2009年12月31日 星期四

Nonself


With thinking we may be beside ourselves in a sane sense. By a conscious effort of the mind we can stand aloof from actions and their consequences; and all things, good and bad, go by us like a torrent. We are not wholly involved in Nature.
I may be either the driftwood in the stream, or Indra in the sky looking down on it. I may be affected by a theatrical exhibition; on the other hand, I may not be affected by an actual event which appears to concern me much more. I only know myself as a human entity; the scene, so to speak, of thoughts and affections; and am sensible of a certain doubleness by which I can stand as remote from myself as from another. However intense my experience, I am conscious of the presence and criticism of a part of me, which, as it were, is not a part of me, but spectator, sharing no experience, but taking note of it, and that is no more I than it is you. When the play, it may be the tragedy, of life is over, the spectator goes his way. It was a kind of fiction, a work of the imagination only, so far as he was concerned. This doubleness may easily make us poor neighbors and friends sometimes.

《法句經》第95偈中提到 Indra's pillar,若非經過考據,是不會有人瞭解它背後的含意的。古漢譯將此偈譯為:不怒如地,不動如山,真人無垢,生死世絕。原文翻成英文為:There is no more worldly existence for the wise one who, like the earth, resents nothing, who is firm as Indra's pillar and as pure as a deep pool free from mud.

Indra 是印度教中司地,也是雷雨神。Indra's pillar 是放在城門口的石柱,受人供奉鮮花貢品;然有些對此習俗不以為然的人則會在此便溺。此偈便以 Indra's pillar 來形容有智慧的人,對於別人的看法不為所動。梭羅說我既可以是漂流的浮木,亦可以是空中俯視它的 Indra; 我的存在只是人性單元,是思想和情感的舞台。這樣的說法就很像佛教術語「有情」。佛經上說,因執著故為有情。但是當你不再執著,你只是這個舞台的旁觀者,當戲落幕時,你就像觀眾一樣的離開戲院。

有人問何謂「無我」。答曰:『人和一切有情感的生物都叫做「有情」。佛教的緣起論認為所謂有情,無非是種種物質和精神元素的聚合體。有情不是固定的單一獨立體,而是種種元素的聚合體,而所有元素是剎那剎那依緣而生滅著的,所以找不到一個固定的有情在支配著身心,也就是找不到「我」的存在。
 
當初笛卡兒提出精神和物質二元論,是因為當時科學界不斷地與宗教界發生衝突;提出精神和物質二者是平行的論點等於是向宗教界宣告科學的研究不會侵犯到宗教的領域。但不久就有唯物論者挑戰笛卡兒的說法,認為所有的精神作用也不過是各種物質之間的互動造成的,完全是機械式的;本體論者則認為所有物質不過是心靈客觀的具體形式。

佛教也把組成有情的要素分為精神和物質兩類,就是所謂的「名色」。名是精神的要素 -- 受、想、行、識;色是物質的要素。(色、受、想、行、識又稱「五蘊」。)名色就是身心合成的存在。無論組成有情的要素為何,如果對自己的身心只是因緣所生的道理不能自覺,以為其中有常住的、惟一的、做主宰的我,那就是「無明」,就會因此而起煩惱。』






2009年12月23日 星期三

我的朋友


I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time. To be in company, even with the best, is soon wearisome and dissipating. I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude. We are for the most part more lonely when we go abroad among men than when we stay in our chambers. A man thinking or working is always alone, let him be where he will. Solitude is not measured by the miles of space that intervene between a man and his fellows. The really diligent student in one of the crowded hives of Cambridge College is as solitary as a dervish in the desert. The farmer can work alone in the field or the woods all day, hoeing or chopping, and not feel lonesome, because he is employed; but when he comes home at night he cannot sit down in a room alone, at the mercy of his thoughts, but must be where he can "see the folks," and recreate, and as he thinks remunerate himself for his day's solitude; and hence he wonders how the student can sit alone in the house all night and most of the day without ennui and "the blues"; but he does not realize that the student, though in the house, is still at work in his field, and chopping in his woods, as the farmer in his, and in turn seeks the same recreation and society that the latter does, though it may be a more condensed form of it.


吾人最不堪忍受者有四:寫自己不想寫的東西,一不堪也。喜慶宴喪
,送往迎來,二不堪也。與俗人共事,三不堪也。瑣事煩心,四不堪
也。

夫人之相知,貴識其天性。不要以為此人不喜歡去KTV唱歌,他就
不快樂,硬是要把他拉去。雖是出於善意,亦已疏矣。師橫犁游心於
寂寞,以無為為貴;好友去拜訪他便隨性之所至,不用事先知會,縱
未見到人亦無妨。此可謂能相終始,真相知者也。

志同道合之友從容交談,無論所談為有趣之事抑或世間瑣事,皆樂事
也!唯此等人至不易得,若與對談者之意見了無異議,則與一人獨坐
何異?與大哥、喬峰交談時,喬峰意見每與人相左,口稱「余之設想
則不如是」而加以爭論,大哥則謂「唯其如是,故余之意見如是」云
云。余意此可慰無聊之情。雖於書本中發現有與思想一致而稍有不同
時,可稍慰寂寥,然終究兩心懸隔,意有未足,與面對知友不同也。


註:師橫犁為梭羅的中文姓名。


2009年12月22日 星期二

德不孤,必有鄰。


Any prospect of awakening or coming to life to a dead man makes indifferent all times and places. The place where that may occur is always the same, and indescribably pleasant to all our senses. For the most part we allow only outlying and transient circumstances to make our occasions. They are, in fact, the cause of our distraction. Nearest to all things is that power which fashions their being.
Next to us the grandest laws are continually being executed. Next to us is not the workman whom we have hired, with whom we love so well to talk, but the workman whose work we are.

"How vast and profound is the influence of the subtile powers of Heaven and of Earth!"

"We seek to perceive them, and we do not see them; we seek to hear them, and we do not hear them; identified with the substance of things, they cannot be separated from them."

"They cause that in all the universe men purify and sanctify their hearts, and clothe themselves in their holiday garments to offer sacrifices and oblations to their ancestors. It is an ocean of subtile intelligences. They are everywhere, above us, on our left, on our right; they environ us on all sides."

We are the subjects of an experiment which is not a little interesting to me. Can we not do without the society of our gossips a little while under these circumstances — have our own thoughts to cheer us? Confucius says truly, "Virtue does not remain as an abandoned orphan; it must of necessity have neighbors."


中庸第十六章

子曰:「鬼神之為德,其盛矣乎!視之而弗見,聽之而弗聞,體物而不可遺。使天下之人,齊明盛服,以承祭祀,洋洋乎如在其上,如在其左右。」

梭羅在此所引的中庸十六章尚有一小段,即孔子引詩經《大雅.抑》:詩曰:『神之格思,不可度思,矧可射思。』,然後孔子作結道:「夫微之顯,誠之不可揜如此夫!」而詩經《大雅.抑》主要是衛武公自責自勵之詩;在這裡衛武公告訴自己,「人在做,天在看。不能說這裡很隱密,人家看不到,就去作有愧良心的事。要知道神的來到,是無法預期的,所以隨時要謹慎,不放縱自己的言行。」孔子作結說:鬼神的事本來就是隱微的,卻又如此顯著,所以真實無妄的心不能掩藏就是這道理啊!

這「夫微之顯」的鬼神,因為近代科學思想的昌明而黯淡不明,其實人們心中明明知道,卻怕被冠上迷信不科學的帽子,而且告訴自己,這只是一種過時的錯誤想法,於是在沒人看見的地方,就幹起見不得人的勾當。

12/17,18二日去花東參加千里苦行時,第二日中午在花蓮光復糖廠休息,點了杯手工舞鶴咖啡,鄰座有鄭麗君和她的友人,室外棚下有林義雄夫婦,讓我有一刻時間脫離台灣那專扯八卦的社會,讓我的思想來款待我自己。我只能想到這句話:德不孤,必有鄰。



2009年12月13日 星期日

憂鬱症及孤獨


Yet I experienced sometimes that the most sweet and tender, the most innocent and encouraging society may be found in any natural object, even for the poor misanthrope and most melancholy man. There can be no very black melancholy to him who lives in the midst of Nature and has his senses still.
There was never yet such a storm but it was Æolian music to a healthy and innocent ear. Nothing can rightly compel a simple and brave man to a vulgar sadness. While I enjoy the friendship of the seasons I trust that nothing can make life a burden to me. The gentle rain which waters my beans and keeps me in the house today is not drear and melancholy, but good for me too. Though it prevents my hoeing them, it is of far more worth than my hoeing. If it should continue so long as to cause the seeds to rot in the ground and destroy the potatoes in the low lands, it would still be good for the grass on the uplands, and, being good for the grass, it would be good for me. Sometimes, when I compare myself with other men, it seems as if I were more favored by the gods than they, beyond any deserts that I am conscious of; as if I had a warrant and surety at their hands which my fellows have not, and were especially guided and guarded. I do not flatter myself, but if it be possible they flatter me. I have never felt lonesome, or in the least oppressed by a sense of solitude, but once, and that was a few weeks after I came to the woods, when, for an hour, I doubted if the near neighborhood of man was not essential to a serene and healthy life. To be alone was something unpleasant. But I was at the same time conscious of a slight insanity in my mood, and seemed to foresee my recovery. In the midst of a gentle rain while these thoughts prevailed, I was suddenly sensible of such sweet and beneficent society in Nature, in the very pattering of the drops, and in every sound and sight around my house, an infinite and unaccountable friendliness all at once like an atmosphere sustaining me, as made the fancied advantages of human neighborhood insignificant, and I have never thought of them since. Every little pine needle expanded and swelled with sympathy and befriended me. I was so distinctly made aware of the presence of something kindred to me, even in scenes which we are accustomed to call wild and dreary, and also that the nearest of blood to me and humanest was not a person nor a villager, that I thought no place could ever be strange to me again.


憂鬱症,是「一種陰霾般的低潮情緒籠罩的心理疾病,宛如織網般地難以揮去,而不是一種短暫可消失的情緒低沈」。聯合國世界衛生組織(WHO)說,在2020年全世界有三大疾病需要重視,包括:心血管疾病、憂鬱症與愛滋病。憂鬱症會造成嚴重的社會經濟負擔,在所有疾病中排名第二,僅次於心血管疾病。憂鬱症也是所有造成失能疾病的第一名。

即便比一般人更注重我的內心,力圖解脫人生的一切枷鎖,但孤獨感仍像幽靈一般在我身旁纒繞不去。這也許是住在城市裡的關係。台灣道路的修補與開挖,因為沒有經過共同管道,所以經常有一個月挖補數次的情形發生在廣州一街。三月(世運那一年)的最後一個星期,某天早上,將小狗放到屋頂上不久,就傳來轟隆隆的巨響。原來是鑽地機正在搗碎柏油路面。上到屋頂一看,果然把小狗嚇的蜷縮在水塔底下。我不知道路面的開挖與我的孤獨感有何關聯,也許愈是嘈雜憒鬧,孤獨的幽靈就愈能從中作祟。水泥築成的各式囚牢也許是另一原因;就算我只是稍微離開市區,都能感到身心的輕快。


在<孤獨>這一章中,梭羅說他從來不覺得孤單;只有一次,在搬進林中小屋幾個星期後的一個下雨天,大約一個鐘頭的時間,他感到孤獨,懷疑這樣一個人住是不是不太健康;他那個時候想著:獨處畢竟不是件愉快的事。接著他感到自己大概精神有些錯亂,而預知了自己的康復。我想,這是因為梭羅經常觀照自己的心理狀態才能有這種自癒的能力;一般人恐怕無法辦到。


他說:「如果一個人仍有知覺,不論他有多麼的厭世和憂鬱,都可以在自然界中找到最甜美溫馨,純潔而令人鼓舞的社會關係。」就在梭羅為孤獨感而無助的那個鐘頭,外頭的雨聲則用最柔和的語調圍繞在他的小屋,表達伊無限佮算不清的情義。這款的相挺馬上讓那些與人作伙可得到的好處變的微不足道,此後他對那些好處再也沒有任何想頭。


寫到這裡,突然間,外頭原本吵鬧的機車聲似乎也變的可愛起來。原來廣州一街也可以是我的大自然。



2009年12月10日 星期四

禪學述原


THIS IS A delicious evening, when the whole body is one sense, and imbibes delight through every pore. I go and come with a strange liberty in Nature, a part of herself. As I walk along the stony shore of the pond in my shirt-sleeves, though it is cool as well as cloudy and windy, and I see nothing special to attract me, all the elements are unusually congenial to me. The bullfrogs trump to usher in the night, and the note of the whip-poor-will is borne on the rippling wind from over the water. Sympathy with the fluttering alder and poplar leaves almost takes away my breath; yet, like the lake, my serenity is rippled but not ruffled. These small waves raised by the evening wind are as remote from storm as the smooth reflecting surface. Though it is now dark, the wind still blows and roars in the wood, the waves still dash, and some creatures lull the rest with their notes. The repose is never complete. The wildest animals do not repose, but seek their prey now; the fox, and skunk, and rabbit, now roam the fields and woods without fear. They are Nature's watchmen — links which connect the days of animated life.



『這是一個可口的黃昏,整個身體是一個感官,自每個毛孔吸入美味。我以一種奇特的自在進出於自然,而我實是她的一部份。』 在我所曾讀過習禪的書中 ── 儘管我讀的並不多,還沒有看過這麼貼切的描述。這也許不是禪定的最高境界,但對我來說,也夠了。這個境界,正如湖水,波而不亂。


根據呂澂先生〈禪學述原〉一文,他認為,中國禪宗的三個系統,都源於印度大乘瑜伽學,“但以譯家傳述之詳略,而聞者因之立派分流,但得其仿佛而已”。呂澂的結論是禪宗三大系統“空談依教,究屬訛傳,誤解自覺、本覺、自性、菩提,輾轉束縛,愈溺愈深,此以大乘教義校量,而可斷言者也。… 眾生心妄,未曾本覺,榨沙取油,寧可得乎?即還其本來面目亦不過一虛妄分別而已。今講此題,禪學原形備見,詳猶不具,然必如是,決無可疑也。


又,印土大乘瑜伽學原以小乘上座化地部禪學為本,改進而為大乘。上座化地部是第二次部派分裂時形成,後來化地部分遣許多大德到各地宣揚而形成許多派別,如西北印迦濕彌羅、健陀羅一帶的說一切有部即其中一支。但是後來說一切有部反而跟原來的化地部不同調,轉而去支持原來與化地部分裂的犢子部觀點。犢子部是主張有我的,被認為是依附於佛法的外道。說一切有部在這一點上表面反對,暗中卻又採納。然而化地部的禪學由說一切有部所吸收,再傳給說一切有部分裂出的經部。經部以及它的前身譬喻師分別代表了小乘過渡到大乘的二個不同學派的階段。譬喻師的理論可為大乘中觀學說的開導;經部的理論可為唯識學說的開導。後來經部發展成佛教四大派別之一,反而與說一切有部在小乘佛教分庭抗禮。印順法師自稱是大乘中觀學者(但不是西藏所傳的後期中觀學者),所以他在〈略說罽賓區(註:即健陀羅以北的雪山區,亦可包括迦濕彌羅,說一切有部亦在此區活動)的瑜伽師〉一文說:『等到(譬喻師)從禪出教,…,經部是大盛了,與有部對立了,也就成為學理的研究,不再有譬喻瑜伽者的自化化他的活力。』等於是連唯識學的小乘過渡都否定了。


那麼中國禪宗所傳承的大乘瑜伽又是怎麼來的?原來在譬喻師形成經部後,有一些禪師還是持行於罽賓山區,不斷地大乘化與秘密化,直到西元三四世紀間才分化出大乘瑜伽師。而傳宏大乘瑜伽師的重要人物,無著,從禪出教,集出唐玄奘魂縈夢牽的《瑜伽師地論》後,後學者也就化成法相唯識學,偏重於義理的精究了。



2009年12月5日 星期六

天籟


Sometimes, on Sundays, I heard the bells, the Lincoln, Acton, Bedford, or Concord bell, when the wind was favorable, a faint, sweet, and, as it were, natural melody, worth importing into the wilderness. At a sufficient distance over the woods this sound acquires a certain vibratory hum, as if the pine needles in the horizon were the strings of a harp which it swept. All sound heard at the greatest possible distance produces one and the same effect, a vibration of the universal lyre, just as the intervening atmosphere makes a distant ridge of earth interesting to our eyes by the azure tint it imparts to it. There came to me in this case a melody which the air had strained, and which had conversed with every leaf and needle of the wood, that portion of the sound which the elements had taken up and modulated and echoed from vale to vale. The echo is, to some extent, an original sound, and therein is the magic and charm of it. It is not merely a repetition of what was worth repeating in the bell, but partly the voice of the wood; the same trivial words and notes sung by a wood-nymph.

齊物論第二

    南郭子綦隱机而坐,仰天而噓,荅焉似喪其耦。顏成子游立侍乎前,曰:「何居乎?形固可使如槁木,而心固可使如死灰乎?今之隱机者,非昔之隱机者也?」子綦曰:「偃,不亦善乎,而問之也!今者吾喪我,汝知之乎?汝聞人籟而未聞地籟,汝聞地籟而未聞天籟夫!」子游曰:「敢問其方。」子綦曰:「夫大塊噫氣,其名為風。是唯無作,作則萬竅怒呺。而獨不聞之翏翏乎?山林之畏佳,大木百圍之竅穴,似鼻,似口,似耳,似枅,似圈,似臼,似洼者,似污者;激者、謞者、叱者、吸者、叫者、譹者、宎者、咬者,前者唱于而隨者唱喁。泠風則小和, 飄風則大和,厲風濟則眾竅為虛。而獨不見之調調之刁刁乎?」子游曰:「地籟則眾竅是已,人籟則比竹是已,敢問天籟。」子綦曰:「夫天籟者,吹萬不同;而使其自已也,咸其自取。怒者其誰邪!」



此篇為《莊子.齊物論》第一節,其中描述得道者南郭子綦憑几坐忘,精神不為形體所縛的情況與佛教打坐入定之描述並無二致;其弟子顏成子游觀察到他的老師,形如槁木,心如死灰」,跟以前靜坐時的樣子很不相同。便問他老師為何會這樣。南郭子綦便說:今者吾喪我,汝知之乎?」(今天我已經達到無我的境地了,你知道嗎?)接著他用天籟來作比喻;他說,所謂天籟,乃是風吹萬種孔竅所發出的聲音,使這些聲音不同的原因,並不是風,而是各個孔竅形狀不同所致;都是自已造成。世間的思想言論,雖為態百殊,也像風吹萬種孔竅所發出的聲音,都是自然而然並且不得不然的天籟,都無是非曲直之可計較。

我們常會想,要是別人怎樣怎樣就好了;但是別人也有可能要求你應該這樣或那樣。而事實上,大部份是自己本身的問題,就如南郭子綦所說:
夫天籟者,吹萬不同;而使其自已也,咸其自取。怒者其誰邪!