禪宗問答2 Questions and answers on Chan2

 

南禪朋友好！

 禪宗問答2

Questions and answers on Chan2

      在看繪畫、筆墨的時候，個人了解到每一次下筆作者手的穩定度至關緊要，每一筆不知道要練了多久，還有他背後的思想跟努力⋯⋯

禪宗公案短而有力，當然也伴隨背後的思想！

 

下面是我個人的看法，如讀者看到有人解釋；看到水中的倒影是『天人合一』的意思，

那就代表這個解讀者有儒家的想法！

 

當解讀者說；看到水中的倒影，想要發明玻璃、鏡頭，這個人是科學家（可以參照明代王陽明先生的看花）

In painting and drawing, it’s imperative for each stroke to be

 executed with a steady hand. Each stroke has to be honed to

 perfection with lots of practice; and we mustn’t forget the critical

 background factors of effort and artistic conception.

A Chan gongan is both pithy and powerful; and, of course, its

 meaning is also dependent on certain background concepts.

Now, as I see it, if somebody explains the inverted image as “the

 unity of heaven and earth,” then he must surely be a Confucian!

And if somebody says that the inverted image reminds him of the

 invention of glass and the optical lens, then he must surely be a

 scientist. (compare how the Ming dynasty scholar Wang Yangming

 contemplated a flower.)

 

體認水中的倒影體會到「無為」，這人是老莊學者。

stroke has to be honed to perfection with lots of practice; and we

 mustn’t forget the critical background factors of effort and artistic

 conception.

A Chan gongan is both pithy and powerful; and, of course, its

 meaning is also dependent on certain background concepts.

Now, as I see it, if somebody explains the inverted image as “the

 unity of heaven and earth,” then he must surely be a Confucian!

And if somebody says that the inverted image reminds him of the

 invention of glass and the optical lens, then he must surely be a

 scientist. (compare how the Ming dynasty scholar Wang Yangming

 contemplated a flower.)

 

體認水中的倒影體會到「無為」，這人是老莊學者。

想要解讀水中的倒影是佛法『本來面目』也可以看看《阿毘達

摩》中論師們的討論。

我個人修空法所以就參考《中觀論》

提供參考。

If for someone else the inverted image is interpreted as “non-action,”

 then he must surely be a Daoist.

For a Buddhist, the inverted image is one’s original face; it’s also

 worthwhile considering how this is interpreted in the Abhidharma.

My own practice is based on the cultivation of emptiness as

 expounded in the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā.

 

讀者或許會想各個公案禪師的想法呢？

我個人絕不用第一人稱去解讀禪師的證悟，只因開悟的心路歷

程只有禪師們自己最清楚，

旁人去解讀可能都是畫蛇添足的。

禪師說：君心若似我，還得到其中。

問題是；沒有兩個同樣的我！ 

半寄

A reader might be reminded of any number of Chan masters who

 used the gongan approach.

We shouldn’t interpret a Chan master’s enlightenment based on our

 own experience, for it is only the Chan master himself who fully

 understands his own mind and how it was awakened;

For others to attempt to do so is superfluous.

The Chan master says: When your mind is like mine, then you’ll get

 what’s in it.

But here’s the rub: The Chan master is one of a kind!

Master Ban Ji

 Translated by Ken Kraynak