《湖濱散記》的湖，《流浪者之歌》的河

Walden’s Pond, Siddhartha’s River

《湖濱散記》之湖水，和《流浪者之歌》的河水互相唱和，讚頌生命的美好，同時也譴責物質世界的墮落。兩部寫於不同世紀的經典作品，同樣嚮往一種不受外在文化制約下，真實的自我。它們充滿普世的精神主義，強調深邃的內涵、精神的自由，以及萬物的連結，對當今世界影響甚深。本研究目的在探討兩文本所涉及的心靈追尋之相似處，闡釋得自於湖及河的共通生命哲理。根據David McMahan所著的《現代佛法之生成》（The Making of Buddhist Modernism）一書中之論點，赫塞的《流浪者之歌》，融合了佛法與浪漫主義的思想，而梭羅的超越主義，採納了東方的宗教觀。本研究以McMahan的觀點為理論基礎，分析兩部作品的契合處。在《湖濱散記》中，深不見底的湖泊代表靈魂的深邃及純淨。無獨有偶，《流浪者之歌》中，河流亦象徵潔淨無瑕的自性。梭羅尋找堅固的湖底，相當於赫塞追尋深層的存在。通往自在的生命道路，在於消除自我意識，使之與天地合而為一。湖與河如二重奏，讚頌世界萬物的生生不息及相互連結。

The water of the pond in Waldenechoes the voice of the river in Siddhartha. Together, they chant the eulogy of life and denouncethe corruption of a materialistic world. Writtenin different centuries, the two classics share the same yearning for a genuine self liberated from cultural constraints. Permeatedwith universal spiritualism, they exert strong influencestoday with the emphasis on inner depth, spiritual freedom and organic wholeness.The purpose of this study is to explore the similarities of the spiritual quest in the two texts, revealing the life philosophybegotten from the pond and river.According to David McMahan’s The Making of Buddhist Modernism, Hesse’s Siddharthais a hybridity of Buddhist and Romanticist thought, while Thoreau’s Transcendental vision has recourse to oriental religion.With McMahan’s assertion as the theoreticalbase, this study detects the spiritual allianceof the two works.The bottomless pond in Waldenimplicates the depth and purity of human soul. Similarly, the river in Siddhartharepresents immaculate self-nature.Thoreau’s search for the solid bottom parallels Hesse’squest for the innermost being. The path to a spontaneous way of life lies in the eradication of selfhood to be merged with the whole world. The pond and river perform the duet to affirm the sustainability and interconnectedness of all beings in the universe.