禪宗無情教義的流變與展演：從《楞伽師資記》到《碧巖錄》

Abstract

從八世紀踏入禪宗思想史領域，直至十二世紀都仍有其影響力的無情教義（此為筆者對無情佛性、無情說法與無情成佛等三個概念的統稱），前後受到了北宗、牛頭宗、石頭宗乃至最後跨宗派的援用與支持，貫串了初期禪、古典禪乃至宋代禪等不同禪宗的發展階段。其發展的軌跡，也同時是禪宗在八至十二世紀的側面寫影，無情教義本身及其文本展演方式也隨之而有所差異。本論文透過對不同禪宗發展階段的禪宗文獻――主要是《楞伽師資記》、《絕觀論》、《祖堂集》、《景德傳燈錄》與《碧巖錄》――中的無情教義文本的爬梳，嘗試了解一個「教義」在禪宗的脈絡中如何作為一種符號而被展演，又表現了何種功能。 正如本論文的主標題「無情說法，誰人得聞」這句話所揭櫫的：一方面，它可以是一個教義上的疑問，也是著重論述的論師或祖師所欲解釋的題目：「無情眾生說法，到底誰具足條件聽聞？」二方面，也是在宗派認同的脈絡下，作為一個「我聞，你不聞」的區別符號。三方面，也是一個激起參禪疑情乃至開悟的工具。四方面，亦可帶出「作者的說」與「讀者的聞」間關係的疑問，甚而誰又是作者，誰又是讀者？五方面，在機緣問答乃至公案的脈絡中，無情教義的「論述」層面幾乎徹底的缺席，意指是無情物或語句本身的話外音與言外意。六方面，無情教義的文本展演發展，也展現了禪宗文本在撰述者（writer）、作者（author）與讀者之間的關係在閱讀機制、文本意義的生產機制、著作名義與知識權威的賦予模式等等面向的變化――這不僅牽涉到作為讀者的古代禪門弟子如何看待這些文本，以及如何藉著這些文本參悟某種悟境，也關乎同時亦是讀者的研究者（亦即我們），要如何處理我們與這些禪宗文本間的關係。

The “Doctrine of the Insentient Beings” (a general designation defined to refer to three notions: that insentient beings possess Buddha-nature, insentient beings can preach Dharma, and insentient beings are able to attain Buddhahood) was raised and supported by the Northern School (北宗), the Niutou School (牛頭宗) and the Shitou School (石頭宗), and eventually became accepted by all other Chan schools. It developed from the 8th to the 12th centuries, following the main stages of development of the Chan school, that is, Early Chan, Classical Chan and Song-dynasty Chan, which are regarded as the most important periods of the formation and shaping of the Chan School. On the other hand, it is a profile of the development of the Chan school, and its texts and the form of performativity also change according to the different stages of development of Chan. This thesis will focus on the Chan School’s materials and survey the notion of the “Doctrine of the Insentient Beings” therein, including the Record of the Masters and Disciples of the Laṅkāvatāra (楞伽師資記), the Treatise on the Transcendence of Cognition (絕觀論), the Patriarchs’ Hall Anthology (祖堂集), the Record of the Transmission of the Lamp [Compiled During the] Jingde [Period] (景德傳燈錄) and the Blue-Cliff Records (碧巖錄) which are representative of different stages of the Chan School from the 8-12th centuries, to clarify how a “doctrine” was performed as a symbol and to present what kind of function it fulfilled. This thesis’s main title: “Who can hear the Dharma preached by insentient beings?” is a doctrinal issue which some patriarchs who emphasized discourse and analysis wished to explain. Secondly, it is also a symbol of: “I am able to hear, but you cannot” in the context of sectarian identity. Thirdly, it is also a way and method to raise doubt to get enlightenment. Fourthly, it is asking a question about what is the “author’s saying” and the “reader’s listening,” moreover, who it asks, who is an author and who is a reader? Fifthly, in the contexts of Encounter Dialogue (機緣問答) and Gongan (公案), the part of “discourse” is almost entirely absent. At same time, signified became an overtone of insentient beings, and it means we cannot get significance on literals. Sixthly, the development of texts of the Doctrine of the Insentient Beings also shows the mechanism about the text’s reading, the production of significance and the authority of knowledge between writer, author and reader. It not only concerns how ancient Chan School disciples read these texts and derived significance or even enlightenment therefrom, but also how researchers (i.e., ourselves) understand them as readers.