In the second episode of "Journey to the West", Wukong went to find the Bodhi Patriarch to learn the Tao in the middle of the night, and heard a poem by the patriarch muttering to himself in front of the patriarch's bed. Here's what the original book says:
Sun Wukong shuffled forward, walked sideways into the door, and only walked under the patriarch's bed. Seeing the patriarch curled up, he fell asleep. Wukong didn't dare to be alarmed, so he knelt in front of the couch. The patriarch didn't feel it long ago, stretched his feet, and said to himself:
Difficult!Difficult!Difficult!The Tao is the most mysterious, don't wait for Jin Dan to be idle.
If you don't meet people to pass on the tricks, empty words and dry tongues!”
The patriarch here is not only a self-chanting, but also a serious exhortation to Sun Wukong. He knew that Sun Wukong had arrived at the bed, but he pretended not to know, and reminded Wukong with these four sentences that it is difficult to learn the Tao, and if it comes, you must be willing to work hard, "Don't treat Jin Dan as idle."
Saying the three "difficult" words in a row is not only the summary and emotion of the patriarch's own practice of enlightenment, but also the first lesson of teaching Wukong to learn the Tao.
What is the Tao?For Wukong, it is the recipe for immortality, and the more far-reaching meaning is the unity of heaven and man.
1. The quiet and natural avenue of heaven and earth. The Tao is "the most mysterious" and shows the difficulty of learning the Tao. "Xuan" is mysterious and elusive, very profound.
The meaning of "don't put the advice" is very obvious, and the identity, tone, hope, sustenance, and vigilance of the elders and teachers are all integrated into these two words.
"Jindan" originally refers to the ancient alchemy stone as an elixir, believing that taking it can lead to immortality. For example, Ge Hong of the Jin Dynasty said in "Hug Puzi Jindan": "Fu Jindan is a thing, and the longer it is burned, the more wonderful the change;**Into the fire, the chain will not disappear, bury it, and be immortal. Taking these two things can chain people's bodies, so they can make people immortal. ”
Here the "Jindan" is compared to the Bodhi Avenue, and Wukong is warned not to treat the Bodhi Avenue as a normal thing.
Further explain the difficulty of learning the Tao and enlightening the Tao, the front is to talk about the profound and subtle of the Tao itself, here is the difficulty of the method and way of teaching the Tao and enlightenment, if there is no "Zhiren" to pass on the trick, it is also difficult to learn the true skill.
In Taoism, "Zhiren" refers to a person who is otherworldly and has reached the realm of selflessness. Zhuangzi made a very vivid and appropriate description of what kind of person is Zhiren in "The Theory of Things", and believes that "Zhiren is a god!".Daze burns but can't be hot, the river can't be cold, the thunder breaks the mountain, the wind shakes the sea and can't be shocked. In "Foreign Things", it is also said, "Only man can wander in the world without seclusion, and obey others without losing himself." ”
Reading this sentence carefully, I feel that the patriarch has something to say, Mingli said that it is difficult to learn the Tao, and it is difficult to sleep in the deep and mysterious way, plus the lack of guidance from masters, no matter how much you learn and recite the scriptures, it is useless, but "empty words and dry tongues".
Reading this sentence from the perspective of the patriarch, I found that this is the patriarch's praise and recognition of Wukong, the vast sea of people, to get an apprentice like Wukong, but it is really not easy, there is no such intelligence and wisdom as Sun Wukong, and most ordinary apprentices preach and preach the scriptures, but it is just "empty words and dry tongue".
Classical reading in progress