In the traditional culture of China, Wang Yangming, Confucius, Mencius and Zhu are also called Confucius, Mencius and Zhu. He is a master of Lu Wang's thoughts, and his thoughts are deeply influenced by Zen. By investigating the relationship between Wang Yangming and Zen Buddhism, we can see the contribution of the combination of Confucianism and Buddhism to the formation of China culture.
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Yangming's academic life was changeable, and he insisted on Buddhism in his early years, and many Zen contents were integrated into his thoughts. Wang Yangming confessed in Biography I: "I have also devoted myself to my career since I was a child, claiming that I have gained something. The study of Confucianism is not enough for learning." When he was very young, he had great enthusiasm and interest in Buddhism and Taoism, saying that Confucianism was not enough for learning. In addition, in volume 9 of Wang Wen's Book of Success, Persuade to Meet Buddha, Wang Yangming once said, "I am fond of Buddhism, believe in Buddhism the most, and claim to be enlightened." Zen wisdom can be seen everywhere in Biography, which records that Wang Yangming discussed with his friends whether the flowers in the mountains are related to the heart. "You didn't see this flower, it died with you; When you look at this flower, the color of the flower will be understood in a period of time-you will know that this flower is not outside your heart. " This Zen poem is very similar to what Huineng, the sixth ancestor, said: "It's not the wind, it's not the movement, it's the heart of the benevolent."
Wang Yangming's famous philosophical thought of "unity of knowledge and action" is also born out of "unity of mind and mind, not two" in "Tanjing Dinghui IV". "I said today that knowing and doing are one, precisely because people need to know before they can think about the launch site. If something goes wrong at the beginning, I will take this bad idea with me and need to eradicate it completely, so as not to let it lurk in my chest. This is the purpose of my speech ... knowing is the idea of doing, doing is the effort of knowing, knowing is the beginning of doing, and doing is the success of knowing. " "Tanjing Prajna Sutra II": "This must be done with heart, not delicious. Reading minds is not good, like magic, like dew, like electricity. Say what you want and your heart will respond accordingly. Nature is a Buddha, and there is no other Buddha without sex. " Advocate the corresponding heart. "The Fourth Tanjing Ding Hui Pin" said: "Ding Hui is one, not two. This is definitely a benefit, this is a clear purpose ... Although there are two names, the body is the same. " Emphasis on body and function. Wang Yangming also said that "knowing and doing are inseparable." Just for later scholars, it is divided into two difficulties, and the ontology of knowing and doing is completely lost, so there is a saying that unity goes hand in hand. [1] The two are very compatible.
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Another important thought of Wang Yangming's life is "to conscience". Wang Yangming said in the second volume of "Handwriting to Zheng Xiangong": "I have been giving lectures all my life, but it is just the word' to conscience'" [2] "Human conscience is the conscience of plants and stones. If no one has a conscience, you can't lay a stone for grass. This is just a matter of grass and stones, and there is no conscience in the world that can't do heaven and earth. [3] Everything in the world has a conscience. Conscience is the self-identity of the subject as a human being, which is different from that of animals. " Conscience is pushing yourself and others. The word "Zhi Zhi" first came from universities, but Wang Yangming called it "the true eye of the holy religion" and "after all, it was the words of scholars". Using Zen words such as "open your eyes" and "stop" to describe "your conscience" shows his preference for Zen words. "Prajna II" preaches that "a fool has an epiphany, that is, it is no different from a wise man", and "if he does not realize it, the Buddha is all beings; When a person realizes, all sentient beings are Buddhas. " Wang Yangming also advocated that "if a person realizes his conscience, that is, a saint is not a saint, but in me." (Wen Qi Shu Tong)
According to Huang Wan's records, Yangming used the Tanjing as a teaching material. "If you look at the altar sutra of the Sixth Ancestor, you will know that it is nothing, not good, not evil. You can see its true colors, be upright and superior, and think it is extremely in line with your conscience." [4] Therefore, there is no lack of the essence of Tanjing in thought, and there are many similarities with Tanjing in the theory of "conscience".
Huineng recorded in "The First Line and the First Product of the Tanjing": "If you don't think about good and evil, when you are right, which is the true face of the Ming Dynasty?" [5] Huiming's writing is enlightened, like a person drinking water, cold and self-aware. Here refers to the noumenon that neither insists on good nor avoids evil, but lets it be natural and observes its mind. Lu Cheng, a disciple of Yangming, regards it as a state of ignorance and carefree. Under this premise, through hard consciousness and self-cultivation, a state of tranquility and freedom can be achieved. Wang Yangming revised this in Answer to Shu:
"When you don't think about good and evil, you must recognize your true colors." I set this convenience for people who don't know their true colors. "True colors" are the so-called "conscience" of our holy gate. Now that I know my conscience, I don't need to say so. "Conforming to things" is the merit of "knowing", that is, the Buddha's "constant presence" and constant preservation of its true colors. The time of the bodies is roughly similar. But Buddha has a selfish heart, so he has different ears. Today, if you want to "think about good and evil, but your conscience is quiet and comfortable", you will be selfish and will meet your intention. Therefore, instead of thinking about good and evil, we use the power of knowledge, which has already involved thinking about good. ..... longing for peace, longing for no life, this is selfish, and it means that you will encounter diseases, which means that the more you read, the more restless you become. Conscience is just a conscience. Think about what is good and evil when distinguishing good from evil. The body of conscience was originally quiet, and now there is another one who seeks peace; This is spontaneous, but now there is another lifeless desire; Is not the only way to know the truth, although the Buddha's knowledge is different. [⑥]
According to Wang Yangming's understanding, the true nature of Buddhism is "conscience". The merit of "to conscience" is the "eternal innocence" of Buddhism [7]. He emphasized that "everyone has this conscience" and "everyone has Buddha nature" are interlinked. "not thinking about good and evil" means trying to eliminate all thoughts and desires, so as to realize the original Buddha nature and restore the ontology to its original appearance. "Knowledge is the noumenon of the heart, and the heart will naturally know: seeing the father naturally knows filial piety, seeing the brother naturally knows the younger brother, and seeing the boy enter the well naturally knows sadness. This is conscience. " The ontology here is very similar to the "true face" of Zen, and this kind of conscience is true.
It's just that Yangming refuted the selfishness of Buddhism and Zen this time, thinking that it is suspected of "thinking about goodness" to use time to know knowledge when "thinking about good and evil"; Buddhism and Zen Buddhism have been suffering from "selfishness" because they pursue tranquility and have no life. Similarly, in response to Lu Yuan's Jing Shu, Yangming also linked "to conscience" with the mirror image metaphor of Zen:
The sage's contribution to knowledge is sincere and interest-free, and his conscience is as clear as a mirror, slightly slim. When Yao Yan came, he saw something shaped, but the mirror never left a stain. The so-called "everything goes smoothly and ruthlessly" is also. As the Buddha once said, he didn't do anything wrong. The mirror should be beautiful, beautiful, beautiful and true, that is, born in the heart. Beautiful is beautiful, beautiful is beautiful. If they pass by without stopping, they will have no place to live. [⑧]
"Living without a heart" comes from the Diamond Sutra: "Therefore, bodhisattvas are all bodhisattvas, and they should be born with a pure heart, not with color, sound or fragrance, but with nothing." If you don't cling to foreign affairs and always pay attention to inner purity, you can realize Buddha's nature. This is exactly what Yang Ming wants to explain. Only by working hard on the "conscience" and making the heart persistent can the conscience be "bright as a mirror". It also shows that conscience itself is neither beautiful nor good nor evil, and the sage's contribution to knowledge is sincere and interest-free. According to the altar sutra, travel comes first, and Hongren, the fifth ancestor, said the Diamond Sutra for Huineng, the sixth ancestor. When he said, "You should have nothing to live in, but you should have one heart", Huineng suddenly realized that he said, "When your self is pure, when your self is not born and died, when your self is self-sufficient, when your self is unshakable." Wuzu said, "If you don't know your heart, it's useless to learn the law. If you know from your own heart, you will see your own nature, that is, a famous husband and a heavenly way. " Huineng attaches great importance to the Diamond Sutra, which has simple sentences, gives full play to the idea of no phase and no living, advocates straightforward teaching, and emphasizes that if all beings can see their own nature clearly, they will be freed and achieve Buddha's fruit.
In addition, the Zen's "recognize the true colors without thinking about good and evil" was absorbed by Wang Yangming, which also formed the most important "four-sentence teaching" in his philosophical system: "There is no body of good and evil, there is a trip to good and evil, knowing good and evil is a conscience, and getting rid of evil is a character." In particular, it has the first sentence of Zen Buddhism, "No body is good, no body is evil", as Buddhists say, no good or evil, always silent, always responding. When discussing the highest noumenon (Confucianism, mind, conscience, Buddha, Buddha nature, truth, etc.). ), both of them think that this ontology is silent before it is unfolded, and there is no evil or good. In fact, Yang Ming's practice of using the "true face" of Zen Buddhism to "help Confucianism enter Buddhism" is universal in essence. Hu Zongxian, a disciple of Yangming (15 12- 1565), pointed out: "Conscience is truth-seeking, and seeking knowledge is practical, not a matter of falling into nothingness. However, the theory of "seeing nature clearly" is slightly similar to Mr. Wang's "to conscience". If you admit your original intention, the highest person will take emptiness and quietness as his service, but he will leave the form and hate things; Modest people are sexually conscious, and confident people help themselves. This is the so-called slight difference, which is a thousand miles away. This is not the original intention of the teacher. " [9] Mr. Chen Lai thinks: "All Yang Ming's thoughts about no good and no evil can be summed up in the Diamond Sutra's" should live without shelter "and the altar sutra's" have no thoughts, no phase and no shelter "[9], which all indicate the close relationship between Yang Ming's theory and Zen.
Zen is characterized by epiphany, heart-to-heart communication, no writing and no trace to follow. Wang Mingyang's theory of "to conscience" is an important symbol of psychological maturity, which is internally consistent with the basic spirit of Zen orthodoxy represented by the Six Ancestors Tanjing. Liu believes that "few people talk about Zen without talking about conscience", which also reveals the close relationship between Yangming school and Zen.
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History's theory of mind cultivation is more detailed and systematic than that of early Confucian classics. Therefore, Neo-Confucianism draws lessons from the theory of history in this respect, but different Confucian scholars have different criticisms of the theory of history, which is well understood. Although Mr. Yangming criticized the teacher's theory, his tone was quite mild, and he thought that the teacher's theory was only slightly different from the sage's study, because the nihilism of the teacher was its fundamental purpose, but his practice method and firm belief in becoming a Buddha were worth learning from. Wang Yangming made it clear: "The learning of teachers is the same as that of my Confucianism, but it is only a few millimeters." Why do you keep a secret, but dare not say it; Distort its differences without observing it? "[1 1] He believes that there are extremely valuable ideas in Buddhism and Zen, which are accessible and can and should be used for reference by Confucianism. This will help to open up new ways of thinking and establish and improve our own theoretical system. In the process of constructing the theory of "To Conscience", Yangming fully absorbed the words and speculative methods of Buddhism and Zen for my use, which shows the close relationship between his academic thoughts and Buddhism and Zen.
However, the establishment of Yangming's mind system does have traces of learning from Buddhism (especially Zen and Huayan), so that it is called "Yangming Zen". Chen Jian (1497- 1567), a contemporary scholar of Wang Yangming, directly called it "Yangming Zen". As the saying goes, "Yangming teaches all his life, but respects law, wisdom and ability." Philosopher Liu (1578- 1645) said: "In ancient times, Confucianism was just the way of Confucius and Mencius. Once it was spread to Yang. People may think that it is close to Zen, that is, the Buddha who was a Buddha in ancient times was just a monk, and it became five Zen and then became Yangming Zen. " [13] Li Guangdi also said, "Master Lu and Wang Yangming also." [14] Later scholars also talked about the relationship between Yangming school and Zen from this aspect. Undeniably, Wang Yangming was deeply influenced by Buddhism, especially Zen Buddhism, and his knowledge reflected traces everywhere. Wang Yangming's idea of seeking the old and interpreting the dharma, and then realizing the sage's way, that is, his own nature is full and there is no need to seek outside, is actually a typical Buddhist epiphany, which is the biggest feature of Zen. In Guizhou, avoiding hunting and realizing enlightenment in the dragon field are similar to Huineng's experience. Longchang's enlightenment, although it is inconvenient to bring himself into Zen as a orthodoxy, is hard to erase.
Zen is also reflected in Wang Yangming's poem: "Anyone who knows one thing and opens chaos has come to Daozhou for thousands of years; It should be noted that Tai Chi is infinite, and confidence is not a mirror; Self-confidence is not a mirror, we should pay attention to the mirror is also dusty; Everyone has a circle, so don't sit on the futon. "The poem" Heart is not a mirror platform "is quoted from Hui Neng in Tanjing." Bodhi has no trees, but a mirror is not a platform. There is nothing, so where is the dust? "This is about the essence of the mind. The "mirror is also dust" in the poem comes from the beauty of the altar sutra: "I am a bodhi tree, and my heart is like a mirror platform; Wipe hard, don't be diligent, don't get covered in dust. "It's about the gradual practice of kung fu. The "circle" in the poem symbolizes conscience, while the "futon" symbolizes meditation. The whole poem emphasizes that conscience can be seen by everyone, and practice is true. Practicing without falsehood is the essence of Zen. In terms of living habits, some of Wang Yangming's thoughts are also related to Zen. For example, he said, "Never depart from daily life, but only make paintings before the world" ("Never Born"), which is similar to the Zen's "magical power, carrying water and chopping wood"; He also said: "Although treating students is also a matter of lecturing ... although doing business all day, it is not harmful to them." (14), this is also a rare encouragement to do business, which is similar to the main spirit of Zen "doing things is meditation".
Mr. Fang once said: "Neo-Confucianism Zhu once accused the theory of mind as' full Zen', which is obviously exaggerated. However, without the full development and long-term spread of Zen, the ideological resources and practical experience provided by Zen, and the academic and cultural atmosphere created by Zen, it seems difficult to form a specific theory of mind, or the face of mind will be different. It is in this sense that we can say that there is no heart without Zen. Not only that, he also made an image metaphor for the relationship between Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism: "At the time of Tang Yu (the three schools), he was originally a man with a family business and lived in a nest for generations. The sage can't afford to be the Lord in the afterlife, so he protects one of them and willingly gives the left and right two to Ershi. But my Confucianism declined, and the learning of the two schools flourished. They are willing to call themselves inferior. Instead, they want to live under the guise, and even one of them is in danger of not living. Instead, it will return to it and gradually lose everything without knowing it. " This metaphor also made the theory of "three religions in one" flourish at the gate of Yangming, and Yangming's post-school actively promoted the integration of Confucianism and Buddhism, which enabled Buddhism to be revived in the late Ming Dynasty.
Wang Yangming is an influential figure in the history of China, and Zen has made great contributions to the formation of his theory. His theory of "unity of knowledge and action" and "to conscience" absorbed Zen thoughts by using Zen vocabulary, and its ontology of mind was constructed by absorbing the thoughts of Zen natural theory, and its "to conscience" absorbed Zen practice theory, highlighting the decisive role of wisdom in self-cultivation kung fu, which all constructed its theoretical system of "mind-nature". The spread and development of "Yangming Zen" highlights the integration of Zen and Confucian culture and has made great contributions to the revival of Buddhism.
[1] Encyclopedia Volume III Biography.
[2] Guangwu, Qian Ming and Dong Ping: The Complete Works of Wang Yangming, Volume 26, Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 200 1, p. 990.
[3] Guangwu, Qian Ming and Dong Ping: The Complete Works of Wang Yangming, Volume 26, Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 200 1, p. 107.
[4] Huang Wan: edited volume 1, Zhonghua Book Company 1959 edition.
[5] True colors first appeared in Hui Xin's Tanjing, and later appeared in Song Qi's book.
[6] (Ming): The Complete Works of Wang Yangming, edited by Guangwu, Dong Ping, Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 20 1 1 year, p. 75-76.
[7] Buddhism refers to keeping a clear head often or for a long time in order to maintain Buddhism. For example, in the Qing Dynasty, Dai Zhen's Answer to Peng Jinshi said: "The' Changxing' of the Buddha always keeps its' true colors' ears, and its body movements are roughly similar."
[8] (Ming) Wang Yangming: Complete Works of Wang Yangming edited by Dong Ping, Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 20 1 1, p. 79.
[9] Chen Yongji: Wang Yangming's Biography with detailed comments, Taiwan Province Student Publishing House, 1983, p. 1769.
[⑩] Chen Lai: The Realm of Being or Not: Wang Yangming's Philosophical Spirit, Peking University Publishing House, 20 13, p. 208.
[1 1] (Ming) Wang Yangming: The Complete Works of Wang Yangming, edited by Dong Ping, Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 20 1 1, p. 232.
[12] The General Theory of Xuebi (Volume 9) is divided into 939 volumes: Li and Sikuquanshu.
[13] Collected Works of Liu Jishan (Volume 7) Answering Hu, Zhu Mianzhi, Zhang Dianfu and other students.
[14] Li Guangdi: quoted from Rongcun Volume 18, Zhonghua Book Company 1995.
[15] Fang: Essentials of Buddhist Philosophy in China, Renmin University of China Press, 2002, p. 526.