I don't know when, a strange and somewhat mysterious elderly monk came to Baoling Temple. His face has many scars, which, combined with the imprints of many years, appear a little distorted and somewhat deformed. He was silent all day long and never came into contact with people; He didn't chant the scriptures, he didn't listen to the Fa, he just carried a big broom every day and cleaned the long road in front of the Baoling Temple.

One day in March of the first year of Shenlong (705 AD), he swept the road as usual. When he looked up, he was surprised to find that more than a dozen royal carriages carved with dragons and phoenixes were driving towards Baoling Temple under the protection of horse guards. Maybe it was because of his ugly appearance, he quietly disappeared in the bushes by the roadside.

Needless to say, this royal convoy that once appeared in Yuquan Temple in Dangyang Mountain, Jingzhou, came to welcome Master Huineng Jinjing.

The Sixth Ancestor Huineng, who had already received a report from the local official Feiqi, led his ten disciples in his later years: Fahai, Fada, Zhicheng, Zhiche, Zhidao, Zhichang, Zhitong, Fazhen, Faru, and Shenhui, waiting in front of the mountain gate of Baolin Temple. The two orders of the public in the temple also lined up along both sides according to the monks, waiting for the arrival of the emperor's edict.

"It's coming, it's coming! Look! Master, look! The 18-year-old god will have sharp eyes, and he will spot the shadow of the convoy from afar, and excitedly point to the distance and shout.

Hui Neng didn't follow his fingers to look at it, but looked thoughtfully at the spotless road in front of the temple.

The royal convoy walked to the front of the mountain gate of Baolin Temple, and Xue Jian, the emperor's most trusted chamberlain, led more than a dozen palace people to get out of the car, and after greeting Huineng and others, he was invited into the guest hall of the temple. There, the incense table for the Divine Decree has been set up.

A palace man preached at the door of the guest hall: "The holy decree has arrived! ”

Xue Jian solemnly unfolded the yellow satin holy decree, "Huineng, the abbot of Baolin Temple in Qujiang, Shaozhou, received the decree. ”

Huineng and his ten disciples were just about to kneel down to listen to the order, when Xue Jian whispered again: "The emperor has told that Master Huineng is an outsider and does not need to perform worldly rituals. ”

Huineng said: "Emperor Xie is compassionate. ”

Xue Jian read out the holy decree: "Fengtian carrier, the emperor's edict said: I invite An, Xiu Ershi, the palace ** raising, the time of ten thousand opportunities, every poor one." The second master pushes the clouds, there are capable Zen masters in the south, and the secret teaching of the ninja master clothes method, and the Buddha's heart seal, you can ask him. Today, I sent Xue Jian, an internal servant, to welcome the invitation, and I wish the teacher to be merciful and go to Beijing as soon as possible. Chin this! ”

In addition to the holy decree, there is also an edict written by the emperor himself:

I am pious and admirable, thirsty for Zen door, summon the famous mountain Zen master in Zhuzhou, set the inner dojo to support, An, Xiu Erde, the most monk. Every time I consult, I push the Southern Zen Master, the secret forbearance master, convey the mantle of Mo, think that the Dharma faith, epiphany is superior, and see the Buddha nature. Now living in Caoxi Mountain, Shaozhou, showing enlightenment to all beings, that is, the heart is a Buddha. I heard that Rulai passed on his heart to the heart, and instructed the Ka Ye, and the Ka Ye was passed on from one to another, as for Bodhidharma. Teachings have been passed down from generation to generation, and they are still unending today. The teacher has inherited and relied on, and he can go to the capital to apply the law, and the customs are still the same, and the heavens and people look up to him. Therefore, Xue Jian was sent to welcome the teacher, and he was willing to descend as soon as possible. The fifteenth day of the first month of the first year of the dragon.

After listening to the holy decree and edict, Huineng said: "Gonggong Xue has been driving all the way, please go to the guest room to rest for a while, and then the poor monk will wash the dust with you." ”

Xue Jian said: "There is Master Lao. ”

Huineng smiled and said, "You're polite, you're polite." Please! ”

Huineng accompanied Xue Jian and the other palace people out of the guest hall and came to the guest room.

After Xue Jian rested for a while, Huineng sat down with him. Huineng took a cup of tea and said, "When will my father-in-law leave Beijing?" It's been hard all the way. ”

Xue Jian replied: "Because the emperor is thirsty for his teacher, the disciple left the capital on the first day of the emperor's edict (the fifteenth day of the first month). From the Central Plains to Jianghan, from Jianghan to Lingnan, all the way to the horse, dare not slack off. Please prepare for a while, and then go to Beijing in the next day. ”

Huineng said: "The poor monk is old, and his body has always been unsafe. The journey of Jingshi is long, and the life and climate are different, so it is difficult to adapt to the declining years. Please go to the court, thank the emperor, and forgive me for not going. ”

Xue Jian said sincerely: "Master, don't shirk. Do you know that the emperor is honest in Buddhism, and he is even more respectful to the monks. When the master of Shenxiu entered the capital, the emperor of heaven gave him a sedan chair to go to the palace, and personally bowed down, which can be said to be extremely grand. If you follow the edict and drive to Beijing, you will be deeply reverent, and the grace of heaven will be mighty, and you will be intimidating in all directions. ”

Huineng said: "Those who are monks regard prosperity and wealth as a passing cloud; As for the false name, it is even more of a mirror, so don't provoke that trouble! ”

Xue Jian saw that Hui Neng was indifferent, and begged: "If you can't invite the master, the disciple can't give an account to the emperor!" Therefore, please master for the sake of Xue Jian's sincerity of running thousands of miles, you should take a trip to Beijing. ”

Huineng said: "The poor monk is really old and frail, and he is too far away, please forgive my father-in-law." Besides, the poor monk is a mountain and grass people, and it is difficult to enter the elegant hall; What's more, as early as when I left Huangmei, my master, Master Hongren, repeatedly told me that I should not leave the mountains and forests and live in the city for the rest of my life. The master's order is difficult to disobey, and His Majesty the Emperor can understand it. ”

Huineng's heartfelt, sincere and sincere words, Xue Jian felt that it was not unreasonable. In the capital, he had seen the demeanor of Master Shenxiu.

That Shenxiu, tall, thoughtful, beautiful, and dignified. Its line is also, such as the clouds and flowing water, and its stop is also, like the pine in the wind. When the believers saw it from afar, they were taken by his fairy wind crane shape, and they almost couldn't help but worship involuntarily. And Huineng in front of him is thin and short, with significant southern indigenous characteristics in appearance, and his legs and feet are a little unfavorable. It is difficult for such a person to be associated with the image of the six ancestors of Zen Buddhism and the living Buddha of Lingnan......

Thinking of this, and seeing that Huineng resolutely refused, Xue Jian said politely: "The master is not in good health, and I will no longer be reluctant to miss the southern country." However, the disciples also yearn for Buddhism and often ask eminent monks to teach. There are Taoist Zen masters in the capital who say that if you want to comprehend the Dharma, you must practice sitting meditation. It is impossible to try to attain liberation without meditation. I wonder what the master thinks about this? ”

Huineng said: "The path of the Buddha is to be realized with the heart, how can it be obtained from meditation? The Buddhist scriptures have long said: If it is said that if you sit or lie down, it is a wrong view. Why? Zen, nowhere to come from, nowhere to go. It is pure and pure meditation that is not born or destroyed. The Dharma is empty and silent, and it is as pure as it comes. There is no way to attain ultimate liberation, so is it to sit or not to sit? ”

Xue Jian thought for a while and said, "When the disciple returns to the capital, the emperor must ask about Buddhism." I hope that the master will be compassionate and show you the essence of the Dharma. When I go back and preach the two palaces and the people who study Buddhism in the capital, it is like a bright lamp that can light up thousands of lamps, turn darkness into light, and make light endless. ”

Huineng borrowed the topic to play and guide according to the situation: "Tao, it doesn't matter about light and dark, light and darkness are mutually substitution and mutual transformation. It is said that the light is endless, but in fact there is also an end, because light and darkness are relative: compared to light, there is darkness; In contrast to darkness, there is light. They have no substance, they are just two terms that exist as dependent on each other. ”

Xue Jian was a little puzzled and asked, "The master's Zen method is extraordinary. I am borrowing light as a metaphor for wisdom, and darkness as a metaphor for trouble. If a student of Buddhism does not use the light of wisdom to dispel the afflictions of ignorance, how can he be free from birth and death? ”

Huineng patiently enlightened him: "Trouble is enlightenment, and there is no difference between the two. If, as you just said, we use wisdom to get rid of our afflictions and to separate wisdom from our afflictions, this is not the essence of Mahayana enlightenment, but the opinion of people with a relatively poor foundation and relatively low talents. ”

Xue Jian asked, "What is the Mahayana viewpoint?" ”

Huineng said eloquently: "Light and darkness are opposites in the eyes of mortals, and their nature is completely opposite. All they see is the difference between the two. And the wise man, who is clear and understanding, thinks that there is no difference in the nature of the two. This nature of equality is the true Buddha-nature. The true Buddha-nature is troubled and not chaotic, dwelling meditation is not empty, it does not increase or decrease, it does not come and go, it does not arise or perish, it does not dwell and does not move, it is neither broken nor eternal, and its phenomena are as true as its essence. This is the Mahayana Enlightenment Dharma. ”

Xue Jian asked again: "I have also heard those who do not believe in the Dharma say that they are immortal, what is the difference between what you said and theirs?" ”

Huineng said: "What they say about not being born and not dying is that there is no regeneration after destruction, that life stops, that life is shown by life, and that birth and death are regarded as two kinds. In fact, to be born is to perish, and to perish is to be born. ”

Hearing this, Xue Jian subconsciously frowned. Master Hui Neng's self-nature of the Great Circle Mirror Zhi was discerning, knowing that he did not understand very well, and immediately gave an example: "The truth is very simple, when a seed sprouts, we usually say happily that it is growing; When it grows and becomes dry, we sadly say that it is dead. From the perspective of Zen thinking, the germination and growth of a seed is also a process leading to death, so when it has just germinated, it can be said that it is dying. And its death is precisely the beginning of regeneration. Therefore, to be born is to perish, and to perish is to be born. ”

Xue Jian was like a sweet taste, and his face was intoxicated.

Huineng continued: "Therefore, what I am talking about is that there is no birth in the first place, and therefore it is also immortal. Therefore, it is fundamentally different from the immortality and immortality that the outer Tao says. If you want to attain the Zen mind, all good and evil are not considered, and it will naturally fit into the original pure mind and body, which is clear and clear, and its wonderful use is endless. ”

Xue Jian suddenly realized, and felt that every pore on his body was opened, exuding the brilliance of his own nature......

When Xue Jian said goodbye and left the mountain, Huineng said to him meaningfully: "Please ask the envoy to explain my Zen method to the saint today." Afflictions are bodhi. If your mind is pure, you don't ask for troubles, and you are liberated in the moment. In addition, the times are impermanent, full of variables, we must let go when we should let go, and we should think of the people in the world! ”

Xue Jian heard Huineng's voice and asked sensitively, "Master, has there been any change in the political situation?" ”

"It doesn't hurt the big picture. When my father-in-law returned to the capital, he naturally understood. ”

"Master's decree, I will definitely tell the Holy Lord, disciple to leave!"

Xue Jian and his entourage had not yet returned to the capital, and learned halfway through: A few days ago, Wu Zetian was forced to abdicate and the crown prince Zhongzong ascended the throne. Xue Jian secretly exclaimed his surprise at the moment, looked up to the sky and sighed, "Sure enough, the times are impermanent!" "I admired Master Huineng's foresight even more.