Mahamudra culture is handed down in several forms

The Preservation of Buddhist Heritage Has Nothing to Do with the Number of People Involved

Xuemo

Mahamudra culture is handed down in several forms. First, it is preserved in popular covert culture. What is covert culture, then? It refers to the way of living and the concept of survival that I mentioned just now. In such a cultural environment, Mahamudra is passed down from generation to generation by the western folks who have been immersed in its beliefs in such forms as Liangzhou Xianxiao 涼州賢孝. It is inherited in local people’s mindsets, folk customs and practices, cultural behaviors, and even collective unconsciousness. So we call it covert culture.

Second, it is handed down by Buddhist elites, such as Kumarajiva 鳩摩羅什 and many other masters after him. This is the major and elite form of cultural continuity. Culture was handed down from master to apprentice. For quite a long period of time, for instance, the lineage of the Chan sect was like this: Bodhidharma 達摩 passing the teachings to the second patriarch, then the second patriarch to the third patriarch, etc. Mahamudra culture thinks of Chan culture as one variety of Mahamudra. Although the continuity of Chan culture does not totally depend on the master-apprentice relationship, it is indeed the major form.

Third, Mahamudra culture is passed down by means of books, many of which are in manuscript. Some of them later became part of the overt culture, which means they became visible to everyone. For example, Phags-pa 八思巴 of the Yuan Dynasty wrote a book entitled A Secret Collection of the Essential Paths of Mahayana 大乘要道密集.In this book, there are many explanations about Mahamudra culture.

These are the three forms of preserving the heritage of Mahamudra. Among them, the first form is the most important and most influential. In the form of covert culture, the beliefs of Mahamudra go deep into the souls of people of that region or become a collective unconsciousness. In this way, Mahamudra culture is turned into a bright light that people have always had and cannot do without.

Let me give you an example. Liangzhou people never understand Wenzhou people. They inevitably think Wenzhou people too obsessed. In the eyes of Liangzhou people, life is like crossing a bridge, walking from this side to that side. When you are in the middle of it, don’t get too obsessed. At that moment, the happiest thing is to have a clear view of life. I elaborated on that question when a US TV station interviewed me. The journalist doubted if the culture I mentioned could last for a long time in the background of globalization, if my persistence was useful, and if my way of disseminating culture was dated when everyone else was thinking about liberating mankind. I told him that the preservation of culture could not be measured by the number of people involved. From the time when Chan culture was passed down from Bodhidharma to the second patriarch until it reached the sixth patriarch, people involved were small in number. However, they have had great influeces on Chinese culture as a whole; they have also influenced world culture. Now their influences have reached India, the place from which Chan culture originally came.

Therefore, cultural continuity is like a torch. It is not true that a single torch cannot light many torches. The hustle and bustle of this age may drown Xuemo’s voice, but one thing will not ignore it. It is history. All the voices that are drowned in history are popularized voices. When everyone says “it’s good,” and only one person says “it’s not,” history will preserve that negative voice. When the river of history is rolling forward irresistibly, what remains is that spray which is heading against the flow. The individuals whose names can shine in history are few. In his days, Confucius was no better than a homeless dog, running around here and there and often with an empty stomach. But thanks to him, Chinese culture was preserved. We can’t say that Confucianism would flourish only if all the people at that time had become Confucius. No, it’s not so. In the Qing Dynasty, there was a lonely scholar called Wang Fuzhi. While his contemporaries were bowing in worship to the Qing government, Wang Fuzhi was writing his articles in a quiet place. No one heard his voice at that time, but history did. So now Wang Fuzhi 王夫之 has become an unignorable name. In the Western Han Dynasty, when everyone was busy praising Emporor Wudi for his great talent and bold vision, a Confucian scholar by the name of Dong Zhongshu 董仲舒 put forward the theory of “interaction between Heaven and man” and “the Confucian doctrine.” His voice was small at that time, but he somehow was able to preserve his doctrines. Although the powerful Emperor Wudi had Sima Qian 司馬遷, a weak man of letters, castrated, Sima Qian’s Shi Ji (or Historical Records) would not be buried in the ashes of history. Sima Qian is remembered by history and so is his Shi Ji.

Therefore, the preservation of cultural heritage has nothing to do with the number of people involved. Let me give you one more example. In the Tang Dynasty, when so many men of letters loved to use parallel prose, Han Yu advocated the Ancient Literature Movement. He was totally alone at the very beginning and advocated the movement all on his own. What was worse, he was relegated to Chaozhou because he was against meeting the Buddha’s relics. At that time, he wrote the following lines: “I can’t see my family, with clouds enveloping the Qinling Mountains; the horses are held back by the snow heaped in Languan.” You can feel how lonely he was at that time. But his name still shines in history.

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佛教的传承跟人数多少无关

雪漠

大手印文化传承有几个传承载体。第一个传承载体是民间的隐文化。隐文化是什么呢？就是我刚才说到的那种人们的生活方式、生存理念。在那种文化状态下，大手印文化通过一代一代的、受着它的理念薰染的西部老百姓，通过凉州贤孝等传承下来。它以当地的民众心态、民俗风情、文化行为，甚至集体无意识的这种形式传承下来。这是第一种隐文化。

第二种，通过一些精英人士，如鸠摩罗什文化大师以及之后的诸多文化大师，通过他们的师徒传授传承下来。这被称为精英和主流传承。过去很长一段时间，禅宗的达摩祖师将法传于二祖，二祖传三祖等等。大手印文化也认为禅宗文化是其一种。虽然禅宗文化不是全部靠师徒传承，但其主要传承就是那样的形式。

第三种，它通过一些书籍，包括好多是以手抄本的形式，把这些文化传承了下来。其中，后来有一些成了显文化，就是大家都可以看到的。例如元朝有个八思巴，写了《大乘要道密集》，中间就对大手印文化就有诸多的解释。

大手印文化的传承主要就是这三个方面。但在这三个方面中间最主要，影响最大的是第一种。就是以一种隐文化的形式，把大手印文化理念深入那块区域的人的灵魂深处，或是形成集体无意识。就是将大手印文化变为人们本有的时刻离不开的一种光明。

我举个例子，凉州人永远不理解温州人。他们永远认为温州人太执著了。凉州人认为人生就是过一个桥梁，从这一段到那一段。行在中间时，你不要太执著了。这个时候最快乐的是如何明白。美国电视台采访我的时候专门谈到这个问题。那个记者说，在全球大背景下，你所说的这种文化的生命力究竟能持续有多久？值得怀疑。你的这种坚持有没有意义？值得怀疑。当每个人都在解放人这方面做文章时候，你的这种传播文化的做法是不是落后了？我告诉他：一个文化的传承不能以人数的多少来衡量。达摩将禅宗文化传给二祖的时候，二祖传给三祖的时候，直至传到六祖的时候仍然人数不多，但这些人却影响了后来的整个中国文化，也影响到了世界文化，甚至现在返回去影响印度文化。

所以，文化的传承像火把一样，不能说只有一个火把，就不能点亮许多个火把。虽然这个时代有许多喧嚣的东西，它可能会淹没雪漠的声音，但有个东西却不会忽略这个声音，那就是历史。历史上被淹没的声音都是大众化的声音。当大家都说“好”、“好”的时候，有一个人说了“不好”，历史就会留下这个“不好”的声音。就是当历史的河流滚滚东去的时候，留下来的是那朵逆流而上的浪花。历史上闪光的名字永远是个别人。孔子在那个时代像丧家之狗一样，东奔西跑，甚至饿着肚子，但中国的文化照样能传承下来。在那个时候，不能说人们都变成了孔子，中国的儒家文化就兴起了。不是这样的。当人们都在向清朝政府顶礼膜拜的时候，有一个非常孤独的文人叫王夫之。他躲在一个地方，静静地写着他的文章，发出他自己的声音。那个时代谁也听不到他的声音，但历史听到了。所以，王夫之是一个永远抹不去的名字。当人们都赞美汉武帝的雄才大略的时候，有一个儒生叫董仲舒，就这么一个人提出了“天人感应”学说，提出了“儒家学说”。他发出的声音很小，但他会依托一种东西把那个学说留下去。甚至当汉武帝拥有天大权利，把一个弱小的文人司马迁阉割掉的时候，司马迁写的《史记》却不会灰飞烟灭。历史就记着司马迁，《史记》就传承了下来。

文化的传承跟人数的多少没有关系。再举个例子，唐朝的时候，那么多的文人迷醉于骈文，韩愈却倡议恢复古文运动。刚开始他很孤独，就他一个人在倡议、并且因为反对迎佛骨被泛到潮州。那时，他写出了“云横秦岭家何在？雪拥蓝关马不前”。那个时候的韩愈是多么孤独呀！但他的名字仍然在历史上闪光。

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