神迹

归因於超自然力量的神奇惊人的事件。对神蹟的信仰存在於所有文化和几乎所有宗教中。《奥义书》声称宗教上的洞察力和转变的经验是唯一值得顾及的「神蹟」,但盛行的印度教把神奇的力量归因於苦行的瑜伽修行者。儒家学说不怎麽提及神蹟;而道教和中国民间宗教结合在一起,产生了很多关於神蹟的说法。神蹟在《旧约》中是理所当然的存在着的,在希腊-罗马世界也相当普遍。虽然佛陀轻视他自己的神奇力量,把它看作是缺乏精神上的意义的,但关於他不可思议的出生和生活的描述稍後却编入了他的传说和後来佛教圣徒的传说中。《新约》记录了由耶稣基督施行的复原的神蹟和其他奇事。神蹟也证明了基督圣徒的神圣。穆罕默德在原则上摒弃了神蹟(《可兰经》即是伟大的神蹟),但他後来的生活却充满了神奇的细节。流行的穆斯林宗教,尤其是在苏菲派禁欲神秘主义的影响下,充满了神蹟和施行神蹟的圣徒的故事。

miracle

Extraordinary event attributed to a supernatural power. Belief in miracles exists in all cultures and nearly all religions. The Upanishads assert that the experience of religious insight and transformation is the only “miracle” worth considering, but popular Hinduism attributes miraculous powers to the ascetic yogis. Confucianism had little room for miracles; Taoism, however, mingled with Chinese folk religion to produce a rich crop of miracles. Miracles are taken for granted throughout the Old Testament and were fairly common in the Greco-Roman world. Though Buddha Gautama deprecated his own miraculous powers as devoid of spiritual significance, accounts of his miraculous birth and life were later woven into his legend and into those of later Buddhist saints. The New Testament records miracles of healing and other wonders performed by Jesus. Miracles also attest to the holiness of Christian saints. Muhammad renounced miracles as a matter of principle (the Quran was the great miracle), but his life was later invested with miraculous details. Muslim popular religion, particularly under the influence of Sufism, abounds in miracles and wonder-working saints.

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