顿悟：归来笑拈梅花嗅，春在枝头已十分.... Sudden Enlightenment: Let's Think About Religion Philosophically....

今天和大家分享一首诗。這首詩是唐朝有一位比丘尼到處訪道，後來開悟所作的。

尽日寻春不见春，

芒鞋踏破岭头云。
归来笑拈梅花嗅，

春在枝头已十分。

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四方云游，尽日寻春，了无所得，失望苦闷。归来偶见梅花一枝，却已春满十分。于是会心一笑，似有所悟：“道不远人”，不应该“道在迩而求诸远”。且慢！既然“春在枝头已十分”，怎么会踏遍陇头不见春？想这时节，早该是盎然生机春无限了吧，那为什么在“踏遍陇头云”的时候，却不能发现那无处不在的盎然生机？可见她是把自己囿于狭隘的心的圈子里了。只在心中寻美，美亦不可轻得。

世上最珍贵的事物往往就在我们的周遭，亲情、爱情、友情 —— 还有我们自己，然而，这颗心却总是向外寻觅、眼睛总是望外攀缘，相信幸福在遥远的未来，总有一天会到临；又或者，认为所谓幸福总须靠珍贵物件妆点，所以必然不是唾手可及的。但是，过度往外抓取的结果使得我们丧失了享受真正幸福的能力！当幸福真的来临时，常常就视若无睹，失之交臂。回到当下、细细审视，将毫不费力地发现那颗宝石早在你我心房停泊已久，等著我们去开启、去摩挲、把玩。

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In order to understand the Chinese mind it is imperative that we understand the three most important philosophies that constitute the Chinese culture. These are the philosophies of Daoism, Confucianism and Buddhism, known as the Three Doctrines, or the "Three Teachings" in China.

Chinese people are not religious and Chinese culture lacks divinity in a rigid religious sense. Its philosophies and religions have blurred boundaries. Chinese scholars think about philosophy in the spiritual sense and about religion philosophically. As regards the state of happiness, philosophy and religion often overlap in a mutual focus on the human condition.

To the Chinese, the search for spirituality in the inner self and its relation to the world that is the province of Buddhism. What significance, then, does Buddhism philosophy have to the Chinese in general? It is "the paradise of supreme happiness" (jile shijie 极乐世界).

There is instruction on how to reach this paradise on completion of a certain procedure, and a long period of spiritual cultivation. The portrayed paradise is inviting, but to the pragmatic, value-orientated Chinese its "entry procedure" is simply not feasible. Chinese Chan (禅) Buddhism provides a simpler way to find spiritual paradise that is accessible to all its followers: Sudden Enlightenment (dun wu 顿悟).

Confinement to religious rituals is not required, as these are seen as nothing more than formal pretensions. Chan Buddhism directs the attention to an inner, rather than external, paradise.

What, then, happens on attaining sudden enlightenment?

There is nothing more expected of this person. They live their life in the normal way, pursuing accustomed activities. After enlightenment, however, old things are seen from a new perspective, as although the enlightened person may live no differently from previously, they themselves are no longer the same.
This peom says it all:

All day long I seek spring and see no spring,
My straw sandals tread on clouds over the furrows.
Coming back, I pick a plum blossom and smell it,
And look, spring already hangs on branches.
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