達摩面壁1 Bodhidharma Facing the Wall 1

達摩面壁1

 

我們的翻譯志工蔡瑞欣老師，她們母女去土耳其自助旅行二十天，

 

下午來，我問她有沒有去修行的洞窟看看，

她說：有。

 

我自從去土耳其，看過土耳其的修行洞窟以

後，對達摩祖師的神話有不一樣的感受！

 

達摩祖師在中國一葦過江的神話，

不知道是要用宗教神話去想？

還是用修行者的傳奇去看待？

 

台灣完全沒有洞窟，用想的也想不出來，那一則禪宗祖師的故事要怎麼去想？

因為那故事畢竟伴隨著事實，

等旅行時走到土耳其看到洞窟、還有絲路的洞窟，

很多想像的畫面突然消失，取而代之的是，一幕幕的事實。

這種親眼目睹修行洞窟的感覺，

再看看他們苦行僧的迴旋舞，舞蹈中想要表達的內容，怎麼很多記載中的故事，突然就懂了的感覺。

這迴旋舞足足轉了一個多鐘頭，可以想像修行者在洞窟裡面的運動與苦思。

（土耳其的苦行僧舞蹈，更加苦悶）

 

如果不是去面壁的現場看過，我對禪宗祖師的故事，還只是沉醉在紙上的記載而已，

行萬里路，也直接了當的縮短，我對修行的揣測，簡擇間多一份信心與力量。

 

而這多年前我便已經清楚。

半寄

（讀者問說：那我想說什麼？

我沒有要說什麼，苦思牽涉各宗教的內容，無法在

短文裡面說完）

 

Bodhidharma Facing the Wall 1

 

Our translation volunteer, Ms. Juihsin Tsai, recently took a twenty-day independent trip to Turkey with her daughters.

 

When she visited in the afternoon, I asked if she had seen the meditation caves.

She said yes.

 

 

Ever since I traveled to Turkey and saw the meditation caves there, I have felt differently about the legend of Bodhidharma.

 

The story of Bodhidharma crossing the river on a single reed in China—

should we understand it as a religious myth?

Or should we view it as the legend of a determined practitioner?

 

In Taiwan, there are no such caves. It is hard to even imagine how such stories of the Chan patriarchs should be understood. Yet those stories are accompanied by real historical traces.

 

When I later traveled to Turkey and saw the caves there—as well as the caves along the Silk Road—my imagined images faded away. What replaced them were tangible facts.

 

After personally witnessing these meditation caves, and then watching the whirling dance of the Turkish dervishes—the meaning they seek to express through their movements—I suddenly felt that many recorded stories made sense.

The whirling lasted for over an hour, allowing us to picture the 

practitioners’ physical movement 

and deep contemplation within the 

caves.

(The Turkish dervish dance feels reall even more restrainedand somber.)

Had I not personally visited the wall-facing meditation site, I would still only understand these Chan stories from books.

 

Traveling widely directly reduces uncertainty about spiritual practice and strengthens one’s clarity and confidence in making choices.

 

I realized this clearly many years ago.

 

Master Banji

 

(A reader asked: So what am I trying to say?

I am not trying to say anything in particular. Deep thinking relates to many religions, and it can’t be explained clearly in a short article.)