Excerpts from Lin Qingxuan's classic prose
No matter whether you are a teenager, a young man, or someone who has entered middle age, the name Lin Qingxuan is no stranger to him. The wisdom of this Taiwanese writer has indeed permeated every piece of his prose and infected every heart that reads it in front of the lamp. It was Lin Qingxuan who taught us how to face reality and define life with a positive attitude. There is also a touch of Zen thought in his prose, which is worthy of our calmness to read and think about. Let us enter Lin Qingxuan's unique world, feel the wisdom of life that is not out of reach, and live a life of our own.
--Write it in front
1. Every time I travel, I always carry a bottle of water and soil from my hometown. Sometimes I take the bottle of water and soil with me at a hotel in a guest area. When I came out and took a closer look, I felt that the gray-black water and soil were very beautiful and full of power. The water and soil of our hometown nurture us and make us grow into upright men. Even if we are thousands of miles away, we can still be full of tenderness and grandeur on lonely nights in foreign countries. That bottle of water and soil contains not only the love of my hometown, but also my mother’s blessing. This blessing lasts forever and has always taken care of me.
2. The sound of the wind chimes is very beautiful and long. It doesn’t sound like ringtones at all to me, but music. Wind chimes are the music of the wind, which makes us feel cool when listening to them in summer and warm when listening to them in winter. Wind has no image, color, or sound, but wind chimes give it an image, color, and sound. For wind, wind chimes represent awareness, observation and emotion. Every time, I listen to the wind chimes and feel the existence of the wind, then I feel that our life flows like the wind, which is almost difficult to grasp. Therefore, we need the wind chimes in our hearts to be aware of the flow of life and observe life. The content, moved by life and the chance meeting of life. With wind chimes, even though the wind has blown, it still leaves behind a beautiful sound. With the wind chimes of the heart, even if life passes by, it will leave touching traces. Every time the wind blows, every step of the years will exist so truly.
3. "Write your troubles on the beach". This is the most important key for Zen practitioners, which is "let go". Our troubles come from persistence. In fact, persistence is like words written on the sand. The sea water flows away as soon as it washes away. The emptiness of dependent origination is the reality of everything. If you can see this level, it is not difficult to let go.
4. Although love and separation are impermanent, it also makes us realize the heart of nature and know that impermanence has its beauty. Think about it, why most people in this world like real flowers and don’t What about plastic flowers? Because real flowers will wither, it makes people feel warm. On the shore of the cycle of life and death, we say goodbye, but we must say goodbye. This is the biggest dilemma for human beings. However, life is time, and neither can be reversed. Rather than falling and resenting the stone, it is better to look at your feet when walking from today, rather than being beaten. Tortured by the separation of yesterday's irreplaceable love, it would be better to return to the present.
5. The disappearance of causes and conditions may not necessarily make people cry, but the reluctance, persistence, and greed for causes and conditions will definitely make people shed tears like a sea. Impermanence is the inevitable process of time and space. It forces us to lose our young, precious, and haloed years. It is a regretful and helpless feeling. However, if impermanence is caused by human negligence and leaves a painful lesson, it is hateful and disgusting.
6. We came into this world crying, played various roles, performed various false scripts, and finally left this world crying. Every day after my evening walk, when I am about to return home, I touch Sunset's hair with gratitude and say some words of praise and gratitude. Be grateful for the shortcomings of this world, which keep us alert and prevent us from falling. Thank you for the pollution in this city that gives us the wisdom to pursue purity. Thanks to those seemingly ignorant flowers and trees that enable us to understand ourselves deeply.
Even if the living conditions can only be like that of animals, people should not live like animals and lose their affection, calmness, gentleness and dignity. Amidst the sorrow and misery of China's past dynasties, the reason why the Chinese people have not lost their essence actually comes from this simple The thought: "People should live like a human being!"
7. On rainy days, I often pray like this:
I hope the tears in the world will not fall like this The rain is pouring from the sky.
I hope the rain from the sky will not fall as dirty as the tears on earth.
I hope everyone can have a sunny umbrella to withstand the wind and rain of life.
I hope that everyone can become a pure person because of the cleaning of rain.
A person with blossoming wisdom will have his fragrance permeating the whole world and will not be limited by the time of year. A person who develops the qualities of morality, concentration, and wisdom within himself can spread the fragrance of personality even in adversity!
8. A clear window, facing the changes of time and space, spring flowers fly in, and there are spring flowers; fireflies float in, and there are fireflies; autumn sounds come in, and autumn sounds come; invade When winter comes, there will be winter cold. When love breaks in, there will be love; when sadness breaks in, there will be sadness. Whenever anything comes to our eyes, it can allow us to experience the deep taste of life more truly.
9. I believe in numerology, but I don’t believe that nailing four copper coins to the foot of the bed can guarantee a happy marriage and a long life together. I believe in Feng Shui, but I don’t believe that hanging a wind chime or setting up a fish tank can make a person prosperous in wealth and career. I believe that there are some mysterious correspondences between people and the environment, but I do not believe that whether a person steps on the left foot or the right foot first when walking can make a thing successful or fail. I believe that in addition to humans, there are countless sentient beings living with us in this world, but I don’t believe that burning incense and worshiping can lead to peace of mind and good luck every year. I believe that there are incredible karma between people, but I don’t believe that good karma can mature without any effort. I believe that reincarnation, cause and effect, and karma can make a person rise or fall, but I do not believe that relying on a stranger's fortune telling and luck change can make us rise or fall.
10. The white jade bitter melon and the jade cabbage are the treasures of the National Palace Museum in Taipei. They are both large and small and can only be held in the palm. The beauty of the white jade bitter melon lies in its jade quality, which is gentle and subtle; the beauty of the jade cabbage lies in its ingenuity and spirit. meticulous. "There is so much suffering in the world, and the only compensation is the small joys and small suspense in life." Isaac Singer said.
11. When lemon flowers are in full bloom, I walk through the lemon garden, and the rich fragrance of the flowers always makes me confused. Among all flowers, lemon flowers are the sweetest, with a thick honey flavor; but among all fruits, lemon fruit is the most sour, and its sourness is stronger than vinegar.
This feeling of confusion made me unable to help but look closely at the lemon blossoms. Among the pure white flowers and five leaves, there are tender yellows, and some are even painted with flowers. The thin purple piping allows the sweetness of the flowers to flow into my chest and abdomen.
12. Occasionally, I look down at the world of mortals, but I am pitiful as a person in my eyes. How can I describe the beauty of Epiphyllum? It is unparalleled by flowers. She has spun out a beautiful web that catches our eyes and makes us reluctant to move away for a second. Her fragrance, if compared with other fragrances, would be an insult to Epiphyllum. The garden of twenty square meters was completely filled, and the fragrance still flowed out densely.
13. Do you also know the truth about flowing water and the moon? The water keeps flowing, but it doesn't really disappear; the moon waxes and wanes, but it doesn't wax or wane at all. From the perspective of change, the world is changing every blink of an eye; from the perspective of change, everything and I are infinite. Between change and immutability, there is sadness when there is emotion, loss when there is emotion, and sadness when there is emotion. These are all born of change. However, if the eyes are as big as the moon and the sky, and are full of sadness, loss, and sadness, wouldn’t they be like shells on the seashore? The shell is dead, but the shape, color and beauty remain. This is a bit like what the Zen Master said: "My heart is as hot as fire, and my eyes are as cold as ashes." My heart is always enthusiastic, close, watching, and feeling about everything in life, but when it is turned into words, it seems that I have a pair of eyes that are calm and observing. , retreat, fly away, and come back to see all this plainly.
14. In real life, we gaze, listen, and meditate, which makes us watch, listen, stop, and then move forward, marching on a surface level. Often we only see it when we close our eyes and the form disappears. It was only when the words were silent and the words were lost that I could hear them. It becomes clear when we empty our thoughts and stop thinking about them. Love is in the heartless, separation is in the encounter, extraordinary is in the ordinary, ah! Which river doesn't find its way out despite the obstacles of mountains? If the ideal feeling is a river, it will freely find its way in the valley; if the heart echoes with the heart, it will be found by the destined person like a sword hanging on the treetops. Life is complicated and complicated. Creation is a simple yet great thing. When looking at life from the perspective of creation, don’t fall into the river, but always think about the scenery by the river. Looking at creation from the perspective of life, don’t catch the sky, but truly become the sky.
15. Creators do not need to boast or belittle themselves. Painters leave their colors to the earth, musicians leave their voices to the earth, and writers leave their words to the earth... because the earth does not deceive and carries it selflessly. Only then can we sincerely confide, and only then can it be worth using our life's strength to complete. Deep in our hearts, there must be something that can transcend limitations and penetrate life and death, just like the stars and moon in the sky that light up the dark night. Although those transcendences and penetrations come from personal emotions, if they do not echo the earth and do not match the seasons, The changes are in harmony with each other and do not match the rising and setting of the sun. Just like when a rose is pruned, the rose has died at the moment of pruning.
16. Beautiful creation is not about pruning roses, but about going into the countryside to see those roses in full bloom. If you can catch a glimpse of the spirit of the roses, the roses will never wither in your heart and will remain fragrant forever. If on a certain spring day, the shape of the pen and ink, the rose transcends limitations and penetrates life and death! The plum blossoms beside the inkstone washing pool are the plum blossoms of the earth. The light ink marks are the essence of plum blossoms left on the earth! We are not at peace because we are incomplete. We are incomplete because we isolate ourselves. If we open up a little connection with the earth, we will be out of isolation, we will be complete, and we will be peaceful, at least at the moment of creation.
17. I especially like butterflies, noctuids, dragonflies and damselflies. They look so free and free, with thin and beautiful wings. But I couldn't bear to kill them, so I could only look for the newly dead ones on the grassy slopes and woods. There were butterfly wings and transparent dragonfly wings of various colors.
I carefully clipped and pasted them on my own Thick paper with thin lining. For a while, I discovered that the Yellow Butterfly Green Valley in Meinong always gathered thousands of butterflies. Every time I went there, I could pick up beautiful butterfly wings. Memory is unreliable, and forgetting can be beautiful. Writers are different from scientists. Writers do not look for magic potions to increase memory, but let memories stay naturally, recorded in words or engraved on the heart, ready for chance encounters at any time. If you meet the beauty of ten years ago, you will have twice the beauty; if you meet the goodness of twenty years ago, you will have double the goodness. The first time I met beauty, I was still a young and inexperienced boy. Beauty would meet me, nod, smile, turn around, fly like wings into the flowers, and escape into the sky. Many years later, we have recognized the green grass outside the door, tasted the sweet and refreshing breath, heard the sound of deep sighs, walked through the long road in the dark with lights lit, and now met beauty again, and the fire in our hearts was ignite.
18.
Twenty years ago, there were no street lights in the countryside. It was almost dark when I walked through the fields to get home at night. On ordinary days, I would use the twilight In the light of day, I groped my way home. Occasionally, when there are stars, it becomes much brighter, and I feel that there is also the light of stars in my heart.
If there is a moon, my heart will calm down and there will be no fear of the dark night. In southern Taiwan, especially in summer, there were no street lights in the countryside more than 20 years ago. It was almost dark when you walked through the fields to get home at night. On ordinary days, you would use the dim light of the sky. , groping home. Occasionally, when there are stars, it becomes much brighter, and I feel that there is also the light of stars in my heart.
If there is a moon, my heart will calm down and there will be no fear of the dark night. In southern Taiwan, especially on summer nights, the light of the moon is particularly brilliant and can make the entire mountain road clearly extend.
The moonlight in the countryside is difficult to describe. It is not like the projection of the sun coming from the outside. Its light is like coming from the grass and trees, from the streets, from the flowers and leaves, and even from under the eaves and inside the walls. It oozes out slightly, and sometimes you mistakenly think that everything has its own light. If the night is foggy, there will be fresh air everywhere, and when fireflies fly in groups, they seem to be elves dropped by the moonlight.
Everything under the moonlight has light, how good it is!