The six ancestors Hui Neng preached the epiphany Buddhism in Baolin Temple, deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, everyone who listened to the six ancestors Hui Neng's preaching of Buddhism, were full of praise and benefited a lot, even the old woman who opened a stall to sell snacks at the entrance of Caohou Village, also benefited a lot, and also respected the monks who followed the six ancestors Hui Neng to spread the Dharma in Baolin Temple.

On this day, the old woman had just opened her stall and set up her stall, and she saw Ying Xing riding a little donkey down the mountain from a distance, and she shouted loudly: "Little Master Yingxing, come and eat a glutinous cake." ”

Ying Xing was actually a little embarrassed: "Every time I go down the mountain, I have to eat your glutinous rice cakes, I ......"

"What are you polite? It is our blessing to provide for the monks. Plant a grain of millet in the spring and harvest 10,000 quintals of grain in the autumn. Therefore, it is still cost-effective for you to eat glutinous rice cakes, or my old woman. ”

The baby was amused by the old woman, and went to the tree next to him to tie the donkey. At this time, a young Zen monk came over and asked the old woman: "Old woman, how to get to Baolin Temple?" ”

When the old woman saw that it was a monk, she folded her hands and said, "The master is from out of town?" ”

"The monks traveled from Jingzhou to Songshan, and came all the way from Zhongyue, wanting to go to the Six Ancestors to learn the Fa. I don't know ......."

The old woman said happily, "Wow, you've chosen the right path." The Sixth Patriarch is a once-in-a-lifetime living Bodhisattva. You cross the village and turn left and follow the stream upstream. ”

"Thank you, old woman." He had just taken a few steps away when the old woman shouted from behind him, "Come back, mage, please come back." The young monk turned around.

"You must be hungry after a long journey, sit down and eat a few glutinous rice cakes, drink some tea, and there are still a few miles of mountain roads to go."

The young Zen monk was embarrassed to touch his pocket. The old woman said, "What are you still doing?" I also ate this glutinous rice cake when the six ancestors entered the mountain. For every mage who enters the mountain, I give him a few miles. ”

The old woman pointed to the baby who had already walked to the food stall and said, "This little master is the monk of Baolin Temple, you can go up the mountain together." ”

The infant and the young Zen monk interrogated each other and sat down to eat glutinous rice together.

It just so happened that another middle-aged mage carrying two large bundles of books came over, and when he saw the food stall, his eyes lit up, and he took off the burden from his shoulders and said to the old woman, "Old woman, please sell me a few glutinous rice cakes." ”

The old woman said excitedly, "Yo, Master, are you sending scriptures to Baoling Temple?" ”

The middle-aged mage was stunned: "Send the scriptures? He noticed that the old woman's eyes were staring at his book, and suddenly laughed: "Wonderful, wonderful!" It can be said that I am sending real scriptures to Huineng! This "Diamond Sutra Copy" is my experience in studying the "Diamond Sutra" for half of my life. Let Hui Neng and their so-called method of not establishing words and seeing their hearts be read and read well, so that they will not be deviant and nonsense. ”

The old woman squinted her eyes and said, "So, you're here to challenge the Sixth Ancestor?" The middle-aged mage said conceitedly, "To say that the challenge is to lift them up." Didn't they initiate their hearts with the Diamond Sutra? I'm here to teach them! ”

The old woman said, "Oh? So you have a lot of experience with the Diamond Sutra? I'm going to ask you a few questions. ”

The middle-aged mage was impatient: "If you want to ask, I have to hurry!" ”

He sat down uninvited, holding a bowl of tea and drinking it. The old woman said unhurriedly: "If you can answer my question, I will give you glutinous rice for free; I can't answer, I'm sorry, not only is the glutinous rice not sold, but I think it's time for you to go home. ”

What kind of Buddhism can an old woman from a rural village who seems to be illiterate understand Buddhism? Therefore, the middle-aged mage pursed his lips disdainfully: "Hmph, what esoteric questions can you ask!" ”

The old woman asked, "Master, is the scroll you are carrying a face?" The glutinous rice you want, is it with or without phase? ”

"This, this...... This, naturally, has a phase. The old woman forced: "The Buddha said in the Diamond Sutra: 'All appearances are false, and if you see all the appearances that are not the appearances, you will see them as they are.'" Since 'all appearances are false,' what is the use of your broken book? What other glutinous rice do you eat? ”

The middle-aged mage was shocked when he heard this, and large beads of sweat flowed down his forehead. It is clearly said in the scriptures that all appearances are vain, what does he want to do with vain things?!

The young Zen monk who sat with the infant was also surprised: this seemingly illiterate old woman was proficient in Zen and deeply connected with Zen skills.

The old woman smiled and said lightly: "My old woman is uneducated and doesn't know anything about Zen, but she just listened to Master Huineng talk about the Diamond Sutra once." The question was so simple that it made you, the great mage who specializes in the study of the Diamond Sutra, smile. ”

The middle-aged mage could still laugh, the more he listened, the more shocked he became, he couldn't say a word, only cold sweat fell down.

A few wasps, presumably trying to make a nest, smelled the paper in the scroll and fell on it to gnaw on the paper.

The young Zen monk sighed and said with a pun: "Alas, you bees, the world is so vast, you don't go to the flowers to collect honey, but you have to gnaw ancient paper." It's good to be able to digest the ancient paper by chewing it, but I use it as a nest and trap myself in a more narrow world. What a pity! ”

The middle-aged mage was like thunder, looking at the young Zen monk blankly.

The young Zen monk blushed and said to himself shyly: "I am not as good as the old woman, I have just come from the middle of the original and have not yet met the Sixth Patriarch Master, I don't know if I am qualified to worship under his old man's house to learn the Fa." ”

At this time, Ying Xing walked up to the middle-aged mage's bundle of books and caught a small worm - silverfish - bookworm from the yellowed ancient paper. He smiled and said to it, "Ah, you little fellow, you also eat a full stomach of scriptures, can you also be called a 'little mage'?" The middle-aged mage's face was full of embarrassment and dissatisfaction.

The baby went his own way, and continued to say to the little silverfish: "Your luck is so good, what you eat in your stomach is the Buddhist scriptures, so you are arrogant and boastful all day long, but you are respected by people." And the other bookworm is not as lucky as you. It is full of martial arts secrets, and it is impossible to live forever, thinking that it is the best in the world in kung fu. When it goes out to walk the rivers and lakes, it encounters flies, flies bully it, it encounters bed bugs, bed bugs oppress it, and even the black mantis can beat its nose and face to be swollen. It was so angry that it found the owner of the martial arts secret and complained, 'My belly is full of martial arts tricks, and the tricks are invincible in the world, and the tricks used by those little insects are very ordinary, but why am I always beaten by them and can't find the north?' The master smiled and said, 'You don't eat, no matter how many tricks you have, no matter how good you are, what's the use?' ’”

When the middle-aged mage heard this, his heart trembled. Yes, like the silverfish, you have learned to be full of wealth, but whenever troubles arise, you are not at all useful; You also understand every truth of Buddhism, but whenever good times and bad times come, your heart will involuntarily drift with it, and when you are aware of it and regret it in every way, the fifteenth day of the first month will stick to the door god - it is too late!

At this moment, the donkey, which was tied to the tree, probably felt unfree, and struggled to break free from the reins. The young Zen monk borrowed the topic to play: "A sentence of the head, ten thousand lineages of donkey peg." The scriptures are meant to be tools for indicating the truth, but if they are regarded as the truth itself, it is like fixing oneself to the stake on which the donkey is tethered, and it will be even more difficult to break free! ”

The middle-aged mage was no longer hungry, but full of belly—he was ashamed and full of his own incompetence. He was eager to find a crack in the ground to get into, so as not to be embarrassed in front of an old woman and two young offspring......

Naturally, he didn't find the crack in the ground, and even if he did, he couldn't get in. So, he had no choice but to pick up the burden, panic like a thief who was discovered, and flee in the wilderness!

After the middle-aged mage left, Ying Xing stretched out his arms and let out a cheer of victory. Happy enough, he turned to the young Zen monk and said, "You are very good. What's your name? ”

"Huairang."

"You sit here for a while, wait for me to load the salt, and I'll take you up the mountain."

Huai Rang said, "Thank you, Senior Brother, for your kindness." I think I can touch the place myself. ”

"With me leading the way, you won't take a detour. Besides, with my introduction, it is more likely that my master, the Sixth Patriarch, will take you in as an apprentice. ”

Huai Rang said solemnly: "Senior brother, I'm hungry, can you eat instead of me?" Therefore, it is better to go your own way. In this way, although it may be a detour, the experience is more profound. At the very least, the strength of the feet has been exercised. ”

With that, Huai Rang got up and walked in the direction of Baoling Temple.

Ying Xing couldn't help but be stunned. He looked at Huairang's back and muttered, "This guy, like Xingsi, seems to have a lot of origins......

This Huai Rang really has a very good history.

According to the third volume of the "Ancestral Hall Collection", it is recorded that on the eighth day of the fourth month of the second year of the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang Dynasty (677 AD), on the Christmas day of the Buddha Shakyamuni, six white rui qi burst out from Ankang in Jinzhou (now Hanyin, Shaanxi) and went straight to the sky. In ancient times, almost all Chinese emperors Lao Tzu liked all kinds of auspicious and auspicious signs, so Lord Assassin Shi did not dare to slack off, and immediately reported to the imperial court. Tang Gaozong Li Zhi asked Tai Shi Ling: "What is this qi?" ”

Yes, you can't be white in the earth, right? Tai Shiling explained: "Shakyamuni Buddha's birthday is naturally related to Buddhism. The six white rays of Ruiqi symbolize the six realms (earth, water, fire, wind, air, and consciousness) and the six realms (hell, hungry ghosts, animals, asura, earth, and heaven) of Buddhism, indicating the birth of a high monk. It lies in the Golden State and Ankang. ”

At this time, Jinzhou Taishou Han Kai also recorded and played after seeing Ruixiang. So Emperor Gaozong ordered Han Kai to personally go to the family where the baby was born to offer condolences and congratulations. Han Kai traced back to the roots, followed the vine, and found a family surnamed Du Mingguangqi.

The person who was born in response to Rui is Huairang.

At the age of 15, Huairang went to Jingzhou Yuquan Temple to become a monk. At that time, Yuquan Temple was a famous temple in the world, and it was common for monks to gather, and it became common to study teachings and study precepts. Huai Rang has been studying and cultivating the law here for seven or eight years, and his heart is still like a cloud of black paint, his heart is unclear, and his sexual light has not appeared. He knew that the current method of practice did not cut into the roots of Buddhism, and was not the best way to enter the Zen machine. For the comprehension of Zen, it can be said that it is not the essence and is not suitable for oneself. So, he resolutely gave up the step-by-step life of the famous mountain and the big temple, and came to Zhongyue with a fellow staff member, Tanran Zen Master. At that time, the abbot of Songshan was Lao An, one of the top ten disciples of the Five Ancestors Hongren, who was as famous as Shenxiu and Huineng.

Lao An Zen Master stayed calmly, and just glanced at Huai Rang, and said: "I am not your master, your master is in Caoxi." ”

When sending him to Caoxi, Lao An Zen Master said inexplicably: "Back then, I ate a grain of Dao (rice) seed because of Senior Brother Huineng, and today I will return him a Buddha seed!" ”

With the encouragement of Lao An, Huai Rang traveled thousands of miles from the prosperous Central Plains to the remote and remote land of Lingnan. When he walked along the clear Cao Creek to the gate of Baolin Temple, it was dusk.

The Sixth Ancestor Hui Neng seemed to have known that he was coming, and happened to be standing on the high steps outside the temple gate.

The setting sun sprinkled gold paved a layer of gold dust for the long stone steps of Baoling Temple, like a golden road to heaven. Indeed, in Huairang's view, this is nothing less than the Golden Strip leading to Elysium. I don't know if Huineng's body is really shining, or the afterglow of the sunset is reflected from the side, there is a golden halo around the outline of Huineng's body, which makes him look a little mysterious and sacred; A little cordial, a little dignified; How much cool, how much compassion......

"Where are you from?"

An ordinary word, because it came from the mouth of the sixth patriarch of Zen Buddhism, is full of infinite Zen opportunities.

If you feel something, if you feel something, if you have something, if you have something, if you have understanding, but you can't start and can't get in. He was a little shy, and there was a faint red tide on his face. He lowered his head a little embarrassed and muttered, "Disciple Huairang, from Songshan." ”

"What kind of thing is coming from?" Huineng asked strangely.

Huai Rang couldn't help but sweat like rain—there seemed to be something in his chest, but he couldn't pour it all out at once. He felt guilty and hung his head deeply.

Sixth Ancestor Hui Neng patted him on the shoulder kindly: "You can stay for the time being." After saying that, he drifted away, and the wide monk's robe swayed in the wind, as if he was about to fly towards the sunset. Huai Rang said to himself: "What kind of thing is coming......