The main stream of Caoxi River was called Caoxi Water in ancient times, and it originated from Caoxi Mountain, which is a high mountain range behind Caoxi. The stream flows more than 200 miles to the north and flows to a plastered place, which was called Caohou Village in ancient times. The stream is clear, the green hills are reflected, and the smoke curls up. Twenty miles by the stream, there is an ancient village named "Caohou Village", sitting in the north and facing south, the green dragon and white tiger embrace each other left and right. A stream originates from the back mountain, the meandering water returns, irrigating the fields and educating people.

Cao Xishui flows in front of the village, singing songs and spreading joy from the depths of the mountains. Perhaps he didn't want the mountain to be too lonely, sometimes, it was naughty like a monkey, jumping down from a high cliff, stirring up the sky mist and pulling up colorful neon; Sometimes, it is as quiet as a virgin, quietly converging into a secluded pool, reflecting the white clouds and green mountains......

Dashan is the father of Cao Xi, and Cao Xi is the soul of Dashan. Under the big tree on the bank of the stream at the head of the village, Cao Shuliang and several old people talked about the past and the present in the shade of the tree.

A white-bearded old man said: "If you want to talk about our Caohou Village, it is a treasure of feng shui!" The clear Cao Xi and the Baoling Temple in the upper reaches of Cao Xi are all very promising. ”

A middle-aged man said, "If there is any reason, tell us about it." ”

The white-bearded old man stroked his white-bearded beard and said proudly: "I still listen to my grandfather, more than 150 years ago, an Indian monk named Zhiyao came to the Central Plains to teach the Dharma. At that time, it was the period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and we were south of the Yangtze River, which was under the jurisdiction of Emperor Wu of Liang of the Southern Dynasty. After the monk Zhiyao came ashore from the South China Sea, he wanted to go to Jiankang, the capital of the Southern Liang Kingdom, and passed by us. He looked at the top of the mountain, and it was amazing, this mountain, this water, and this qi vein were the treasures of feng shui for the great sages. He happened to be thirsty, so he took Cao Xishui and took a sip. Oh, that sweetness is sweeter than the spring water of Baolin Mountain, which is produced by the great monks of India. With such a sweet spring, there must be a dragon vein lurking. He followed the stream upstream. When he walked to the place where the current Baoling Temple is now, he suddenly understood that this is the dojo of the Great Bodhisattva in Xi! So, he came to our village and told my grandfather that in 170 years, there will be a bodhisattva in the flesh who will preach the deepest Dharma in the world here. The bodhisattva in the flesh is the true lineage of the Buddha, and there are as many people who have been influenced by him to attain enlightenment as the trees on the mountain. If you want to build a temple, call it Baoling Temple, and wait for the coming of the bodhisattva in the flesh. After saying that, the wisdom medicine monk suddenly disappeared. ”

The middle-aged man asked, "What happened later?" ”

The old man said: "Later, this incident alarmed the government. At that time, the master of Shaozhou Assassin Hou Jingzhong was also a devout Buddhist, so he immediately reported it to the imperial court. Emperor Wu of Liang is known as the son of the Buddha's heart, and he was very happy after hearing about it, so he set aside the silver taels and built the Baolin Temple. The three big characters of 'Baolin Temple' are still inscribed by Emperor Wu of Liang! ”

The middle-aged man asked again, "What about later?" ”

The old man smiled and said, "Later?" Later, there was an old man with a white beard who told this story to a group of turtle grandchildren on the edge of the stream! ”

The old man's humor made everyone laugh. In the midst of laughter, I suddenly heard Cao Shuliang talking to himself: "Impossible, according to the legends of the old people, there are still 16 years." ”

The white-bearded old man asked, "What can't be?" ”

Cao Shuliang said: "I mean, could the Master Huineng I met a few days ago be the physical bodhisattva prophesied by the Wisdom Medicine Monk?" ”

"Huineng? Which Huineng? ”

"It's the Huineng who lived in Liu Zhiluo's house a year ago. Now, he has just returned from Huangmei Dongshan Temple. ”

The middle-aged man shook his head: "Oh, it's him!" He's only in his twenties, right? Less than five feet tall, and his appearance is still very ordinary, can a living bodhisattva be an ordinary person like him? ”

Cao Shuliang said: "If you don't practice Buddha, you don't know that Buddha and Bodhisattva are incredible." Sometimes, when you see an ordinary person, maybe he is the embodiment of the bodhisattva you look forward to every day. Let's just say that Huineng is indeed extraordinary. His Dharma practice is unfathomable. Do you think that if he is an ordinary person, the fifth-generation patriarch of Zen Buddhism, Hongren, can pass on the mantle to him? So ......"

The white-bearded old man counted on his fingers, shook his head and said, "But the time is not right!" It will take another 16 years to reach the 170 years that the monk of wisdom medicine said. ”

Cao Shuliang said: "Perhaps, the old people are mistaken? ”

The white-bearded old man hesitated and said, "It's possible." Or maybe I miscalculated. Let's go and meet the Bodhisattva in the flesh and ask him to go to the abbot of Baoling Temple to say the Dharma. The old people trembled and walked towards Liu Zhiluo's house.

The white-bearded old man, Cao Shuliang, Liu Zhiluo and others, regardless of Huineng's repeated excuses, surrounded him out of the village and walked along Cao Xishui to the Baoling Temple upstream. After a while, Baoling Temple was in sight.

Liu Zhiluo pointed to the corner of the main hall of Baolin Temple shaded by green trees, and said to Huineng: "This is the Baolin Temple that has been waiting for you for 170 years. ”

Huineng said anxiously: "Fellow villagers, I am just a few months of rice under the Fifth Ancestor Hongren Master, not the flesh bodhisattva you say. ”

Cao Shuliang smiled and said, "Master Huineng, you are only in your twenties and don't have a beard yet, so don't be modest!" I have studied Buddhism for decades, run hundreds of dojos, and have been close to countless good knowledge, but I have never met a great master as knowledgeable as you. If you weren't for the living Bodhisattva we have been looking forward to for nearly 200 years, who would dare to call yourself a high monk when you look at the world? ”

Liu Zhiluo has a deep friendship with Huineng, so he said more simply and bluntly: "Huineng, if you refuse, you will look down on us Caoxi people!" ”

Huineng was embarrassed and said: "It's not that I don't know what to do, but it's that the teacher's order is difficult to disobey." My master, Master Hongnin, won't let me start speaking right now. ”

Cao Shuliang was surprised: "There is such a thing? ”

Huineng wanted to speak and stopped: "This ......"

The white-bearded old man said, "Master Huineng, are you studying Buddhism just for personal liberation, life and death?" ”

"Of course not! The more important duty of Buddhist disciples is to promote the Dharma, solemnize the land, be happy and affectionate, and liberate sentient beings. ”

The old man held his long snow-white beard and said, "In this case, you see, I am already over eighty years old, and half of my body has been buried in the earth. The sage said, "If you hear the Tao, you can die at night." Master Huineng, you must let me listen to the Buddha's teachings before I die! ”

Huineng was touched by the old man and said, "Okay, old man, I promise you." No matter what happens in the future, I will first stay at Baoling Monastery and say that the one-day Dharma is the one-day Dharma, and that preaching Zen once is a Zen. ”

Cao Shuliang heard that there was something unspeakable in Huineng's words, and asked: "Master Huineng, since the Fifth Ancestor Master has already let you go down the mountain, why don't you preach the Fa?" ”

"Master did not restrict me from coming out to preach the Dharma for the rest of my life, but for the sake of my personal safety, he temporarily did not allow me to appear in public so as not to ......."

Liu Zhiluo asked eagerly: "For personal safety?" Could it be that someone is trying to turn it against you? ”

Huineng nodded. Liu Zhiluo asked: "Why?" ”

Huineng said with a wry smile: "Since I am a firewood boy from Lingnan, and I have never entered the school, I don't know much literacy, I have just worked as a coolie in Huangmei for a few months, and I have won the mantle of the five ancestors in half a word, and many people in the same sect are not convinced." For various reasons, many people want to take back the mantle, and even want to ...... me."

Cao Shuliang slapped himself on the head with self-reproach: "Why didn't I think of this layer!" Folks, in my opinion, please ask Master Huineng to abbot Baolin Temple, and discuss it later. The safety of the master matters. ”

Everyone agreed: "Yes, it's easy to dodge with open guns, but it's hard to guard against hidden arrows." In case ......"

"Yes, it is a matter of the master's life and the mantle of Zen Buddhism, so you should be cautious."

"Let the master avoid the limelight first."

People turned back, intent on leaving.

Who knows, at this time, Huineng stopped everyone instead: "Folks, I have thought about it, Jizo Bodhisattva can go to hell for all sentient beings, what is there to cherish my life of Huineng?" Let's go to Baoling Temple! Hui Neng took the lead and walked towards the temple. From then on, Huineng lived in Baoling Temple and began to promote his deafening doctrine of "becoming a Buddha by epiphany".