南蠻堂八卦的八卦，PTT、DCARD、MOBILE01和Yahoo名人娛樂都在討論

最愛他的電影是"美夢成真"
那個一一在死後世界尋回家人
為了一生摯愛就連死後都心靈相悉
甘願自沉於地獄為其守候
痛苦但甘心的真情流露

#此刻他也到了花朵滿地山光水色的天堂了
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"笑臉不過是羅賓威廉斯最偉大的演技，這位自嘲「內心從無平靜」的演員，一輩子都在掙扎，從掙扎著成為成功的諧星，到掙扎著擺脫喜劇形象成為真正的演員，掙扎著八卦小報拿他的健康做文章……這些掙扎都完美地掩蓋在他的笑臉與如同機關槍一般敏捷連發的笑話中。"

【笑臉是他最偉大的「演技」：從酒吧舞台到奧斯卡——羅賓威廉斯】Every little d

許多人以為《#早安越南》裡的電台DJ、《#阿拉丁》裡的神燈精靈、還有《#野蠻遊戲》裡的野人，都很接近 #羅賓威廉斯 的真實個性表現。

事實上，那些全是他的演技，他隱藏自己既偏執又難搞的個性，將其掩蓋在瘋狂的樂天表徵下：「我總是選擇那些與我差異很大的角色，因為我要證明，我要向你們證明，我是會演戲的。」

#RobinWilliams

—
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譚新強：香港貴為war zone 樓市仍跑贏全球大城市！

公幹出外近3周，終於回到「人間樂土」的東方之珠。這個社會充滿愛，充滿包容，國慶佳節，政府體諒人民日常生活疲勞，就索性幾乎封鎖全港交通，呼籲各大商場休息一天（基本上逢周末都已經休息），勸喻巿民盡量留在家中，共享天倫。所有街道變成「步行街」，讓精力旺盛，不黐家的巿民上街打打war game（愈來愈逼真），舒展吓筋骨！市民亦非常替政府設想，省錢取消煙花表演，改為在街上自製煙火，效果更震撼啊！

唯一小問題是興高采烈之際，市民有點樂極忘形，不覺意間稍為毁壞了些少車輛、電單車、商舖和公共設施等。此舉本屬無傷大雅，搵保險公司埋單即可，但據聞保險公司竟然斗膽不認帳，把這些損害列作為不受保的「暴動」損失！豈有此理，建議充滿着愛的和平市民，本着大家應有的守望相助精神，替蒙受損失的市民出頭，向保險公司解釋他們的所作所為絕非暴動，一切破壞行動都是出自充滿愛的「初心」！所以保險公司必須賠錢！

不好意思，生於亂世，有點黑色幽默感，是非常重要的survival skill。

這3周去了不少地方，從深圳坐東航出發（你懂的），首站上海，然後溫哥華、華盛頓、紐約、New Haven和多倫多。平時出外公幹，主要興趣在當地經濟和主要企業，較少留意房地產。這一次稍有不同，在溫哥華和多倫多，都花了點時間了解下當地住宅甚至商業房地產市場（你也懂的），即使在上海和紐約，雖沒有直接看房屋，但亦有跟當地人討論房地產市場。

三藩市上海等皆現調整

第一個觀察是不知不覺中，原來幾乎所有全球主要城市的住宅房價格，在過去兩年，即從中美貿易戰掀起後不久，即開始調整。很多地方已下跌10%至30%，大部分外幣更兌美金大幅貶值。強如三藩市，今年都跌了3%至5%。在美加，首期比例可低至5%或更少，即是話可能已開始出現負資產！

官方數據看不出來，但所有上海朋友都告訴我二手房的價格，其實已跌了蠻厲害的20%（據悉北京也差不多），當然尚未把人民幣過去兩年貶值超過10%算在內。原因跟整體經濟放緩、去槓桿政策，以及貿易戰都有關係。除此，眼看香港現今情况，中央肯定嚴防國內出現同樣誇張的房地產泡沫，為免種下如今日香港社會動亂的禍根（之一）。

溫哥華的房地產市場更弱，主要原因是整個市場跟亞洲尤其中國太過息息相關了。到埗當天，跟家人去了Richmond最有名的Aberdeen Mall， 即碰上一班黑衣人唱歌叫口號，可想而知。

溫哥華豪宅跌30% 開始出現300呎細單位

溫哥華山明水秀，氣候相對宜人，但本地經濟一般，跟鄰近的美國西雅圖，既有亞馬遜和微軟等龍頭企業，稅又低，沒法比。過去10年，大量中國資金流入溫哥華，把房價推至本地人根本無法負擔的水平，平均房價對比平均家庭收入高達11倍以上，全球第二、三位，跟悉尼叮噹馬頭（悉尼樓市也最少跌了兩成，亦未計貨幣貶值），僅次於香港的19倍。當然如以value for money來看，溫哥華仍比香港「抵」好幾倍，溫哥華房屋的平均面積仍超過千呎，香港的恐怕400呎不到。但不幸發現溫哥華的最新condo項目，最細單位只有300多呎，正一好學唔學。

從約兩年前進入溫哥華的資金流就出現變化，中國收緊外匯管制，本身經濟放緩，再加上人民幣貶值，購買力當然下降。據說他們也學乖了，即使有錢，也不會再亂出高價，把買房當成買菜一樣。除此，政府亦出了多項措施，防止樓市過熱，設了15%的外國人購買稅，另外還有BC省和溫哥華市的空置稅，加起來差不多每年高達4%！ 最後加拿大執行全球收入稅亦愈來愈嚴謹，只要一墮入tax resident稅網，20多萬加幣收入以上，邊際稅率已高達50%！

Downtown condo抗跌能力最強，據說例如3 Harbour Green（新地郭氏家族控制的Aspac發展的），跌幅只約10%。反而坐落在West Vancouver山上，景觀漂亮的上千萬大屋，有些已跌了30%以上（還未計加幣貶值）。我亦經過West Point Grey和Shaughnessy等傳統豪宅區，跌幅一樣可觀，還故意八卦駛過孟晚舟坐落在Dunbar的大屋（其中之一），不錯但毫不突出。雖然她已盡量低調，但華為新聞實在太犀利，據悉對當地市場仍有頗嚴重影響，嚇怕不少潛在買家。跟不少人討論過樓市前景，最樂觀的都認為將最少再調整一年，可能再跌10%，悲觀的更認為帶動全球的美國經濟才剛開始放緩，今次周期可長達10年！所以即使買，也絕不用急。

紐約高級公寓 未售貨尾比例25%

下一站美國東岸，那邊的朋友更多，我在當地住過好幾年，現在仍每年去三四次。千萬不要以為美國經濟那麼好，股市仍接近歷史高位，房地產市場就一定好。代表全國20個城市的Case-Shiller Index確仍在創新高，但就不包括紐約市。其實早已知道Manhattan的High end condo供過於求，現在隨着Hudson Yards的發展陸續落成，供應更多，包括15 Hudson Yards和建築大師Zaha Hadid遺作520 W 28th Street（神奇地，她已去世3年多，仍繼續有多項新作完成，包括最新的北京大興機場）。最新數據顯示，2013年以來建好的高級公寓，未售貨尾比例25%，超過4000單位。500萬美元以上單位，今年至今跌幅也已有11%，從最高位肯定跌超過兩成。紐約是國際大都會，跟倫敦更關係密切，感覺上Brexit不止拖垮倫敦房地產和英鎊，紐約也備受牽連。Manhattan市場也受到中國影響，但本地購買力仍然強勁，所以尚算有承接力。

多倫多滿街For sale

紐約市以外的傳統高尚suburb，如Greenwich更慘，一來年輕人愈來愈不喜歡駕車，傾向住在大城市downtown，二來Connecticut的稅太高，不少對冲基金億萬富豪如Paul Tudor Jones都選擇搬去無州層面入息稅，氣候更好的Florida，有些房屋成交價錢竟比4年前跌了一半！

最後回到我成長的多倫多，最熟悉North York，對Bayview和York Mills一帶特別情有獨鍾，不少家人和朋友仍居住在這區。今次專誠參觀了一些全新和二手房屋，連condo樓花展覽會都去了一趟。可能我偏見，整體多倫多的房屋比溫哥華漂亮得多，尤其Bridle Path一帶的豪宅，真的氣派不凡。相若質素的房屋，更比溫哥華平約20%（condo更不止），但當然多倫多輸在氣候，大部分地區亦沒什麼景觀可言。同樣的，多倫多也是個buyers' market，從兩年前高位跌了最少20%，每條街都插滿For sale signs。一看完屋，地產經紀即咬着不放，連日追魂call，不止價錢可傾，連financing都可以提供！多倫多沒有空置稅，客源也較闊，除中國外亦有不少來自中東和歐洲客，但近年油價下滑，中東和俄羅斯人的購買力亦大受影響。

多倫多也非人間天堂，過去30年急速發展，Greater Toronto人口翻倍至700萬，但公路和鐵路設施未能跟上，交通問題嚴重，晚上11點的Don Valley Parkway仍塞車。雖然大麻已合法化，但如fentanyl等其他濫藥問題仍然嚴重，且因此帶來不少槍擊案。

在多倫多的最後一天，竟然又碰上遊行示威，但與香港無關。這次是為了響應Fridays for Future（FFF）。此運動就是由早前在聯合國發出頗恐怖言論的瑞典16歲女孩，Greta Thunberg，所創辦的（不能完全怪她，原來患有Asperger syndrome）。所謂目的是反氣候變化，但奇怪地行動又是罷課，難道現在的年輕人（老師似乎也支持）認為讀少些書，反而變得更懂科學，更明事理？

環顧全球各大城市房價，從高位計算，大都跌得遠比香港的只約5%為多。今年至9月中，中原城市領先指數更仍有約4%升幅，簡直超現實，還不似Inception戲內的多層夢境？ 這表面現象非常矛盾、不合理和諷刺（但毫不意外）。香港已貴為全球最動盪地區（可能沒有之一），老實點，請接受我們已住在war zone的事實！曾聽過某所謂學者搞「深度旅遊」，帶團到戰亂地區如阿富汗，現在更方便，隨時帶團到全港18區遊覽即可，要幾深度都可以。

為何到現時為止，樓價仍沒有跌得更多，是偶然，還是如近月發生的很多事情一樣，都有點整定或甚至人為的感覺？我已多次解釋，香港面對的並非金融危機，今次更慘，香港是中西意識形態的主戰場。如樓價可以急速調整，街頭怒火還可以稍為下降（我知道他們都是為崇高理想，不吃人間煙火，但他們父母要吃）。如此亂但樓價仍跌得很慢，新盤仍有銷路。前周推出300多個南昌站匯璽III單位，馬上售出97%，上周動亂升級，銷情差一點，啟德樓盤尚•珒溋首推200多個單位，仍能賣出近半，夠瘋狂未？美國減息，猶如火上加油，加上聯繫匯率，缺乏流動性，槓桿比例低，和中國人對磚頭的迷信，結果港房仍跑贏全球多個主要城市，死未？

樂觀點，莫非火燒旺地，香港仍有明天？

（中環資產持有亞馬遜及微軟的財務權益）

中環資產投資行政總裁

[譚新強 中環新譚]

「地獄空」攝影集即將在八月中元節前出版，由知名設計師與攝影家黃子欽設計，內附在下二位高徒精美繪製符咒、心經版畫書籤、愣嚴咒牌、尊勝咒語...等，感恩十方大德助印，希望疫情退散，平安喜樂，後記如下：

野放台灣五十餘年，貪狼獨坐，三方四正殺破狼格局，少年多舛，白手起家，隨展覽雲遊四海，如閒雲野鶴常持各類底片機流連廢墟、山川、宮廟忘返，遂設幻影堂自詡堂主，一日三省「凡所有相皆是虛妄」，常宅於暗房沖片放大通宵、鍾情黑白世界之單純，彩色照片俗世繽紛花俏做作甜美甚至比現實更現實故少拍也。知天命之年有餘，了悟人生一瞬、眨眼即逝，雖非仙人，亦無道骨，初聞離垢地生清淨心，但離華嚴「不動地」尚遠，待修持也。
2017年盛暑拍畢《巨神連線》，心律不整差點心肌梗塞向閻羅王報到，意識死神隨伺在側，人生苦短，如何了生脫死、盡斷煩惱、無所罣礙、遠離顛倒……總不得解，蒙釋迦摩尼佛開示飆淚三晝夜，聞佛法數載始知自我渺如塵埃，甚感慚愧。閒暇乃參訪名寺古剎，禮敬焚香佛陀菩薩羅漢諸神天仙王爺媽娘，台灣宮廟千奇百怪、宗派錯綜複雜（佛教、道教、一貫道、天主教、基督教、齋教、回教＆大同教、儒教鑾堂、天帝教＆天德教、慈惠堂＆勝安宮、軒轅教、道院、理教、萬國道德會、會靈山……）、神棍橫行（依人不依法、偶像崇拜、斂財、邪淫），因歷史變遷、社會動盪、政治鬥爭、意識形態等因素導致佛道混雜，但地獄造景稀少，後專注拍攝各殿閻王、判官、陰司、獄卒、七爺、八爺乃至一切罪人，各寺造景巧妙、耐人尋味，意境乖張溢於言表，造型扭曲非常人所能塑也，然匠心獨運、自成一格，專研西方藝術數十載方知真誠樸拙最美，絲毫不輸喬托（Giotto di Bondone，1267～1337）乃至米開朗基羅（Michelangelo Di lodovico Buonarroti Simoni 1475 ~ 1564）矣。

創立於1986年的石門金剛宮風景優美可眺望北濱，雖主祀四面佛，儒釋道眾神尊也不含糊，可過七星橋解厄、繞行五百黝黑羅漢敲鑼印心、跪拜亞洲最大臥佛涅槃像，安太歲自不在話下，甲子太歲爺雙眼長出手掌印象甚深，1994年經閻羅王指示廟公建造一條肚內設極樂世界及陰曹地府之神龍，行走暗黑通道觸動感應機關，只見面容猙獰受刑者呼天搶地喊冤、身邊盡是血肉糢糊殘肢敗屍腦漿塗地，十殿閻羅各司其職、威儀攝人。新北市林口區青嶺湖北文紫祥宮包公廟則以壁面彩塑地獄浮雕獨步全台，粉嫩色彩搭配卡漫風格，尤為造型簡直恐怖到可愛透頂，該廟主祀森羅殿閻羅天子包拯（包青天），陽世冤屈者可至此參拜祭解，求破懸案者眾，逢中元普渡皆以紙紮船渡亡魂至彼岸，全台唯一閻羅天子巨像籌備中，四周環繞墓地，適合修不淨觀也。台灣首尊彰化八卦山大佛旁南天宮（1971）地府則是首座電動地府，規模精小但驚嚇度破表，略顯破敗但五光十色仍蠻凶悍，出自已故台南大道長金登富之作，而電動神明起始可追溯至1960年代北港朝天宮。倒是嘉義水上鄉白人牙膏觀光工廠「戴相府」、「將軍府」設置十殿地府出乎意料之外，乾淨亮麗、ㄧ殿ㄧ間、簡單樸實。由高雄蓮潭龍虎塔龍口入內可見全臺唯一交趾陶地獄牆面，尊尊栩栩如生，續入龍身乃進聞聲救苦白衣觀音大士三十三化身浮雕隧道，造型設色甚為古錐。高雄大岡山超峰寺入口處「西方三聖蓮池海會」（阿彌陀佛、觀世音菩薩、大勢至菩薩巨像）旁設靜態十殿閻羅（1970年代初），雖略為陳舊然韻味猶存，續往上行可抵「證菩提道－釋迦如來應化事迹」雕塑園區，一攬世尊畢生精華。如來年邁時，琉璃國王為報長期被釋迦族輕蔑之傲慢心，世尊雖三次單獨伽跌坐 阻擋大軍進攻之路，但因緣果報無法逆轉，昔日婢女所生王子瞋恨無以復加，還是滅了祖國。自持神通第一目犍連不忍無辜百姓慘遭屠殺，遂以缽盛救度五百族人，最終卻化為血水，佛言神通廣大仍不敵千百劫業力，因緣果報屢試不爽。其母死後墜入餓鬼道飢餓難耐，目犍連遂展神通救渡，但所食尚未入口皆化為赤火，佛陀囑咐農曆七月十五日僧眾解安居自恣日，於盆中設甘露美食供養十方僧眾，因此超度亡母。後世「盂蘭盆法會」乃至「水懺法會」、「瑜珈焰口法會 」皆為消業障、斷塵垢之超渡儀軌，既渡亡魂也自懺悔。

台南麻豆代天府規模宏大、造型豔麗，不但可遊十八層地獄尚可逛天堂（1979年興建，1983年開放)，燈光絢爛、聲響駭人，獨自漫步宛如觀落陰、地獄走一回。先過「心頭山」、入「清心池」、進「陰陽界」、抵「交簿廳」、達「鬼門關」、遊「補經所」、探「枉死城」、行「奈何橋」，至ㄧ殿泰廣王照「孽鏡台」現造惡原形，睹抱柱、火床等小地獄。二殿楚江王開「陰查簿 」判案定奪，觀糞尿泥、餓鬼、舞池、寒冰、膿血、鞭韃、舌犁、劍葉、戟腹拋接、砧截……等小地獄。三殿宋帝王刑罰為倒吊、銅鐵刮臉、挖眼、搗樁、倒烤、吸血、穿肋、抽筋、蛆蛀等小地獄……兼遊「四生（胎、卵、濕、化）回魂府」。四殿五官王掌管腰斬、拔舌、沸湯、刺嘴、剝皮、箭樹、車崩、射眼……等十六小地獄。隨五殿森羅王豋「望鄉臺」回眸親人最終眼後觀擊膝、誅心、刀山、飛刀火石……小地獄。六殿卞城王別稱「大叫喚大地獄」，轄火牛、虎啖、噬腎、鉗嘴含鍼、釘喉、磨摧、砍頭……等小地獄。七殿泰山王為「熱惱大地獄」，窺烙手指、抽腸、頂石蹲身、油釜滾烹、割舌穿腮……等十六小地獄。八殿都市王掌管「大熱惱大地獄」兼火狗、鐵汁、鐵蛇、鋸劈斷肢、釘板、灸脊、鐵丸、磅秤……等小地獄。九殿平等王直轄十八層「阿鼻大地獄」，直透地心、內中陰森、不見五指、滿溢地漿，皆為極犯，另轄紫赤毒蛇鑽孔、夾頂、鐵鴉、針雨、蜂蠍……等小地獄。至十殿輪轉王上「觀生臺」、「轉劫所八司」（查驗司 、稽善司 、考過司 、恩怨司 、壽命司 、支配司、掌劫司 、授生司）後至「孟婆亭」飲「醧忘湯」忘盡前塵往事，依前世功德過金、銀、玉、石、木、竹六種橋樑至「轉輪臺（紫河車）」入六道輪迴轉生投胎。據《十八泥犁經》記載，人過世後七七四十九天為「中陰生」，經閻羅王審判善惡業力判定去留或懲罰百千萬劫，犯五逆重罪則墮入「無間地獄（阿鼻地獄）」永劫不復。地藏王乃幽冥教主，統轄十殿閻羅，逢三曹普渡便在各殿設「講道所」超度尚存善根之鬼魂。

人類居於五趣（阿修羅、人、傍生、餓鬼、地獄）雜居地五濁惡世之堪忍世界，犯十惡業（殺生、偷盜、邪淫、妄語、兩舌、惡口、綺語、貪慾、嗔恚、愚痴）者必墮三趣惡道。如何出「三界」（欲界、色界、無色界）二十八天？凡人無此意識，別說能破「十二因緣」（無明、行、識、名色、六入、觸、受、愛、取、有、生、老死）還滅門，更別想斷除「四聖諦」（苦、集、滅、道）集地八十一品見惑與八十八使思惑（五利使-身見、邊見、邪見、見取見、戒禁取見、五鈍使-貪、瞋、癡、慢、疑），了悟「五蘊」（色、受、想、行、識）本空、「十二入」（眼、耳、鼻、舌、意、色、聲、香、味、觸、法）空、「十八界」空，破俱生我執與分別我執、法執甚至空執，生十一處「善心所」（信、精進、慚、愧、無貪、無瞋、無痴、輕安、不放逸、行捨、不害），降二十六處「惡心所」（貪、瞋、癡、慢、疑、惡見、忿、恨、覆、惱、嫉、慳、誑、諂、害、憍、無慚、無愧、掉舉、惛沉、不信、懈怠、放逸、失念、散亂、不正知），須知善根斷盡則陷永劫輪迴、無垠轉世之苦。

地獄可能空滅嗎？若地獄空乏人間多鬼怪，地獄淨空世間何嘗非淨土？若能證空性何處現地獄？

地獄曠古來便廣泛流傳各部族間，老死生滅為自然運行之基礎、宇宙意識之核心，然今文明昌盛如咱城邦並非慾望消弭之所，惡性所及實無可根除，礙於憲法國家法律社會軍隊企業公司學校家庭團體之層層束縛不亞於十八層，乃遁於壓抑、束己情懷，暗埋心底、日久貪嗔痴慢疑怨噌會疊穢。而六塵未熄，心多妄念，妖魔鬼怪魑魅魍魎孤魂閃靈出沒於荒郊乃至人間，會靈於曠野密林以增性靈乃出世高人修煉之舉，我等凡人擅闖宛如迪士尼般之人造地獄，三魂七魄尚不足以出竅，驚邪恐怖淒厲猙獰倒滿足了自以為是的慚愧，豈不謬哉？

病毒肆虐年半有餘，全球確診者逼近一億八千萬，枉死者近四百萬，堪比戰爭規模，望眾生發慈悲心、令往生者安息、善待其他物種、平等有情眾生。地獄本空，唯妄念生起一切羨慕嫉妒恨而地獄現前。盡以此書作為世界新冷戰獨裁者、超限戰者、暗網駭客、陰險狡猾冷嘲熱諷落井下石者之良知備忘錄矣。

姚瑞中寫於2021年端午節

Postscript

I have been living recklessly in Taiwan for more than fifty years. According to Zi Wei Dou Shu (Purple Star Astrology), Tan Lang is the sole star in my house of Self. This star, which represents xxx, forms an equilateral triangle with that star Qi Sha and Po Jun on the square chart and constitutes a Sha Po Lang pattern. The pattern indicates a kind of turbulence and change, a life of wandering with ups and downs and it tells a lot about my life. After my ill-fated youth, I started from scratch and traveled around the world with exhibitions that I participated. Like a flaneur, I wandered around ruins, nature, and temples with every type of film camera obliviously. Thus, I founded the Hall of Illusion and claimed to be the master of the hall. Several times a day, I pondered a quote from the Diamond Sutra, “Everything with form is unreal.” In addition, I usually stayed in the darkroom developing film and enlarging those negatives overnight. However, I treasured the simplicity of the black and white world. The earthly, gaudy, garish, phony and pleasing qualities within colored photos make the images even more realistic than the real world. It is not my cup of tea, so I seldom took colored photos. In Confucian thought, the age of fifty marks the stage knowing the mandate of Heaven. I am now at my fifties and realize how ephemeral human life is. However, I am not an immortal, nor having sagelike characteristics. I just learned that the stage of stainless (the second bhūmi) and develop a pure mind that is free from doubt and defilement. However, I’m still far from the immovable state and need to practice.

In the summer of 2017, after filming the work Incarnation, I experienced a severe heart rhythm problem which almost triggered myocardial infarction and could have killed me. Consequently, I realized that death was waiting for me and the life is too short to figure out how I can liberate myself from the cycle of Birth and Death. I couldn’t comprehend how to be free from all afflictions and worries and how to avoid delusive ideas. I wept for three days and nights after being enlightened by Shakyamuni Buddha. Up to the moment, I felt ashamed that I failed to realize that the self is as insignificant as dust after these years learning and practicing Buddhism. Since then, I have visited famous temples and monasteries in my spare time, worshiping Buddha, Bodhisattvas, arhats, and all the deities and immortals. Taiwan’s temples are myriad with a enormous number of sects, including Buddhism, Taoism, Yiguandao, Catholicism, Christianity, Chinese religions of fasting, Islam& Baháʼí Faith, Confucianism, Tiandiism& Tian-De Teachings, Xiwangmu cult, Yellow Emperor Sect, Precosmic Salvationism, Liism, World Wide Ethical Society, séance cult, etc. Some people even claim that they can mediate communication between the deities or spirits of the dead with human beings, having their believer rely on themselves instead of the orthodox dharma or dogma and pay excessive respect and admiration for the mediums or objects, accumulating wealth through such an unfair means or even harassing their believer sexually. Due to Taiwan’s historical changes, social turbulence, political struggles, and ideological issues, Buddhism and Taoism are somehow mixed. However, there are few emphases on the concept of the hell. As I took photographs of Yama of each court, judges, wardens of the underworld, jailers, General Fan and Hsieh (the ghost escorts) and all sinners, I found few temples cleverly created hellish scenes that are intriguing, exaggerating, and extraordinary. However, the creations are unparalleled unique. I have been studying Western arts for decades and then I came to realize that simplicity makes the most beautiful works of art. These hellish scenes can even compete with works of Giotto di Bondone (1267-1337) and Michelangelo Di lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (1475-1564).

Jingang Temple Shimen District, founded in 1986, overlooks the beautiful North shore. Although the temple is mainly dedicated to Phra Phrom (the Thai representation of Mahabrahma), spirits of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism can also be founded in the temple. The worshipper can go cross the Seven Star bridge to relieve bad luck, walk along the five hundred arhat statues and knock on the gong to affirm one’s Buddha nature. Furthermore, the worshipper can also prostrate themself before Asia’s largest statue of Buddha in Nirvana (the Reclining Buddha statue) and pacify the Taoist Tai Sui deity of the year. I was impressed by the Jia-Zi Tai Sui General that a pair of palms grow out of his eyes. In 1994, the biō-kong (the person taking charge of the temporal affairs of a temple) received a divine inspiration from Yama (the King of Hell) that he had to build a sacred hall in the shape of a divine dragon, with the interior designed according to the World of Ultimate Bliss and the Underworld. When the visitor walks in the dark hallway, they will see the tortured people (dioramas, of course) scrunching their faces and crying bitterly and loudly in excessive grief as the visitor triggers the mechanism. One will even find them in the midst of flesh, body liquid and blood, mutilated limbs, and rotten corpses. While each of the ten Yamas are focusing on their own duties, showing their sacred dignity that collect visitors’ attention. The Baogong Temple in Linkou District, New Taipei City exclusively features colorful depiction of hellish scenes in relief in Taiwan. With its pastel shades and cartoon-like style, the relief is both grotesque and adorable at the same time. This temple is dedicated to Bao Zhen (also known as Justice Bao) representing the incarnation of Yama. Living people who have been treated unjustly can come worshipping Bao Gong and receive exorcism. Therefore, many people come here for seeking to solve unsolved cases. In Zhongyuan Festival (the ghost festival), the temple will burn the Zhizha (paper craft) boat to ferry the ghosts to the other shore, which is the shore of enlightenment. The only giant statue of Yama in Taiwan is still in the making. The temple is surrounded by a cemetery, suitable for meditating on the loathsomeness and impurity. Nantian Temple (1971), located next to the Eight Trigram Mountains Buddha in Changhua, features the first animatronic underworld. Despite the small size, the animatronic underworld is intensely shocking. Though it’s slightly worn, the colorful dioramas are still brutally ferocious. The creator was the late venerable Dao Zhang (Taoist priest) Jing Deng-fu while the origin of animatronic deities can be traced back to the 1960s Beigang Chaotian Temple. On the contrary, the Whiteman Toothpaste Tourism Factory in Shuishang Township, Chiayi, features ten Yamas with individual booth. The place is unexpectedly clean and polished yet keeps a simple and modest tone. Then, the Dragon Pagoda of the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas at Lotus Lake in Zuoying, Kaohsiung, holds the only relief of hellish scenes made of Kochin ceramic. All the figures are vivid and life-like. If one goes further into the pagoda, they will see a relief tunnel of the thirty-three incarnations of the white-robed form of Guanyin (Avalokiteśvara) on a white lotus, with a lovely and interesting design. Another Hall of Yama is built in the 1970s next to the entrance of Dagangshan Chaofeng Temple, located in the Alian District of Kaohsiung. Visitors will also see three statues of the Three Holy Ones of the Western Pureland (Amitābha, Avalokiteśvara, Mahāsthāmaprāpta) which assemble at a lotus pond. Although the hellish scene looks somewhat antiquated, you may still find its previous charm. If one goes further, they will reach the sculptural garden of “Attaining the Bodhi Way: the Incarnation of Sakyamuni Buddha,” where the visitor can see the essence of Bhagavato’s (meaning the Blessed one, one of the common epithets for Buddha) life. When Tathāgata (another epithet for Buddha) was old, the king of Kosala wanted to avenge the arrogance of the tribe of Shakyas who had long despised him, regarding him as a son of a maiden. Although Buddha has sat in lotus position alone three times to stop the army from attacking his tribe. However, one can never reverse the cause and following karma. The prince born of a maiden was so furious that he eventually destroyed his homeland. Maudgalyāyana (one of the Buddha’s closest disciples), who is said to have had supernatural abilities that surpassed the other disciples, could not bear to see the slaughter of innocent people. Thus, he saved five hundred people of his tribe with a pātra (an eating utensil of Buddhist monks). Unfortunately, everything he did was in vain, those who were saved eventually turned into a puddle of blood. The Buddha said that the supernatural abilities cannot surpass the power of karma. The cause and effect work all the time. When Maudgalyāyana’s mother fell into the path of hungry ghost, he used his supernatural abilities to save his mother from hunger. However, all the food turned into fire before being fed to his mother. Later, the Buddha commanded the monks to put nectar and dishes in a basin on the 15th day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar for the monks from all directions to free his mother from reincarnation. In later times, the Ullambana Dharma Service, the Compassionate Samadhi Water Repentance, and the Yoga Collection for Feeding the Searing Mouths Dharma Service are rituals to eliminate karmic hindrance and to cease to worldly delusions. Through such practices, one can free the dead as well as confess their repentance.

Madou Daitian Temple is a magnificent and colorful temple in Tainan. Not only can the worshippers visit the eighteen levels of Hell but also the Heaven (it was built in 1979 and inaugurated in 1983) here. The lighting and sound effects are stunning and frightening. When walking alone in the space, one may feel like taking a Guan Luo Yin trip (a Taoist necromancy which leads people’s spirits to hell and communicate with the dead ones) to visit the underworld prison. Before arriving the first court of the underworld, the visitor will walk through the Mountain of Heart Summit, the Pure Heart Pond, the Frontier between the Living and the Dead Realms, the Soul Registry Hall, the Portico of Demons, the Center for Complementary Teaching of Canonical Books, the Citadel of Premature Death, and the Bridge of Vanity. When one arrives at the first court, they will see King Chin-guang, who is in charge of the court, using the Mirror of Retribution to show the earthly form of evil creatures and also witness the sub-hell of Pillar-Holding and Fire Bed, etc. At the second court, King Chu-jiang collates the register of sins the souls of the dead have committed to impose the punishments. Here, you will see the sub-hell of Excrement and Urine, Hungry Ghost, Burning Dance Floor, Ice, Pus and Blood, Whipping, Tongue-Raking, Sword Blade, Stomach-Piercing, Chopping, etc. Next, the dead at the third court, ruled by King Song-di, will receive the punishments including inversion tortures, face-skinning with steel and copper knife, eye-wrenching, pounding, blood-sucking, rib-piercing, roasting, tendon-taking, being eaten by maggots. The visitor can pay a visit to the Palace of Soul-Resuscitation for the Four Forms of Creatures (birth from an egg, birth from a womb, birth from moisture, and birth by transformation). King Wu-guan is in charge of the fourth court. There are sixteen sub-hells at the fourth court including Waist Chop, Tongue Removal, Boiling Pond, Mouth-stabbing, Skin-peeling, Sword Tree, Burning Wheels and Cart, Eye-shooting, etc. Next, at the fifth court, sinful souls are allowed to ascend the Tower of Hometown-Viewing to take a final look of their family. The visitor will witness sub-hells of Knee-striking, Heart-slicing, Blade Mountain, Flying Swords and Burning Stones, etc. The King of Bian City takes charge of the sixth court, which is also known as the “Great Hell of Screaming,” with sub-hells including Fire Cattle, Tiger-Biting, Kidney-Eating, Mouth-Poking, Throat-Nailing, Iron Mill, Decapitation, etc. The King of Tai-shan is in charge of the seventh court, the “Great Hell of Heat and Fire.” The sixteen sub-hells at this court include Finger-Searing, Bowel-Hauling, Stone-Bearing, Boiling Oil, Tongue-Removal and Cheek-Piercing, etc. Next, the King Du-shi is in charge of the eighth court, the “Great Hell of Intense Fire and Heat,” and the sub-hells including Fire Dogs, Molten Iron, Iron Snakes, Dismemberment, Steel Spikes, Burning-Marrow, Iron Ball, Scale, etc. The ninth court is ruled by the King Ping-deng. It is known as the biggest court, Avici Hell (the Hell of Incessant Suffering), which if the lowest level of the hell realm and the interior is gloomily and terrifyingly dark. Those who committed the most serious evil deed will be sent to the Avici Hell. Sub-hells such as Poisonous Snake, Brain-Removal, Crow-Gnawing, Raining Needles, Wasps and Scorpions are included at this court. After arriving the tenth court, ruled by the Great King of the Reincarnation Palace, one can visit the “Observatory of Life on earth” and the “eight bureaus of the Reincarnation Palace” (including the Bureau of Judicial Control, the Bureau of Good-Actions, the Bureau of Bad-Actions, the Bureau of Debts, Gratitude, and Vengeance, the Bureau of Longevity and Destiny, the Bureau of Familial Ties, the Bureau of the Reincarnated, and the Bureau of Birth). The sinful one will be sent to the Pavilion of Mengpo and made to drink the Soup of Forgetfulness to forget all past affairs. According to the sinful one’s merits of previous life, they will go across one of the six bridges (gold, silver, jade, stone, wood, bamboo) to the “Reincarnation-Wheel (Wheel on the Crimson River).” Finally, one is able to reborn in the six realms. According to the Aṣṭadaśa nāraka sutra ( the Eighteen Hells Sutra), after one passes away, they will enter an intermediate and transitional state between death and rebirth, known as antarābhava in Sanskrit, for forty-nine days. The being will be evaluated by Yama, who will decide if one should get reborn or get punished at the hell. Those who committed the Five Grave Offenses (killing one’s father, killing one’s mother, killing an Arhat, shedding the blood of a Buddha, and creating a schism within the community of Buddhist monks and nun who practice for attaining enlightenment.) will be sent to the Avici Hell and stay there eternally. Kṣitigarbha is the Lord of the Nether World, ruling the ten court of Hell. The lord will set up the “Hall of Teaching” at each court to salvage those sinful ones who still obtain few merits at the offering rituals.

Human beings live the Sahā world (sahāloka in Sanskrit, meaning “endurance of suffering,” a concept of mundane world in Mahāyāna Buddhism) where they share with other reincarnations (including beings of the hells, of the preta, and of malevolent nature spirits) with five turbidities (the Kalpa turbidity, the view turbidity, the affliction turbidity, the living beings turbidity, and the life turbidity). Those who commit the ten evil deeds (killing, stealing, adultery, lying, using immoral language, slandering, equivocating, coveting, anger, and false views) must fall into the three evil paths (animals, preta, and hell). However, how can one escape from the three realms/ twenty-eight heavens (including the six heavens of the desire realm, the eighteen heavens of the form realm, and the four heavens of the formless realm)? Worldly people who don’t have such an awareness cannot leave the cycle of the twelve nidanas (meaning causes or motivations), let alone eliminate the eighty-one afflictions (that have been produced due to misunderstanding regarding reality) and the eighty-eight illusions (including five afflictions of advanced practitioners, also known as five views: view of self, extreme view, evil view, view of attachment to views, and view of morality; and five unintelligent temptations: desire, anger, stupidity, arrogance, and doubt) of thought within the three realms and four Arya satyas (noble truths, including suffering, arising, ending, and path). They cannot realize that the essence of the five skandhas (referring to aggregates of clinging, including the matter of form, sensation, recognition, mental formation, and consciousness) , the twelve ayatana (meaning sense base, including six internal bases: eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind and six external bases: visible objects, sound, odor, taste, touch, and mental objects), and the eighteen dhātavah (meaning compositional elements of human existence, including six consciousness, six faculties, and their objects) are the emptiness and the void. Furthermore, they cannot dispel the two reasons for clinging to the idea of the self and the attachment to elemental constructs and even believe in the two (false) tenets that that karma and nirvana are not real and that the ego and phenomena are real. As a consequence, they fail to develop the eleven wholesome mental factors (faith, energy, conscience, being ashamed, non-attachment, non-aggression, non-delusion, calmness, equanimity, conscientiousness, and non-injuriousness) and cease the sixteen unwholesome mental factors (desire, greed, anger, delusion, arrogance, doubt, wrong view, wrath, enmity, hypocrisy, vexation, jealousy, parsimony, deceit, flattery, harming, ambitiousness, stupidity, lacking of faith, idleness, being unrestrained, forgetting, distraction, non-discernment, ). One must bear in mind that once all our virtuous roots are discontinued, they will be trapped in the never-ending reincarnation and the suffering of infinite continuity.
Is it possible that the hell will be empty one day? If the beings in hell will become extinct while evil spirits inhabit the mundane world, the world could be considered as a pure land. If we could witness the nature of the void, then hell will exist no more.
Since ancient times, the concept of hell has been widely spread among all tribes. Aging, death, beginning, and end are the basis of nature and the core of cosmic consciousness. However, the prosperous civilization as our island is not a place where desire can be eliminated. It’s impossible to eradicate evil nature. Since fetters brought by the constitution, the state, the law, society, the military, corporations, schools, families, and groups are not less than the eighteen levels of hell, the mortals repress themselves, bury their feelings. Day after day, greed, anger, stupidity, arrogance, doubt, and resentment are stacking. However, since the six dust (visible objects, sound, odor, taste, touch, and mental objects) has not yet been extinguished, people in the mundane world are still full of delusions. The demons, devils, evil spirits, and the wondering dead exist in the wilderness, while only advanced practitioners with transcendent would attempt to make contact with the dead in the wasteland and forest. Worldly people like us trespass in Disneyland-like man-made hell. It is absurd and ridiculous that the hellish scenes cannot stop us from perpetrating evil deeds, but the horrific and cruel scenes yet satisfy our self-righteous shame.

The pandemic has been boiling over for more than a year and a half. The number of infected patients worldwide is nearly a hundred and eighty million, and the death toll has risen to four million, which is equivalent to a war crisis. I hope that we can all be compassionate, give peace to the dead, treat all sentient beings well and equally. The hell is innately empty; however, deluded and misleading thoughts would give rise to all jealousy and hatred and then manifest the hell before us. This book merely serves as a memorandum of conscience for dictators of the world’s new cold war, supporters of unrestrained warfare, dark web hackers, and those who are cunning and contemptuous and maltreat others when knowing they have problems.

June 2021,

Yao Jui-chung

#陰陽師 #百鬼夜行 #宇治拾遺物語

各位大家好，歡迎來到HenHenTV的奇異世界，我是Tommy
有觀眾留言，就說想聽一些鬼故事，
我就回答道：我看下講什麼鬼才好！
最近的Monster hunter rise裡面就有白龍夜行，讓我得到了靈感，
不如我們來說百鬼夜行和陰陽師吧？
這個百鬼夜行的傳說其實源自於中國，
在東漢張衡所撰寫的【東京賦】裡面曾經有寫到：
”度朔山上有桃樹，下常簡閱百鬼”
而在東晉時代的【搜神記】也有提到：
“壽光侯者，漢章帝時人也。能劾百鬼眾魅，令自縛見形“
而百鬼夜行，Hyakkiyako這個詞是出現在
宇治拾遺物語--修行者百鬼夜行に逢ふ事，
這本宇治拾遺物語（Ujishui Monogatari），
成書於十三世紀的前葉，作者不詳，
全書15卷，一共有197個故事，
一般認為是和宇治時代的貴族源隆國，
所撰寫的宇治大納言物語是同一個時代，
而這個宇治拾遺物語可能就是它的增補，加筆或者是拾遺篇，
就有點像初版的格林童話一樣，沒有被收入在格林童話集裡面。
裡面描述的百鬼夜行是這樣的，在日本的平安時代，
大概在794年到1185年結束，
當時的桓武天皇把首都設置在‘平安京’，也就是現在的京都，
這個時代是幽暗未明，存在著人類和妖怪的時代，
人類居住的地方，和妖怪居住的地方，是重疊在共同的空間裡，
只是人類在白天活動，而妖怪則在夜晚活動，
如果遇到百鬼夜行的時候，人則會受到詛咒。
百鬼夜行裡面的前篇，收集了30多個妖怪，
但是後篇有些妖怪是源自於山海經的妖怪，
其中就包括犬神，天狗，苧，狐火，蛇骨婆，河童，
帝之二女，燭陰，人魚，旱魃，水虎，鐮鼬或者叫窮奇等等。
百鬼中的魍魎，也是源自中國流傳了四千多年的傳說，
傳說中炎黃兩帝爭奪天下時，蚩尤曾經想說服炎帝重啟戰事，不果，
於是他號召力他的狐朋狗友，號召在南方的苗民，
和山林水澤間的魑魅魍魎等鬼怪，打著炎帝的旗號，向黃帝宣戰，
在中國這些魑魅魍魎是小妖，
但是到了日本就有了名堂，成為家喻戶曉的妖怪，
百鬼夜行並不是剛好一百只妖怪，而是一共有113只妖怪，
裡面也有你曾經聽過的故事，
包括是雪女，鐮鼬，河童，座敷童子，山童，天狗，飛頭蠻，
而滑瓢就是滑頭鬼，聽說就是他們的領頭人。
至於為什麼會在平安時代出現百鬼夜行，就沒有任何的解釋，
可能是因為人們對於未知的恐懼，
把這些恐懼經過想像而演變出來的妖怪，
在那個時代，出現了一種的職業，這種職業叫陰陽師
陰陽師，Onmyoji，是日本歷史裡面記載中，
中務省的陰陽寮所屬的官職，他們是有組織，
而且在日本平安時代受到政府承認，並且享有官職的職業。
而他的來源，大家也猜到，是源自於中國，
陰陽家推崇的就是陰陽五行，而陰陽五行是源自齊國，
創始人叫鄒衍，當時稱之為陰陽說，
很多人以為陰陽學是源自於周易的【易經】
其實不是，周易在易經裡面並沒有提起陰陽八卦和五行，
而是被陰陽家和太極所影響的【易傳】，
裡面有解釋何為陰陽：
天、地既有其體，又有其德。
天之體為陰陽之氣，地之體為剛柔之質。
陰陽之氣實質上是能量與信息所構成之“場” ，
而剛柔之質則是氣的能量密集化的存在形式；
另一方面，天之德為乾，而地之德為坤。
乾是健動不息的創生品格，而坤則是厚德載物的接納性品格。
以“一陰一陽之謂道”立論，認為宇宙自然界存在相反屬性事物，
相反事物的推摩作用是事物變化的普遍規律，
六十四卦即反映了這一種規律。
而陰陽往往和剛柔這詞息息相關，而這個陰陽五行之說，
在6世紀的時候傳到了日本，稱之為陰陽道，
而可以掌握這些知識的人，就可以掌握國家的命運，
因為陰陽五行不僅可以觀天象，知曆法，還可以占卜問卦，
上至國運昌隆，天皇適任合乎？下至庶民之事，
而天武天皇知道這些知識的重要性，也怕有人利用這些知識來反政府，
於是就創立了陰陽寮，陰陽寮就好像是國家的研究院一樣，
同時禁止人們擁有【河圖】【洛書】【太乙】等陰陽書籍。
而當時的陰陽師則是代表國家去占卜國運，有著非常崇高的地位。
到了平安時代，有日本的神道教，密宗，佛教融合成的陰陽道，
在891年停止遣唐朝使後，並發展出自己獨特的風俗文化，
而在這個時代，民間還很相信妖魔鬼怪之說，
但是當時的陰陽師是日本管轄的職業，
所以只為大戶人家或者是大官才可以邀請陰陽師為其做法
那麼陰陽師會什麼呢？
1. 式神 （shikigami）
式神是什麼呢？是妖怪還是神呢？
在陰陽道裡面說的是陰陽師役使的靈體，
式神也可以稱之為侍神，顧名思義就是侍奉其主的神，
一般是用符紙，木偶或者是玉器作為媒介，再配合咒語使用，
把一些人所看不到的靈體收納為其所用，連人的魂魄都可以使用，
不過，如果用其不當，式神會不受控制，反噬在主人身上。
而傳說中最厲害的陰陽師，叫安培晴明，
在他撰寫的【占式略決】一書有記載：裡面一共有三十六卷，
而第四卷和第五卷記載著十二個天將和十二個月將，
一共大大小小有24只式神。等下我們來說安培晴明的故事
2. 觀天象占卜問卦
陰陽師需要會觀天象，需要為國家占卜問卦，
包括天皇太子就任的儀式等等，
3. 曆道
也就是制定日曆，決定日子的吉兇等等，例如什麼日子適合動土
4. 陰陽道
判斷土地的吉凶，方位等等
5. 結界
也就是在虛空中張網覆蓋一個範圍裡面，
保護裡面的人，也叫作金剛網。
而最常看到的叫桔梗印，也就是五芒星，
代表著五行，就是金木水火土，聽說是安倍晴明發明的。
簡單來說，就是好像諸葛孔明加林正英啦！
除了會觀天象，看風水，還會抓鬼，控制靈體
而剛才講到的安倍晴明，就是日本傳說中最強的陰陽師，
而全部的傳說中，只在安倍晴明40歲過後才有，其原因不詳，
而大家把安倍晴明想成美男子了，
其實他的樣子是這樣的，就是禿頭，肥肥的，
和漫畫和電視劇裡面描述的相差太遠了。
歷史裡面的確是有這個人，他出生年份不詳，
出生在下級貴族安倍益材的家中，
先後在陰陽師贺茂忠行和保憲父子下學習陰陽道，
而受到保憲的賞識之下傳授天文道。在日本歷史的確有記載，
在960年，四十歲時被天皇任命為天文博士，
而59歲時受到花山天皇的重用，死後被土御門稱之為始祖，
還建造了神社，叫作晴明神社，
分別在京都，大阪，名古屋，和奈良都有他的神社。
而死了過後，在平安時代衍生了很多他的傳說，
我們來聽故事吧！