As he spoke, the guest took out a letter of silver from a cloth bag and handed it to Huineng.

Huineng insisted on not accepting it, and said gratefully: After I go to Jintai Temple to see the Zen Master of Silence, if I really need it, I will come to you again! ”

"Okay, okay, I'm not wrong." The shopkeeper on the side saw the words on the merchant's cloth bag, and said with a grin: "No wonder the two of you hit it off at first sight, so you fell in love, it turns out that you are fellow countrymen!" ”

"How do you know?" Huineng and the old man asked almost at the same time.

Xiao Er said: "Guest officer, the words 'Xinzhou Anji' are written on your cloth bag, indicating that your surname is An and you are from Xinzhou. ”

Before the guests could say anything, Huineng had already stepped forward and knelt down and said, "Shopkeeper An, it's really you!" You really are the shopkeeper who runs a grocery store in NSW! ”

This time, it was the turn of the merchant and Xiao Ergan to stare at each other. The guest scratched his head: "Young man, who are you and how do you know me?" ”

Huineng said excitedly: "More than ten years ago, you led the way for me and my mother. I went to the pawnshop first, and then to the pharmacy. ”

The guest patted his head and said excitedly, "Yes! I remember! Your father's surname is Lu, and he is from the north......"

Xiao Er joked: "Not only his father's surname is Lu, but he is also surnamed Lu." ”

"Uncle An, thank you. Over the years, my mother and I have often talked about you, and my mother said that you are a good person and a good person. ”

The guest said, "The old man An Daocheng." Brother Lu, I later heard that your mother and son went to Guangzhou to seek refuge with Master Wen, why did you return to Xinzhou from Guangzhou? ”

So, Huineng told An Daocheng about the past. Finally, An Daocheng said: "Fallen leaves return to the roots. Huineng, if you aspire to study Buddhism, if you have any needs, just come to me. ”

"Good!" After saying goodbye to An Daocheng movingly, Huineng happily went in the direction of Jintai Temple.

The sun slipped down from mid-heaven and reclined lazily in mid-air, watching the wool-like white clouds swing beneath his feet.

When Huineng walked out of the south of Chengguan and came to a small hill, Jintai Temple was built on the top of the hill.

Huineng went up to the top of the slope, and the mountain wind blew, like the sound of a book. He looked far away, and saw the trees on the hill and the birds singing. In the midst of a sea of forests, a blue-gray tiled roof was exposed.

It is destined that Huineng has a fate with Buddhism, and as soon as he goes up, he embarks on a road that will always be linked to Buddhism.

Passing through the grove, a monastery stands out: blue-gray walls mottled by wind and rain, and a layer of dark green moss at the foot of the walls.

This temple is called "Jintai Temple", in recent years, the war is in chaos, the incense is not prosperous, the temple is in disrepair, and some places have become the ruins of the wall.

Following the sound of reading aloud from time to time, Huineng came to Jintai Temple.

He saw a middle-aged monk standing on the pulpit from outside the broken wall, holding a sutra book and reciting it. He is the abbot of Jintai Temple, and his name is Zen Master Shankong. He was not tall, but he was also sturdy, with a beard about three inches long on his chin, and he wore a gray-colored monk's robe.

In front of Master Silent Sky there were more than twenty monks sitting on a shabby futon.

Huineng thought it was strange. He stood outside the broken wall and listened carefully.

After leading his disciples to recite a Buddhist scripture, Master Shankong turned to the monks and explained the Dharma: "Buddhism is divided into Hinayana Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism. Hinayana is to live by oneself, not to care about the suffering of the world and sentient beings, but to seek to be alone. Mahayana, on the other hand, is for the benefit of all sentient beings, and what it seeks is to help the world. Mahayana Buddhism was retrieved by Tang Sanzang when he traveled west to Tianzhu that year......"

After explaining a paragraph, Zen Master Shankong picked up the scriptures and asked his disciples to recite the scriptures with him.

The Zen Master of the Silent Sky recited to the scriptures: "I smell it." At one time, the Buddha was defending the country, and only the tree was given to the garden of solitude, and the great bhikshus, 1,250 people. At that time, the world was honored, and when he ate, he wore clothes and held bowls, and people gave up to defend the big city and beg for food. and begged in his city, and returned to this place. After eating, the mantle is collected, the feet are washed, and the seat is sitting. The old man Su Bodhi ...... among the public"

The Zen Master reads a paragraph, and the disciples follow along.

……

Huineng had never attended school, but the meaning of these verses seemed to him to be as clear as darkness, which aroused his great interest.

The sun was about to set, and as he walked home, he recalled the scriptures that had been recited by his disciples in the Silent Sky.

In the evening, after taking a bath, Huineng lay on the bed, recalling listening to the scriptures recited by the Zen Master Shankong at the door of the inn during the day, and recited it alone, and the more he recited, the louder it became.

After finishing the chores at home, Li sat in the next room doing needlework.

At night in the mountain village, except for the occasional frog drum, it seems particularly quiet.

Suddenly, Li heard a murmuring sound, intermittently.

"What's that sound?" Lee's ears listened carefully to identify.

“…… Buddha's words; Su Bodhi, he is not sentient beings, not non-sentient beings. Why ......?"

Li finally recognized that it was the sound of chanting the Buddha, and it was coming from the Huineng room next door.

Li's heart immediately had a pimple: There are only two people in the family, myself and my son, how could a monk come to my house to recite the scriptures at this night?

At first, she suspected that her old ears were not good, and she heard it wrong, so she picked at the ear holes with her hand and held her breath. Listen to the truth. Yes, it is indeed the sound of chanting, and it is indeed coming from the son's room.

Li Shi felt very strange, and hurriedly put down the needle and thread in his hand, put on his clothes, walked to the door of Huineng's room, and put his ear on the crack of the door.

The sound of reciting scriptures echoed through the room, coming through the crack in the door.

Li knocked on the door with his hand: "Huineng, you open the door." ”

Huineng heard the scream, stopped chanting, and asked, "Mother, it's so late, you don't sleep, is there anything important?"

Li urged: "You open the door and talk about it." ”

Huineng had no choice but to get out of bed and open the door.

Li did not step into the door, but stood on the threshold, stretched his neck to look inside to the east and west.

Although Huineng's room was not lit, the bright moonlight shone in through the window lattice, and everything inside could still be seen clearly.

Lee's unusual behavior. Hui Neng was puzzled: "Mother, what are you looking for?"

Li muttered, "Where is the monk in your room?"

Huineng was confused: "The monk in my room? Why did my mother say this, are you asleep, what are you dreaming about?"

Li waved his hand: "I didn't fall asleep, let alone dream." ”

Huineng confessed: "Child, I sleep alone in the room, how can any monk come to the room?"

Li Shiba blinked his old eyes: "There is no monk, where can you chant scriptures in your room at night?"

Huineng suddenly realized that he couldn't help laughing.

Li blamed: "You are not young, and you are not serious yet." What are you laughing at?"

Hui Neng pointed at himself with his finger: "That monk is me!"

"Is that you?" Li Shi was even more puzzled, "When did you become a monk?"

Hui Neng is serious: "I didn't become a monk, but I did read those scriptures. ”

Li didn't believe it: "You can't read a few words, what scriptures do you read?"

Huineng explained: "Although I can't read a few words, I can read them with other people's saliva." ”

Li asked, "Who did you learn the scriptures from?"

Huineng: "I secretly followed the monks of Jintai Temple to learn the scriptures. ”

Li Shi was surprised: "What, you went to Jintai Temple?"

"Yes, mother, listen to me tell me the whole story." So, Huineng told the Li family about meeting An Daocheng in the store during the day and being instructed by him to go to Jintai Temple.

After hearing this, Li Shi breathed a sigh of relief: "Heh, I see!"

Hui Neng said with a sense of reminiscence: "Those verses sound really interesting. ”

Li urged: "You read it to me again." ”

"Mother, listen," Hui Neng recited the scripture he heard again.

Li has listened to his father who was a village langzhong lecture since he was a child, and he usually likes to read scriptures, so he knows a little about various classics in the world. When she heard Hui Neng recite the scriptures, she asked, "Do you know what scriptures the master disciple is reading?"

Huineng nodded: "I know, that's called the Diamond Sutra." ”

Lee: "The full name of the Diamond Sutra is the Diamond Sutra. ”

Hui Nengba blinked his eyes: "Where did the Diamond Sutra come from?" Did the elder of Jintai Temple write it himself?"

This time, it was Lee's turn to laugh.

Huineng was puzzled: "Mother, what are you laughing at?"

Li Shi said solemnly: "How can the old monk of Jintai Temple write such an incisive classic." I heard that the "Diamond Sutra" came from Tianzhu. ”

Huineng asked, "Mother, do you understand the meaning of these scriptures?"

"I don't understand much, so profound Buddhism, how can I, a rural village woman, understand?" "However, I have heard some Buddhist legends and stories from adults since I was a child. ”

Huineng moved a wooden stool to the Li family: "Mother, sit down and slowly tell me the stories of Buddhism that you know." ”

So, Li told Huineng what she knew about Buddhism and Buddhist scriptures.

The more Hui Neng listened, the more interested he became.

For a few days, after Huineng sold firewood, he didn't even care about sweating, and with fatigue, he climbed up the mountain, came to the outside of Jintai Temple, stood beside the broken wall, and listened carefully to the monk chanting scriptures.

For the peculiar behavior of this lay child, the abbot of Jintai Temple, Zen Master Shankong, saw it.

On this day, after teaching his apprentices to recite scriptures, taking advantage of the free time to rest, Zen Master Lonely Sky walked to the front of the broken wall, bowed to Hui Neng, and folded his hands: "Amitabha." ”

Huineng also bent down and saluted him.

Zen Master Silent Sky asked Hui Neng, "If Lao Wei is not mistaken, the donor should be a firewood picker, right?"

"Exactly, I have been collecting firewood and chopping wood for ten years since I was fourteen years old." Hui Neng scratched his head with his hand and asked strangely, "Master, I haven't spoken to you, your discerning eyes are really powerful, how can you know that I am collecting firewood?"

Pointing to his machete, bamboo pole and rope, Master Silence said, "Everything in the world has its own characteristics. People are also enlightened. Your machetes, bamboo poles, and ropes are silent, but don't they tell me?"

Huineng said admiringly: "Oh, your understanding is really high. ”

Zen Master Lonely Sky: "The donor is someone nearby?"

Huineng pointed to Longshan over there: "Xialu Village, not far from here." ”

Master Shankong asked again, "What's your name?"

"Huineng."

"Huineng?" Zen Master Shankong shuddered and stared at Hui Neng with both eyes, "You are a layman, why did you come up with the Dharma name of the Buddha family?"

"I don't know. My father gave me this name when I was a child. ”

Zen Master Lonely Sky muttered: "Maybe you will have a relationship with our Buddhist family in the future." ”

Seeing that the abbot of the temple was talking to the firewood boy outside the broken wall, those monks gathered around.

The Zen Master was puzzled and asked, "You have been coming to our temple for many days, and you are so fascinated by standing outside the broken wall every day. Why is that?"