A generation of grandmasters died out suddenly.

The apprentices of the Sixth Ancestor Huineng cried loudly, grieved, and prostrated on the ground one after another, reciting the Dharma Sutra in unison, sending the Six Ancestors back to the West, and the light above the heads of the Six Ancestors also disappeared.

Near Longshan, hundreds of birds mourn, apes scream in pain, and the sound shakes the valley.

Exactly: "The bird rhymes with a wail, and the ape breaks its bowels and screams." ”

The sixth generation patriarch of Zen Buddhism said goodbye to the world in his hometown of birth.

The sixth generation patriarch of Zen Buddhism, Huineng, has six out of seventy in the Spring and Autumn Period. Twenty-four years of passing clothes, thirty-nine blessings, 37 years of Fa Lisheng, 43 Dharma disciples, countless people.

The disciples moved the body of the sixth patriarch Huineng to the stone rock (later named the Tibetan Buddha Pit) in the mountain behind Terada Village.

In the second year of Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty (713), on the third day of the eighth month, the news of the death of the sixth ancestor Huineng in Longshan Guoen Temple in Xinzhou came out, and the Buddhist disciples and civilians all burst into tears.

Officials from the Faxing Temple in Guangzhou and the Baolin Temple in Shaozhou traveled to Xinzhou to bring the true body of the sixth ancestor Huineng back to the temple for worship.

Because the emperors of the Tang Dynasty believed in Buddhism, Buddhism was popular everywhere, Zen machines were prevalent, and the officials of the state capitals also respected the monks.

What an honor it is to bury the famous Buddha in his own place! As a result, officials in Guangzhou, Shaozhou, and Xinzhou are also involved in this "struggle for inheritance".

Their theoretical basis is the same, that is, the six ancestors once said before their deaths: "The leaves fall back to the roots, and there is no mouth when they come." ”

The people in the three places argued with reason, and they all said that the "root" of the six ancestors Huineng was in their own place.

The officials and monks of Xinzhou shouted the loudest: Xinzhou is the place where the sixth ancestor Huineng was born, and it is also the place where he died, as a reincarnation of life, the "root" of birth and death is naturally in Xinzhou.

Officials and monks in Guangzhou believed that the Sixth Patriarch Hui Neng had been ordained under the Bodhi tree in the Dharma Temple, and that his "roots" should be planted under the Bodhi tree in the Dharma Temple, and that according to the Buddhist viewpoint, his "roots" should be planted under the Bodhi tree in the Dharma Temple.

Officials and monks in Shaozhou, however, believe that the views of officials and monks in Xinzhou and Guangzhou are biased. According to the inference of Buddhism, the root of the six ancestors Huineng should be the root of the Buddha, so it should be in the Baolin Temple in Caoxi, Shaozhou.

The officials and monks of the three places fought with each other and were hoarse, but they did not back down from each other and could not hold each other.

The old monk who had been standing by and watching the development of the situation suddenly shouted: "I have an idea. "He is the abbot of Jintai Temple, Master Shankong, and he is ninety-nine years old.

Zen Master Lonely Sky is the oldest and most senior among the monks in Xinzhou, Shaozhou and Nanhai. He is also the enlightenment teacher of the Sixth Patriarch Huineng, so as soon as his words came out, he immediately attracted the attention of the monks and officials from all over the world.

Everyone asked in unison, "What's your idea?"

In an authoritative tone, Zen Master Shankong said, "You are indeed saying that the public is reasonable, and the mother-in-law is reasonable. It's hard to come to a conclusion. In the opinion of the old man, it is better to look at the will of God. ”

The crowd was puzzled and asked, "How should we see the will of God?"

Zen Master Shankong's face was solemn: "Tomorrow night, when we are on the small hill on the side of Guoen Temple, we burn incense and pray, and in which direction the wind blows the cigarette smoke, the body of the Sixth Ancestor Huineng will be sent to the temple on which side." ”

"Okay." At this time of contention, everyone felt that the proposal of the Silent Sky Zen Master was reasonable, and they were determined to follow the will of God.

The next night, the inky blue night sky was as clear as a white and flawless gem.

On a hill in front of Sanping Village, not far from Guoen Temple, thousands of monks and officials from Guangzhou, Shaozhou and Xinzhou gathered here. They were anxious at the moment, but they had the same wish: that the smoke of the incense would be blown by the wind to where they were.

Incense lamps were lit, and each man folded his hands and prayed aloud.

As soon as the time came, the nearly 100-year-old Zen master of the Lonely Sky lit three long incense sticks.

All the people present widened their eyes and hung their hearts, looking at the three long incense sticks that were burning.

I saw wisps of pale blue haze, rising.

A gust of wind blew, and the smoke swayed from side to side, and when everyone's hearts were rolling like waves, the smoke was tilted to the side, and there was about a cup of tea.

"Okay!" It was the officials and monks from Shaozhou who shouted in unison.

Everyone saw that the direction of the smoke raised by Changxiang pointed to the side of Caoxi in Shaozhou.

Seeing the true body of the Sixth Patriarch Huineng next to Luohe Temple, although the monks of Xinzhou Guoen Temple and Guangzhou Faxing Temple felt uncomfortable, since they had made a contract in advance, they could no longer regret it at this time.

Later, people called the small hill that lit the incense lantern as "incense lamp gang". Since then, the incense lamp gang has also become a Zen holy place for the monks and officials of the three places to determine the destination of the "true body of the six ancestors" (this is a later story).

The monks of Guoen Temple in Xinzhou wept and refused to let the six ancestors Huineng go to Baoling Temple in the flesh.

Strange to say, that night, the monks of Xinzhou Guoen Temple all had the same dream, dreaming that the Sixth Patriarch Hui Neng sat on the futon of the Buddha Hall and said to them: "I am at home in Baolin Heart." "And he left a side:

Let the world be in chaos,

It's never a worry-free place.

Let the world drought,

Half of this place is collected.

The next morning, the monks of Xinzhou Guoen Temple talked to each other, and everyone had the same dream, only to know that this was not only the will of heaven, but also the wish of the sixth ancestor Huineng, so they had to burn incense to send the sixth ancestor Huineng's body to Shaozhou.

On November 13, tens of thousands of officials, monks, nuns and believers from Xinzhou, Shaozhou and Guangzhou gathered inside and outside the Longshan Guoen Temple to welcome the shrine of the true body of the six ancestors Huineng. Led by Shao Thorn Shi Liu Wuxi, he was sent back to Caoxi Baolin Temple into the tower.

Along the way, the people of Li burned incense and candles, bowed and worshipped, which was extremely grand.

Monk Ling Tao, a disciple of the Sixth Ancestor Huineng, has been serving the Six Ancestors and has won the love of the Six Ancestors Huineng; Therefore, he was elected by the monks of Baoling Temple as the guardian tower master, responsible for guarding the six ancestors of Huineng.

When the Sixth Ancestor Hui Neng was really sent into the pagoda, the tower suddenly shone with dazzling white brilliance, and it gradually faded for three days and three nights.

Shaozhou Thorn Shi Liu Wuxi played this omen to Tang Xuanzong. Tang Xuanzong was greatly surprised, and immediately issued an edict to set up a monument to the six ancestors to commemorate the virtues of the six ancestors.

One more thing that's amazing. That is, if the people of Xinzhou go to Caoxi to pay homage to the remains of the six ancestors, all the lights of Baolin Temple will definitely shine brightly the day before, doubling the light.

In order to give them more comfort, after some discussion, it was decided to ask the Zen master to build a statue of the six ancestors Hui Neng, and send it back to the Xinzhou Guoen Temple for worship.

After the Zen master received the order, he exhausted his skills and tried his best, but the three statues were all similar in shape but not in god.

Later, Fahai Zen Master and others invited the true body of the Sixth Patriarch Huineng out of the shrine, and the argument was kneaded with incense powder, clay agarwood, etc., and then applied it to it, considering that the Sixth Ancestor Huineng had predicted before the extinction, there would be someone to take his head in order to "raise relatives on the head and eat in the mouth", in order to be careful, then wrap the neck of the flesh tightly with iron sheet and lacquered cloth, and place strong absorbent quicklime and charcoal in the lower part of the corpse seat. Then, return the real body to the pagoda.

The true body of the sixth ancestor Huineng has always been placed in the Baoling Temple for people to admire. Up to now, nearly 1,300 years, there has been no decay. It's still in shape and spirit, and it's as good as ever. In recent years, it has been identified by authoritative experts as a national first-class cultural relic.

The next day, the Zen master Fang Bian started to make the statue of the six ancestors Hui Neng again, this time the statue was made with both form and spirit, lifelike, very realistic. After this statue was sent back to Xinzhou Guoen Temple, the monks of Xinzhou were amazed to see it, and also called it "the true body of the six ancestors", and it has been enshrined in Xinzhou Guoen Temple to this day.

More than 100 years after Huineng's death, that is, in the eleventh year of Tang Xianzong's Yuanhe (8l6), Tang Xianzong issued an edict posthumously admonishing Huineng as the "Dajian Zen Master". In the first year of the Taiping Rejuvenation of the Northern Song Dynasty (976), Taizong of the Song Dynasty added Hui Neng as the "Dajian Vacuum Zen Master". During the time of Song Renzong, Huineng was posthumously called "Dajian Vacuum Pujue Zen Master". And Song Shenzong pursued "Dajian Vacuum Pujue Yuanming Zen Master". The emperor pursued Huineng, Huineng's nickname became longer and longer, and his status became higher and higher.

It is worth mentioning that after the death of the six ancestors of Zen Buddhism, sure enough, a few years later, on a dark and windy night, someone sneaked into Caoxi Baolin Temple to steal the head of the six ancestors Huineng.

When the thief raised the big knife in his hand that shone with cold light, and slashed at the neck of the sixth ancestor of Zen Buddhism, Huineng, "dang"! The crisp sound of blood and iron resonated sounded, and several brilliant sparks burst out.

"Oh, that's not good!" The thieves thought that it was the true manifestation of the Sixth Patriarch Hui Neng, and they were so frightened that they threw away their knives and ran out of the pagoda in panic, over the wall, and fled.

Monk Ling Tao, who guarded the pagoda, heard a strange sound in the pagoda, and when he entered the pagoda to watch, he saw that there was a big knife on the ground, and the iron sheet on the neck of the sixth ancestor Hui Neng Zhen had a deep knife mark, so he informed the abbot of Baolin Temple, Fahai Zen Master.

Zen Master Fahai sent people to Shaozhou overnight to report the matter to the government.

Shaozhou Thorn Shi Liu Wuxi was shocked when he heard the news, and knew that this matter was not trivial, so he sent someone to lay a net. Soon, the thief was brought to justice.

Liu Tingshi personally appeared in the court for interrogation, and saw that the thief was a middle-aged man, dressed in plain clothes, and felt strange. After interrogation, it was learned that the thief's name was Zhang Jingman, who was from the north, and that his elderly mother had been bedridden for a long time. Because he wanted to raise medical expenses for his old mother, he was hired to take the head of the sixth ancestor Huineng. His employer was a high-ranking monk in Silla (present-day Korea) named Kim Dae-pae, who was now studying law in Hongju. Jin Dabei admired the noble Taoism of the sixth ancestor Huineng, and wanted to steal his head and return to Goryeo to worship.

Liu Tingshi felt that this case was quite tricky, so he summoned Yang Kan of Qujiang County, where Cao Xi was located, to discuss with him.

One of these two officials is surnamed Yang and the other is surnamed Liu, and this happened in response to the saying of "Yang Liu is an official in the suspense of Huineng".

After the two officials discussed, it was difficult to reach a conclusion, so they personally sent someone to escort Zhang Jingman to Baolin Temple to ask for the opinions of the senior monks in the temple.

After Monk Ling Tao learned about it, he said: "Sneaking into the holy land of Buddhism to steal the head of the Buddha is really a crime. If it is punished by national law, it should be killed, but based on the compassion of Buddhism, then the unjust relatives are equal. Nian Zai sent him to steal the head of the monk to ask for the head to worship, not malicious, and Zhang Jingman is also filial piety, if he beheads him, his old mother will definitely be more lonely, this time let him be exempted from the death penalty. ”

After hearing this, Zen Master Fahai and other eminent monks finally adopted Ling Tao's opinion after discussion.

After Zhang Jingman was released from bondage, his face was flushed with shame, and he knelt down and kowtowed to Fahai, Ling Tao and other monks many times before leaving Caoxi.