摘要：究竟应该怎么看世界？如果问基督教徒，他们认为世界是上帝创造的。如果问唯物论者，他们认为世界是进化而来，有极大的偶然性。佛法既不认可神创论，也不认可偶然论，而是提出“因缘因果”，所谓“诸法因缘生，诸法因缘灭”。从内在的五蕴身心到外在的大千世界，都不例外。

究竟应该怎么看世界？如果问基督教徒，他们认为世界是上帝创造的。如果问唯物论者，他们认为世界是进化而来，有极大的偶然性。佛法既不认可神创论，也不认可偶然论，而是提出“因缘因果”，所谓“诸法因缘生，诸法因缘灭”。从内在的五蕴身心到外在的大千世界，都不例外。

How should one view the world? If you ask a Christian, he might say the world was created by God. If you ask a materialist, he might believe the world came about through evolution, with a great deal of contingency involved. Buddhism neither endorses theism nor fortuitism, but proposes the principle of dependent origination and causality, meaning “All phenomena arise from causes and conditions, and all phenomena cease with the cessation of causes and conditions.” This applies universally, from the internal realm of the Five Aggregates of body and mind to the external expanse of the universe.

编辑《心经》所说的“色不异空，空不异色，色即是空，空即是色”，就是从缘起来观察色法。我们平时所说的色，主要指颜色或美色等。佛法所说的色，包括一切物质现象。我们对物质的认识有两方面，一是颜色，为显色；一是形状和体积，为形色。显色和形色，构成了物质的存在。

The Heart Sutra states that “Form is not different from emptiness, and emptiness is not different from form. Form is emptiness, and emptiness is form.” This reflects an observation of form dharmas through the lens of dependent origination. The term “form” commonly refers to colors or beauty. In Buddhism, it encompasses all material phenomena. Our understanding of materiality has two aspects: color, which is visible appearance, shape and volume, which define form. Together, visible appearance and form constitute the existence of materiality.

编辑“色不异空，空不异色”说明，存在的现象（有）和空不是两个东西。后两句更进一步，直接说明“色即是空，空即是色”。

“Form is not different from emptiness, and emptiness is not different from form.” suggests that the phenomena of existence (being) and emptiness are not two separate entities. The latter two phrases go further, directly stating that “Form is emptiness, and emptiness is form.”

编辑为什么说色不异空？在《心经》短短的两百多字中，三个字出现得特别多，那就是“空、无、不”。“色不异空，空不异色，色即是空，空即是色”用的是“空”；“不生不灭，不垢不净，不增不减”用的是“不”；“无受想行识，无眼耳鼻舌身意，无色声香味触法，无眼界乃至无意识界”，则是一“无”到底。

Why is it said that form is not different from emptiness? In the brief text of the Heart Sutra, with just over two hundred Chinese characters, three words appear especially frequently: “emptiness,” “no,” and “not.” For example, “Form is not different from emptiness, and emptiness is not different from form, Form is emptiness, and emptiness is form,” in which the word “emptiness” is used; “not arising nor ceasing; not defiled nor pure; not increasing nor decreasing,” in which the word “not” is used; “no feeling, cognition, mental formation, or consciousness; no eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, or mind; no sights, sounds, smells, tastes, objects of touch, or dharmas; no realm of sight to no realm of consciousness,” in which the word “no” is used all the way.

编辑这三个字都表示否定。到底否定什么？佛法讲空，并不是否定现实的存在，而是否定我们对世界的错误认识。我们在认识事物的过程中，会添加各种设定。

These three words all signify negation. What exactly is being negated? In Buddhism, the concept of emptiness is not a denial of the existence of reality but a denial of our incorrect understanding of the world. In the process of perceiving things, we tend to add various assumptions.

编辑比如把绳子当作蛇，蛇在客观上是没有的，是我们附加的；因为蛇而产生的惊吓，本来也不该有，属于无妄之灾。佛法并不否定绳子的存在，而是否定我们在绳子上附加的蛇的错觉。

For example, mistaking a rope for a snake — there is no snake objectively; it is the false assumption we impose; the fright caused by the snake, which should not exist, is an unwarranted disaster. Buddhism does not deny the existence of the rope; rather, it denies the illusion of the snake we project onto the rope.

摘自《〈心经〉的禅观》

作者：济群法师

来源：云水三千