氣候變遷危機語境下的野狐禪：同一性實踐和公案治療

The Wild Fox Chan: The Practice of the Same, Critical Chan Liminality, and Gong’an Therapy in Times of Climate Crisis

當今人類對氣候變遷危機的回應表現出令人不可思議的否認和淡漠。當我們回到問題的本身：知行不合一或知易行難，也就是，所知與實際所做之間明顯脫節時，這種癱瘓表明人類文明中的某個機制出現了問題，以至無法採取適當的行動。本文認為，問題的癥結出自人們的慣性思維和實踐。氣候變遷讓我們看到了一個有趣但非常不幸的現象，那就是：當人類意識到當前氣候危機的不可確定和不可掌控性時，我們採取的回應策略，是本能地縮回到熟悉的慣性舒適圈裡，而不是去接受不確定性背後所帶來的必要調適和改變。我們現今回應氣候變遷危機的方式，多半重複著慣性思維，不論是文化、潛意識或生物性層面，皆順應著某種同一性原則，這些同一實踐背後的代價是：我們無法以一個創新的方式來回應當前的危機。要解決同一實踐的問題，必須以解構同一性的臨界概念來突破同一性的困境。所以，在二十一世紀人類世末世的今天，我們更需要公案修行，以及公案這個文類。本文採用〈百丈野狐〉公案來作為案例探討，作為一個思考「批判式禪臨界」（critical Chan liminality）的文本實踐。公案修行讓我們進入一個「臨界閾限」，提供一個另類的認知和實踐視野。所以，公案這個文類正是人們此時此刻所需要的療癒工具。

Much of the way we respond to the climate change crisis today repeats our routinized old habits. For example, most people (including me) may respond to the crisis by repeating established consumption patterns, such as the use of reusable bags. While these provide relief, our basic way of life as consumers, and indeed the entire economic structure, has not changed. In other words, we are still collectively responding to an unprecedented large-scale climate crisis in a manner that is familiar to us without radically changing our cognition and our way of life. This is an interesting but unfortunate problem that humanity faces over and over. That is: when humanity is met with uncertainties in time of crisis, the response strategy is regressive. Instead of taking a radical move to revamp our way of life, we instinctively shrink back into our familiar (techno-capitalist) comfort zone of inertia and convenience, and use the easiest, low-cost ways to“save the planet”by doing token changes. What this suggests is a gap between our knowledge and action: when our human civilization is aware of its own crisis and must make changes immediately, we are caught and constrained by habitual (inert) thinking and behavior. Whether it is cultural (e.g., the scapegoat mechanism), subconscious (e.g., denial or repetitive obsessive-compulsive disorder), biological (e.g., forces like species reproduction, expansion, and maximization of resource), or karmic imprints (Skt. vāsanā; Ch. xiqi). These habits are the basis of what I call,“the practice of the same.”Such practice prevents us from taking innovative measures to respond to the current crisis. Since these deeply ingrained habits have seriously affected our ability to respond to disasters, how then do we combat them? After articulating the array of“the practice of the same”that dictates every corner of our civilization, this paper proposes to turn to gong’an (Jp. kōan) to dismantle that dysfunctional habit of repetition. The soteriological practice aiming at realizing one’s Buddha nature provides a way to think about what I call“critical Chan liminality,”which deconditions us from the practice of the same. Here I use“Baizhang’s Wild Fox”(Ch. Baizhang yehu) as a case in point to illustrate how gong’an narrative.