The Issue of the Past in Zen and Modernity

與過去為敵：談禪與現代性的時間觀

邱漢平(Han-Ping Chiu)

《教學與研究》 18期 (1996/12) Pp. 245-266

https://doi.org/10.6250/TR.1996.18.9

摘要

禪與現代性都排斥過去。禪視執著為前一念，對當下的干擾，人心因而無法如明鏡般反映現況。現代性也對過去充滿敵意，因為歷史或傳統代表著武斷、偏見，會妨礙人使用理性。這兩者對過去的排拒，象徵客觀真理的結束，套用流行術語，就是上帝之死，另一方面，是對人及其潛能的頌揚，亦即對佛性及理性的謳歌。本論文比較與現代性對歷史的拒斥，以彰顯兩者的一項基本觀念，在混亂的表象下存在著永恆人性。佛性與理性的存在，都以永恆人性為基礎。但隨著人之死觀念的散佈，人性永恆之說已不攻自破，理性的威力遭致嚴重質疑。在這種情況下，時間觀需要重新檢討，歷史與傳統不應再被視為遮蔽人性的事物。

關鍵字

禪 ； 現代性 ； 業 ； 主體 ； 歷史 ； 過去 ； 佛性 ； 理性 ； 康德 ； 傅科

並列摘要

Zen Buddhism and modernity share an intense hostility toward the past. In Zen the meddling factor of the past takes the form of obsession. Hence, the primary task of Zen practitioners is to get rid of obsessions because they may allegedly cast a shadow over buddhahood inherent in all living beings, thereby precluding its essence from shining forth. Modernity also exhibits a strong impatience with the hold of the past because history or tradition represents dogmatic assumptions or biases which may hamper the use of reason. In both cases, the battle against the past signals the end of universal and objective truth, which is symbolized by the death of God, and the glorification of man and human potentials, which is closely linked to the enthronement of buddhahood or reason.This paper compares Zen and modernity to show how their hostility to the past reveals a fundamental assumption that behind the discontinuous and chaotic surface exists a rational, efficacious, and unified subject. In that presumed everlasting essence of human nature finds the anchor of reason or budddhahood. But with the so-called death of man, the powerful subject is replaced by a decentered subject. The efficacy of reason is very much in doubt. Accompanied by this change is the issue of the past. Since the subject is no longer conceived as a being entire of itself, the past should not be dismissed as something that blinds humankind, but rather as something that constitutes it. I use modernity and its aversion to the past as a starting point to illustrate the evasive concept of buddhahood and its efforts to clear up obsession.

並列關鍵字

Zen ； Modernity ； Obsession ； Subject ； History ； Past ； Kant ； Foucault ； Buddhahood ； Reason