Wang Wei, the Poet Buddha
Wang Wei (701-761, 698-759), who used Zen into poetry and injected unique Zen interest into Tang poetry. When he was born, his mother dreamed that Vimalakirti entered the room, so he took the name "Mojir". In the ninth year of Kaiyuan (721), he was selected as a Jinshi. When Zhang Jiuling was the prime minister, he promoted him to Youshiyi, and soon he was transferred to the position of supervisory censor. Until he resigned and retired from the court, he was worshiped by Shangshu Youcheng. People at that time respectfully called him "Wang Youcheng". After returning to seclusion, he often traveled with eminent monks and talked about classics with the virgin Pei Di. He was very interested and never felt tired. I once took refuge in Zen Master Heze Shenhui and practiced Zen from him. He was a famous poet, painter, calligrapher and music master in the Tang Dynasty. At that time, there were Li Bai, the poet sage, and Du Fu, the poet sage, who were highly regarded, and Wang Wei was called the "Buddha of Poetry." The three of them made many achievements in the poetry world of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, and could be said to occupy an important position among the three pillars.
Wang Wei believed in Buddhism in his early years. He once "sat down for ten years and prostrated himself under Master Daoguang's teachings". He practiced Zen all his life and had contacts with Zen masters from both the Southern and Northern schools. He was first influenced by the Zen thoughts of the Shenxiu line of the Northern Sect, and then influenced by the Zen thoughts of the Heze line of the Southern Sect. His mother, Ms. Cui, once "taught Zen Master Dazhao for more than thirty years. She wore brown clothes and ate vegetarian food. She kept the precepts and meditated. She lived happily in the mountains and forests, and she aspired to seek tranquility." Zen Master Dazhao was the divine master of Universal Peace. Wang Wei also wrote "Inscription of Datong Dazhao Monk Pagoda for Shun Cha Li Xie Yu", "Combined Preface to Master Yexuan", "Guofu Zen Master Lanruo", etc. Datong is the posthumous title of Shenxiu, and Master Xuan is Wa. Daoxuan of the official temple came from the sect of Shenxiu, and Zen Master Fu was personally taught by Shenxiu, and was Yifu or Huifu who was the same sect as Puji. It can be seen that Wang Wei had close contact with the Zen masters of Beizong.
Wang Wei has a deeper relationship with the Southern Sect. In addition to converting to Shenhui, a disciple of Master Huineng, he was also entrusted by Shenhui to write the "Stele of Master Neng", which was the earliest account of the founding of the Southern Sect. Documents of human thought. He often consulted Shenhui for Buddhist teachings, and many of his poems often "reflected on Southern Buddhism", indicating that Wang Wei was deeply influenced by the Zen thoughts of Huineng and Shenhui. In addition, Wang Wei wrote in the "Preface to the Poems of Sending Hengyue Yuan Gong to the South" that "there are scholars from Caoxi in Dianyang, please thank me for it." Caoxi is the place where Huineng taught the Dharma, and the scholars in Caoxi are Zen masters of the Guanzong sect. From this we can know , he had frequent and close contacts with Nanzong Zen Master.
Wang Wei highly praised Vimalakīrti, a Buddhist layman in the history of Buddhism, especially the “non-dual method” in the Vimalakīrti Sutra of “the pure name of Dukou, the absolute name of Manjusri”, which had a great influence on Zen Buddhism. Therefore, Wang Wei's admiration for Zen Buddhism is consistent with his admiration for layman Vimalakīrti.
In addition, Wang Wei is also devoted to his belief in the Pure Land Sect. He said in "Praise and Preface to the Transformation of the Pure Land in the West": "I would like to take the West as the guide and be reborn in blissful freedom." Wang Weichang The Xiangji Temple where I went to listen to the Dharma is a Pure Land sect temple. He also had a close relationship with monk Wen Gu who preached Tantra. All this shows that Wang Wei has great faith in Buddhism and has a wide range of interests.
During the Anshi Rebellion, Wang Wei was detained in Luoyang by An Lushan and forced to hold an official position. When the chaos subsided, the court wanted to imprison him for being a traitor. Later, Suzong took pity on his poetic talent. , only demoted his official position and appointed him as "Prince Zhongyun". After many years of promotion, he was appointed as Shangshu Youcheng. However, after this turmoil, Wang Wei felt humiliated, and he saw that the court's discipline was disordered, and he did not want to cheer up, which made him want to give up his prosperity and return to his hometown. At that time, he repeatedly stated that he would repay his kindness to the Buddha, practice asceticism and fast, and avoid the troubles of the world. So he supported more than a dozen monks in the capital every day and enjoyed mystical talks. After losing his wife at the age of thirty, he stopped remarrying and lived alone for thirty years. He is a vegetarian on weekdays, does not wear colorful clothes, and only has a tea pot, a medicine mortar, a sutra case, and a rope bed in his room. He has nothing else and lives a life like a Zen monk. Whenever he retires from court, he burns incense in the clean room, sits in meditation and chants sutras, without any other thoughts. He also built a villa in Wangchuan, talked about Zen and composed poems with his friend Pei Di, and spent his days traveling leisurely until his death.
Wang Wei not only has a profound knowledge of Buddhism, but is also a devout Buddhist practitioner. He has his own unique views after corroborating his life experience with Zen thoughts.
He advocates "internal illumination of self-nature" and emphasizes the use of inner self-liberation to overcome the sufferings of this world. Because self-nature is inherently pure, all suffering is just asking for trouble. To understand If your heart sees your nature, you must be able to tolerate it. This is his profound understanding of Zen philosophy.
Wang Wei is an excellent poet. He not only wrote some poems and essays that expounded Buddhist principles, but also turned religious thoughts and feelings into poetic thoughts, which made him unique in the poetry world of the Tang Dynasty. The poems he wrote have a distant style and a secluded artistic conception. Wang Wei's poems are mainly landscape poems. Through the depiction of pastoral landscapes, he promotes secluded life and Buddhist Zen philosophy. Such as "Wangchuan Collection." "Lu Chai":
No one can be seen in the empty mountain, but the sound of people's voices can be heard.
Returning to the deep forest, the light shines on the moss again.
He is good at expressing a state of "emptiness", "silence" and "idleness" in his poems, which is the perfect presentation of his Zen cultivation. For example, "Zhongnan Farewell":
I was quite good at Taoism in my middle age. In my later years, I lived in the southern border of the mountains.
I always go alone when I am happy, and I know my success in vain.
When I walked to a water-poor place and sat down to watch the clouds rise,
I happened to visit Lin Sou, chatting and laughing without any return.
The influence of Zen Buddhism on Wang Wei's poetry creation art can be divided into three levels: incorporating Zen language into poetry, incorporating Zen interest into poetry, and incorporating Zen method into poetry. For example, "Passing Xiangji Temple":
I don't know that Xiangji Temple is several miles away from Yunfeng.
There are no people walking on the ancient trees. Where is the clock in the deep mountains?
The sound of the spring swallows the dangerous stone, the sun is cold and the green pines are green,
The pond is melodious in the sky at dusk, and the poisonous dragon is controlled by Zen.
This is a good poem that incorporates Zen language and affects the overall Zen interest. There is another song called "Farewell":
I dismounted from my horse and drank your wine, and asked you where you did it.
You are dissatisfied with your words, so you lie down and return to the south mountain border.
But don’t ask again, when the white clouds are endless.
This is a symbol of life that is easy-going and free, and it is also an expression of "Zen heart".
Wang Wei's poetry was deeply influenced by Buddhism. Therefore, as early as his lifetime, he was praised as a "contemporary poet who is also good at Zen philosophy". Later, he was also known as the "Buddha of Poetry". He can not only translate Buddhist teachings into the language of poetry, but also enrich the connotation of poetry with his understanding of Buddhism.