The Gay Genius Chapter15

I. The central question

Q: What's the difference between Su Tungpo himeself and his new identity "the recluse of the eastern slope" ?

A: In my opinion, neither "the recluse" or "the famer" can represent Su Tungpo's life in Huangchow. The Chinese word "Tungpo Jushi" has deeply meaning of the Buddhism. Work as a farmer was just the way Su Tungpo make a living. However, it was hard to say Su Tungpo was an recluse. His life was called half-retirement, also he was not that kind of person who enjoyed living alone. We may call him "a lay buddhist of the eastern slope". Su Tungpo use Buddhism to found inner peace, so he felt easy and comfort in Huangchow. He has no real rights but he care about the people in Huangchow, he even established a Save-the Child. Association.

II. The sentence

1. Su Tungpo now was to become a farmer by necessity and a recluse by temperament and natural inclination. What society, culture, learning, reading of history, and external duties and responsibilities do to a man is to hide his real self. Strip him of all these trappings of time and convention, and you have the real man.

这几句讲苏东坡"退耕于东坡之上"，也就是"东坡居士"这个名号的由来。后两句非常有哲理，社会、文化、学识、职责与责任都是外在的东西，它们并不能代表真正的自己。而苏东坡至黄州，官无实权、远离亲友，精神上的疏离使得他开始观照自己的内心。

2. The question of savation is after all, only the achievement of spiritual harmony in which the baser instincts of man can be brought under contol of his higher nature. If one could attain such a spiritual harmony through intelligent self-discipline, one did not have to leave human society entirely in order to achieve salvation.

关于"解脱"，林语堂在这里的观点认为解脱并不是要避世独居远离诱惑，而是拥有对抗诱惑的强大精神力量。这与宋代佛教的观点很相似，宋代禅宗不主张出世，而是提出"佛法在世间"，"离世觅菩提，恰如求兔角"。因而，苏东坡自名"居士"，也与佛教处世之道相似。

3. It has always seemed to me that wherever the spirit of man lives, religion comes to life again. Whenever the spirit of man dies, religion also decays.

很有哲理的一句，将宗教依存于精神描述的十分精彩。