Besides, Shenxiu sent his most proud disciple, Zhicheng, to Cao Xi to understand how Huineng's method was different from him. Who knew that Zhicheng lived up to his expectations and went to see him again......

On this day, Shenxiu was meditating on the meditation bed, when suddenly, a beautiful children's voice shouted eagerly: "Master, Master! ”

Because he missed his beloved disciple for a long time, at this time, Shenxiu heard the sound and thought that the beloved disciple he had been thinking about day and night had returned. "It's Zhicheng, is Zhicheng back?" Shenxiu hurriedly opened his eyes, of course it wasn't Zhicheng, Zhicheng was now a middle-aged man, how could he still make a childish childish voice! Running into the abbot was a twelve- or thirteen-year-old novice.

He was so nervous and excited that his little face flushed, like a ripe apple.

Shenxiu smiled, wiped the sweat beads on his face for him, and said, "What's the matter?" Watch you run sweaty. ”

The little novice simply said, "The messenger sent by the Holy Spirit Emperor Zetian has arrived with the Holy Decree!" ”

Shenxiu sighed and said, "Alas! I'm here to welcome you into the palace to teach the Fa again! The emperor believes in Buddhism and is sincere. The mountain monk has resigned many times, but she has never given up. It seems that this time I have to go. ”

Shenxiu got down from the meditation bed and prepared to go to meet the Qincha outside the mountain gate.

A middle-aged Zen monk said while putting on a robe for his master: "If politics and Buddhism are unified, the country will be more prosperous, and the Tao will be smoother." Master, go to the capital. If he resigns, I'm afraid the emperor will blame. ”

The little novice said, "Master, when you go to the capital, you must take me with you." ”

The middle-aged Zen monk deliberately teased him: "Master is going to explain the law to the emperor, what are you going to do?" ”

The little novice said solemnly: "The master teaches the current old emperor the Dharma, and I will go to teach the Zen method to the future little emperor." ”

This sentence made everyone laugh. However, who knows, decades later, this sentence will actually become a reality. He, this little novice, has really become a vigorous figure in the history of Chinese Zen Buddhism.

He is the future Zen master of the Shenhui.

Shenhui (684~758 AD) was born in a large family surnamed Gao in Xiangyang, so he did not need to herd cattle, did not need to collect firewood, and at a young age he followed the teacher "Zhihu also" to read the sage books, learn the sub-industry, prepare for a successful career, and glorify the ancestors in the future.

This little god will be really godly, the book of Confucius and Mencius, never forget, poems and songs, and the export is a chapter. In the face of this disciple, Mr. Jiaoshu didn't know what to do, so he threw "Laozi" and "Zhuangzi" that he didn't know much about.

Who knows, he not only chewed deliciously, but also chewed out the mysterious philosophy. So, Mr. brought him a 130-volume tome of "The Book of the Later Han Dynasty" - this time, it's enough for you to be a bookworm, right?

Instead of reading about the rise and fall of dynasties from the thick history, the Little God Society discovered Buddhism from it. So, he joined Master Haoyuan of Xiangyang Guochang Temple and became a monk. With a profound foundation in Confucianism, it is naturally easy for him to read and recite Buddhist scriptures.

Xiangyang is not far from the Dangyang Yuquan Temple of the abbot of Shenxiu. In the Zen forest, the demeanor of the gods is like the glow in the sky, gorgeous and dazzling; His reputation is just like a crane singing in the sky, and the sound is shaking the world. Naturally, the little gods will admire Shenxiu like the sun and the moon. He "got it" and ran to Yuquan Temple, threw himself under the Shenxiu seat, and had been participating in Zen meditation for three years.

This year is the first year of Wu Zetian's long vision (700 AD), and Master Shenxiu should be invited by the royal family to go to the capital Luoyang to promote Zen Buddhism. The little god will really want to follow the master into Beijing to see the excitement.

Shenxiu said: "Shenhui, once I arrive in the capital, I will be overwhelmed with daily mundane affairs, and I am afraid that I will not have time to guide you in your cultivation." So ......"

"Do you want to send me to the remote Lingnan too?" The little god will be a small ghost, and he has already guessed Shenxiu's intentions.

"Yes, yes, at a young age, you should follow the example of the good wealth boy, go all over the world with good knowledge, and understand the entrance of life and death. And Master Huineng is precisely your knowledge of great goodness. Because of him, Lingnan has become a barren land that everyone yearns for. ”

As a result, the little god who was full of hope could not go north, but was sent south by Master Shenxiu to visit Huineng in Lingnan......

Forty-three years later, in the twenty-second year of the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty (734 AD), the Divine Society took the epiphany Zen method of the six ancestors Huineng to the north, and held an uncovered meeting in Dayun Temple in Huatai (now Huaxian County, Henan), officially declaring war on the Northern Sect founded by Shenxiu (this is a later story). I don't know if Shenxiu thought of it when he asked him to go south?

From Dangyang, Jingzhou, to Shaozhou, Guangdong, more than 2,000 miles away, for a 13-year-old child, it is too far away. Wading through mountains and rivers, sleeping in the open air, rain and sun, the bumpy road grinded out a layer of blood blisters on the soles of the feet of the little gods. Because he walked non-stop, the old blood blisters had not healed, and the new ones had grinded out...... The pain can be imagined! After the layers of blood bubbles dried, they finally coagulated into a layer of dead skin. However, when he crossed a ditch, he kicked hard, and the dead skin cracked deeply, and blood gushed incessantly......

The little god would not be able to wear shoes, so he tore his clothes, wrapped the soles of his feet, limped step by step, step by step, and finally walked to Cao Xi, walked into Baolin Temple, and walked in front of the six ancestors Huineng.

As soon as Hui Neng saw this little novice who had come to seek the Dharma without fear of thousands of mountains and rivers, he was overjoyed, and asked with a smile: "You must have come from afar, it must have been very hard, did you bring the roots?" If you bring it, you should know your own hero.。 You might as well talk about it. ”

Although the Shenhui is young, after all, he has been studying under the Shenxiu seat for three years, and knows that the root of what Huineng said refers to the Buddha nature, so he said without thinking: "There is no dwelling as the foundation, and seeing is the Lord." ”

What he means is that being able to realize that you are based on not attaching to any phenomenon is Buddha-nature.

However, the Sixth Patriarch's eyes were like torches, and he had already realized that he had no enlightenment in his heart, and he was just a parrot of words.

Zen Buddhism is the most taboo to sell other people's words. Sixth Ancestor Hui Neng reprimanded him mercilessly: "You little novice, why are you talking so sloppily!" ”

The god will be extremely intelligent, extremely clever, very strong, and very quick to react, and he immediately asked, "Master, when you are sitting in meditation, do you see or don't see it?" ”

The naughty ghost finally met the nemesis, only to see Huineng pick up the Zen staff, knock him on the head three times, and then ask: "I hit you, does it hurt or not?" ”

The hard Zen stick knocks on the top of the head of the light Ruya, can it not hurt! Isn't it? The little god would grin in pain, but he endured it and said, "It hurts, it doesn't hurt." ”

Huineng had long expected him to answer like this, so he smiled and said, "Then, let me tell you, I also see and do not see." ”

The little god will keenly grasp the fleeting Zen opportunity and ask, "How can it be seen and not seen?" ”

Huineng patiently explained: "What I mean by seeing is that I often see my own mistakes; When I say not see, I don't see the rights and wrongs of others. And what is the reason why you say that it hurts and doesn't hurt? If I strike you, if you don't feel pain, then you are like a stone or a wood. If you are in pain, then it is no different from an ordinary man, and even hatred will arise in your heart. ”

The little god would blush slightly, and he hung his head unconsciously.

Huineng continued to give a compassionate teaching: "You originally asked me whether I saw or not, and went to two extremes, either/or, which is a wrong way of thinking. And the pain or pain you are talking about has not left the realm of birth and death, which shows that your body and mind have not been liberated at all. You haven't seen your own nature yet, and you still dare to play poor and trick people in front of the old monk! ”

The god will feel that all the internal organs are clearly seen by Hui Neng, and those few flower intestines cannot avoid the eyes of the ancestors. He fell to his knees with a thud and kept prostrating his head in repentance.

Seeing that he knew his mistakes and could correct them, and that he was a malleable talent, the Sixth Patriarch Hui quickly helped him up, asked him to sit down across from him, and continued to teach him: "If you are confused in your heart and do not see your own nature, you should go and consult the Master and learn the practice of clear mind. If you have already realized something, you should practice according to the law. ”

As he spoke, the Six Ancestors changed the topic and suddenly asked, "You must be hungry when you come here, right?" ”