法鏡映照下的變形神話

Abstract

希臘羅馬神話中，人會轉化成其它的生命形式，如動物、植物或自然界的物質等。水仙花、桂冠樹及林仙泉皆描繪人的主體之流動及變化，以及心靈和自然之契合。這些奇幻的變形故事，除了試圖解釋自然現象以外，可解讀成心理狀態而非真實的形體改變。本研究旨在以苦和離苦為核心思想的佛法觀點，檢視變形神話的意義。變形具有反映人間痛苦及渴望解脫之深刻意涵。變形雖因無明而起，但透過獨立個體和外在大環境的相融合，反成為解脫的契機。本研究內容分業果及互攝存在二部分。第一部分解釋這三則神話故事中變形的業果法則，揭示花、樹與泉水的存在，涉及因果的關聯，並非固有的本質。第二部分探討變形中的互攝存在，是足以打破自我與他人以及生與死的界線，並呼應今日的生態意識。在變形之後，原來孤立的自我，拓展成和世間眾生相連的生命體。佛法給予變形神話另類的解讀，轉化實有的死亡與宿命，昇華為生命的實相，藉此重塑其現代意義。

In Greco-Roman myths of metamorphosis, humans become other forms of being such asanimals, plants and natural objects. The legends of the Narcissus fl ower, Laurel tree, and Arethusaspring involve the dissipation and alteration of human subjectivity and the fusing of humanminds with nature. While the fantastic transformation in these tales was meant to explain naturalphenomena, it can be interpreted as the reflection of psychological states instead of ontologicalreality. The purpose of this study was to explore the meaning of metamorphosis myths from theperspective of Buddhist philosophy, whose central concern is suffering and cessation of suffering.Metamorphosis implicates universal suffering and the yearning for liberation. Activated byignorance, transformation points to the potential of liberation through the mingling of separate egoswith the large whole. The contents of this study are divided into two parts: karma and interbeing.The fi rst part illustrates the karmic law that reigns in the three tales. The existence of the fl ower, treeand spring has no inherent essence but gets involved in the causal nexus. The second part exploresinterbeing in metamorphosis, which dissolves the boundary of life and death as well as self andother. After the transformation, the isolated selfhood is expanded to an all-encompassing life system,evoking today’s ecological consciousness. Dharma sheds a different light on metamorphosis myths,transcending the literal death and doom to the universal truth of human life and reconstituting their signifi cance for the modern world.