Before Zen was introduced to China, there was no lack of Zen in China's poems and essays. In Zhuangzi, the mastery of cattle and the balance of Jin not only make us admire the hero's skill, but also make us imagine the realm of the unity of things and me. However, Zen seems to have a deep relationship with China's traditional art. From the day when Zen was introduced to China, it was perfectly combined with China's poetry and calligraphy. For more than 1000 years, Zen not only enriched the material of China traditional art, but also provided inspiration and methods for China traditional art, while China traditional art provided the carrier and way for the spread of Zen and promoted its development, among which poetry was the most important.
Section 1 Buddhist Poems of Monks
The relationship between Zen and ancient poetry is manifested in two aspects: first, due to the influence of Zen thought, Zen is more or less expressed in a large number of literati poems, either strong or weak, deep or shallow, or bright or dark; First, a large number of monks use poetry to express their physical evidence and feelings about Zen, and even in many cases, they use poetry to give and receive Zen machines. The most typical and well-known are two poems by Shen Xiu, a northern Sect, and Huineng, a southern Sect, which are also the earliest Zen poems. According to legend, Hongren, the fifth ancestor, was a disciple of Xuan Chuan Fa and asked all his disciples to write a poem to test it. Shen Xiu, the disciple sitting in the first place, immediately wrote a poem:
As a bodhi tree, my heart is like a mirror;
Wipe frequently, and don't create dust.
Huineng, who later became the sixth ancestor, wrote another poem for Shen Xiu:
Bodhi has no trees, and the bright environment is not Taiwan.
There is nothing, so there is no dust.
When Cao Dongzong, the founder of the mountain, traveled to Dongshan at a good price, he saw his own shadow in the water and had an epiphany. He also wrote a poem:
Don't look for him. Stay away from me.
Today, I am alone, looking for every canal everywhere.
The canal is me today, and I am not the canal today.
You should rely on this meeting to get the contract.
There is also an enlightened poem by Zen master Huang Longhui Nan:
The outstanding jungle is Zhaozhou, and my wife has reason to break it.
Nowadays, the world is as bright as a mirror, and pedestrians are not enemies of the road.
There is a Buddhist poem written by a monk, which is also well written:
Looking for spring all day long, but not seeing spring, straw sandals break the ridge.
When I come back, I will smell the fragrance of plum blossoms. Spring has come to the branches.
Another poem that we are all familiar with is actually a Zen poem: "There are flowers in spring, a moon in autumn, a cool breeze in summer and snow in winter. If there is no trouble, this is a good season on earth. "
Zen poetry in a broad sense can include poetry, ode, song and strategy, which is a kind of Zen language that freely expresses the inner realm. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, Zen Buddhism developed and Zen monks came forth in large numbers. Combining Zen with poetry once became a fashion. For example, Hanshan's poems were edited by later generations as Hanshanzi's poems, which were widely circulated among monks and customs. There is a poem in Hanshan: "There are idle people among thousands of clouds and waters, walking in the green hills by day and lying under the rocks at night. After the Spring and Autumn Period, you are silent, the dust settles, and you can rely on it quickly. Quiet as autumn water. " Described a narcissistic "idle person": 10,000 yuan put down, no companion. The so-called "idle people are not idle, idle people don't wait for idle people" is really a realm that is not confused by dust. Hanshan, famous for his poems, wrote many excellent works full of Zen machines, which are still loved by people today, such as A Master and a Wife: "A master and a wife have been rich for three or five years, but I used to be poor, but now I laugh at my lack of money. The canal laughs at me in the back, and I laugh at the canal in the front. Laughing and laughing, the east goes back to the west. " If you understand it, it will be interesting and thought-provoking The rich and the poor in the world are fickle. Today you are rich and I am poor. Tomorrow, Feng Shui will turn into "I am rich and you are poor". You just finished laughing at me, and I'm going to laugh at you again. You are sad, sad, happy, and troubled. Rich and poor, official career rises and falls, dynasties change, right?
Hanshanzi was a legendary monk in the Tang Dynasty. He came from an official family and spent his youth in the capital Chang 'an. Because he failed many exams, he was left out by his family and alienated by his wife, so he angrily became a monk and traveled around. After the age of 30, he lived in seclusion in Cuiping Mountain in eastern Zhejiang. Its mountains are deep, and it is also called Xueyan when there is snow in summer, because it is called Hanshanzi. After he retired, Hanshanzi finally realized the joy of life from nature: "I live in Hanshan, and everything has rested, so I won't have any other thoughts to worry about." Idle in the wall of poetry and history, Ren Yun has not yet sailed. ""I live in Tiantai, and the cloud road is full of smoke. Thousands of rocks and valleys can be avoided, and thousands of valleys are deep in stone pagodas. Birch towel clogs go along the stream, and cloth feathers go back around the mountain. Things that float consciously are happy. "
One of Hanshanzi's most Zen poems is The Road to Hanshan, which describes the emptiness and coldness of Hanshan, and every sentence is reduplicated.
Cold mountain road, cold river bank. Birds are often chirping, but no one is silent.
The wind blew on my face and snowflakes piled up one after another. If you don't see the sun, you don't know spring.
Some people commented that the Book of Songs was preceded by Shuo poem, followed by Li Qingzhao's Slow Voice, which is a masterpiece among overlapping words. Some people even praised this poem and said, "Beauty is like a fairyland, quietness is like eternity, seclusion is like an ancient temple, and desolation is like a desert."
Hanshan and Picked attracted the attention of the society at that time because of their crazy and grotesque words and deeds. They have a wonderful question and answer: "What if the world slanders me, deceives me, humiliates me, laughs at me, despises me, belittles me, hates me and deceives me?" "Just bear with him, let him go, let him go, avoid him, be patient with him, respect him, and you will see him again in a few years" is an eternal famous sentence.
Fundamentally speaking, Zen is Zen and poetry is poetry, so although some monks have more poems than poems, there are still many good poems on the whole. For example, Lingyun Qin Zhi's enlightenment poem reads: "After thirty years of searching for swordsmen, the leaves have receded and the branches have been painted. I have no doubt since I saw the peach blossom. " The poem is full of flavor, "I don't doubt it until now", and the Zen machine is profound. Zhaojue Keqin's poem of enlightenment, "The golden duck sells splendid flowers in fragrance, and you are drunk." The love affair of a teenager is unique only to a beautiful woman. The "thousands of feet Silk Fiber" of Zen Master Decheng hangs straight and moves with the waves. Shui Han doesn't eat fish at night, but the boat will return home in the empty moon ",which is not only a Zen family's management of roads, but also a poet's tolerance. Cao Dongyi realized, "Who washes heavy makeup?" All the fallen flowers cry endlessly, but also cry to the depths of the chaotic peak ",more like a poem of missing."
Wen Yue Zen master's poem "Send a friend on the road" said: "It is a cause to disperse all clouds and flowers until the moon shines. Qian Shan hangs six times outside the sky, where is the breeze? " The whole poem is smooth and fresh, and purity is the natural expression of the monk's transcendental realm in the world. Zen master's secular delusion has vanished like that cloud, leaving only a bright moon of self hanging on the horizon, shining brightly. Beyond Qianshan Mountain, there are endless people's hearts.