时间：07/27/2024 07/28/2024
地点：星河禅修中心
主讲：黄云全
佛法修行
艺人塔罗布咤的悲泣
有一次，佛陀到摩揭陀国游化，住在王舍城北方的迦兰陀竹园精舍。
这天，迦兰陀竹园精舍来了一位当时著名的歌舞团团主，名叫塔罗布咤。
塔罗布咤礼见佛陀后，问佛陀说：
「瞿昙！过去，我曾经听我们演艺界历代的前辈耆老们说：
『如果艺人在大众面前，能卖力地作歌舞戏剧表演，娱乐大众，让大众开怀欢笑，那么，以这样的因缘，艺人死后就可以生在欢喜天中。』
对这样的说法，瞿昙！您说对吗？」
「团主！我们不要谈这件事，不要问我对这件事的看法。」佛陀回答道。
可是，塔罗布咤团主还是不死心，接连问了三次，佛陀只好说了：
「让我来问你，你就依你的想法照实回答。
以前，世上还没有解脱者，人人都还未离贪、瞋、痴，也不知道要离贪、瞋、痴，都还在贪、瞋、痴的束缚中，艺人的歌舞戏剧表演，内容也不离贪、瞋、痴，这样才能投其所好，吸引大家来观赏。当大家看艺人表演，放纵开怀时，岂不是强化了大家的贪、瞋、痴，让大家更被贪、瞋、痴束缚了吗？
团主！这就像一个人双手被麻绳反绑在背后，又有人存心要为难他，让他更加痛苦，还不停地在麻绳上浇水，麻绳一吸水就膨胀，绳结就更紧，这么一来，岂不是让那人被绑得更紧、更痛苦吗？」
「是啊，瞿昙！」
「团主！所以还不能离贪、瞋、痴束缚的众生，再经歌舞戏曲的刺激，岂不是更增加他的贪、瞋、痴束缚吗？」
经佛陀这么清楚的解说，和有力的譬喻，艺人塔罗布咤团主的心情直往下沉，但佛陀说的都是实情，也不得不回答佛陀说：
「实在是这样啊，瞿昙！艺人们的歌舞戏剧表演，让大众开怀欢笑的同时，也刺激了众生贪、瞋、痴的增长，更强化贪、瞋、痴对众生的束缚力量。」
「所以，团主！你们历代演艺界的前辈耆老们说，艺人作歌舞戏剧表演，娱乐大众，让大众开怀欢笑，以这样的因缘，死后可以生在欢喜天，这样的观点，是错误的邪见！老实说，持邪见的人，死后只有堕入地狱或畜生两种恶道的份，哪里还能升天呢！」
听佛陀说到这里，艺人塔罗布咤团主，终于难忍心中的悲哀，悲泣流泪了！
佛陀看到这样的结果，也莫可奈何，只能抱歉地说：
「团主！我刚才再三地不要你谈这个问题，就是怕刺伤了你啊！」
「瞿昙！我不是因为您这样说而悲泣，我是为自己长久以来的愚痴，被历代演艺界前辈耆老们迷惑欺骗而哭泣。现在，我要质疑：艺人怎能靠歌舞娱乐众生而生天呢？瞿昙！从今天起，我不再从事恶不善业的演艺行业了，我要皈依佛、皈依法、皈依僧伽。」
Date: 07/27/2024 07/28/2024
Location: Star River Meditation Center
Teacher: Yunquan Huang
Dharma Talk
The Weeping of the Performer Tarabhatta
Once, when Buddha was traveling through the Magadha Kingdom, he stayed at the Kalanda Bamboo Grove Monastery in the north of Rajagaha.
One day, a renowned leader of a dance troupe named Tarabhatta visited the monastery to see Buddha.
After paying his respects, Tarabhatta asked Buddha,
”Gautama, in the past, I have heard from the elders in our performing arts community that if a performer entertains the public with great effort through song, dance, and drama, making them laugh and feel joyful, then as a result of such causes, the performer will be reborn in the heaven of joy after death. Gautama, is this true?”
”Leader, let’s not discuss this matter; please do not ask me about it,” Buddha responded.
However, Tarabhatta persisted and asked three more times, prompting Buddha to finally say, “Let me ask you a question instead, and please answer according to your understanding.
In the past, before there were any enlightened beings, everyone was still trapped in greed, hatred, and ignorance, without knowing they should be free from these states. Performances in those times also revolved around greed, hatred, and ignorance to cater to the audience’s preferences and draw crowds. When people indulge in watching these performances and are entertained, does it not reinforce their own greed, hatred, and ignorance, further binding them to these states?
Leader, it is like someone whose hands are bound tightly behind their back with a hemp rope, and someone else intentionally makes their situation more painful by wetting the rope, causing it to swell and tighten. Doesn’t this make the person’s bindings tighter and more painful?”
”Yes, Gautama!”
”Leader, wouldn’t it then increase the bondage of greed, hatred, and ignorance for beings who are not yet free from these states, when stimulated by performances?”
With Buddha’s clear explanations and powerful analogies, Tarabhatta, the troupe leader, felt his heart sink. He had to admit to Buddha,
”Indeed, Gautama, while performances entertain and make the public laugh, they also stimulate and enhance the growth of greed, hatred, and ignorance in beings, strengthening these bonds.”
”Therefore, leader, what your predecessors in the performing arts said about entertainers being reborn in the heaven of joy due to their performances is a false and harmful view. Honestly, those who hold such views will only fall into hell or be reborn as animals after death; how could they ascend to heaven?”
Hearing this, Tarabhatta, the troupe leader, could no longer contain his sorrow and began to weep.
Seeing this, Buddha said regretfully, “Leader, I repeatedly asked you not to discuss this topic because I feared it would hurt you.”
”Gautama, it’s not your words that make me cry, but the realization of my own long-held ignorance, deceived by the elders of the performing arts community. Now, I question: How could entertainers possibly ascend to heaven by merely entertaining others with song and dance? Gautama, from today onwards, I will no longer engage in this unwholesome field of performing arts. I wish to take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.”
