1. Su Shi and Buddhism
Su Shi called himself a "lay Buddhist" and claimed to "wash his heart and return to the Buddha" ("He Cai Jingfan Haizhou Stone Chamber"), and his Zen words were included in the Zen sect. Quotations, he himself is also regarded as the heir of Donglin Changzong, a disciple of Huinan of Huanglong Sect of Linji Sect (Chen Zhongzhe author: "Su Shi's Art of Calligraphy, Painting and Buddhism"), and Su Shi's personality and life are indeed closely related to the influence of Buddhism Deep connection.
First of all, Buddhism had a significant influence on Su Shi’s thoughts. The formation of Su Shi's ideological system is undoubtedly the result of the absorption and integration of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, in which Buddhist thought played a particularly important role. When Su Zhe discussed what Su Shi had learned in "The Epitaph of the Dead Brother Zhan Duanming", he said: "I first read the books of Jia Yi and Lu Zhi, and discussed the governance of chaos in ancient and modern times. It was not empty talk. Then I read Zhuangzi and sighed: 'I I had seen it in the past but could not express it, but now I have seen it in Zhuangzi, and it has won my heart. '… After reading Shi's books, I deeply understood the truth, and after referring to Confucius and Lao, I was able to speak eloquently without any hindrance. Ye." From this we can see the changes in the origin of Su Shi's thoughts. He first absorbed Confucian peace thinking and emphasized practical learning instead of useless empty words. Later, he became interested in Taoism, and Zhuangzi first caught his heart. After being demoted to Huangzhou, Su Shi began to be deeply influenced by Buddhism. Eventually, he used Buddhist ideas to transcend Confucianism and Taoism, and was able to argue eloquently and build an outstanding and independent realm of thought and life.
As one of the backbones of traditional Chinese culture, Buddhist thought has been talked about by cultural people of all ages. However, Su Shi’s study of Buddhism was by no means a general study, but he really used it carefully. , those who have worked hard and have real gains. Below are some of Su Shi's literary works to illustrate.
The 59-year-old Su Shi was demoted again and again and resettled in Huizhou. On the way south, he paid a visit to Nanhua Temple in Caoxi, where the sixth founder of Zen Buddhism, Huineng Guangda Zen Sect, wrote this poem "Nanhua Temple":
When meeting the founder, one must recognize the true face. The people in the pavilion asked me what I saw. Poor Ming is sitting here, everything is a shock. Drinking water is self-aware, and the moon is no longer dazzling. I am a cultivator, and I have accumulated refinement in three lifetimes. I lost my mind in the middle. Receive this hundred-year punishment. The truth about the clothes-picking ceremony moved me to tears. I borrowed the Xiduan Spring from my master to wash my beautiful words with the inkstone.
In the poem, "the original face", "drinking water and self-knowledge" and "pointing to the moon without glare" are all Zen slang. Su Shi said: Why do you come to pay homage to the ancestor? It’s about recognizing my “true colors.” I was originally a member of the Buddhist sect in my three previous lives. Unfortunately, I fell into the mortal world due to a mistake in my thoughts, causing a lifetime of troubles. Today, I prostrate myself in front of the ancestor and shed tears. I want to use the clear spring of Caoxi's ancestral court to wash away my nostalgia for the floating world in my heart. This poem can be said to be the "written evidence" that Su Shi has converted to Zen for many years. Mr. Zhao Puchu once wrote this poem in handwriting for Nanhua Temple, and wrote in the inscription: "When he wrote this poem, he had almost understood the causes and conditions of his previous life, so his poem is touching. , is definitely not a catchphrase.”
The demotion to Huangzhou can be said to be a turning point in Su Shi's life. It was in Huangzhou that Su Shi really began to have a lot of exposure to Buddhism. When leaving Huangzhou, Su Shi passed by Lushan Mountain and visited Zen Master Chang Zong at Donglin Temple. Su Shi had some enlightenment and composed a verse:
The sound of the stream is like a broad and long tongue, and the color of the mountain is not a pure body. Eighty-four thousand verses come at night, how will they perform like a human being in the future?
The "wide and long tongue" is a symbol of the Buddha's ability to speak the Dharma. The "quiet body" refers to the Buddha body achieved by the Buddha, and can also refer to the innate Buddha nature of all living beings. Su Shi said in this poem that a little Zen mind can touch the eyes to enlightenment, and there are many verses of wonderful enlightenment that cannot be explained in words. Just like the famous Zen saying in "Jingde Chuandeng Lu": "The green bamboos are all Dharmakaya. The lush yellow flowers are nothing but prajna." Zen Master Qingyuan Weixin said of himself: Before I started practicing Zen, I saw mountains as mountains and water as water. "Later, when I saw knowledge with my own eyes, I gained the current entry point. The mountain I saw was not a mountain, and the water I saw was not water." This stanza shows that Su Shi also gained the "entry point" and was no longer an ordinary practitioner.
In the last second year of his life, Su Shi was pardoned and returned from Hainan to North China. On the way back, Su Shi bought two large bamboos to make shoulder boards. He also wrote a poem: "The layman from Dongpo went to the dragon's light to ask for big bamboos to make a shoulder cart. When he got two poles from Nanhua Gui, he was invited to do it. The elder of the mountain left a verse in the courtyard to ask him to teach it to him. The first question in the quotation is 》:
I cut two poles of dragon light bamboo and brought them back to Lingbei for thousands of people to see. A drop of Caoxi water in the bamboo rises to the eighteenth beach of the Xijiang River.
Su Shi sighed and said: I am able to walk through the bumpy road of life in the eyes of everyone in amazement because of this clear spring of Caoxi flowing in my heart. With this little poem, Su Shi fully affirmed the important role that Buddhist thought played in his life. The influence of Buddhist thought on Su Shi's literature that this article will analyze is a true reflection of the influence of Buddhist thought on Su Shi's life.