覺──天台茶禪的理論建構與實踐

Enlightenment, Theory Construction of Tiantai Tea Zen and Its Practice

茶，自晉代即為僧眾禪修之媒介。隋代智者大師創立中國第一個佛教宗派天台宗，天台茶更與天台宗的禪修，形成緊密之關係。天台宗茶禪一味之精神在「覺」，透過行茶、品茶，開發六根的本覺，影響禪宗及日本茶道甚鉅。禪宗茶禪一味轉以「無」為核心；日本茶道則為「侘」。
本文援引《小止觀》十章內容詮釋行茶品茶，試圖建構「天台茶禪」的理論，並將「龍行十八式」的獻茶技藝，因革損益，製訂「天台茶禪十八式」，使茶人從行茶的實踐中，走上始覺之道，最後以茶自覺、覺他，臻於圓覺境界。至此，所謂的茶人，實即一證悟自性本自清淨的覺者──佛。

Tea has been a medium for Buddhist monks in the practice of Zen meditation since the Jin Dynasty. Master Zhizhe set up Tiantai Sect, the first Buddhist sect in China, during the Sui Dynasty, and Tiantai tea is closely related to Zen meditation of Tiantai Sect. “Jue” (Enlightenment) is the spirit of common taste in tea and Zen of Tiantai Sect to develop the ben jue (the original enlightenment)of six roots through tea serving and tea tasting that has great influence on Zen and Japanese Sadō (the Japanese tea ceremony). The common taste in tea and Zen of Tiantai Sect takes “nothingness” as the core, while Japanese Sadō involves its own aesthetic, “wabi” (rustic simplicity).
By referring to contents from ten chapters of Minor Zhi-Guan (The Minor Treatise on Samatha and Vipassana, i.e. calm meditation and insight meditation), this essay interprets tea serving and tea tasting. This research further discusses an attempt to construct the theory of “Tiantai Tea Zen” to establish “Tiantai Tea Zen 18” based on the inheritance and change of the tea offering art of “Dragon Line 18”. It thus leads masters of the tea ceremony to a step toward the way of shi jue (the initial enlightenment) from the practice of tea serving and, finally, to a practice of tea in possessing self-enlightenment, enlightening others and achieving the realm of complete enlightenment. Therefore, the so-called masters of the tea ceremony are really the enlightened who have attained adhigama (spiritual realization) of self-nature that is originally clear and pure, i.e. the Buddha’s way.