相书-有一种文化叫孤独 The Culture of Solitude

在公元526年，9月底，广州来了一条普通的外籍商船，通过海关人员的检查，发现有一个文化人，靠乞讨和说文化糊口，为了对整个人群负责，海关人员把这个看起来怪的人送到省政府，在省政府的问询下，省长给第一领导写了一个文化交流方面的公函，说，有一个印度高人，带着神秘的文化，想讲给这个国家的人听，领导你看着办，半月后，在政府的接送下，由广州到了南京，10月15日，阴历，中国皇帝，代表整个民族，见到了这个外国人，自称达摩，说有正法要传，梁武帝，是一个皇帝，又是佛协主席，还是文化人，很有礼貌，以一个学生的姿态请教达摩，什么是第一事，人的终极第一要做的是什么，达摩以一个文化传播者的身份要回答这个问题是有一定难度的，这里有一个文化的序位的问题，如果达摩的文化低于梁武帝的文化，这是外交活动了，如果达摩的文化高于梁武帝的文化，梁武帝是中国文化的象征，那么中国人就白活了吗，文化平等也不行，达摩的回答是，【廓然无圣，】有的地方的翻译是【不知】，这是非常ok的回答了，但在几百人的朝堂之上，还是无理的，但只能无理了，因为你在文化上没有高度，谈传法不就是达摩来中国混一碗饭的意思吗，礼貌之作用在这里只能舍弃了，梁武帝非常的绅士，ok，这个形而上的问题我们先不谈了，梁武帝认为没有胜负，认为达摩滑头，于是，梁武帝问了一个非常个人化也是整个宗教维系的核心价值观，每一种文化都有价值观的，价值观是文化的色彩，梁武帝问，大量布施在精神世界的补偿是什么，达摩非常客气，为什么非常客气呢，看到可爱的梁武帝，说点实在的话是一种尊重和对梁武帝个人的礼貌，达摩的回答是，狗屁不是，也有的翻译是【毫无功德】，结果是，在梁武帝看，这个人不怎么样，那么在文化系统的对垒中，我们中国人的文化，在主场的之力下，完胜的外来文化，驱逐了外来文化，但我们中国人的太他妈绅士了，不理你，什么正法眼藏，不理你，这说明我们中国人的文化成熟和稳定，那么达摩，一个孤独的流浪者，越境到北方去了，去吧，外来的文化。不稀罕你。

[Xiang’s Essay] - The Culture of Solitude #

In the year of 526 A.D., near the end of September, an ordinary foreign merchant ship pulled over at Guangzhou port. Through the verification course in the customhouse, an intellectual, who described himself as a beggar and a culture-teller, was discovered. To fulfill their obligation, the officers sent this weirdo to the provincial government. After the enquiry, the governor of Guangdong wrote an official letter about cultural communication to his superior, saying “a master from India has brought along mysterious culture, and wants to preach it to our people. What do you think?”

Half a month later, the foreigner was escorted by the government from Guangzhou to the capital Jiankang (nowadays Nanjing). On October the 15th on lunar calendar, the Chinese emperor, representing the whole Chinese Nation, met with him. The foreigner called himself Bodhidharma. He came to China to preach the orthodox dharma. Emperor Xiao Yan 【萧衍】 (posthumous name: Emperor Wu of Liang Dynasty【梁武帝】), a king, a Buddhist, an intellectual, asked politely as a junior, “What is the highest meaning of noble truth?” It was not easy for Bodhidharma to answer the question as a cultural communicator, because it involved the problems of cultural priority. If Bodhidharma’s culture was lower in priority than Emperor Wu’s, this became a diplomatic activity; if higher, what about the magnificence of Chinese culture, represented by the emperor? So Bodhidharma answered, “Nothing.” In some versions it was translated as “No idea.” That was a much appropriate answer, yet in the imperial court filled with hundreds of officials, it still sounded a bit offensive. But how else? He didn’t come to China to feed himself. He came to preach. Politeness had to be abandoned if you wanted to keep your attitude toward the culture. Emperor Wu did know the courtesy and stopped pressing on with it. He thought they were even in the first round and that Bodhidharma was a sly dog. So, Emperor Wu asked another question, which supported the core value of a religion (and also very personal), “How much karmic merit have I earned for giving Dāna(in buddhism: generosity or giving, a form of alms)?” Out of respect to our Emperor Wu, Bodhidharma answered in such politeness, “None.” (In some versions, “There’s no merit.”)

Then, Emperor Wu understood that there was nothing special about the man in front of him. “In this confrontation between cultural systems, Chinese native culture overwhelmed the foreign culture completely. But we Chinese are too gentlemanly to drive it out. We just ignore it. Shōbōgenzō or whatever, we don’t care. Chinese culture is mature and stable, while foreign culture is nothing compared to ours.”

So, Bodhidharma, a rover in solitude, left and went to the north.

from: zenlet.com