Chapter 44 phoenix wings

I often think that the life of creation can be divided into two categories: one is like stars or planets contending for a permanent and stable light, and this kind of creation has left us many huge and profound works; the other is like Like a comet or a shooting star, it flashes in the starry sky in the dark night, leaving a short and dazzling brilliance. This kind of works especially needs inspiration, and it also cleans our hearts for a while. There is no difference in the value of the two kinds of creations, but the former requires a deep heart, while the latter requires a flying talent.I recently saw Italian film master Federico Fellini's "City of Women" in Taipei, and was quite awed by Fellini's comet-like talent.It was a simple story about a middle-aged man who met a beautiful young woman on a train and got off to follow him into a city full of women, where there were members of the women's liberation movement, showgirls, swingers. Wife, shrew, call girl, "third sex" girl, etc. In this bizarre world, Fellini seems to be writing an inspiration notebook, and every paragraph shows brilliant talent.These inspirational notes are like one dream after another. At a glance, each scene is surreal without any meaning. When you think about it carefully, it seems that we have experienced every dream. It is empty, but it has written for us the imagination that is impossible to realize in this world.

As Fellini said: "This film is like a chat after dinner, it is a man who tells the story of a woman's past and present; but the man does not understand the woman, so it is like the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood lost in the forest. . Since the film is a dream, symbolic language is used; I hope you will not try to explain its meaning; because there is nothing to explain. "Sometimes inspiration is unexplainable, especially for creators, there are many flashes of ideas that are important to themselves, but they may be meaningless to ordinary people, but for some people who flashed the same ideas, they are A kind of resonance, like sailing a boat on the sea in the dark night, encountering the same bright light.

In our ever-changing age, the creator of art is really like a phoenix, with a colorful body and a speckled tail feather; it flies through the air and sings beautifully.I remember reading the story of the fire phoenix. The fire phoenix is ​​the most beautiful bird in the world. When it realizes that it is at the pinnacle of beauty and can no longer fly forward, it burns itself and is reborn from the ashes. This is a very beautiful legend, which is very apt to describe the artist.In my opinion, any artist who cannot be reborn in his own ashes cannot fly to a more beautiful world, and any person who cannot burn himself cannot penetrate himself and let others see a more beautiful scene.

As the old saying goes, "sink the boat", if you can't sink the boat on the shore when sailing, even if the scenery on the other side is picturesque and magnificent, you may not have enough determination and perseverance to sail to the other side.Art is like this, and so are mortals. We have many dreams and many choices in life. We often hesitate to protect our wings and lose the opportunity to reach the other side. Human beings cannot fly, but the wings of thought can take off with the wind and fly to unknown distances. This is where human beings can be infinite.Not long ago, I read a book called "The Divine Light of Thought", which said that people's thoughts have different lights and forms in different situations, and although this kind of divine light of thought is invisible to the naked eye, it is new. However, advanced electronic cameras can capture divine light on people, and infer a person's thoughts from the brightness and color of the light.

There is also a saying that when we miss someone, the divine light of our thoughts has reached his side to warm the person we miss; when we hate a person, the divine light of our thoughts reaches him The side of his body fought with his divine light, and the hearts of both of them were imperceptibly damaged.But the "destiny" and "spiritual friendship" that the Chinese call are all due to similarities in the spiritual light of thought, and they agree in silence. I think this "spiritual light of thought" is similar to "inspiration". In "Last night, the west wind adjusted the green tree, and I climbed up alone, looking at the end of the world", the inspiration was a pillar; When you gradually widen and don’t regret it, you will feel palpitations because of Yixiao", the inspiration is to fly to the distance with concentration; Silent and solemn, Baoxiang sat in a dimly lit place deep in his heart.

Inspiration and dreams are insoluble, but they can be exercised and cultivated.Whether a person can open the vision of wisdom and climb to a higher spiritual level depends on whether he can temper the seemingly unknowable inspiration into a divine light that fills the void, and he can do whatever he invites. fly. People's thinking is as colorful as a phoenix, and people's flashy dreams are like the wings of a phoenix, which can rush to high places and fly to distant places, and can last thousands of generations without wearing away. Therefore, people are limited , people are also infinite.

— November 4, 1981