The Encounter of Dharma and Laurel Myth

The Greek myth of Daphne and Apollo is a story about the origin of the laurel tree, which has become a cultural symbol of poets and musicians. Daphne's rejection of Apollo's love leads to her transformation into a tree. On the surface, the metamorphosis reflects the conflicts between an independent female and a powerful male. Through the conceptual frame of Dharma, the myth mirrors universal human suffering, the cause of suffering and the potential of liberation from suffering. Dharma sheds a different light on the myth, transfiguring it from a tragic love story to the collective truth of human life. The contents of this paper are divided into three parts: samsara, karma and interbeing. The first part examines the characters' samsaric existence, redefining samsara as psychological responses to the external situation. The second part explicates the cause of samsara. The third part explores Daphne's transformation as the state of interbeing, which dissolves the boundary of self and other, life and death. The integration of Dharma into the tree myth not only reconstitutes the meaning of metamorphosis but also highlights the compatibility of Buddhism with western thought.

關鍵字

Tree myth ； transformation ； samsara ； karma ； interbeing

並列摘要

黛芬妮和阿波羅這則希臘神話，解釋桂冠樹如何成為詩歌及音樂的文化象徵。黛芬妮因拒絕阿波羅的求愛，變成了一棵樹。表面上，這個變形記反映具有權勢的男性和欲獨立自主的女性之間，所存在的矛盾衝突。透過佛法的觀點，這則神話映照出世間之苦，苦的原因，以及解脫之可能。佛法解讀出此神話不同的面貌，使悲情的愛情故事得以昇華成生命共同的實相。本研究分三部分，分別為輪迴、業果、及互攝存在。第一部份以生死輪迴的存在檢視角色，並定義輪迴是對外境時所產生的心理反應。第二部分解釋輪迴的原因。第三部分探討變形是物我合一的互攝意識，打破自我與他人、生與死的界線。將佛法融入神話中，不僅重塑了變形的意義，同時也彰顯佛法與西方思想的相容性。