一貫道郭明義

關於無生老母  (節錄自郭明義 "一貫道的修持關" )  Lily Zhang 翻譯

  問：我們常跟老母叩首，究竟無生老母是什麼？對我們又有什麼意義？為什麼要有無生老母？

◎    Q: We often prostrate to Heavenly Mother. Who is Heavenly Mother? What does it mean? Why do we need Heavenly Mother?

我們簡單的把無生老母的意義、目的與無生老母對修道人的功用簡單說明：

A: Here let’s explain the meaning, goal and performance of Heavenly Mother .

一、無生老母的意義－「真空妙有」。

1、Meaning: true void and wondrous existence.

二、無生老母的目的－天人合一，破除我執。

2、Goal: lead us to unite with heaven and get rid of self-attachment.

三、無生老母的功用－中庸之道。

3、 Performance: the middle way.

我們再一一把這三者說明一下。

Let’s explain in detail.

一、無生老母即是佛法所謂的「空相」，雖不生不滅卻能生萬法。「無生」即不生不滅：「老母」即生生不息。我們在佛堂雖然常向老母叩首，但卻不曾看過老的塑像或畫像，因為老是不生不滅、無形無相的。在過去甚至稱「無極老母」。

1、 Heavenly Mother is the true void in Buddhism. Though it doesn’t come into existence or perish, it can arise all existing things. We often prostrate to Heavenly Mother in the temple, but we never see her statue or paintings. Because it is formless, some even call her Ultimate Reality in the past. 

二、拜無生老母的目的，並不是拜神求福，而是籍此打破我相我執，消除分別心。若心中有分別心、有我相則即使行種種善行也都是為功德果報，而非自性流露。「無生老母」便是在告訴我們，自己和一切眾生與天地萬物是一體不分的，打破我們慣常以自我為中心的我執習慣。

2、the goal of praying to Heavenly Mother is not to ask for more merits but to get rid of self-attachment and ego. It aims to purify our minds of discrimination. If we have such minds, even when we are doing good deeds, we will only do them for increasing merits, not from our true nature. Heavenly Mother aims to tell us that we are the one with all sentient beings and creatures on earth. Therefore, she can help us eliminate  self-attachment and ego-center.

三、無生老母對我們修道的功用，在於指導我們走向一條中庸之道。修行常常會落入偏執，不是執「有」便是執「空」。執有則陷入生滅泥沼，執空則走向槁木死灰，死守「頑空」。所以無生老母給我們一條中庸之道，教我們修道並不是要滅心，不是要讓心靜止不動，而是教我們不去執著一切生滅，就如中庸所言：「喜怒哀樂之未發，謂之中；發而中節，謂之和。」這便是無生老母的致用。讓我們一方面不斷百思想，也不落煩惱障。

所以無生老母的信仰，並不是一種偶像崇拜，而是在破除一切執著，行中道，而與天地萬物合而為一的一種「天人合一」的修持。

3、The performance of Heavenly Mother for religious practice is to guide us to the middle way. A practitioner easily sticks to two extremes, either attaching to existence or attaching to void. If attaching to existence, he may be hindered by arising and perishing. If attaching to void, he may be complete apathy. So Heavenly Mother reminds us a middle way, teaching us practicing doesn’t mean to perish our minds or make them still, but teach us not to attach to any phenomena of arising or perishing. As an ancient Chinese book called “Chung-Yong” said, “ Chung means any emotion—joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness—hasn’t arisen. Once it arises and appears in an appropriate way, it is harmony.” This is the performance of Heavenly Mother. It prevents us from falling into the trap of all worries without the need to get rid of any thoughts.

Therefore, the Heavenly Mother in our Tao temples is not a kind of worshiping statues but to eliminate any attachment, put the middle way into practice, and unite with all beings on earth. It is the ultimate practice to lead us to be the one with the universe.