認識林婉瑜,
是因為我們一起參加了一個作家的交流參訪活動,
記得那是一個要住在外面的,三四天的活動,
所以我跟林婉瑜曾經一起去腳底按摩。
在林婉瑜之前,
我從沒固定追蹤過一個詩人,
(可能蘇東坡跟杜甫的詩會勉強背出幾首)
但她是一個非常非常特別的人,
不只是寫出來的詩,
而是整個人,
是那種讓人想要知道她今天做了什麼的那種人。
林婉瑜最近出版了散文集<可能的花蜜>,
聽她說,因為出版日期是6月18日,
剛好在疫情封鎖當中,
也因為疫情關係,
實體書店都沒有進書。
我好想吶喊:
各位書店的採購們,這不合理啊,
天上的詩神正抓著頭走來走去,感覺不開心!!
以下,如上次訪談艾加凱磊那樣,
我跟林婉瑜也作了一次線上來回的訪談,
分享給你們--
1.
葉揚:
有許多人對於詩人的日常生活,有各種幻想,
是否能談談同時當著詩人的妳,在生活中實際的樣子?
(會問這一題,
是因為不論是當母親或是當妻子,
都是很實際的事,
以我的例子來說,我每天睡醒的第一件事,
就是花時間在廚房裝水,做二十顆冰塊……)
林婉瑜:
一開始被稱為「詩人」其實是不太習慣的,
那是一個穿長袍馬褂眺望遠方的我嗎?
是一個浪跡天涯冒險不羈的我?
有空的時候,我會開車到高速公路兜風,
放眼望去、前方沒車的時候,
把油門踩到底,
把自己喜歡的音樂開得很大聲。
還有我會去買花,一週一次,
買厄瓜多進口玫瑰搭配美國大康乃馨,
進口花卉的飛機都是禮拜一飛抵台灣,
所以禮拜一去可以買到最新鮮的。
厄瓜多玫瑰花瓣多層繁複,
開起來碩大無朋,簡直像牡丹那樣隆重澎湃的感覺!
買回家以後,慢條斯理整理那些花,
搭配顏色、修剪裝瓶,
是讓自己平靜、沉澱的過程。
2.
葉揚:
與妳剛認識時,
妳曾提起妳妹妹生病的故事,
當時讓我印象深刻,
是否可以多談談,
妳的妹妹給你帶來的影響?
林婉瑜:
我的妹妹從小讀書都是第一名,
就連身高都比我高出許多,
她考上台中女中時,
比女中的錄取分數多了二十多分,
不過,後來她因為重度憂鬱和一些心理因素,
沒有讀完女中。
2014年,
我寫了〈世界的孩子〉這首詩,
送給孤單的人。
希望像妹妹這樣流離無依的靈魂可以感受到:
每個人的存在都是與眾不同的,
都有獨特的價值和意義,
都是被祝福的。
〈世界的孩子〉這首詩,有這樣的詩句:
我也是被愛的
被整個世界所愛
被日光所愛
被層層襲來的海浪所愛
被柔軟適合躺臥的草地所愛
被月光以白色羽絨的方式寵愛
被夏夜晚風這樣吹襲
幾乎要躺在風的背面一起旅行
雖然經常
孤獨地哼歌給自己聽
我是世界的孩子
有人喜愛的孩子
(這讓我想起,
羅比剛轉進一個新的幼兒園時,
沒有朋友的時候,
他也經常唱歌給自己聽,
羅比說他唱的都是挪威的森林。)
3.
葉揚:
妳是我心中的好心情作家,
讀妳的文字,能讓人不由自主地愉快起來,
妳曾經感到茫然,人生無以為繼嗎?
林婉瑜:
一開始寫詩的頭幾年,
因為剛好也是我媽媽生病後來過世的過程(罹患癌症),
那時期的我習慣性失眠,挫折感很深。
常有朋友或讀者提到,
我的詩帶給他們溫暖和撫慰、力量和快樂。
在我書寫的過程中,
我創造出來的詩句,
其實首先是安慰、鎮定了我自己。
我創造了詩中的情境,
主要是去擁抱當時有點疲憊、失落的自己。
記得有一次,
妳傳了一篇妳在雜誌上看到的訪談給我,
是性侵受害者談到我的詩,還有手抄我的詩的照片。
偶爾,我會去IG瀏覽讀者分享我的詩文。
知道自己的作品在其他人的生命裡產生意義,
那種感覺是特別的。
葉揚:
在壞日子裡,妳都做些什麼事情?
林婉瑜:
20歲的時候遇到困境,
容易陷入長時間的低潮;
現在受困的話,
比較想讓自己冷靜下來,
去分析為什麼不順利、癥結在哪、如何解決。
因為希望自己早一點回到好的狀態。
4.
葉揚:
妳的先生「江」的職業非常有意思,是調查官,
關於這個事,可不可以多說一些呢?
林婉瑜:
當我的親友知道江是「法務部調查局」的調查官,
他們問過、說過的話像是這樣的:
「工作內容會不會危險?」
「可不可以幫我調查某工廠?」
「我想報案。」
葉揚:
哈哈哈,我看到他,
可能也會忍不住想要報案。
林婉瑜:
大約20年前,
江考上「調查局特考」以後,
在展抱山莊受訓一年,
然後分發。
葉揚:
在展抱山莊受訓時都學些什麼呢?
林婉瑜:
法律,射擊,游泳,擒拿,行動蒐證等等……
#好想一家三口去學這個啊
葉揚:
那麼,當初你們是怎麼認識的呢?
林婉瑜:
我們是透過朋友的介紹認識。
我還記得,我和江見面以前,
介紹我們認識的朋友對我透露:
「江先生是公務員,在調查局工作。」
我還擔心地反問朋友:
「他會不會呆呆的?」
朋友回答:
「不會喔,江先生蠻活潑的。」
他做過府會組(市政府和市議會)組長、北區組長。
他們有時去做一些調查工作,
其實是需要隱藏自己的身分,假裝成路人,
所以他不喜歡我在臉書曝光他的照片。
5.
葉揚:
江先生是否曾經在家庭生活中,
發揮他強大的調查能力?
林婉瑜:
因為工作上經常在辦案,
所以拿有關法律的事問他,
他多少會知道,可以給一些蠻實用的建議。
然後他很會找東西,
家裡大大小小一時之間找不到的東西(鑰匙、印章、眼鏡等等),
要他去找,很快就找到了,
不知道是不是因為工作上需要去搜索的關係XD
6.
葉揚:
妳的家人理解詩人這份職業嗎?
我不是來自書香世家,
父系家族的長輩或親戚中,
有商人、有工廠主管、有土木工程師、有電腦工程師,
完全沒有藝術創作者或寫作者。
我父親年輕的時候擔任「可口奶滋」餅乾廠的廠長,
他曾經帶我們去參觀餅乾工廠,
對我來說,有一部分童年回憶是充滿餅乾香甜的氣味。
我的母親是家庭主婦。
他們不瞭解文學,
也許可以這樣說:
他們會比較瞭解具體實際的部分,
譬如,我的詩被收入國文課本裡、作為課文,
或者我幫哪個歌手寫了歌,
這種比較具體的事件,
他們比較能理解。
創作的技巧和內容,
比較抽象內在的部分,
他們就很陌生。
葉揚:
家人曾經反對妳當一個詩人嗎?
林婉瑜:
我爸很妙,
我跟他說,
接下來我的詩會和一個電視劇合作,
他立刻問我:
「你要去演戲了?」
完全狀況外。
不過相對的,
我覺得這樣比較好,
我還蠻享受自己一個人在創作的世界漫遊,
不需要身邊的人更多關心,
也不需要干涉或慰問,
就讓我自己一人去完成它。
7.
葉揚:
妳在文中經常提到自己的三個孩子,
對妳來說,孩子的意義是什麼?
林婉瑜:
其實孩子出生的頭幾年不太適應,
尤其老大知霖嬰兒時期特別沒安全感,
24小時都要看到我,否則就哭鬧。
當她學會爬以後,把她放到遠處,
也會無時無刻朝我爬過來……
那時覺得好崩潰啊,
常在心裡對她說:「離我遠一點啦!」
很想有自己的時間。
她11個月大的時候,
曾經誤吞ㄇ字型訂書針,
送到急診室取出來;
國小時曾經連續發燒11天住院……
現在她高二,身高和我一樣高了,
讀衛道中學的甲班,未來想念理工。
回想他們幼小的時候,覺得很不可思議,
時間慢慢的賦予他們、贈與他們個體的獨特性,
譬如知霖從一個啼哭黏人小怪獸,
變成一個喜歡看英文小說的街舞社社長。
老二貝貝經常被學校派去參加作文比賽。
老三小龍很喜歡數學,
有一次他在一張紙上畫了很多神祕圈圈和符號,
說:「這不是十進位,這是極進位!」
這些都讓我覺得很妙。
我覺得,孩子會帶我們看到不同的世界。
一開始以為孩子會像我們,
後來發現,他們是截然不同的個體,
對一件事,他們的理解或表現,
有可能是我們完全沒想過、沒預料到的。
譬如現在看到知霖的物理很好,覺得很神奇,
我以前上物理課都在發呆,
只看得懂課本封面的物理兩個字。
8.
葉揚:
我的孩子前幾天開始上小學了,
他要去的那個學校裡有什麼,
會遇見什麼樣的人,發生怎樣的事,
我們都無法預料。
對於即將要展開新旅程的,幼小的孩子,
這件事妳的想法是什麼呢?
林婉瑜:
我常覺得,
你對羅比說的話、你和他相處的方式,
對小朋友來說是很有啟發性的。
羅比是個幸福的小孩、很有創造力的小孩。
我想到一首我的詩〈童話故事〉。
這首詩對我們從小耳熟能詳的童話故事,
提出現代觀點的思考,
曾經被美國Connecticut大學的詩歌翻譯期刊譯為英文,
也收錄在三民書局的國文課本中、成為課文,
我想羅比可能也會覺得有趣:
〈童話故事〉
1
小紅帽最介意的是
她其實喜歡
藍色的帽子
可是奶奶說 女生要戴紅色
2
睡美人蠻累的
只想繼續睡
偏偏就有人一定要來吻她
3
自從村民知道
誠實的樵夫獲得了金斧頭銀斧頭
現在湖底都是
村民們丟的斧頭
4
第一隻小豬 蓋了海砂屋
第二隻小豬 蓋了輻射屋
大野狼從煙囪掉進第三隻小豬家的火爐
所以第三隻小豬的房子
成了凶宅
5
青蛙王子不太適應 和公主的婚姻生活
他想變回從前那隻青蛙
那隻單身的青蛙
6
放羊的孩子大叫︰「狼來了!狼來了!」
只是這次
沒有任何人相信他說的話
狼慌張的跑到同伴身邊說︰
「怎麼辦?我剛剛看到一個人類!」
7
龜兔賽跑的獎品是
一箱紅蘿蔔
所以烏龜又從終點慢慢的 把紅蘿蔔扛回去
交給在路邊睡覺的兔子
#好有意思的詩
#想到烏龜爬半天最後得到紅蘿蔔
#那無奈的感覺如此鮮明啊
後記:
除了詩以外,
我也很喜歡讀林婉瑜跟孩子的紀錄,
比如說:
她的大女兒知霖曾經在週記上寫過:
又要段考了,好煩喲,
如果段考是一個人,
我要揍爆他的臉。
還有小龍喜歡一個女同學,
他的說法是:
那個女同學的臉可愛,
肩膀也可愛!
這些文字都收錄在她的新書〈可能的花蜜〉中。
而自從林婉瑜講述了她離世的母親,
不瞭解文學但很支持她的父親,
她與三個孩子的奇妙笑語,
跟調查官之間的愛情鬥智,
她就成為我,
無論如何會繼續追蹤的創作者。
最後分享我特別喜歡的,
關於林婉瑜在婚前去相親時遇到的故事:
F男:
他是和媽媽一起出現的,
他遞上名片自我介紹,
可能因為我說話的聲音小,
每當我回答什麼,
他媽媽就會把頭壓低、把臉湊過來,
想聽清楚我說的話。
短暫半小時談話,
氣氛因長輩的過度關心而緊張了起來,
只要男人說了什麼,
他媽媽的眼光就掃射向我,
等待我的回答,
並且不時湊過來看我的表情,
像是分析我的話語成分般審視著我。
我想到電影《Men in Black》裡的「雙頭男」,
F男脖子上也有兩個頭啊,
大頭是他、小頭是他媽媽。
如果F下次約我見面,
他媽媽一起出現也不用意外。
一起看電影的話,
想必他媽媽的頭會湊過來吃他的爆米花、喝我的可樂。
#可能的花蜜 #林婉瑜
#這本可愛的書歡迎大家上網路書店支持喔
多摩新第凶宅 在 Facebook 的精選貼文
「地獄空」攝影集即將在八月中元節前出版,由知名設計師與攝影家黃子欽設計,內附在下二位高徒精美繪製符咒、心經版畫書籤、愣嚴咒牌、尊勝咒語...等,感恩十方大德助印,希望疫情退散,平安喜樂,後記如下:
野放台灣五十餘年,貪狼獨坐,三方四正殺破狼格局,少年多舛,白手起家,隨展覽雲遊四海,如閒雲野鶴常持各類底片機流連廢墟、山川、宮廟忘返,遂設幻影堂自詡堂主,一日三省「凡所有相皆是虛妄」,常宅於暗房沖片放大通宵、鍾情黑白世界之單純,彩色照片俗世繽紛花俏做作甜美甚至比現實更現實故少拍也。知天命之年有餘,了悟人生一瞬、眨眼即逝,雖非仙人,亦無道骨,初聞離垢地生清淨心,但離華嚴「不動地」尚遠,待修持也。
2017年盛暑拍畢《巨神連線》,心律不整差點心肌梗塞向閻羅王報到,意識死神隨伺在側,人生苦短,如何了生脫死、盡斷煩惱、無所罣礙、遠離顛倒……總不得解,蒙釋迦摩尼佛開示飆淚三晝夜,聞佛法數載始知自我渺如塵埃,甚感慚愧。閒暇乃參訪名寺古剎,禮敬焚香佛陀菩薩羅漢諸神天仙王爺媽娘,台灣宮廟千奇百怪、宗派錯綜複雜(佛教、道教、一貫道、天主教、基督教、齋教、回教&大同教、儒教鑾堂、天帝教&天德教、慈惠堂&勝安宮、軒轅教、道院、理教、萬國道德會、會靈山……)、神棍橫行(依人不依法、偶像崇拜、斂財、邪淫),因歷史變遷、社會動盪、政治鬥爭、意識形態等因素導致佛道混雜,但地獄造景稀少,後專注拍攝各殿閻王、判官、陰司、獄卒、七爺、八爺乃至一切罪人,各寺造景巧妙、耐人尋味,意境乖張溢於言表,造型扭曲非常人所能塑也,然匠心獨運、自成一格,專研西方藝術數十載方知真誠樸拙最美,絲毫不輸喬托(Giotto di Bondone,1267~1337)乃至米開朗基羅(Michelangelo Di lodovico Buonarroti Simoni 1475 ~ 1564)矣。
創立於1986年的石門金剛宮風景優美可眺望北濱,雖主祀四面佛,儒釋道眾神尊也不含糊,可過七星橋解厄、繞行五百黝黑羅漢敲鑼印心、跪拜亞洲最大臥佛涅槃像,安太歲自不在話下,甲子太歲爺雙眼長出手掌印象甚深,1994年經閻羅王指示廟公建造一條肚內設極樂世界及陰曹地府之神龍,行走暗黑通道觸動感應機關,只見面容猙獰受刑者呼天搶地喊冤、身邊盡是血肉糢糊殘肢敗屍腦漿塗地,十殿閻羅各司其職、威儀攝人。新北市林口區青嶺湖北文紫祥宮包公廟則以壁面彩塑地獄浮雕獨步全台,粉嫩色彩搭配卡漫風格,尤為造型簡直恐怖到可愛透頂,該廟主祀森羅殿閻羅天子包拯(包青天),陽世冤屈者可至此參拜祭解,求破懸案者眾,逢中元普渡皆以紙紮船渡亡魂至彼岸,全台唯一閻羅天子巨像籌備中,四周環繞墓地,適合修不淨觀也。台灣首尊彰化八卦山大佛旁南天宮(1971)地府則是首座電動地府,規模精小但驚嚇度破表,略顯破敗但五光十色仍蠻凶悍,出自已故台南大道長金登富之作,而電動神明起始可追溯至1960年代北港朝天宮。倒是嘉義水上鄉白人牙膏觀光工廠「戴相府」、「將軍府」設置十殿地府出乎意料之外,乾淨亮麗、ㄧ殿ㄧ間、簡單樸實。由高雄蓮潭龍虎塔龍口入內可見全臺唯一交趾陶地獄牆面,尊尊栩栩如生,續入龍身乃進聞聲救苦白衣觀音大士三十三化身浮雕隧道,造型設色甚為古錐。高雄大岡山超峰寺入口處「西方三聖蓮池海會」(阿彌陀佛、觀世音菩薩、大勢至菩薩巨像)旁設靜態十殿閻羅(1970年代初),雖略為陳舊然韻味猶存,續往上行可抵「證菩提道-釋迦如來應化事迹」雕塑園區,一攬世尊畢生精華。如來年邁時,琉璃國王為報長期被釋迦族輕蔑之傲慢心,世尊雖三次單獨伽跌坐 阻擋大軍進攻之路,但因緣果報無法逆轉,昔日婢女所生王子瞋恨無以復加,還是滅了祖國。自持神通第一目犍連不忍無辜百姓慘遭屠殺,遂以缽盛救度五百族人,最終卻化為血水,佛言神通廣大仍不敵千百劫業力,因緣果報屢試不爽。其母死後墜入餓鬼道飢餓難耐,目犍連遂展神通救渡,但所食尚未入口皆化為赤火,佛陀囑咐農曆七月十五日僧眾解安居自恣日,於盆中設甘露美食供養十方僧眾,因此超度亡母。後世「盂蘭盆法會」乃至「水懺法會」、「瑜珈焰口法會 」皆為消業障、斷塵垢之超渡儀軌,既渡亡魂也自懺悔。
台南麻豆代天府規模宏大、造型豔麗,不但可遊十八層地獄尚可逛天堂(1979年興建,1983年開放),燈光絢爛、聲響駭人,獨自漫步宛如觀落陰、地獄走一回。先過「心頭山」、入「清心池」、進「陰陽界」、抵「交簿廳」、達「鬼門關」、遊「補經所」、探「枉死城」、行「奈何橋」,至ㄧ殿泰廣王照「孽鏡台」現造惡原形,睹抱柱、火床等小地獄。二殿楚江王開「陰查簿 」判案定奪,觀糞尿泥、餓鬼、舞池、寒冰、膿血、鞭韃、舌犁、劍葉、戟腹拋接、砧截……等小地獄。三殿宋帝王刑罰為倒吊、銅鐵刮臉、挖眼、搗樁、倒烤、吸血、穿肋、抽筋、蛆蛀等小地獄……兼遊「四生(胎、卵、濕、化)回魂府」。四殿五官王掌管腰斬、拔舌、沸湯、刺嘴、剝皮、箭樹、車崩、射眼……等十六小地獄。隨五殿森羅王豋「望鄉臺」回眸親人最終眼後觀擊膝、誅心、刀山、飛刀火石……小地獄。六殿卞城王別稱「大叫喚大地獄」,轄火牛、虎啖、噬腎、鉗嘴含鍼、釘喉、磨摧、砍頭……等小地獄。七殿泰山王為「熱惱大地獄」,窺烙手指、抽腸、頂石蹲身、油釜滾烹、割舌穿腮……等十六小地獄。八殿都市王掌管「大熱惱大地獄」兼火狗、鐵汁、鐵蛇、鋸劈斷肢、釘板、灸脊、鐵丸、磅秤……等小地獄。九殿平等王直轄十八層「阿鼻大地獄」,直透地心、內中陰森、不見五指、滿溢地漿,皆為極犯,另轄紫赤毒蛇鑽孔、夾頂、鐵鴉、針雨、蜂蠍……等小地獄。至十殿輪轉王上「觀生臺」、「轉劫所八司」(查驗司 、稽善司 、考過司 、恩怨司 、壽命司 、支配司、掌劫司 、授生司)後至「孟婆亭」飲「醧忘湯」忘盡前塵往事,依前世功德過金、銀、玉、石、木、竹六種橋樑至「轉輪臺(紫河車)」入六道輪迴轉生投胎。據《十八泥犁經》記載,人過世後七七四十九天為「中陰生」,經閻羅王審判善惡業力判定去留或懲罰百千萬劫,犯五逆重罪則墮入「無間地獄(阿鼻地獄)」永劫不復。地藏王乃幽冥教主,統轄十殿閻羅,逢三曹普渡便在各殿設「講道所」超度尚存善根之鬼魂。
人類居於五趣(阿修羅、人、傍生、餓鬼、地獄)雜居地五濁惡世之堪忍世界,犯十惡業(殺生、偷盜、邪淫、妄語、兩舌、惡口、綺語、貪慾、嗔恚、愚痴)者必墮三趣惡道。如何出「三界」(欲界、色界、無色界)二十八天?凡人無此意識,別說能破「十二因緣」(無明、行、識、名色、六入、觸、受、愛、取、有、生、老死)還滅門,更別想斷除「四聖諦」(苦、集、滅、道)集地八十一品見惑與八十八使思惑(五利使-身見、邊見、邪見、見取見、戒禁取見、五鈍使-貪、瞋、癡、慢、疑),了悟「五蘊」(色、受、想、行、識)本空、「十二入」(眼、耳、鼻、舌、意、色、聲、香、味、觸、法)空、「十八界」空,破俱生我執與分別我執、法執甚至空執,生十一處「善心所」(信、精進、慚、愧、無貪、無瞋、無痴、輕安、不放逸、行捨、不害),降二十六處「惡心所」(貪、瞋、癡、慢、疑、惡見、忿、恨、覆、惱、嫉、慳、誑、諂、害、憍、無慚、無愧、掉舉、惛沉、不信、懈怠、放逸、失念、散亂、不正知),須知善根斷盡則陷永劫輪迴、無垠轉世之苦。
地獄可能空滅嗎?若地獄空乏人間多鬼怪,地獄淨空世間何嘗非淨土?若能證空性何處現地獄?
地獄曠古來便廣泛流傳各部族間,老死生滅為自然運行之基礎、宇宙意識之核心,然今文明昌盛如咱城邦並非慾望消弭之所,惡性所及實無可根除,礙於憲法國家法律社會軍隊企業公司學校家庭團體之層層束縛不亞於十八層,乃遁於壓抑、束己情懷,暗埋心底、日久貪嗔痴慢疑怨噌會疊穢。而六塵未熄,心多妄念,妖魔鬼怪魑魅魍魎孤魂閃靈出沒於荒郊乃至人間,會靈於曠野密林以增性靈乃出世高人修煉之舉,我等凡人擅闖宛如迪士尼般之人造地獄,三魂七魄尚不足以出竅,驚邪恐怖淒厲猙獰倒滿足了自以為是的慚愧,豈不謬哉?
病毒肆虐年半有餘,全球確診者逼近一億八千萬,枉死者近四百萬,堪比戰爭規模,望眾生發慈悲心、令往生者安息、善待其他物種、平等有情眾生。地獄本空,唯妄念生起一切羨慕嫉妒恨而地獄現前。盡以此書作為世界新冷戰獨裁者、超限戰者、暗網駭客、陰險狡猾冷嘲熱諷落井下石者之良知備忘錄矣。
姚瑞中寫於2021年端午節
Postscript
I have been living recklessly in Taiwan for more than fifty years. According to Zi Wei Dou Shu (Purple Star Astrology), Tan Lang is the sole star in my house of Self. This star, which represents xxx, forms an equilateral triangle with that star Qi Sha and Po Jun on the square chart and constitutes a Sha Po Lang pattern. The pattern indicates a kind of turbulence and change, a life of wandering with ups and downs and it tells a lot about my life. After my ill-fated youth, I started from scratch and traveled around the world with exhibitions that I participated. Like a flaneur, I wandered around ruins, nature, and temples with every type of film camera obliviously. Thus, I founded the Hall of Illusion and claimed to be the master of the hall. Several times a day, I pondered a quote from the Diamond Sutra, “Everything with form is unreal.” In addition, I usually stayed in the darkroom developing film and enlarging those negatives overnight. However, I treasured the simplicity of the black and white world. The earthly, gaudy, garish, phony and pleasing qualities within colored photos make the images even more realistic than the real world. It is not my cup of tea, so I seldom took colored photos. In Confucian thought, the age of fifty marks the stage knowing the mandate of Heaven. I am now at my fifties and realize how ephemeral human life is. However, I am not an immortal, nor having sagelike characteristics. I just learned that the stage of stainless (the second bhūmi) and develop a pure mind that is free from doubt and defilement. However, I’m still far from the immovable state and need to practice.
In the summer of 2017, after filming the work Incarnation, I experienced a severe heart rhythm problem which almost triggered myocardial infarction and could have killed me. Consequently, I realized that death was waiting for me and the life is too short to figure out how I can liberate myself from the cycle of Birth and Death. I couldn’t comprehend how to be free from all afflictions and worries and how to avoid delusive ideas. I wept for three days and nights after being enlightened by Shakyamuni Buddha. Up to the moment, I felt ashamed that I failed to realize that the self is as insignificant as dust after these years learning and practicing Buddhism. Since then, I have visited famous temples and monasteries in my spare time, worshiping Buddha, Bodhisattvas, arhats, and all the deities and immortals. Taiwan’s temples are myriad with a enormous number of sects, including Buddhism, Taoism, Yiguandao, Catholicism, Christianity, Chinese religions of fasting, Islam& Baháʼí Faith, Confucianism, Tiandiism& Tian-De Teachings, Xiwangmu cult, Yellow Emperor Sect, Precosmic Salvationism, Liism, World Wide Ethical Society, séance cult, etc. Some people even claim that they can mediate communication between the deities or spirits of the dead with human beings, having their believer rely on themselves instead of the orthodox dharma or dogma and pay excessive respect and admiration for the mediums or objects, accumulating wealth through such an unfair means or even harassing their believer sexually. Due to Taiwan’s historical changes, social turbulence, political struggles, and ideological issues, Buddhism and Taoism are somehow mixed. However, there are few emphases on the concept of the hell. As I took photographs of Yama of each court, judges, wardens of the underworld, jailers, General Fan and Hsieh (the ghost escorts) and all sinners, I found few temples cleverly created hellish scenes that are intriguing, exaggerating, and extraordinary. However, the creations are unparalleled unique. I have been studying Western arts for decades and then I came to realize that simplicity makes the most beautiful works of art. These hellish scenes can even compete with works of Giotto di Bondone (1267-1337) and Michelangelo Di lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (1475-1564).
Jingang Temple Shimen District, founded in 1986, overlooks the beautiful North shore. Although the temple is mainly dedicated to Phra Phrom (the Thai representation of Mahabrahma), spirits of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism can also be founded in the temple. The worshipper can go cross the Seven Star bridge to relieve bad luck, walk along the five hundred arhat statues and knock on the gong to affirm one’s Buddha nature. Furthermore, the worshipper can also prostrate themself before Asia’s largest statue of Buddha in Nirvana (the Reclining Buddha statue) and pacify the Taoist Tai Sui deity of the year. I was impressed by the Jia-Zi Tai Sui General that a pair of palms grow out of his eyes. In 1994, the biō-kong (the person taking charge of the temporal affairs of a temple) received a divine inspiration from Yama (the King of Hell) that he had to build a sacred hall in the shape of a divine dragon, with the interior designed according to the World of Ultimate Bliss and the Underworld. When the visitor walks in the dark hallway, they will see the tortured people (dioramas, of course) scrunching their faces and crying bitterly and loudly in excessive grief as the visitor triggers the mechanism. One will even find them in the midst of flesh, body liquid and blood, mutilated limbs, and rotten corpses. While each of the ten Yamas are focusing on their own duties, showing their sacred dignity that collect visitors’ attention. The Baogong Temple in Linkou District, New Taipei City exclusively features colorful depiction of hellish scenes in relief in Taiwan. With its pastel shades and cartoon-like style, the relief is both grotesque and adorable at the same time. This temple is dedicated to Bao Zhen (also known as Justice Bao) representing the incarnation of Yama. Living people who have been treated unjustly can come worshipping Bao Gong and receive exorcism. Therefore, many people come here for seeking to solve unsolved cases. In Zhongyuan Festival (the ghost festival), the temple will burn the Zhizha (paper craft) boat to ferry the ghosts to the other shore, which is the shore of enlightenment. The only giant statue of Yama in Taiwan is still in the making. The temple is surrounded by a cemetery, suitable for meditating on the loathsomeness and impurity. Nantian Temple (1971), located next to the Eight Trigram Mountains Buddha in Changhua, features the first animatronic underworld. Despite the small size, the animatronic underworld is intensely shocking. Though it’s slightly worn, the colorful dioramas are still brutally ferocious. The creator was the late venerable Dao Zhang (Taoist priest) Jing Deng-fu while the origin of animatronic deities can be traced back to the 1960s Beigang Chaotian Temple. On the contrary, the Whiteman Toothpaste Tourism Factory in Shuishang Township, Chiayi, features ten Yamas with individual booth. The place is unexpectedly clean and polished yet keeps a simple and modest tone. Then, the Dragon Pagoda of the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas at Lotus Lake in Zuoying, Kaohsiung, holds the only relief of hellish scenes made of Kochin ceramic. All the figures are vivid and life-like. If one goes further into the pagoda, they will see a relief tunnel of the thirty-three incarnations of the white-robed form of Guanyin (Avalokiteśvara) on a white lotus, with a lovely and interesting design. Another Hall of Yama is built in the 1970s next to the entrance of Dagangshan Chaofeng Temple, located in the Alian District of Kaohsiung. Visitors will also see three statues of the Three Holy Ones of the Western Pureland (Amitābha, Avalokiteśvara, Mahāsthāmaprāpta) which assemble at a lotus pond. Although the hellish scene looks somewhat antiquated, you may still find its previous charm. If one goes further, they will reach the sculptural garden of “Attaining the Bodhi Way: the Incarnation of Sakyamuni Buddha,” where the visitor can see the essence of Bhagavato’s (meaning the Blessed one, one of the common epithets for Buddha) life. When Tathāgata (another epithet for Buddha) was old, the king of Kosala wanted to avenge the arrogance of the tribe of Shakyas who had long despised him, regarding him as a son of a maiden. Although Buddha has sat in lotus position alone three times to stop the army from attacking his tribe. However, one can never reverse the cause and following karma. The prince born of a maiden was so furious that he eventually destroyed his homeland. Maudgalyāyana (one of the Buddha’s closest disciples), who is said to have had supernatural abilities that surpassed the other disciples, could not bear to see the slaughter of innocent people. Thus, he saved five hundred people of his tribe with a pātra (an eating utensil of Buddhist monks). Unfortunately, everything he did was in vain, those who were saved eventually turned into a puddle of blood. The Buddha said that the supernatural abilities cannot surpass the power of karma. The cause and effect work all the time. When Maudgalyāyana’s mother fell into the path of hungry ghost, he used his supernatural abilities to save his mother from hunger. However, all the food turned into fire before being fed to his mother. Later, the Buddha commanded the monks to put nectar and dishes in a basin on the 15th day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar for the monks from all directions to free his mother from reincarnation. In later times, the Ullambana Dharma Service, the Compassionate Samadhi Water Repentance, and the Yoga Collection for Feeding the Searing Mouths Dharma Service are rituals to eliminate karmic hindrance and to cease to worldly delusions. Through such practices, one can free the dead as well as confess their repentance.
Madou Daitian Temple is a magnificent and colorful temple in Tainan. Not only can the worshippers visit the eighteen levels of Hell but also the Heaven (it was built in 1979 and inaugurated in 1983) here. The lighting and sound effects are stunning and frightening. When walking alone in the space, one may feel like taking a Guan Luo Yin trip (a Taoist necromancy which leads people’s spirits to hell and communicate with the dead ones) to visit the underworld prison. Before arriving the first court of the underworld, the visitor will walk through the Mountain of Heart Summit, the Pure Heart Pond, the Frontier between the Living and the Dead Realms, the Soul Registry Hall, the Portico of Demons, the Center for Complementary Teaching of Canonical Books, the Citadel of Premature Death, and the Bridge of Vanity. When one arrives at the first court, they will see King Chin-guang, who is in charge of the court, using the Mirror of Retribution to show the earthly form of evil creatures and also witness the sub-hell of Pillar-Holding and Fire Bed, etc. At the second court, King Chu-jiang collates the register of sins the souls of the dead have committed to impose the punishments. Here, you will see the sub-hell of Excrement and Urine, Hungry Ghost, Burning Dance Floor, Ice, Pus and Blood, Whipping, Tongue-Raking, Sword Blade, Stomach-Piercing, Chopping, etc. Next, the dead at the third court, ruled by King Song-di, will receive the punishments including inversion tortures, face-skinning with steel and copper knife, eye-wrenching, pounding, blood-sucking, rib-piercing, roasting, tendon-taking, being eaten by maggots. The visitor can pay a visit to the Palace of Soul-Resuscitation for the Four Forms of Creatures (birth from an egg, birth from a womb, birth from moisture, and birth by transformation). King Wu-guan is in charge of the fourth court. There are sixteen sub-hells at the fourth court including Waist Chop, Tongue Removal, Boiling Pond, Mouth-stabbing, Skin-peeling, Sword Tree, Burning Wheels and Cart, Eye-shooting, etc. Next, at the fifth court, sinful souls are allowed to ascend the Tower of Hometown-Viewing to take a final look of their family. The visitor will witness sub-hells of Knee-striking, Heart-slicing, Blade Mountain, Flying Swords and Burning Stones, etc. The King of Bian City takes charge of the sixth court, which is also known as the “Great Hell of Screaming,” with sub-hells including Fire Cattle, Tiger-Biting, Kidney-Eating, Mouth-Poking, Throat-Nailing, Iron Mill, Decapitation, etc. The King of Tai-shan is in charge of the seventh court, the “Great Hell of Heat and Fire.” The sixteen sub-hells at this court include Finger-Searing, Bowel-Hauling, Stone-Bearing, Boiling Oil, Tongue-Removal and Cheek-Piercing, etc. Next, the King Du-shi is in charge of the eighth court, the “Great Hell of Intense Fire and Heat,” and the sub-hells including Fire Dogs, Molten Iron, Iron Snakes, Dismemberment, Steel Spikes, Burning-Marrow, Iron Ball, Scale, etc. The ninth court is ruled by the King Ping-deng. It is known as the biggest court, Avici Hell (the Hell of Incessant Suffering), which if the lowest level of the hell realm and the interior is gloomily and terrifyingly dark. Those who committed the most serious evil deed will be sent to the Avici Hell. Sub-hells such as Poisonous Snake, Brain-Removal, Crow-Gnawing, Raining Needles, Wasps and Scorpions are included at this court. After arriving the tenth court, ruled by the Great King of the Reincarnation Palace, one can visit the “Observatory of Life on earth” and the “eight bureaus of the Reincarnation Palace” (including the Bureau of Judicial Control, the Bureau of Good-Actions, the Bureau of Bad-Actions, the Bureau of Debts, Gratitude, and Vengeance, the Bureau of Longevity and Destiny, the Bureau of Familial Ties, the Bureau of the Reincarnated, and the Bureau of Birth). The sinful one will be sent to the Pavilion of Mengpo and made to drink the Soup of Forgetfulness to forget all past affairs. According to the sinful one’s merits of previous life, they will go across one of the six bridges (gold, silver, jade, stone, wood, bamboo) to the “Reincarnation-Wheel (Wheel on the Crimson River).” Finally, one is able to reborn in the six realms. According to the Aṣṭadaśa nāraka sutra ( the Eighteen Hells Sutra), after one passes away, they will enter an intermediate and transitional state between death and rebirth, known as antarābhava in Sanskrit, for forty-nine days. The being will be evaluated by Yama, who will decide if one should get reborn or get punished at the hell. Those who committed the Five Grave Offenses (killing one’s father, killing one’s mother, killing an Arhat, shedding the blood of a Buddha, and creating a schism within the community of Buddhist monks and nun who practice for attaining enlightenment.) will be sent to the Avici Hell and stay there eternally. Kṣitigarbha is the Lord of the Nether World, ruling the ten court of Hell. The lord will set up the “Hall of Teaching” at each court to salvage those sinful ones who still obtain few merits at the offering rituals.
Human beings live the Sahā world (sahāloka in Sanskrit, meaning “endurance of suffering,” a concept of mundane world in Mahāyāna Buddhism) where they share with other reincarnations (including beings of the hells, of the preta, and of malevolent nature spirits) with five turbidities (the Kalpa turbidity, the view turbidity, the affliction turbidity, the living beings turbidity, and the life turbidity). Those who commit the ten evil deeds (killing, stealing, adultery, lying, using immoral language, slandering, equivocating, coveting, anger, and false views) must fall into the three evil paths (animals, preta, and hell). However, how can one escape from the three realms/ twenty-eight heavens (including the six heavens of the desire realm, the eighteen heavens of the form realm, and the four heavens of the formless realm)? Worldly people who don’t have such an awareness cannot leave the cycle of the twelve nidanas (meaning causes or motivations), let alone eliminate the eighty-one afflictions (that have been produced due to misunderstanding regarding reality) and the eighty-eight illusions (including five afflictions of advanced practitioners, also known as five views: view of self, extreme view, evil view, view of attachment to views, and view of morality; and five unintelligent temptations: desire, anger, stupidity, arrogance, and doubt) of thought within the three realms and four Arya satyas (noble truths, including suffering, arising, ending, and path). They cannot realize that the essence of the five skandhas (referring to aggregates of clinging, including the matter of form, sensation, recognition, mental formation, and consciousness) , the twelve ayatana (meaning sense base, including six internal bases: eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind and six external bases: visible objects, sound, odor, taste, touch, and mental objects), and the eighteen dhātavah (meaning compositional elements of human existence, including six consciousness, six faculties, and their objects) are the emptiness and the void. Furthermore, they cannot dispel the two reasons for clinging to the idea of the self and the attachment to elemental constructs and even believe in the two (false) tenets that that karma and nirvana are not real and that the ego and phenomena are real. As a consequence, they fail to develop the eleven wholesome mental factors (faith, energy, conscience, being ashamed, non-attachment, non-aggression, non-delusion, calmness, equanimity, conscientiousness, and non-injuriousness) and cease the sixteen unwholesome mental factors (desire, greed, anger, delusion, arrogance, doubt, wrong view, wrath, enmity, hypocrisy, vexation, jealousy, parsimony, deceit, flattery, harming, ambitiousness, stupidity, lacking of faith, idleness, being unrestrained, forgetting, distraction, non-discernment, ). One must bear in mind that once all our virtuous roots are discontinued, they will be trapped in the never-ending reincarnation and the suffering of infinite continuity.
Is it possible that the hell will be empty one day? If the beings in hell will become extinct while evil spirits inhabit the mundane world, the world could be considered as a pure land. If we could witness the nature of the void, then hell will exist no more.
Since ancient times, the concept of hell has been widely spread among all tribes. Aging, death, beginning, and end are the basis of nature and the core of cosmic consciousness. However, the prosperous civilization as our island is not a place where desire can be eliminated. It’s impossible to eradicate evil nature. Since fetters brought by the constitution, the state, the law, society, the military, corporations, schools, families, and groups are not less than the eighteen levels of hell, the mortals repress themselves, bury their feelings. Day after day, greed, anger, stupidity, arrogance, doubt, and resentment are stacking. However, since the six dust (visible objects, sound, odor, taste, touch, and mental objects) has not yet been extinguished, people in the mundane world are still full of delusions. The demons, devils, evil spirits, and the wondering dead exist in the wilderness, while only advanced practitioners with transcendent would attempt to make contact with the dead in the wasteland and forest. Worldly people like us trespass in Disneyland-like man-made hell. It is absurd and ridiculous that the hellish scenes cannot stop us from perpetrating evil deeds, but the horrific and cruel scenes yet satisfy our self-righteous shame.
The pandemic has been boiling over for more than a year and a half. The number of infected patients worldwide is nearly a hundred and eighty million, and the death toll has risen to four million, which is equivalent to a war crisis. I hope that we can all be compassionate, give peace to the dead, treat all sentient beings well and equally. The hell is innately empty; however, deluded and misleading thoughts would give rise to all jealousy and hatred and then manifest the hell before us. This book merely serves as a memorandum of conscience for dictators of the world’s new cold war, supporters of unrestrained warfare, dark web hackers, and those who are cunning and contemptuous and maltreat others when knowing they have problems.
June 2021,
Yao Jui-chung
多摩新第凶宅 在 文茜的世界周報 Sisy's World News Facebook 的最讚貼文
《海地總統遇刺等國際新聞》
1)海地總統摩依士7日在自宅遇刺身亡,第一夫人瑪婷身受重傷被送往美國佛州邁阿密萊德創傷中心搶救,目前「已脫離險境」,狀況穩定。
紐約時報報導摩依士遇刺細節,海地法官德斯坦說:「總統摩依士至少身中12槍,他的辦公室和臥室被翻亂,我們發現他的時候,遺體呈現仰臥,白襯衫和藍色長褲沾滿鮮血,嘴巴是張開的,且左眼被挖出。」
德斯坦指出,摩依士可能是被大口徑槍枝和口徑較小的9毫米武器射殺。
* 誰暗殺了海地總統,到底是為什麼?
在任四年的海地總統本周三在首都泰子港郊區家中遭到暗殺,妻子也身受重傷,國家昨天晚間宣布進入緊急狀態,外傳刺客和美國緝毒局有關,但海地駐美國大使並未參與其中,相反的,他指責說英語和西班牙語的僱傭兵,並強調這種可怕的行為是由訓練有素的職業殺手、突擊隊員幹的。
美總統拜登在白宮草坪受訪時強調,海地的情況令人擔憂,但他還需要掌握更多訊息。
分析稱,這位海地總統評價兩極,過去幾個月,他的行為在國內引發了大規模抗議,任內幫派暴力和綁架事件激增,聯合國兒童基金會報告,武裝分子控制了大約三分之一的太子港。
儘管他的五年任期應該到2022年結束,但國內包括人權組織和神職人員都認為他的任期已經在今年二月結束,今年稍早,他解散了國會,還迫使三位最高法院大法官提前退休,追求全面憲法改革,增加總統權力,還計畫在九月進行公投,美國官員長期批評這位總統不受約束,這也使海地的民主核心理念受到質疑。 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_58PeTYNUg
*英國Channel4: 海地總統被暗殺 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2h_31fXSAew 3"16 SOT
海地總統摩依士,7月7號在自宅遇刺身亡,行凶槍手自稱是美國緝毒局人員。其中一人以美國腔英語透過擴音器喊話說「這是緝毒局的行動,大家讓開。大家退後,讓開。」
第一夫人在遇刺事件中倖存,但傷勢危急,當局將她送到美國邁阿密接受治療。行刺的兇手已遭扣押拘留。
臨時總理宣布國家進入戒嚴。
* 海地總統被暗殺 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMwPiovtKDg 3"03 SOT
海地總統摩依士,7月7號在自宅被暗殺身亡,第一夫人傷重,被送往邁阿密治療畫面,鄰居描述事發當時聽到的聲音。
海地至今一劑疫苗都還沒打。
總統面臨下台呼聲。
美國總統拜登譴責暗殺。
2)PBS:隨著美國從阿富汗撤軍接近完成,阿富汗軍隊在全國範圍內迅速被塔利班佔領,為了加強委靡不振的軍隊,政府正在武裝民兵以協助戰鬥,當下的亂局,被迫與塔利班作戰的阿富汗民兵把責任歸咎於美國的「放棄」,他們認為這原本該是美國領導下的長期夥伴關係,卻遭到恐怖主義剷除,美總統拜登和美國政客做出的錯誤決定,正導致成千上萬阿富汗人死亡。因為沒有空中補給、沒有醫療後送,加劇了不斷上升的傷亡率,塔利班不斷測是這裡的防禦,但白宮決定離開不只留下了憤怒,也讓軍隊士氣變得低落。
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3URiVnY4y3U
3)新冠疫情大流行對許多群體造成了沉重的打擊,但對於千禧世代,也就是出生於1981年到1996年之間的人們,包括追隨他們的Z世代來說,這種痛苦再加上其他許多因素,正在引發關於誰該負責的問題。
對其前輩越來越不滿的背後是什麼? 「反社會一代: 嬰兒潮一代如何背叛美國」一書作者Bruce Gibney表示從公共衛生的角度看,首先為老年人接種疫苗完全合理,但這波流行病也激發出嬰兒潮世代(1940-1965出生者)不滿的情緒,認為老人們貪婪且忘恩負義
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUl2u0WLzQM
4)CNN獨家,緬甸反軍政府的叛軍如何訓練。記者穿越叢林,到其中一個維多利亞營地,約200名從緬甸各地來的志願軍在這邊受訓,包括村民,工人,學生,要起而對抗軍政府。在那邊受訓45天,再送回各地,已累計1.5萬人。他們有自製獵槍,緬甸恐陷入內戰。