The meaning does not lie in words,Yet those who are ripe must be taught
From the poem,The Song of the Precious Mirror Samadhi
These verses echo the teachings of Buddhism through the ages
Although words are not the real thing,they are necessary in guiding the practitioner’s journey toward awakeningSuch is also the case for The Infinite Mirror,which contains Master Sheng Yen’s commentary on two Buddhist poems:Inquiry into Matching Halves and The Song of the Precious Mirror Samadhi
Written by two of the founding Patriarchs of the Chinese Ts’ao-tung sect of Ch’an Buddhism,upon which the Japanese Soto Zen sect is based,these classic texts have been largely unavailable to the Western reader until nowFurthermore,their meaning has baffled scholars and practitioners for centuries
In this book, Master Sheng Yen unravels the mysteries tangled in the lines of the poems,making their invaluable teachings understandable and accessible to modern readers,whether their interest be Ch’an philosophy,spiritual practice,or Chinese Buddhist history
Both poems esphasize the Ch’an (Zen) view that wisdom is not separate from vexation,and they speak of varying levels of awareneww one must pass through to attain this enlightened realization Master Sheng Yen expounds on these and other important aspects of Ts’ao-tung Ch’an in lucid detail
However,these poems,although permeated by the richness of Buddhist philosophy,were not written solely for the intellectually curiousThey are guidelines for Ch’an practice Master Sheng Yen never loses sight of this fact,and his own commentary reiterates the final verses of Inquiry into Matching Halves:
Moving forward there is no near or far;
Confusion creates mountains and rivers of obstructions
I implore those who investigate the mysterious:
Do not waste your time
商品編號：1160700061 |
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法鼓叢書
