法界：The Dharma Dhatu

 

法界

 

子供の頃講談で聞いた「天網恢々疎にして漏らさず」は「天網恢々疎にして失せず」（老子）に基づくが、世界諸現象に真理・法則がある事や人間行為の善悪業報・審判のある事が特に進展したのは文明から文化への大転換軸時代に属する。

 

人間・人類・社会・世界の新展・進化は法（Dharma）、道（Dao）、天（Dei/Deva/Zeus）、神（Dyau √div: 光：日、Dyau-pit:Ju-piter:）、命（Dikē/Logos）理（Ṛta）、天網（Indra-net, Yahweh, Zeus）などの普遍法則の解明・理解を進めた。

 

天網は邪悪を捕縛する網（Indra-jala）から普遍法縁起を例示する宝珠網へ新化し、これはヘブライ預言者（Hosea, Ezekiel）・ギリシャ悲劇（Aeschylus）から天命（Heraclitus）、さらにストイック、新プラトン主義へと西欧での対応が見られる。

 

軸時代にはこの様に人間・人類・社会・世界を理解する究極真理・倫理がある事を確信し善悪業・善悪業報があること確信され、社会の公正の為には倫理（後に地球倫理と認められる）が重要視され諸宗教に個人・社会・世界の幸福の条件となる。

 

現代科学は真理を追求し極小世界の素粒子・量子や極大世界の宇宙進化更に生命進化を追求し、熱力学（第二法則）平準化などいずれも縁起・縁滅と見ることができる。人類の自我・自国・自文明は特殊化・局所化であり破局に面している。

 

これらによる人間集団業は短期・特殊状態であり普遍法の長期・普遍から外れ諸問題・諸苦を齎すが永続できない。人類は知識・悪業を善用して智慧・法行に変えて善果を一切に及ぼし時空一切への報恩・伝承し共存共栄する責任を果たそう！

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The Dharma Realm

 

The expression I heard in traditional storytelling as a child, Tenmō kaikai, so ni shite morasazu—“The net of Heaven is vast; though its meshes are wide, nothing escapes”—is based on Laozi’s original words, Tenmō kaikai, so ni shite ushinawazu: “The net of Heaven is vast; though its meshes are wide, it loses nothing.” The recognition that universal truths and laws govern all phenomena, and that human actions bring karmic consequences and judgment according to good and evil, developed especially during the Axial Age—the great transition from civilization to culture.

The new development and evolution of individuals, humanity, society, and the world advanced through the discovery and understanding of universal principles expressed as Dharma, Dao, Heaven (Dei/Deva/Zeus), divinity—from Dyau, derived from the root √div, “to shine,” as in daylight, Dyau-pitṛ and Jupiter—cosmic mandate and justice (Dikē/Logos), cosmic order (Ṛta), and the Heavenly Net represented by Indra, Yahweh, and Zeus.

The Heavenly Net evolved from Indra-jāla, a net that captures evil, into the jeweled net illustrating the universal Dharma of dependent co-origination. Corresponding developments in the West can be seen in the Hebrew prophets Hosea and Ezekiel, in the Greek tragedies of Aeschylus, in the cosmic justice of Heraclitus, and later in Stoicism and Neoplatonism.

During the Axial Age, people thus became convinced that an ultimate truth and ethic underlie and illuminate individuals, humanity, society, and the world. They affirmed that good and evil actions produce corresponding consequences. Ethics—later recognized as global ethics—came to be regarded as essential to social justice and, in the world’s religions, as a fundamental condition for the well-being of individuals, societies, and the whole world.

Modern science pursues truth by investigating primary particles and quantum phenomena in the smallest realms, the evolution of the cosmos in the largest realm, and the evolution of life between them. Thermodynamic processes, including the equalizing tendency expressed by the second law, can also be understood in terms of dependent co-origination and dependent cessation. Humanity’s attachments to my-self, my-state, and my-civilization are forms of specialization and localization that have brought us to the brink of catastrophe.

The collective karma produced by these attachments is temporary and particular. It departs from the long-term and universal working of the universal Dharma, thereby producing numerous problems and forms of suffering; consequently, it cannot endure.

Let humanity use its knowledge wisely, transform bad karma into wisdom and Dharma-action, extend good consequences to all beings, repay our indebtedness to all throughout space and time, transmit this inheritance to future generations, and fulfill our responsibility to live together in peace and mutual prosperity!

 

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