insights into the philosophy of time, in which they implicitly reveal their views on sādhana or spiritual practice in relation to temporality. Strictly speaking, the term sādhana originates from the Chinese Buddhist context, while in the Western context it can be interpreted as“spiritual exercise,”“cultivation,”or“practice.”This paper adopts a universal definition of“practice”that bridges both Chinese and Western perspectives, suggesting that one may engage in sādhana to realize meaning through bodily action, thought, and spiritual discipline. What role, then, does time play in practice? What force does time help the practice? Why does time become so essential for the practice of sādhana? This paper investigates the significance of sādhana as expressed through the temporal philosophies of three Eastern and Western sādhana practitioners from the fourth century to the eighth century. In so doing, this paper explores the characteristics, similarities, differences and intersection in the understanding of sādhana from the topic of time as revealed by Chinese Mahāyāna Buddhism and the two major religions of Christianity.