人性无常莫测 谁能拔苦与乐——读陈继明《和尚》

Human Nature Being Impermanent, Where is the Way to Salvation？-On Chen Jiming＇s The Monk

陈继明的小说《和尚》通过讲述一个“和尚和妓女”的故事,引发人们透过形式与表象去探索人性,并思考精神信仰的本质.一个真实自然、瑕瑜并存的主人公的形象及其经历表明,心灵的安顿与超越并不拘于出家与在家的形式,关键是能在精神世界得到净化,以出世之心做入世之事,但因为人性的无常莫测,所谓自度度人,绝非易事.尽管自由解脱的彼岸世界似乎遥不可及,作者仍传达与坚守了一份理想情怀,希望滚滚红尘中的人们点亮心中的信仰之灯,在人生的逆旅中实现自我的救赎.

Chen Jiming＇s The Monk probes into the complexity of human nature and the essence of spiritual belief by telling a storyabout “a monk and a prostitute”. Portraying a round character and his life experience, it deconstructs the boundary between the asceticand the secular, highlights the importance of self-cultivation and doing this-worldly business with other-worldly mind, and also revealsthe difficulty of realizing self-liberation and helping others to achieve enlightenment due to the impermanence of human nature. Despiteof all this, the writer adheres to an ideal and emphasizes the necessity of faith in realistic life to accomplish self-redemption.