Как следует отвечать на вопросы

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How to Answer Questions

According to the Buddha, there are several ways of answering various types of questions. The first type of question is one that requires a definite answer, such as a ‘yes’ or ‘no’. For example, the question, ‘Are all conditioned things impermanent?’ is answered with a ‘Yes’. The second type of question is one requiring an analytical answer. Suppose someone says that Angulimala was a murderer before he became an ‘Arahant’1 and is it possible for any murderer to become an arahant? This question should be analysed before you can say ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. Otherwise, it will not be answered correctly and comprehensively. You would need to analyse what conditions make it possible for a murderer to become a saint within one lifetime.

The third type of question is one where it is necessary to ask a counter question to help the questioner to think the problem through. If you ask, ‘Why is it wrong to kill other living beings?’ the counter question is, ‘How does it feel when others try to kill you?’ The fourth kind of question is one that should be dropped. It means that you should not answer it. These are the questions which are speculative in nature, and any answer to such questions will only create more confusion. An example of such a question is, ‘Does the universe have a beginning or not?’ People can discuss such questions for years without coming to a conclusion. They can only answer such questions based on their imagination, not on real understanding.

Some answers which the Buddha gave have close parallels to the kind of responses found in nuclear science. According to Robert Oppenheimer, “If we ask, for instance, whether the position of the electron remains the same, we must say ‘no’; if we ask whether the electron is at rest, we must say ‘no’; if we ask whether it is in motion, we must say ‘no’. The Buddha has given such answers when interrogated as to the conditions of a man’s self after his death; but they are not familiar answers in accordance with the tradition of seventeenth and eighteenth century science”.

It is important to note however that the Buddha did give answers to some of these questions to His most intellectually developed disciples after the questioner had left. And in many cases, His explanations are contained in other discourses which show us why these questions were not answered by the Buddha merely to satisfy the inquisitive but undeveloped minds of the questioners.


Translator's note

Translator's note 02-04-1

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Редакция перевода от 01.07.2015 19:38