Xuan Ce came out in response, he was a disciple of Hui Neng when he first gave a lecture in Baolin Temple.

Huineng said to Xuan Ce, "You have the most extensive scriptures among your brothers, and you can be called the first in erudition and strong memory. The ancients read thousands of books and traveled thousands of miles. Erudition is also widespread. From tomorrow, you can go down the mountain to study. It will be of great benefit to you to have a broad knowledge of the eminent monks and visit the famous temples, which will be of great benefit to your cultivation and enlightenment. ”

Xuan Ce said: "The disciple still wants to read the Tibetan scriptures for a few more years, so he ......"

Hui Neng smiled and said, "Haven't you heard the story of the bookworm told by Baby Xing?" ”

When Xuan Ce heard this, he couldn't help laughing, and laughed: "The disciple respectfully obeys the master's instructions." ”

Ying Xing jumped over: "Senior Brother Xuance, how lonely it is for you to go out to play alone, is it okay for me to be your companion?" ”

Master Huineng stopped him and said, "Do you think he is a tourist?" You can't endure the hardships of the walking monks, so let's go to Qingyuan Mountain with your senior brother Xingsi and let him teach you.

The elder brother who was most afraid of not smiling was pouted. Immediately, his little eyes rolled, he thought of something, secretly had fun, and ran towards the door of the main hall......

Master Huineng of the Sixth Ancestor, due to the inspiration of virtue, the reputation spreads far and wide, the monks of the world return to their hearts, the disciples gather more and more, and the temple has expanded by 13, collectively known as the flower and fruit orchard. Wang Wei, a great writer of later generations, called the grand occasion at that time "five days of heavy traces, a hundred more than the head". In Lingnan, an uncivilized and uncivilized wilderness, Baoling Temple is not only the center of Buddhism, but also the place of literary education. Because of the Honghua of Huineng, the primitive and backward folk customs and folk customs here have gradually changed. The remote Cao River has become the cultural center of southern China.

At the same time, another master of the Five Patriarchs, Shenxiu, used the ancient Yuquan Temple in Jingzhou as a base to deduce his touching Zen method. A few years later, Yuquan Zen Buddhism swept the Zen forest and spread throughout the country, and naturally, Shenxiu became the master of Jiangbei Zen monks.

Huineng and Shenxiu, one south and one north, although they inherited the Zen method of the five ancestors, they each have a distinct Zen style. Huineng raised the banner of enlightenment and Buddhahood, advocating a single knife and straightforwardness. He believes that it is not necessary to meditate and contemplate the mind, but to directly comprehend and realize the wonderful use of Buddha-nature in daily life, such as carrying water and chopping wood, plowing fields, and cultivating land. Shenxiu advocates the traditional method of gradual cultivation, which expounds the gradual meditation of "always wiping diligently, don't make dust", and its practice method is mainly to sit cross-legged and meditate, concentrating and watching quietly.

Due to the parallel propagation of the two masters, the Zen gate quickly expanded, and two major Zen centers of "South Energy and North Show" were formed in the country. According to their different teachings, people call it "Nantun Beichuan" or "Nan Zong Bei Zong".

Huineng taught his disciples: "Originally, the Dharma had only one purpose, but there are regional differences between the north and the south of the Fa. There is only one kind of Zen, but there is a difference between fast and slow understanding. Zen, there is no pause, why is it called pause? It's just that because people have different natural endowments and different ways of comprehension, they have the titles of epiphany and gradual cultivation. All roads lead to Chang'an, and every house leads to Chang'an. No matter which way you go, no matter how fast or slow, the final destination you reach is the same Chang'an City. ”

Shenxiu's disciples, because they don't know much about Huineng, only know that he is a woodcutter and can't read big characters, so they take it for granted that he has nothing extraordinary, and often makes sarcastic and contemptuous remarks.

After Shenxiu heard this, he said to them earnestly: "Although Senior Brother Huineng came from a humble background, he has superhuman wisdom without a teacher, so he can realize the best Zen method. In this regard, I am inferior to him. What's more, is it an accident that my master, the Fifth Patriarch, personally taught him the mantle of Zen Buddhism? I only hated myself for being old and frail, and that I was far away, so I couldn't go to Lingnan in person, so I went to ask Huineng for advice in person. You are young, you should go to Huineng as soon as possible to study, don't stop in my place, delay your enlightenment and enlightenment. ”

As a Zen practitioner who understands life thoroughly, his heart is like a mirror, and his wisdom is full of wisdom, Shenxiu deeply knows that although on the surface, his status in the Zen forest is much higher than that of Huineng, and as a Zen center, the popularity of Yuquan Temple is far greater than that of Cao Xi, but Huineng's teachings seem to be more sophisticated than himself. However, where is Huineng high? He didn't know.

One day, Shenxiu found his most proud disciple Zhicheng and said to him, "Zhicheng, you are very smart and intelligent, you can go to Cao Xi to listen to the Fa instead of me." The Fa that Senior Brother Huineng said, you should write it down with all your heart, and then talk about it to me when you come back. ”

When Zhicheng heard that he was going to Caoxi, he was very happy: "When I was still very young, I met Uncle Huineng. I heard that his Baoling Temple has become a well-known ashram throughout the country, and I would like to see it. ”

Shenxiu said, "Then you can go and prepare." ”

Zhicheng was just about to leave, but Shenxiu instructed again: "Zhicheng, you have to be careful, try not to expose that you are from our Yuquan Temple, so as not to cause unnecessary misunderstandings." ”

Zhicheng nodded solemnly. Looking at his most loyal disciple gradually moving away, Master Shenxiu muttered to himself: "Zhicheng, you have to come back early, waiting for you as a teacher......

Zhicheng received the teacher's order, trekked through mountains and rivers, wore stars and moons, and ran to Cao Xi "Dede......

When Zhicheng first arrived in Caoxi, Hui Neng, who was meditating in Baolin Temple, suddenly opened his eyes, smiled and said, "Hehe, there is a person who is eavesdropping on the Dharma. ”

Fahai, the secretary who was standing on the side, jumped up: "Where, Master?" I'm going to get him! ”

Huineng paused for a moment as if listening, and said confidently: "He is walking on the bank of Cao Creek right now, and he is almost at the mountain gate. ”

And Fahey stood, and ran out. Huineng shouted to him: "Fahai, don't act rashly!" He had no ill intentions. Go, go to the guest hall to receive him, and don't talk to him or tell anyone else. Let him come and go freely in Baoling Temple and study the Fa freely. ”

Fahai nodded. When he walked from the abbot to the guest hall, Zhicheng happened to come in. Zhicheng saluted him: "Senior brother, I am a walking monk, I admire the high virtue of the Sixth Patriarch Master, and I want to place an order to learn the Fa in Baolin Temple, I don't know if it is convenient or not?" ”

Fahai smiled and said, "Welcome, welcome." I'll arrange room and board for you. As for learning the Fa, the Sixth Patriarch Master is indeed very clever, you have to listen carefully! ”

Zhicheng said: "Surely! ”

In the following time, Zhicheng was really like an ordinary Zen monk who came from his feet, following everyone to work, learn the Fa, and practice Zen. He found that the Cao Xi Epiphany Zen method of the Sixth Patriarch Huineng was fundamentally different from the gradual cultivation Zen method of Master Shenxiu.

In the beginning, Zhicheng was the same as those Zen monks who had just come to admire. Yes, the reason why everyone has come thousands of miles to rely on Master Huineng for bamboo canes for horses and straw sandals for boats, braving the wind and rain, is that they are looking forward to hearing the profound Dharma, making rapid progress in their spiritual practice, and making great progress. But when they worked hard and really came to Caoxi, they found that the situation was very different from what they imagined.

As the abbot of Baoling Temple, the Sixth Patriarch Hui Neng is the embodiment of the Buddha in the Zen dojo. However, he rarely talked about the Dharma and did not give lectures on Zen. Every day, he just led his disciples to work hard - clearing wasteland, farming, and building monasteries. You must know that the Zen monks left their homes and left their homes for the sake of life and death, becoming Buddhas and ancestors, not to become masons! You must understand that people come to you thousands of miles away to seek refuge in order to enlighten and understand life, and definitely not to be a farmer! If you want to be a mason and a farmer, what else do you want to do?

In the past, when they were in other monasteries, the Master strictly admonished and urged them to do their homework every day—except for some chores that had to be done, and the whole time was spent meditating and meditating. Even, many Zen masters, such as Master Shenxiu, even require their disciples to practice the kung fu of "not falling down"—not sticking to the table, not sleeping day and night, and spending all twelve hours a day in zazen.

Now it's a good thing, the six ancestors never ask them to meditate, and every day like the laymen at home, they do endless chores and endless crops! In the long run, won't all the zazen kung fu that was originally practiced be wasted? Therefore, one day, when Zhicheng and a few new Zen monks were opening up the wasteland in the mountains, they coincidentally found a secluded place, sat on their knees, and meditated......

Huineng was as discerning as a torch, discerning everything, carrying a Zen stick to find the mountain, ping pong and beating, and calling them out of the meditation!

"Come here, come here!" Hui Neng waved his hand and beckoned Zhicheng and them to his side. He personally picked up a pickaxe and said while plowing the land: "I know that you are aggrieved in your hearts, and some people even scold me in private, an old man. ”

"Sixth Ancestor Master, you are a generation of Grandmasters, how dare we be so disrespectful to you?"

"Look, you can't mean it, right?" Huineng's gaze swept over the Zen monks one by one, and they all lowered their heads one by one.

"Are you complaining in your hearts that after you came to Caoxi, I never let you sit in meditation, which caused your cultivation to become rusty and regressed?"

Zhicheng replied honestly, "We, the new disciples, do think so. ”

"I'll tell you the truth, I just want you disciples who have just come to Cao Xi to forget your past cultivation methods as soon as possible! Because true Zen is not just about meditation, it's everywhere and all the time. Gestures, all in the dojo, open up the wasteland and farm, that is, meditation! ”

"Oh my God, a wasteland like today's cultivation is actually practice?" Zhicheng shouted out the doubts in everyone's hearts.

"Yes, that's practice!" Huineng replied categorically, "And, this is also zazen!" ”

Ah, wouldn't it? Zhicheng was so surprised that he couldn't speak: waving his head to open up the wasteland, is it meditation?

Huineng knew the confusion of his disciples, and after laughing, he said slowly: "Actually, each of you has personally experienced that when we concentrate on one thing and do one thing wholeheartedly, all our attention and all our thoughts are focused on this point. At this time, there will be no distractions in my heart, and there will be no delusions. Half a day seems to have passed in the blink of an eye. ”

"Yes, yes." All of them said with deep feeling. Huineng said with a smile: "Isn't our daily practice just to get rid of distracting thoughts and subdue delusions? Working wholeheartedly is cultivation. ”