However, Master Shenxiu's unique Zen man's feelings of "annihilation and trade-off, empty heart, and the same world" are unimaginable to some celebrities and fortunes. His kindness made some of his disciples feel very confused. Especially the few people who had hunted down Huineng in the shadow of Yin, they were even more terrified. They thought that if Ren Huineng's power continued to expand so rapidly, they would die without a place to bury!

So, under the secret planning of Shadow Yin, they quietly gathered together to conspire and discuss how to eliminate the growing influence of Hui Neng in the Zen Forest. One of them sighed: "It is said that Lingnan is pervasive with miasma, how can it not poison the woodcutter?" ”

"Yes, yes! As long as Hui Neng dies, his disciples will naturally fall apart. Shadow said.

As long as the banner of Huineng falls, what Cao Xi's family style and what epiphany method will all disappear, to hell! So, they found a person, a simple-minded strong man who loves to fight unevenly - Zhang Xingchang.

The chivalrous Zhang Xingchang, a person from Jiangxi, likes to dance with guns and sticks since he was a child, and has practiced a hard kung fu, and three or five big men don't want to get close. He is a righteous hero, bullying the strong and helping the weak, and is very famous along the Yangtze River. He is a thunderous, fierce man, and a dutiful son. No, in order to pray for his mother's recovery, he made a special trip to Yuquan Temple to worship the mountain and make incense.

Yingyin took Zhang Xingchang to the dormitory and made up many stories about Huineng, saying that Huineng used demon magic to confuse Master Hongren, deceived his trust, stole the robe and fled overnight, and hid in Lingnan for more than ten years......

Their colorful crying aroused Zhang Xingchang's chivalrous spirit of eliminating evil and helping righteousness, he was furious, took the case, and promised them to go to Lingnan to stab Huineng.

Before leaving, they gave Zhang Xingchang ten taels of silver and asked him to ask his mother to see a doctor. Zhang Xingchang was so moved that he didn't know what to say, so he didn't stop, day and night, crossed the Da Yuling on the border of Jiangxi and Guangdong, and went straight to Caoxi, Shaozhou......

The night of Baoling Temple is exceptionally quiet, except for Cao Xi in front of the mountain gate, tirelessly singing serenades for the silent mountain. A dark figure dressed in a nightcoat, like an alert ghost, silently swept over the walls, crept between the temples, and quietly approached the abbot's room.

This is where Hui Neng meditates! The mysterious black shadow is naturally the killer Zhang Xingchang who came to assassinate.

Zhang Xingchang quietly approached the abbot's door, as if thinking about how to enter the room. When he raised his hand to arrange the mask, his arm elbow inadvertently touched the door slightly, but he didn't expect that the door actually opened!

Oh my God, the door of the abbot's room is hidden! In the world, there is such a clever thing? God help me! Zhang Xingchang didn't think much about it, pulled out his sharp sword, and dodged into the room......

The abbot's room was pitch black, and he couldn't see his five fingers, which was particularly quiet. Zhang Xingchang quietly touched the side of Huineng's bed according to the direction he had already explored, raised the tip of his sword high, and stabbed the part equivalent to a person's chest - the person lying on the bed did not react.

I don't know if it's because everything went too smoothly, or for other reasons, Zhang Xingchang faintly felt that there was something strange about the sword that stabbed down! But he didn't care much, and stabbed twice in a row. He was just about to turn to leave, when suddenly a man in the room spoke:

"The righteous sword is not evil, and the evil sword is not right. Your sword is evil, and it will never kill me! ”

Oh my God, this is Huineng's voice! Zhang Xingchang, who was already a little suspicious and frightened, suddenly heard the person who should have died under his sword speak, his shock, his horror, it was indescribable! Moreover, listening to Huineng's tone, he already knew that he was going to assassinate! And once the assassin's whereabouts are exposed, there is only one way to die!

Zhang Xingchang's soul was scattered, and he immediately screamed and passed out......

It turned out that the Sixth Ancestor Hui Neng had sufficient magical powers since he realized it, and he felt a murderous aura as early as when Zhang Xingchang entered the temple and stepped on the spot. That night, he deliberately closed the door of his room, made a figure out of a quilt, sat on a meditation bench by the wall, and entered the samadhi of compassion.

I don't know how long it took, Zhang Xingchang gradually woke up from a hibernation like a snake in the stinging season. Although the lamp was lit in the abbot, Huineng was the only one sitting on the meditation bench with his eyes slightly closed.

Zhang Xingchang was at a loss in his heart: Why didn't Huineng let his disciples tie him up? He knew that he was here to assassinate him, so why did he have to face himself alone now?

At this time, Huineng slowly opened his eyes and smiled at Zhang Xingchang: "Are you awake?" Must be thirsty, right? There is herbal tea on the coffee table to moisten your throat. ”

A wave of heat surged in Zhang Xingchang's heart, he knelt on his knees, wept bitterly, and kept begging Huineng for forgiveness.

Huineng said: "You don't owe me my life, and you didn't hurt me, so I don't want to do anything to you." You go, and you can do it for yourself from now on. ”

Zhang Xingchang couldn't believe that the person who was almost killed by him would let him go so easily! It's not a dream, is it? He hesitated to his feet, tentatively moving towards the door......

"Come back!"

Zhang Xingchang couldn't help but be surprised: It seems that Huineng regrets it. Yes, the hatred of life and death, who can forget? You deserve it, you deserve to be punished severely!

Who knows, but Huineng said: "I know, before you came to assassinate me, you received ten taels of silver from others in advance. Now, if you fail to assassinate, how can you explain to others? ”

"I ......" the ten taels of silver, Zhang Xingchang has already spent it for his mother's medical treatment, except for apologizing for his death, he really doesn't know what to do.

Huineng smiled and said, "As the saying goes, a penny is hard to beat a hero. Although you have a martial arts, you are destitute, and I have already prepared ten taels of silver for you. Well, it's on the stool next to you. Take it and return it to someone's house. ”

Zhang Xingchang was dumbfounded, and then burst into tears. He has always lived a life of happiness and hatred, licking blood with a knife, how could he ever feel such warmth? So, he knelt down with a thud, walked to Huineng's meditation bench, and asked the sixth ancestor Huineng for repentance from the bottom of his heart, and immediately vowed to become a monk and serve by the master's side for the rest of his life to atone for his sins.

Huineng said: "Of course, it's good that you want to change your evil and become a monk and practice, but you can't stay in Cao Xi, let alone stay by my side. ”

Think about it, who wants to keep a person who assassinated them around? Zhang Xingchang looked desperate and muttered: "Yes, I am an unforgivable sin......"

Huineng smiled: "Where do you want to go?" If you stay in Cao Xi, I'm afraid that my disciples will find out about this matter and will be detrimental to you and harm you!" Therefore, stay away for a while, and wait until the situation has calmed down, and then I will accept you and take you as a disciple. ”

Zhang Xingchang's tears are like rivers flowing and pouring like heavy rain. He gave Huineng three knocks - his forehead clanged on the ground, and then he got up and hid all night.

A few years later, an ascetic with a tired look and a haggard face came to Cao Xi. He was like a wanderer wandering the world, and suddenly saw the white-haired mother who missed him day and night, and fell down to Huineng's knees, crying bitterly.

Huineng also stroked the top of his head like a loving mother, and said emotionally: "I have missed you for a long, long time, why did you wait until now to come back?" ”

This ascetic is the former fierce killer Zhang Xingchang. Back then, after he was influenced by Huineng, he went incognito and went to a small temple to become a monk. In order to repent of his sins, he resolutely began to practice the most difficult asceticism.

Huineng asked him with concern, "Since you have become a monk, how do you practice?" Zhang Xingchang said: "For many years, I have been reciting the Nirvana Sutra as my coursework. However, because the disciples have a shallow foundation and have no guidance from the Master, they are just teaching from the text, and they don't even understand the original meaning of 'permanence and impermanence' in the sutras. Today, I would like to ask you to tell me about it. ”

Huineng said, "The so-called ever-changing impermanence is Buddha nature; Constantness is the distinction between all good and evil laws. ”

Zhang Xingchang was stunned for a moment, and asked in astonishment: "Master, why is what you said so different from the meaning of the Nirvana Sutra?" Is it against the original intent of the Buddhist scriptures? ”

Huineng smiled slightly and said: "I am the Zen patriarch of the Buddha Shakyamuni, who is the ancestor of the Buddha Shakyamuni, and I am the one who declares the Buddha and transmits the Buddha's heart seal, how can my words contradict the Buddhist scriptures?" ”

Zhang Xingchang said: "However, the Nirvana Sutra says that Buddha nature is constant, but you say that it is impermanent; The scriptures say that all good and evil dharmas, even bodhichitta and so on, are impermanent, but you say that they are permanent. Isn't that exactly the opposite of the scriptures? ”

Huineng laughed, making Zhang Xingchang, a monk with a high degree of laughter, puzzled. "Master, your smile makes me even more confused."

Huineng said: "This "Nirvana Sutra", long before I went to Huangmei to seek the Dharma, I listened to the endless nun read and recited it. At that time, I was able to explain to her that there was not a single word or meaning that did not conform to the original meaning of the Nirvana Sutra. Now, I'm going to explain to you the same thing. ”

Zhang Xingchang scratched his scalp vigorously, but he couldn't scratch away the doubts in his head, so he pleaded again: "Master, I am stupid and not knowledgeable, please explain to me carefully." ”

Huineng nodded and said to him, "You know what? Why did the Buddha say the Nirvana Sutra? Why does the old man say in the scriptures that Nirvana has the meaning of permanence, happiness, self, and purity? ”

Zhang Xingchang shook his head like a merchant's drum.

Huineng said slowly: "There are some people who take impermanence as normal, suffering as happiness, selflessness as self, and impurity as purity, which is evil, that is, the four kinds of reversal; There are also some people who don't understand the truth that fate does not change, and they regard extraordinary, non-happy, non-self, and non-pure as treasure theories, which are also four kinds of reversal. It is precisely in order to break these eight prejudices that the Buddha Shakyamuni explained in the Nirvana Sutra the four virtues of Nirvana: Truthfulness, Happiness, Self, and Purity.

"The Dharma that the Buddha said is all for the purpose of transforming the corresponding sentient beings. So, we can't take the Buddha's scriptures as immutable dogmas. You are mechanically interpreting the meaning of the sutras because you are rigidly picking out the words, thus distorting the subtle teachings of the Buddha. Xingchang, you must understand that when learning Buddhism, you must avoid rigid dogma. What is the use of reciting Buddhist scriptures a thousand times as you used to be? ”

The teachings of the Sixth Patriarch Huineng are exactly the same as those of the Buddha, all of which are "contemplating the opportunity and amusing the teachings": if the disciple insists that "Buddha nature is constant", he will say that "Buddha nature is impermanent"; If a disciple is obsessed with "Buddha-nature impermanence," he will say, in turn, "Buddha-nature is constant." Actually, Buddha-nature is very and not impermanent. The Buddha and his patriarch said "permanence" and "impermanence" in order to break attachment.