Ge Ming: Buddhism's Transcendence of Samsara — From Misunderstanding to Truth: Qian Zhongshu's Perspective

In many people's minds, Buddhism seems almost synonymous with the cycle of rebirth. The notion of wandering through the six realms after death, of karmic cause and effect, of being reborn into a next life, has come to be regarded as Buddhism's most central and accessible teaching. This understanding is deeply entrenched, from folk customs to the public remarks of certain intellectuals and knowledge workers. When the history commentator Luo Zhenyu discussed precepts and Buddhism on his program, he too evaluated the tradition through a similar lens, as though the cycle of rebirth were Buddhism's most fundamental answer to the human condition. Ordinary people accept it as a matter of course, treating it as the folk belief of traditional society. Yet this perception conceals precisely what is most essential to Buddhism: transcending the cycle of rebirth, freeing oneself from suffering, and attaining awakening.

The ultimate aim of Buddhism has never been to find comfort within the cycle of rebirth, but to step entirely beyond it. The core of the Buddha's awakening lies in recognizing the true nature of suffering and understanding that its root lies in ignorance and clinging. What the practitioner seeks is not a better rebirth in the next life, but the realization of nirvana here and now—breaking free from the three realms and putting an end to birth and death. This is what fundamentally distinguishes Buddhism from ordinary religious belief. Mr. Qian Zhongshu was long noted for his deep research into Buddhist scripture, and in his writings on literature and art he drew on Buddhist principles with effortless ease. He once sharply criticized a line spoken by Tang Sanzang to the queen in the "Women's Kingdom" episode of the television adaptation of Journey to the West: "If there is no hope in this life, may our karmic bond carry over to the next." Qian argued that this line severely damaged the image of Tang Sanzang as a sincere seeker of the Way. A practitioner truly resolved to transcend the world would never place hope in the illusory bonds of a future life; such an attitude stands in direct contradiction to the Buddhist principle of going beyond the cycle of rebirth. If Tang Sanzang were truly to utter those words, he would no longer be the single-minded pilgrim journeying west for scriptures and bodhi, but an ordinary mortal mired in worldly affection.

Buddhism is not an abstruse discourse detached from reality. It emphasizes the Middle Way, neither falling into extreme asceticism nor indulging in sensual pleasure. In daily life, the practitioner embodies the Noble Eightfold Path, acting with grounded sincerity as a person in the world. At the level of transcendence, one strives to awaken to a higher state and attain true liberation. Practice is never an escape from life; it is awakening within life itself, and the refinement that comes through that awakening. The daily cultivation of precepts, generosity, patience, and meditation is all a tempering of the heart amid the dust of the world, yet it ultimately points toward the "other shore" beyond the cycle of rebirth. This unity of the worldly and the transcendent is precisely the subtle brilliance of Buddhist wisdom and practice. Reducing Buddhism to a mere "folk belief in rebirth" not only trivializes its teachings but distorts both its profound engagement with reality and its transcendent dimension.

Regrettably, many contemporary knowledge workers and cultural communicators have continued, and even reinforced, this misunderstanding. When popularizing knowledge, figures like Luo Zhenyu have sometimes repeated common assumptions, sometimes been shaped by long-standing ideological influences, and sometimes harbored a tendency to sever ties with tradition while elevating Confucianism at Buddhism's expense. Their understanding of Buddhism remains at a superficial level. Whether intentionally or not, they equate Buddhism with a superstitious belief in rebirth, or casually evaluate it from a modern rationalist perspective, all while overlooking the fundamental Buddhist teachings on impermanence, non-self, and transcendence. Such ill-considered commentary, born of insufficient learning, often shows its cracks. Worse still, internet celebrities like Dong Yuhui, when holding forth with great flourish, repeatedly expose the shallowness of their grasp of traditional culture. Relying on traffic and verbal flair, they casually comment on Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism in their livestream rooms, often getting things badly wrong and becoming a laughingstock. These "fast-food-style" cultural readings satisfy the public's appetite for novelty, but they further deepen public misconceptions of Buddhism and traditional culture, degrading wisdom that ought to pursue spiritual transcendence into casual chatter or emotional chicken soup for after-dinner consumption.

Truly understanding Buddhism requires setting aside the pre-existing folk framework and returning to the original heart of the Dharma. Buddhism is not a fatalistic teaching that plunges people into the cycle of rebirth; it offers a path toward freedom and awakening. It tells us that suffering is not inevitable, that clinging is its root; liberation is not a distant hope for the next life, but a practice to be undertaken here and now. Only when we cease treating Buddhism as a "next-life placebo" and instead regard it as a thoroughgoing way of life can we truly feel its power.

In today's restless cultural environment, revisiting the genuine insights of a figure like Qian Zhongshu feels especially valuable. It reminds us that when approaching traditional culture, we cannot stop at superficial folk customs or the chatter of internet celebrities, but must adopt a serious and thorough attitude to appreciate its transcendent spiritual core. Only in this way can we avoid misreading it, and only then can the wisdom of Buddhism truly cleanse the heart and guide life in our own time. To transcend the cycle of rebirth is not an empty slogan, but a path of awakening that any sincere seeker can walk, here in the world, within daily life itself.