.

The old man sat down on the futon, his voice calm and powerful, and continued to preach.

"The second story is about goodness, and I hope you can combine it with the first story. ”

The old man paused and looked at everyone. In the scripture hall, the children opened their innocent eyes and concentrated their attention.

"The second story: the little monk's quilt

In a dilapidated temple, a little monk said to the old monk in frustration: "We are a small temple, there are only two of us monks, and when I went down the mountain to make a fortune, people all spoke ill of me, often saying that I was a wild monk, and the incense money we gave us was even less." Today, when I went to Huayuan, no one opened the door for me on such a cold day, and the fasting I got was pitiful. Master, if our Bodhi Temple wants to become the great temple with thousands of temples and endless bells, I am afraid it is impossible. ’

The old monk didn't say anything in his robe, but listened quietly with his eyes closed.

The little monk babbled and said, and finally the old monk was silent for a while, and finally opened his eyes and asked, "This north wind is blowing tightly, and it is cold and snowy outside, are you cold?"

The little monk trembled and said, "I'm cold, and my feet are numb. ’

The old monk said, 'Then let's go to bed earlier!'

The old monk and the little monk turned off the light and got into the bed, and after more than an hour, the old monk asked, 'Are you warm now?'

The little monk said, 'Of course it's warm, it's like sleeping in the sun. ’

The old monk said, 'The quilt is always cold on the bed, but as soon as the person lies down in it, it becomes warm, do you say that the quilt warms the person, or does the person warm the quilt?'

When the little monk heard this, he smiled: "Master, you are so confused, how can the quilt warm people, of course it is people who warm the quilts." ’

The old monk said, 'Since the quilt can't give us warmth, but depends on us to warm it, then what are we doing with the quilt?'

The little monk thought for a while and said, "Although the quilt can't give us warmth, the thick quilt can keep us warm and let us sleep comfortably in the quilt!"

In the darkness, the old monk smiled heartily: 'Aren't the monks who hit the bell and chant the scriptures not the ones lying under the thick quilts, and those sentient beings are not our thick quilts!' As long as we are wholeheartedly kind, then the cold quilt will eventually be warmed by us, and the quilt of all living beings will also preserve our warmth, isn't it very warm for us to sleep in such a quilt? Is it still a dream to have a great temple with thousands of temples and endless bells?'

The little monk suddenly realized when he heard this.

From the next day, the little monk went down the mountain very early every day to make a fortune, and still encountered many people's bad words, but the little monk always treated everyone politely.

Ten years later, the Bodhi Temple became a large temple with a radius of more than ten kilometers, with many monks, pilgrims in an endless stream, and the little monk of the year also became the abbot.

In fact, in this world, we all live in the 'quilt', others are our quilts, when we use our hearts to touch the quilt, the quilt will also give us warmth. Strive to be a warm person and smile at the world with sincerity. ”

The children listened silently.

The old man looked around at the children in the lecture hall, smiled and said, "The above two stories are very well written, so, children, we first pay tribute to the authors of these two fables, and everyone give some applause, okay?"

There was a burst of applause in the lecture hall, although it came from the hands of a child, but it was also enthusiastic.

When the applause subsided, the old man brushed his gray beard, looked at everyone kindly, and continued to preach.

"The first story tells us to be calm in doing things, and the second story tells us to be kind. Meditation is a practice for us, and kindness is a choice for us. After everyone comes down, take a good look at the essence of it. The old man stroked his beard and looked at his apprentices calmly, "If you have any doubts, you can raise them now." ”

Shichuan stood up, scratched his head, and said timidly: "Master, meditate, I can understand, but what about kindness, I'm still a little confused." ”

The old man looked at Shichuan kindly, and said warmly: "Haha, child, there are doubts, but it doesn't hurt to say it." ”

Shichuan looked at the master, coughed lightly, cleared his throat, and said loudly, "But what if we are kidnapped in the name of good? The so-called law of the weak is to ignore order, take social virtues for granted, take advantage of the kindness of others, emphasize justice, equality, and benevolence. coercing others with his own weakness makes the whole society full of invisible moral kidnapping. And they all have a common performance:

Poverty should not distinguish between right and wrong!

Miserable should be forgiven and treated preferentially!

The big ones have to let the small ones!

You can not be respected for the old!

If you are convenient, you should give convenience to the people around you!

...... Wait a minute.

So what are we going to do?"

The eldest child, Shikawa, who was tall, stood up straight in his seat and asked respectfully.

"To restrain oneself with morality is to be a sage, and to restrain the world with morality is to be unkind. Treating others well is based on people's behavior and conforming to social rules, and has nothing to do with age, status, money, beauty or ugliness. As a Confucian said, in a clean world, if everyone talks about morality and nobility without paying attention to rules, and if everyone talks about morality and righteousness every day, and everyone is impartial and selfless, eventually the world will degenerate into a dirty world full of hypocrites; In a world of rules, only good and evil, regardless of whether rich or poor, the label of 'weak' is not a bargaining chip used to refuse to take responsibility, and social laws never sympathize with and favor anyone. Unfair, unprincipled humility and goodwill bring grievances and injustice, which will only destroy people's inner order. Yes, kindness and love are free, but not cheap, and no one is obliged to pay for the weakness of others. The only way to deal with the law of the weak is to give up the mentality of the weak, refuse moral kidnapping, and say no to the unprincipled tolerance and kindness of the good old man!"

The old man left the futon, stood up, picked up a cup of tea on the table, took a sip on the spout, cleared his throat, slowly stomped on the stage, thoughtfully, and continued.

Perhaps, many times kindness will not be reciprocated, it may only raise the most ferocious white-eyed wolf, show its fangs, and pounce on its former benefactor. In this world, kindness is always easy to forget, but hatred is always remembered. Yes, this is the evil of human nature, and the goodness of our whole life may not be able to escape this whirlpool. But you choose kindness over anything else, because the three principles of 'Ming Mingde', 'being close to the people' and 'stopping at the highest good' are the foundation of our life in the world. At the same time, there is a saying to remember: dogs cannot be overfed, and people cannot be treated too well.

"Even though kindness is a noble choice, from a benefactor to an enemy, it is only a step away from 'being good for him' and 'being good for him'. Don't be too kind and save a few points for yourself. Attach a sharp knife and a hard shield to goodness, because goodness also needs protection.

"Yes, in this world, only the sun and the human heart cannot be looked at. Remember, the bodhisattva's heart, the vajra means – we advocate the good, and at the same time, we need to eliminate the evil. ”

The old man looked around at the children in the scripture hall, walked slowly to the center of the podium, and gently put the tea cup back on the table.

"Thank you, Master, disciple understands!" Shikawa stood straight, bowed deeply to Master, and said respectfully.

"Sit down, kid. After going down, I will understand the words of the teacher and grasp the proportion and essence of them. ”

"Yes, Master!" Shikawa nodded quietly and sat down on the floor.

"Okay, is there any other child who doesn't understand?" The old man looked around at everyone, paused, and no one spoke, so he clapped his hands lightly and said, "Okay." If no one asks questions, that's the end of today's lesson, it's over!"

"Thank you, Master!" the children stood up and bowed to Master in unison.

The old man Yichen put away the textbooks on the bookcase, clamped it with his left arm, straightened the gray cloth robe on his body, and walked straight to the door of the lecture hall, calm, elegant, and calm.

The Lingtai Thatched Cottage on Qinggeng Mountain, day by day, is the preaching, teaching, and solving doubts of the old man, and a group of disciples practice, explore, and understand reason, and sometimes follow the master to the other world outside Qinggeng Mountain to heal the people's injuries and pain, and experience the folk customs of the other world, which constitutes a unique way of life of the Lingtai Thatched Cottage.

In this way, I don't know how many generations and epochs have passed.