Did Su Shi make any achievements in studying Buddhism?

This paper discusses the characteristics of Su Shi's Buddhist thought. When he was demoted to Huangzhou, he wrote two letters to Bi Zhongju. In this article, Su Shi once expounded his basic position and attitude towards Buddhism and its thoughts: "Old Buddhist books are delicious and inseparable. He just washed himself with his superficial assumptions. If the farmer walks on the grass and turns away, it's useless, but it's better than not going at all. " If the gentleman in the world is a transcendent metaphysical person, the servant doesn't know it. It used to be self-righteous to say that the ancients were good at Zen, but humble to say that they were shallow. Servants often talk about the past: what people talk about, metaphorical diet, dragon meat; And what the servant has learned, pork is also. There is a gap between pigs and dragons, but people always say that dragon meat is not as good as pork eaten by servants. It's really beautiful and full. It can be seen that Su Shi told Buddhism that what he wanted was "true beauty and fullness", and truth was the starting point and destination of his absorption of Buddhist thought. Understanding the connotation of "truth" embodied in Su Shi is helpful for us to better understand his Buddhist thought.

Su Shi once compared studying Buddhism to making wine in the Great Compassion Pavilion of Salt Officials. The article points out: "What they do, beauty and evil are not unified." The reason is that "the past is the square, and it is exhaustive." Those who can count are wonderful, while those who can't count are short. One of them is that it is possible and impossible, but we can see both the rough and the fine. "(2) The number here refers to the" minutes "and" degrees "that should be followed in brewing, which is an objective law. Therefore, he opposes the attitude of "slightly dividing the number, giving up the degree, thinking that it is wrong, but deliberately doing it". If so, "few people are not disgusted by it." He further pointed out that "the reason why this Buddha teaches people day and night is to fast and obey the law, recite his books and worship the pagoda temple", which means that learning Buddha is an act that must follow certain objective laws, and "creating with one heart" will not have a good result. Learning Buddhism still requires practical actions. This coincides with the "sincerity" advocated by Confucianism. "The Doctrine of the Mean" said: "The sincere person has heaven, and the sincere person has humanity. Honest people are reluctant to part. They understood without thinking. Calm, sage, sincere, choose good and stubborn. "(3) Honesty refers to both" heaven ",that is, the regularity of nature, and" humanity ",that is, a supreme moral realm. A saint is a person whose thoughts and actions are reasonable. To practice with sincerity is to choose good and stick to it. Sincere, true also. The rational spirit of seeking truth and being pragmatic like salt water of Confucianism has become the foundation of Su Shi's "truth". Knowing this, we can draw a clear line between Su Shi and Buddhist believers, and we can understand his acceptance of Buddhist thought. It can be said that Su Shi's study of Buddhism is based on Confucianism. Buddha is only a necessary support, not the foundation of living.