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, Neng'er came to Jintai Temple.

Neng'er saw a middle-aged monk standing on the pulpit from outside the broken wall, holding a scripture book and reciting. 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.

Neng'er 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.

……

Neng'er 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.

At night, after taking a bath, Neng'er lay down on the bed, remembered the scriptures she had heard during the day, and began to read them alone, and the more she recited, the louder she became.

I finished my chores at home and sat in the next room doing needlework.

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

Suddenly, I heard a muttering, staccato sound.

"What's that sound?" I listened and understood.

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

I finally made out that it was the sound of chanting sutras and chanting, and it was coming from the room next door.

A pimple immediately arose in my heart: there were only myself and my son at home, so how could a monk come to my house to recite the scriptures at night?

At first, I suspected that my old ears were not good, and I heard it wrong, so I picked the ear holes with my hand and held my breath. Listen to the truth. Yes, this is indeed the sound of chanting, and it is indeed coming from the room of the children.

I felt very strange, so I quickly put down the needle and thread in my hand, put on my clothes, walked to the door of Neng'er's room, and put my ear on the crack of the door.

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

I knocked on the door with my hand: "Yes, you open the door." ”

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

I urged, "You can open the door and talk." ”

Neng'er had no choice but to get out of bed and open the door.

I didn't step through the door, but stood on the threshold, craned my neck and looked inside, east and west.

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

I'm behaving uncharacteristically. Neng'er was puzzled: "Mother, what are you looking for?"

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

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

I waved my hand: "I'm not asleep, and I'm not dreaming." ”

Neng'er confessed: "Child, I sleep alone in the room, how can any monks come to the room?"

I blinked my old eyes: "There is no monk, where is the sound of chanting scriptures in your room at night?"

Neng'er suddenly realized that she couldn't help but laugh.

I blamed, "You're not too young, and you're not serious yet." What are you laughing at?"

Neng'er pointed at herself: "That monk is me!"

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

Neng'er is serious: "I didn't become a monk, but those scriptures were indeed read by me. . .

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

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

I asked, "Who did you learn from to recite the scriptures?"

Neng'er: "I secretly followed the monks of Jintai Temple to learn the scriptures. ”

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

"Yes, mother, listen to me tell me the whole story." So, Neng'er told me about the chance encounter in Jintai Temple.

When I heard this, I breathed a sigh of relief: "Heh, I see. ”

Neng'er said with a sense of interest: "Those verses sound really interesting. ”

I urged, "Read it to me again." ”

"Mother, listen," Neng'er recited the scripture she heard again.

I have listened to my father who was a country man since I was a child, and I usually like to read scriptures, so I know a little about the various classics in the world. When I heard Neng'er recite the scriptures, I asked, "Do you know what scriptures the master disciple is reading?"

Neng'er shook her head: "I don't know." ”

I said, "That's called the Diamond Sutra, and the full name is the Diamond Sutra." ”

Neng Erba blinked: "Diamond Sutra? The elder that day also said that he was reciting the Diamond Sutra.

Neng'er asked, "Mother, do you understand the meaning of these scriptures?"

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

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

So, I told Neng'er what I knew about Buddhism and Buddhist scriptures.

The more I listened, the more interested I became.

For a few days, after Neng'er sold out the firewood, he didn't even care about wiping the sweat, 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 the 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 apprentice to recite the scriptures, taking advantage of the rest time, Zen Master Lonely Sky walked to the front of the broken wall, bowed to Neng'er, and folded his hands: "Amitabha." ”

Neng'er also bent down and saluted him.

Zen Master Lonely asked Neng'er, "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." Neng'er scratched her head with her hands and asked strangely, "Master, I haven't spoken to you, your insight is really powerful, how do 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?"

Neng'er said admiringly: "Oh, your understanding is really high. ”

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

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

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

"Huineng."

"Huineng?" Zen Master Lonely Sky was shocked, his eyes staring at Neng'er, "You are a layman, why did you come up with the name of a Buddhist family?"

"I don't know. My dad 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?"

Neng'er spread his hands out: "I don't know what the reason is, in short, since I came to this temple, after hearing you take your apprentice to chant the scriptures, I can't help but come here after selling firewood every day." ”

"Ah, it seems that you have an indescribable fate with our Buddhist family," Zen Master Lonely raised the scripture in his hand, handed it to Neng'er, and asked, "You have been standing outside the broken wall and listening for a few days, do you know what kind of scripture this is?"

When he saw that on the yellow scriptures, a few lines of seal characters printed vertically were like dragons and snakes, so he replied truthfully: "Master, I am ashamed to speak. I, a firewood boy, have never gone to school because of my poor family, so I am more literate. ”

Zen Master Shankong was puzzled: "You are very literate, but you are so interested in chanting sutras and reciting Buddha?"

Neng'er: "Yes." ”

Zen Master Silent Sky stared at him with both eyes: "Can you understand the scriptures I taught?"