Henry David Thoreau's Walden, Dharma, and Deep Ecology

Walden registers Thoreau's embrace of Romantic pastoralism and Emersonian spiritualism to challenge the materialism and commercialism of the 19^(th) century America. Thoreau is acknowledged as a paradigmatic figure of Transcendentalism, and his Walden is an exemplar of the solitary contemplation of nature and life. Opposing the existent symbolic interpretations of Walden, Branka Arsić discerns in it Thoreau's radical vitalism and the literalization of language. Her affirmative reading of Thoreau provides ground for the dynamic interaction between Walden and Buddhist conceptions of mindfulness and interconnectedness. The purpose of this study is to explore Walden from the light of Dharma, revealing their compatibility and significance for the modern world. The contents are divided into three parts: mindfulness, interbeing, and deep ecology. The Walden retreat witnesses the elimination of the binarisms of self and other, life and death, interior and exterior, and past and future. Thoreau's intense eye sees everything as alive, transitory, and interchangeable. His adoption of Oriental contemplation evokes Buddhist mindfulness, which directs his mind to the state of nondiscrimination. His intention to mingle human subjectivity with animals and objects resonates with Buddhist interbeing and ecological consciousness today.

關鍵字

Walden ； Vitalism ； Mindfulness ； Interbeing ； Ecology

並列摘要

《湖濱散記》一書中，梭羅承襲浪漫派的田園主義及艾默森的精神主義，藉以批判十九世紀以物質及商業掛帥的美國社會。梭羅被認為是超越主義派的代表人物，而《湖濱散記》是孤寂者沉思自然及生命的典範。Branka Arsić挑戰既有的《湖濱散記》具象徵意義的解讀方式，發掘梭羅先進的活力論思想，以及他的文字具真實的指涉意涵。Arsić對於梭羅的正面解讀，提供其作品與佛法正念專注及萬物相連之價值觀，彼此激盪對話的基礎。本研究的目的，在於以佛法的角度解讀《湖濱散記》，顯示兩者的共通性及對現代世界的意義。內容分三部分：正念專注、互攝存在和深層生態學。隱居湖邊的歲月，見證了自我與他者、生與死、內在與外在、過去與未來的二元對立觀之瓦解。梭羅敏銳的心識，視萬物為活的，短暫的，及主體可互換的。他擁抱東方式冥想，和佛法的正念專注有異曲同工之妙，導引他的心識達到無分別的狀態。他企圖將人的主體融入動物及物體中，呼應佛法互攝存在的生命觀以及當今的生態意識。