「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

島嶼晃遊者／
#心的旅程圖文完整全公開

中秋連假後，很多人對我去參加的 佛光山 佛陀紀念館 兩日禪修營很感興趣，最近終於把文章整理好了，完整文章同步刊登在天下雜誌 微笑台灣319鄉+、我的專欄 #島嶼晃遊者 中。
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感謝蔡清華師兄全程單眼紀錄。也同步放上3張2013年我在印度菩提伽耶(Bodhgaya)，佛陀悟道之地禪坐的照片。能在這如此動盪的一年，有緣參與這樣的營隊，讓心穩住，非常感謝朋友靜雯姐的邀請。
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每年4到12月，非常推薦去斷斷電。
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佛陀紀念館／心的旅程：
【人生迄今遇過最具挑戰性的背包旅行，嘗試啟動心輪，讓自己與自己分開。】
今年，度過了一個很與眾不同的中秋連假，受朋友邀請，我報名參加了佛陀紀念館舉辦的「心的旅程」禪修營隊。
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上半年的脫軌失序，讓許多正在進行中的事情都被迫按下暫停鍵，隨著島嶼的夏天疫情開始趨緩，邀約傾巢而出，忙啊忙的，不大有時間能好好沉澱，現在想想那形同是另一種失序。當時感謝過往緣分的延續與串接，短短兩天的閉關就這麼悄然降臨，把我過飽的電量應聲切斷，結束營隊，再充電的力道，遠超過我預期想像。
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「心的旅程」是佛光山佛陀紀念館從2016年尾開始舉辦的長期性活動，於每年4到12月的第一個周末固定登場，每個梯次限額20到40人，年齡介於18到65 歲者，不一定要有宗教信仰，都可自由報名參加。營隊雖然只有短短兩天，課程內容卻包羅萬象，從禪修體驗、茶席文化、抄經、跑香、繞塔、出坡、佛教藝術賞析、佛館深度導覽、品味蔬食藝美等，乃至佛門行儀的學習，可說非常豐富多元，這不是一般性的營隊，有緣者四方匯聚在菩提道上，從陌生到逐步相熟。
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營隊一開始，當決定把禁語牌掛在身上（以示他人），把手機關機不聽不看任何可能重要的訊息時，即是我們選擇收攝六根的開始，那真的不是一件容易的事，因為必須刻意與日常逆向而為，讓心來指揮五感，把先後順序調位，且如果沒有先清出位置，人何以放空，沒有空位，新的東西自然入不了心。
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這轉換過程對我來說，挑戰度完全不輸任何一次我把自己丟到海外自助旅行所經歷的一切，只是這次跨越的不是地理上的疆界，是心理的，困難處在於更加無法預測。那感覺就像是把自己裝進背包裡，抵達起點後，漫無目的，惟自己需要和原本的那個自己拆夥，分開旅行。公路旅行到蠻荒內陸收不到任何訊號是蠻可怕的事，但和自己慣常的習與性分開，每往前踏一步，是新的開始，卻也是無盡的未知，人的內心，可能遠比世界上任何一片廣袤的原野都還荒涼，你會有很長的一段路得決心忍耐寂寞，直到訊號出現，看見路的盡頭。
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還好，這趟旅程授課時每個遇到的法師們一個比一個幽默風趣，自然而然你就會被他們的分享給吸引，不管是剛開課時的佛門行儀，或接續下去的道藝聆聽，甚至是親炙大師的講覽，在佛館那些平時不會被特別注意到的幽微角落穿梭，課程被生動故事化，通往內心深處的路似乎開始越伸越長，左右偶爾出現指引的閃光，讓人開始期待著下一個路口還會再遇見甚麼。
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佛光山的法師們行的是「人間佛法」，強調佛道不能只是修持自己，應擴及眾生，因此面對紅塵，弘法時他們亦動亦靜；行為舉止仍莊嚴持重，言談卻又能給人歡喜，那並不是容易的事。也因為這樣，課程氣氛總是在舒服的狀態下進行著，讓你可以把心鬆開自我探索，當卸下了身體的重擔，法喜就能順著每個當下的境，自然流淌進來。而對於出生在平時家裡會拿香拜拜、生活裡總是佛道交融、卻沒有特定宗教信仰的我來說，這一切都在破除我對佛門、對法師、對修行的既定印象。
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午後隨著如常館長的腳步，我們邊走邊聽了許多關於佛陀紀念館如何平地而起的故事，走動的過程，師兄也教導我們如何在行走時能夠自在調整步伐，「練習專注」是走路的藝術，當整個人只聚焦在腳步時，只會專心在那個對應的當下，這對於我們鎮日忙亂的生活是個極好的練習，走到一半如果遇到人就合掌微笑，掌心合併時你會感覺體內有股氣流在往下跑，不再事事大腦先行，練習收起我執與傲慢心。
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走到十八羅漢前面時，館長分享起當時星雲大師為何決定要種植成排小葉欖仁的往事，也提及佛館正在蒐集《悉達多的花園──佛系熱帶植物誌：日常中的佛教典故、植物園與花草眾相》一書中佛系熱帶植物的事……花草也生眾相。微風輕吹，秋意灑身，小葉欖仁層疊葉脈向光的地方長了又長，如今終究也長出了能庇蔭羅漢的傘蓋，我們踩著腳步經行，也間接享受了滿地清涼。
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「習法，是為了知道因緣，真的理解了緣起和緣滅，心才有可能掙脫束縛。」
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下午繞完塔，晚餐行過藥石（藥食），禪坐晚課因為秋高氣爽，我們幸運地得以從室內移到戶外進行。端坐夜空裡的佛光大佛座下，坐香、打禪、聽法。依照法師指導的「毗盧七支坐法」開始坐禪，他要我們藉由冥想，嘗試練習三件事：先讓嘴巴無語、去細聽見自己心的聲音、最後當個旁觀者練習不要回應讓心也無語。冥想過程，一旁民宅中秋夜烤肉的煙火聲與卡拉OK聲、還有山裡的野狗吠叫沒有斷過，但暫停了身口意的連動，當心中沒有了雜音，行禪過程我感覺內心是平靜安穩不受干擾的。
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行禪後，我們持續圍坐在大佛下邊喝熱茶邊聽法師分享，體內的「四大調和」係指地、水、火、風，除了風水，還需地與火的加入，身體裡也有四季，緊貼著大地運行。覺知自身的狀態，乾坤裡會出現的天地、陰陽、日月方能達到相對的平衡。法師說，禪字，其實不難，就是順應自然，並與之共享生息，宇宙的起源，只關乎緣起和緣滅，一呼一吸間，生命都在不斷流逝，談死並不可怕，因為從出生之後，我們都已經踏在靠近衰老和死亡的路程上，只是我們都執著於「傾刻」，禪，是要我們試著去運用智慧，將傾刻串聯「成片」，一種更豁達的角度。
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他也要我們抬頭看看當晚的月亮，當心中有日月，會明白月圓月缺，都只是星球對應方位移動後產生的盈虧，對月亮本身而言，自始至終都是一樣的，大家都在追求炙熱的太陽，但人生好比月亮，要不被月明月暗所困，本來無暗復何明。
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晚上，在108米高大佛座下的佛光樓內掛單，準備梳洗休息，午夜安靜躺在床上，回想第一天遭遇之種種，我的心思被拉回到多年前那一趟在印度的自助旅行。當時我和旅伴準備從印度教聖城瓦拉納西搭火車，前往加爾各答德蕾莎修女創設的垂死之家做義工，因為時間比行程預估的充裕，遂臨時決定中途在伽耶市下車，驅車前往佛教徒的四大聖地之一菩提伽耶(Bodhgaya)，那裡是佛陀悟道之處。
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中國古代高僧法顯和玄奘都曾先後記載過這個地方，朝聖中心摩訶菩提寺的後方，就是佛陀成道的金剛座和大菩提樹，原本的菩提樹已遭毀壞，那時看到的，是當年為了弘法，分枝到獅子國（現今斯里蘭卡），後再將成樹的分枝移植回來的樹木。當時我和來自全世界的佛教徒一同入寺朝拜大佛，佛陀的座像據聞是後來被西藏人鍍了金身，我手裡捧著鮮花，當下感到無比殊勝，隨後跟著繞塔七圈，並在大菩提樹下靜坐打禪……
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「身是菩提樹，心如明鏡台，時時勤拂拭，勿使惹塵埃。」
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下午在佛館大佛平台繞行的四座寶塔，分別代表了智、悲、願、行，也都清一色保留了最初印度式佛塔的建築形式，藉以和佛教傳進中國後，建築風格產生的變化作出區隔，那時摩訶菩提寺旁永遠都有人持夜紮營念佛，大菩提樹是明令禁止採摘樹葉的，因此永遠有人會在空地的垃圾堆中搶撿落葉，但當我坐在樹下打禪時，竟然先後有三片葉子被風吹落到我眼前，我將它們夾進日記本中帶回台灣做成書籤，至今仍舊是我閱讀時身邊最安穩的陪伴。回想這些過往歷程都和營隊裡的所見所學相互產生了連結，原來在很早之前我早已踏上了這趟心的旅程。
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隔日起早，先在天臺跟隨法師行六氣操，此時日月正在置換，我們輕柔舞動身體，喚醒心腎脾肺肝與三焦，集合用早齋前，我獨自走到滴水坊旁的樟樹林，放空赤腳接收地氣，回想過往，泰半都是在旅行時赤腳，對我來說，那是處在一種極放鬆的狀態下才會想做的事。早齋完我們開始出坡，出坡又稱作普請，是佛門用語，意在邀請眾生進行勞動性的事務，合力創造一方淨土，當日我們協助整理林道，每個人都被分配好工具，我是負責拿耙子準備刮除草地上的落葉。
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法師分享，出坡實際也是一種動中禪，當不語時，我們無法依賴用嘴巴詢問，自然會想辦法找其他方式解決問題，跟隨自己的心走，會知道如何去做，我耙著厚積的落葉，觀察到旁邊還有許多小花小草，如果不要一同刮落，那手勁就變得很重要，得隨時去調整節奏與力道。
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抄經則是我最愛也最期待的課程。當法師在解說完抄寫要領後，大家提筆開始安靜的抄寫心經，用念的和用寫的感受天差地別，寫字時，你沒有糊弄或取巧的空間，因為一筆一畫，全都得按部就班慢慢來，此時必須摒棄心中雜念，專注當下透過細微的勾勒才能對準字體，此時佛義的經典也會跟著在心裡慢慢咀嚼。最後列上親友名字，代表你可以將這份殊勝迴向給他們，並祝福他們，我們的手抄心經幸運地將永遠被存放在佛剎的藏經閣中。
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下午的茶禪一味，佛館則安排體驗了茶席文化，靜心喝茶，也是另一個能讓自己緩慢下來的方式。行如風、坐如鐘、立如松、臥如弓，得體，不只是一種規範，更是你每次在使用一身皮囊時做出的決定。涓涓茶水從喉頭流淌而過，平時工作需頻繁說話的我，才驚覺有多久沒有好好善待自己的喉嚨。
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上完課，參觀完特展，也代表旅程快要進入尾聲，兩天以來，館方也安排我們分別在樟樹林、禮敬大廳、佛光一滴、雙閣樓四處的滴水坊，享用了四種不同形式的蔬食餐點，體驗食藝之美，平時僧眾上齋堂用食稱之為過堂，意指吃只是一個過程，不貪不念也不重細節，且過午不食，因此我們特別感謝這所有費心的安排，讓人理解到蔬食並非只是粗茶淡飯，蔬果所能變化出的細緻與華美，不僅能讓味蕾反璞，同時也讓味覺變得更加敏銳，更能分辨出真實的滋味。
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「我們不為任何大師而來，而是為自己而來。」
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四大調和、五觀修行、六根清淨，躁動，來自我執，讓心和意念如如不動需要鍛鍊，這是一趟向內的旅程，透過旅程，更靠近佛，佛是人成的，因此也是更靠近了自己本來的面目。順隨因緣，當把自己全然交付給宇宙時，在同中存異，在異中求同，會發現，人生不過也就是重覆著歸零、啟程、再回來的循環，這是一輩子的功課，懂了，沿途，無處不適合。
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￭ 心的旅程 線上報名網址：
http://signup.fgsbmc.org.tw/JHEART/index.aspx
￭ E-mail：heartfgsbm@gmail.com
電話：(07)656-3033 轉4101
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