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《西遊記》分析

《西遊記》的真正主題    《西遊記》原著開篇第一首詩便寫道:「欲知造化會元功,須看西遊釋厄傳」,開宗明義指出,本書就是闡述「造化會元功」,即金丹大道的。 「西遊」即「修道」的同義詞。唐密的金剛界曼陀羅,以西面為上,所以「西遊」代表向著西方極樂、涅槃之地前進。另外,道教丹經《翠虛篇》亦云:「萬聖千賢總在西」,所以「西遊」就是向著「萬聖千賢」所在之處前進。 而「釋厄」則是指在修道過程中,會遇到各種厄難、各種「妖魔」,本書就是教人如何化解這些厄難的,所以叫「西遊釋厄傳」。 小説中的山川地理,都有高度的符號象徵含義。例如書中對「花果山福地,水簾洞洞天」的描述:「這股水乃是橋下沖貫石橋,倒掛下來遮閉門戶的。橋邊有花有樹,乃是一座石房。房內有石窩、石灶、石碗、石盆、石床、石凳」,這些描冩正好與《悟真篇》的《石橋歌》相呼應。又例如「靈臺方寸山,斜月三星洞」、「水晶宮」等等,這些地點都有高度的符號象徵含義。 《西遊記》原著中使用了大量的丹道術語,如「金公」、「木母」、「黃婆」、「元神」、「奼女」等。這些丹道術語,常見於道教丹經之中,例如《破迷正道歌》、《悟真篇》、《還源篇》、《還丹復命篇》、《翠虛篇》等,亦常見於唐代呂洞賓的詩作之中。 三教合一思想 《西遊記》原著中有不少「佛即是仙」的暗示。例如第二回中冩道:「攢簇五行顛倒用,功完隨作佛和仙」,意思是佛和仙祇是名稱不同,修道成功之後,叫哪個名稱都可以。又第一回中對菩提祖師的描述:「大覺金仙沒垢姿,西方妙相祖菩提」,而「大覺金仙」正是對佛的另一種稱謂。又例如第六回中,太上老君在觀音菩薩面前公然宣稱自己當年「過函關,化胡爲佛」,意思是老子西出函關之後,到了天竺,將胡人度化爲佛,而觀音菩薩竟沒有反駁。 作者這種「佛即是仙」的觀點,並非孤立,在丹經道書中亦大量存在。如劉海蟾祖師《還丹破迷歌》云:「真個佛法便是道,一個孩兒兩個抱」。另一方面,在佛經中,也將佛稱爲「仙」。如《增壹阿含經》卷第一云:「自歸能仁第七仙,演說賢聖無上軌」。其中「能仁」和「第七仙」都是指釋迦牟尼佛。又例如《大方廣佛華嚴經》卷第十二云:「如來於此四天下中,或名:一切義成,或名:圓滿月,或名:師子吼,或名:釋迦牟尼,或名:第七仙,或名:毘盧遮那,或名:瞿曇氏,或名:大沙門,或名:最勝,或名:導師……。如是等,其數十千,令諸眾生各別知見」。 在禪宗祖師語錄...

The One in Different Religions

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 Taoism  Ultimate One the Heavenly Savior (太乙救苦天尊)   Ultimate One the Heavenly Savior (太乙救苦天尊) is a divine manifestation of the Uncreated energy of The One (先天一炁), a.k.a. Ultimate One (太一). According to Taoist Scriptures, He comes from the Eastern World of Everlasting Bliss (東方長樂世界), riding a nine-headed lion. He has countless manifestations and incarnations in all worlds.   Master Loy's Spring and Autumn Annals (呂氏春秋.大樂) says: Tao is the ultimate essence, which is formless and nameless. To name it artificially, it can be called Ultimate One . (道也者,至精也,不可為形,不可為名,強為之,謂之太一。)   The Ultimate One generates Water (太一生水) says: Heaven and earth are created by Ultimate One . (天地者,太一之所生也。)   The Wondrous Scripture on Ultimate One's Salvation and Protection ( 太一救苦護身妙經 ) says: In the Eastern World of Everlasting Bliss , there is a greatly merciful and benevolent one called Ultimate One the Heavenly Savior . He has countles...

Comparative Study on Chinese character pronunciations in Korean, Japanese, Cantonese, and Mandarin

I. The Checked Tone feature of ancient Chinese pronunciation Chinese character pronunciations in Korean, Japanese, and Cantonese retain some important features of ancient Chinese that are lost in Mandarin. One of these features is the  Checked Tone  ( 入聲 ). For example, the pronunciations of Chinese character ‘ 目 ’ in different languages are : Chinese character Cantonese Korean Japanese Mandarin 目 mok mok moku mu ‘ 目 ’ is pronounced ‘mok’ in both Cantonese and Korean. The ending ‘k’ in ‘mok’ is called a  Checked Tone   or an Entering Tone ( 入聲 ), which is an important feature of ancient Chinese. The Japanese pronunciation of ‘ 目 ’ is ‘moku’. The second syllable ‘ku’ is a simulation of the Checked Tone ‘k’. Why ‘k’ becomes ‘ku’ in Japanese ? Because Japanese uses  Kana ( 仮名 )s to simulate foreign language pronunciations. A Kana is either a vowel or a consonant+vowel combination. ( The only one exception is ‘ ん ’ / ‘ ン ’ pronounced ‘n’. ) There is no Kana for...