Always want to do something for you

This weekend I will finish the itinerary that I have set in China: go to a temple and climb a mountain.

This plan was developed in conjunction with classmates who work at IBM. The relationship between this classmate and our family can be said to be the same as that of family, from primary school to university, they are classmates, their hometown is a neighboring village, and their relatives in their hometown are intertwined.

Since the establishment of the alumni association of Xidian, as an outstanding alumnus of Xidian, he has returned to the school in September every year for the past two years. He was very happy when he came back this time and knew that I was coming to New York. Naturally, I made a request: I had to go up a mountain and go to a monastery.

He said, "I will accompany you." Mountains, there are no high mountains near New York, and they are not as good as Qinling. Temple: Go to the largest temple in the United States, Zhuangyan Temple. The host there was a young Chinese Ph.D.

I said, "No, your two children are so young, let's stay with them on the days off, and I'll go by myself on the weekends." You just have to make a route for me.

He said, "How is that possible?" I will definitely accompany you, and that's it. But why do you have to go to the temple?

I said, "I must go, I have to do something for him.......

The classmate is an honest and honest person, who has been abroad for so many years, and has always been rigorous and sincere in doing things to others. The day I went was his weekday, and he called the night before to ask for leave to pick me up at the airport. I told him again and again that he didn't need to do it, and that he would have a family to pick him up, but he still insisted.

So, now that everything is in order, I will go with him today to complete the plan negotiated at home as agreed.

My classmates live in Scarsdale, New York City, half an hour's drive from 121st Street in Manhattan, where I live. As agreed I took the train to Scarsdale and he picked me up at the station and went to his house.

Everything went well, sat down at his house, visited his wife, and brought me the best silk scarf and silk skirt I bought for his wife in Xi'an, as well as SC's Z County Douban, because his wife is from SC. When his mother-in-law saw the Douban I brought, the happy expression on the old man's face made me feel that it was too little to bring a bag. The old man only came to the United States since his daughter got married, and he may not have eaten for a long time.

At nine o'clock we set off for our first destination———— Zhuangyan Temple.

On the way, my classmate took me to IBM where he worked, and in front of the R&D center where he worked, I still held him and took a photo against the cold wind, hehe.

It was a bit cloudy and cold this morning. The temple is in the mountains, so it is even colder. I can't say that I froze the two of us, at first I had a clear nose, and after a while, my classmates and I became a 'duet'.

Although the temple is built on a hill 60 kilometers away from the city, it is also scary that the land price is high here. The environment here is very good, with mountains and rivers interdependent. A classmate told me that it was less than an hour's drive from the entrance to Clinton's home, and on the way I passed by Soong Meiling's cemetery. Speaking of Song Meiling, I still have reverence for this woman, I wanted to pay my respects, but after parking, I found that we had a car here, and I didn't have the courage to go, hehe.

The architectural appearance of the solemn temple is something I have never seen in a domestic temple, and from a distance, it seems to be an unbuilt frame. The classmate said: This is the structure of the Han Dynasty.

The temple has no walls and is completely open. It is said that it was built solely by the presiding officer of the temple.

There were no other tourists here when we arrived, and the quiet temple was quieter. It's just that the weather is colder than in New York City, and the muscles on my face are so hard that I can't smile, so I still push the door into the hall in my socks in a hurry. The hall is so big, this hall is a hall in the true sense of the word, wide and tall. If there is a high Buddha statue in the front row of the big hall, this is different from the domestic one.

This time, I also bowed to the Buddha statue with my hands folded very seriously, and then seriously offered five dollars of incense money. After finishing these things, I was anxious to see which room the host was in. At this time, an old nun came in. She introduced herself as the assistant to the host and was a Vietnamese expatriate.

This assistant master speaks well, feels very cultured, and more importantly, she speaks Chinese very pleasantly, and I am very happy to talk with the master.

She said: "Our presiding monk is a doctor, he obtained it in Sri Lanka, and it was also when he was studying there that he received the guidance of a master to 'attain enlightenment' (I can't remember if it was a word).

I made it clear what I was trying to do and showed her a picture of the sky. She blurted out: So young......

Then he said: The presiding monk went to the city today, and there is a puja there, and he is also the presiding officer of that temple.

I regret that I am here specifically for this matter, and it seems that I have no relationship with you to preside.

She said, "Why is it not possible?" He is not far from where you live, and you can see him when you turn around when you go back, and you can call him. Also, he will come back tomorrow, and tomorrow the temple will hold a meditation meeting, a total of seven days, I invite you to come, eat and live here. Won't you see it then?

I hastened to say: I'm not religious, and I'm here for the sake of the Sky Mage. I won't be here tomorrow.

"You have, and you are not an ordinary relationship with Buddhism, you have a deep practice and ......" She spoke in beautiful Chinese, saying something I often hear in temples in China.

I listened helplessly and amused, and thought: Could it be that the people who have not been persuaded in China have been moved in the United States?

Then she said, "I'll show you the CD of the host and his business card." You must go and see him.

The master went to the door to find something for me, and then the classmate said: Since he is a doctor, he also changed his birthday to be born on the day of the Buddha.

"Oh, yes? Don't say it here, the master just said that I called Master Sky 'Little Mage' and it was all 'ostomy karma' or something, hehe. "I mean it.

"Oh, we don't believe anything, and it's not nonsense, it's about him. The classmate also said with a smile.

That is, the words of my classmate, 'He changed his birthday to be born on the same day as Shakyamuni', which made me instantly lose the idea of seeing him again. This is the second time I know that the second presiding officer was changed to the same day as the Buddha.

I'm a person who believes in my feelings, and now I feel bad and I'm gone.

At this time, the assistant master came over, gave me information, and persuaded me again and again: fate is to meet a cherished fate, and without the creation of fate, you must contact the great monk. You come from China, there are so many monasteries in the United States, you came to the solemn temple, this is fate, you have to cherish it, our presiding monk must be very happy to see you.

"Master, I'm here for the Sky Mage, not for myself. "I said sincerely, and at the same time, I was moved by the master's enthusiasm and words, and I was very emotional: the abbots and monks in the temples in China all regard themselves as the 'public' and the 'end' of their own high!

"You come to see our host for your relatives, this is your business, you must see the host. She said earnestly.

"The Sky Mage is not my relative, you heard it wrong, it is someone I know, and it is my own wish to come to see you host, he doesn't know. I corrected her.

"When I heard you tell me, I saw his photo and understood, for his ......."

I can't calm down a little in my heart, and I just want to leave quickly: Master, please tell the host, if you return to China to visit, please go to the Pure Industry Temple in Zhongnan Mountain to have a look, and ask him to call Master Sky. I really don't have a relationship with Master Ben.

Hearing me say this, the assistant master said: There is fate, there must be. You can call him or leave a message, and the presiding monk will contact you when he comes back tomorrow. It's as simple as that, why don't you do it?

I ended up leaving no contact details.

Saying goodbye to the master, we walked to the gate and found a lot of photos on the wall, and when we came in, we didn't notice that there were some activities in the temple. I saw a face in the photo, and I was shocked, and pointed it out to my classmates and said, "This must be the presiding officer of this temple!"

The classmate had been here many times, and he looked at it and said: It's him.

My shock came from the host's looks. He grew up with the "Shakyamuni Shakyamuni" that is now circulating on the Internet... The Buddha on the high-definition picture can be said to be basically the same, from the figure to the appearance, almost the same.

Because of this, there was a thought in my heart that I might see him again, but it was just a flash.

However, when I walked into the hall next to the main hall, I forgot the name, and inside an elderly white man was lecturing in English, and the audience below was mostly Asian. I listened to it for ten minutes and then came out, and suddenly I felt that it was too correct that I didn't see the host today. Because, I don't want the sky to be here, he will be unaccompanied......

Okay, that's the end of the matter, and the next step is to climb the mountain.

I drove forward for half an hour to the mountain to be climbed today, which can be translated as Big Bear Mountain in Chinese.

The mountain in front of me is still hot when I see it. Because, I was able to climb mountains in the United States or a bonus. What I find interesting is that we are very different in different places. But the mountains are the same, the same mountains, the same trees, the same late autumn dyed our Qinling Mountains, and the mountains and forests of the United States are dyed. If it weren't for a fellow traveler with a different skin color than me, it would feel like climbing a mountain in the Qinling Mountains. It seems that this is an extension of the Qinling Mountains, very kind. Big Bear Mountain, like Qinling, is waiting for the children who love to climb the mountain, playing happily in its arms, and being happy with each other.

One thing is different is that one of the Americans climbs the mountain is to bask in the sun, people are white people don't tan, black people are not afraid of sun, which can be bitter for us yellow people, I don't want to be different and useless protection, as a result, the sun and the mountain wind make my skin color 'mixed race' when I bathe at night.

After climbing for more than three hours, I reached the summit and saw a lot of people driving up to the top of the mountain. One of the female monks caught my attention. They were neatly dressed, and their robes were so beautiful. Most of them are thin and have calm and detached expressions. I don't know why, when I saw them, I didn't want to be close to them in the domestic temple, and I didn't want to get close when I saw them. Outwardly, their mental state is one of enjoyment, enjoying the beauty of nature just like we do. They made me feel the same as us, except for the characteristics of being a monk.

Seeing them like this, I feel so good about them.

As they drove away, it was time for us to go down. The wind at the top of the mountain is too strong, and the scenery in front of me is too ordinary in my eyes, and the feeling when we climbed to the top of the Qinling Mountains is too different, there is no meadow here, and some can see the World Trade Center Building in New York 80 miles away from the top of the mountain, and there are lakes and waves (seas) everywhere in the mountains.

Going down the mountain is from another climbing path, shuttling through the forest, stepping on the thick fallen leaves, feeling happy and satisfied, the classmates sang "The Return of the Big Target", that happy! haha.......

The mountains give us joy, and we leave the laughter to the mountains of New York.

2013－11－06