A Taoist Philosophical Perspective on Shi Yongxin's Material Desires and Lustful Desires 从道家哲学看释永信的物欲和情欲
Recently, Shi Yongxin, the former abbot of
China's Shaolin Temple, is under a multi-agency joint investigation for
suspected criminal offenses. His violations should be punished accordingly,
needless to say. However, following this incident, we should delve deeper into
the root causes and seek preventative solutions.
This article examines Shi Yongxin, Shaolin Temple, and Buddhist abstinence from material and sexual desires from a Taoist perspective. We do not need soul-repentance or ideological liberation, but simply a return to human nature and nature itself.
We are first and foremost human beings, and then individuals with a specific identity. Monks are a special group, but no matter how special they are, they are still human. Religion is merely a profession.
Regarding material desires: Every living being on this planet consumes resources. The more resources one possesses, the more opportunities one has to influence society.
Shaolin Temple is a particularly successful commercial Buddhist temple in China. The role played by Shi Yongxin is undeniable. Regardless of the controversy, his contributions are undoubtedly hard work.
Managing such a massive industry, all of which is public property, and emphasizing only devotion is not in line with universal human nature. When a position wields immense power and manages a vast industry, yet corresponding oversight mechanisms are lacking, the implications are self-evident.
Society should encourage people to
contribute—in terms of human effort, youth, dedication, finances, and material
resources. However, the development of society and the sustainable development
of temples cannot rely on the selfless contributions of individuals, generation
after generation.
Therefore, capable and contributing
managers should be offered high salaries that comply with legal regulations,
and appropriate supervisory systems, such as those for supervisors, should be
established. Modern corporate systems can be used to explore appropriate
approaches.
Regarding lust: The desire to reproduce and
pass on resources to future generations is human nature, the nature of things,
and the laws of nature.
Chinese tradition is ancestor worship and the pursuit of many children and blessings. Taoism does not advocate abstinence; it even has specialized practices in this area, the "Art of the Bedroom," a scientific and traditional culture.
The Zhengyi School of Taoism, with its
nearly two thousand years of tradition, still allows marriage and childbearing.
The Zhang Tianshi family has passed down the tradition for over sixty
generations. Buddhism, imported from India, advocates abstinence, monasticism,
and childlessness. It also mimics the traditional Chinese patriarchal system,
treating disciples as descendants, recognizing the Buddha as an ancestor,
changing the surname to Shi, and assigning each generation a given name.
This kind of spiritual identification may
be understandable, but it contradicts universal human nature and the laws of
nature.
Practicing so much, yet ultimately
dehumanizing oneself—what's the point?
After the fall of Shi Yongxin, a monk
parachuted in from another temple became the abbot of Shaolin Temple, believing
this would help Shaolin Temple achieve its rebirth.
However, Buddhist temples are divided into
ancestral temples and ten-direction temples. A ancestral temple is collectively
owned by the monks within the temple, while a ten-direction temple is jointly
owned by all Buddhists.
Since the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, Shaolin
Temple has been a ancestral temple for nearly a thousand years. Master and disciple
are treated as if they were father and son, and the position of abbot is held
exclusively within the temple.
A ancestral temple can be transformed into
a ten-direction temple, but a ten-direction temple cannot be transformed into a
ancestral temple. This change of abbot may simply be a temporary, exceptional
measure for an emergency, serving as a fire-fighting measure. It may also be an
opportunity to change a nearly millennium-old tradition, transforming Shaolin
Temple from a ancestral temple to a ten-fold temple, thus transforming it from
collective property to public property.
So, how can Shaolin Temple truly be
considered public property? This is a question worthy of reflection and
attention.
It should be noted that in world history,
it is not uncommon for public ownership to be unfair and private ownership to
be non-private, and this also involves universal human nature and the laws of
nature.
Humans are always profit-seeking, and this
is also a key driving force for social progress. How to unleash this human
power while maintaining overall order is an eternal question.
Lao Tzu's "Tao Te Ching" states:
"The Tao follows nature," meaning that all things must follow the
laws of nature.
From a Taoist philosophical perspective,
all human-made value judgments must be based on natural laws and objective
reality, rather than relying on subjective human fantasies to impose so-called
"morality" and "correctness." Human desires are natural
laws and objective realities. Therefore, upholding the principles of nature and
suppressing human desires is wrong and anti-human, because human desires are
the principles of nature, and the principles of nature are the laws of nature.
To borrow Hegel's famous dictum, "Existence is reasonable, and reasonableness is existence," this "reasonable" refers to conforming to natural laws, not to human fantasies of "morality" or "correctness."
Thus, whatever exists, whether we like it or not, we must consider whether it conforms to natural laws. And anything that conforms to natural laws must exist and should exist.
Because Taoist philosophy takes a God's perspective, observing the human world from beyond the heavens, it teaches us to live better lives by adapting to nature, rather than demanding that everything in the universe adapt to us from the perspective of a grain of sand in the universe.
近日，中国少林寺前住持释永信因涉嫌刑事犯罪等而接受多部门联合调查。其违法违规之处，该处罚的处罚，此不赘述。但此事之后，应深挖问题根源，寻找预防和解决办法。
本文从道家思想角度看释永信、少林寺和佛教的禁欲，包括物欲和情欲。我们并不需要灵魂忏悔或思想解放，而仅仅需要回归人性和自然本身。
我们首先是人，然后是特定身份的人。僧人是特殊人群，但再特殊，他们也是人。宗教，这只是一种职业，不要带上滤镜。
关于物欲。任何生物在这个星球上都要消耗资源，拥有的资源多，越有条件去影响社会。
少林寺是中国商业化特别成功的佛教寺庙，释永信起到的作用毋庸置疑，再有争议，没功劳也有苦劳。
经营出这么庞大的产业，都是公产，全讲奉献，也不合普遍的人性。
当一个职位的权力巨大，管理非常庞大的产业，相应的监管机制却很匮乏，这意味着什么不言而喻。
社会应该鼓励人们奉献，人力、青春、心血、财力、物力上的奉献，而社会的发展、寺庙的永续发展，不能立足于人们一个个、一代代都无私奉献。
所以，应该给能人、有贡献的经营管理者以合法合规的高薪机制，并建立相应的监事等监管制度，这可以参考现代企业制度去探索适合的方式。
关于情欲。想繁衍，资源想传子孙，这是人性，是物性，是自然规律。
中国传统就是祖先崇拜、多子多福。道家也不禁欲，甚至还有专门钻研这方面的“房中术”，是一门科学和传统文化。
传承近两千年的道教正一派现在依然允许结婚、生育，张天师世家还世代相传、子孙相继六十多代。
而从印度舶来的佛教则禁欲、出家、不婚不育，又模仿中国传统宗法制度，将徒弟视同子嗣，改认佛祖为祖先，改姓释，每代起字辈，
这种精神认同，或许能够理解，但并不符合普遍人性和自然规律。
修行修行，如果把自己修得没有人性了，那是做什么？
释永信倒台后，一位从其他寺庙空降来的僧人出任少林寺住持，相信这将帮助少林寺涅槃重生。
但佛寺分为子孙庙和十方庙，子孙庙的产权归本庙内僧人们集体所有，十方庙的产权归全体佛教共同拥有。
少林寺从蒙元时期以来近千年都是子孙庙，师徒之间视同父子，住持一职只在本寺内产生。
子孙庙可以转化为十方庙，但十方庙不能转化为子孙庙。
本次住持换人，可能只是一种非常时期的临时性特殊措施，起到救火的作用；也可能是一个改变近千年传统的机会，让少林寺从子孙庙变革为十方庙，那少林寺就从集体财产变为公有财产了。
那么，如何做到少林寺真的姓“公”？也是一个值得思考和关注的问题。
须知，在世界历史上，公有制不公、私有制不私并不是稀罕事，而这同样涉及普遍人性和自然规律。
人，永远是趋利的，这也是推动社会进步的重要动力，如何释放这种人性的力量，又维护整体的秩序，是一个永恒的课题。
老子《道德经》言：“道法自然”，万物都要遵循自然规律。
从道家哲学视角来看，人类虚构出来的种种价值评价都要立足于自然规律、客观实际，而不是凭藉人类的主观妄想而给人套上所谓“道德”“正确”的枷锁。
人欲是一种自然规律、客观实际，那么，存天理、灭人欲就是错误的、反人性的，因为人欲就是天理，天理就是自然规律。
借用黑格尔的名言“存在即合理、合理即存在”，这个“合理”是要合自然规律，而不是合人类幻想的“道德”“正确”。
所以，凡是存在的，无论我们喜不喜欢，都要想一想，它是不是符合自然规律；而凡是符合自然规律的，它必然能够存在，也应该存在。
因为道家哲学是上帝视角，站在天外看人间，启示我们在适应自然的基础上生活得更好，而不是以宇宙中一粒沙的视角去要求宇宙万物适应自己。
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