太殺老婆禪：禪宗女性公案「婆子燒庵」參究之機鋒啟悟與文學意象

Extreme Chan Buddhist Meditation for Older Women: Literary Images and Enlightenment through Penetrating and Investigating the Opportune Point of “The Old Woman who Burned the Buddhist Nunnery,” a Chan Buddhist Public Case of Women

本文以女性公案「婆子燒庵」為對象，探討歷來禪門參究此公案的機鋒啟悟與文學意象。公案的男性僧人（庵主）不入情欲俗流，婆子（燒庵婆）卻放火燒庵，展現猛利殺辣的禪婆手眼。此公案有實相與修行的豐富內涵，歷來的參究，因學人執取的不同，形成千變萬化的啟悟。本文將這些啟悟分成七類作探討：1、舉揚婆子手段。2、扶僧人奪婆子。3、婆子僧人俱奪俱扶。4、婆僧知音敵手。5、正恁麼時如何。6、認取本份事。7、女禪師機鋒。在文學意象上，燒庵婆常被冠以「風流」與「春光」意象，僧人則是秋霜冬雪等冷冰寒嚴的意象。二者的互動，則有鴛鴦、冰火、戰爭等意象。所以一幅春花秋月、柳綠冬雪式的情景常躍然在其機鋒頌古上，此是修證與文學的巧妙靈活結合。

This article, through the Chan Buddhist public case (gong'an 公案) “The Old Woman who Burned the Buddhist Nunnery” (Pozi shao an 婆子 燒庵), investigates how Chan meditation practitioners have achieved enlightenment over time by penetrating and investigating this story. The monk in the public case, the head of the nunnery, does not exhibit any lustful or vulgar behavior, yet the old woman still sets fire to the nunnery, revealing the fierce and ruthless outlook of the Chan Buddhist old woman. This public case has rich implications for reality and cultivation practices, and the practice of penetrating and investigating it has provoked an infinite variety of enlightenment experiences over time because those who study it grasp it in quite different ways. This article classifies these enlightenment experiences into seven kinds in order to examine them: 1) praising the old woman's methods; 2) supporting the monk and repudiating the old woman; 3) praising and repudiating both figures; 4) presenting the old woman and monk as antagonists that intimately understand one another; 5) how to deal with the situation if you were one of the characters; 6) identifying the root of the matter; 7) understand the female Chan master's opportune point. In terms of literary images, the old woman has been frequently labeled as a distinguished figure or an erotic character, whereas the monk is pictured as an elder, noble character, one who is stern and unemotional. The interactions between the two then reveal images associated with affectionate couples, irreconcilable differences, and conflict. A scene with picturing descriptions such as spring blossoms, autumn moon, green willows, and winter snow as metaphors, often appears in odes and opportune point sentences. This is not only a flexible combination of cultivation practices and literature, but also one of the features of Chan Buddhism's verses and Gathas.