Chapter 256: The Robbers

The melodious sound of the bell echoes in the mountains, and the corresponding bell is the cooking fire rising in the distance.

Shikamaru, who was sitting cross-legged on a futon, slowly opened his eyes, and the faint shouting and bird chirping outside the window reminded him that a new day had arrived.

The early morning sun swayed unscrupulously into this simple wooden house, and cast it on Shikamaru's body, making him feel a little dazzling, and he couldn't help but raise his hand to block it.

Crunch!

The old wooden door was pushed open by Shikamaru from the inside, breathing in the fresh air, he couldn't help but stretch exaggeratedly, meditating on the futon all night, his body was somewhat uncomfortable, this action caused a series of crunching sounds in his bones.

"Sir!" In the distance, a young novice saw the door of Shikamaru's room open, and ran over, his thin body wearing an incongruous robe that looked rather funny.

Xiao Shami looked like he was seven or eight years old, his clothes were patched, and he didn't fit very well, obviously inheriting the property of his brothers, he was a little afraid of life, but he still calmly gave Shikamaru a salute, and then said: "The temple is about to have breakfast, and the abbot asked me to remind you." ”

"Thank you." Shikamaru replied with a smile after returning the salute seriously.

Xiao Shami scratched his head, not very polite, folded his hands, silently saluted Shikamaru again, and then turned and ran away.

Shikamaru watched the figure of the little novice running away, and the smile on his face gradually converged.

The place where he is now is a temple with an unknown reputation, the location is remote, the monks are scarce, there are only a few small villages around, the incense is not abundant, and more importantly, the monks of this temple have always adhered to the precepts, except for the basic maintenance, they rarely collect any incense money, and the monks who enter the temple are all children of poor families around, or orphans.

It's really a world away from the Temple of Fire.

Shikamaru found a quiet place outside the temple, doing morning exercises, before he came here, he had observed the environment of the Temple of Fire from afar, as a temple supported by the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, famous, wealthy, there are monks in the temple who specialize in martial arts, there are many ninja monks, and there is an endless stream of travelers who go to the incense, which makes Shikamaru dispel the idea of going there to see, after all, he is still a traitor.

In the previous battle in the land of water, Shikamaru also suffered some minor injuries, so he wanted to find a quiet place to recuperate, or he could calm down and study new techniques, so he found a lot of places, and finally took a fancy to this place and settled down.

After the morning training, Shikamaru, who was sweating profusely, casually took cold water to rinse his body, and then went to the dining hall with the monks to have breakfast.

There are not many monks in the temple at all, most of them are young novices and old monks, and the rest of the people have basically gone to the outside world to travel to the outside world, after all, this temple is located in the mountains, there is no arable land, and it can't raise so many idle people who don't do business, etc., and the hall is quiet when the meal is opened, and even Shikamaru is not in the mood to speak.

Breakfast is a simple rice porridge, with vegetables that Shikamaru doesn't know, and a little minced meat sporadically, which can barely fill your stomach when you drink it, but it definitely has nothing to do with deliciousness.

Shikamaru drank disapprovingly, Buddhism vegetarianism is the product of tampering with the descendants of the previous life, this world naturally has no such customs, let's just say that the monks of this temple, although they strictly abide by the precepts of not killing, but also what to eat, the only old monk insists on vegetarianism, and it is also because he insists on penance, and has been honing his mind.

After breakfast, Shikamaru followed the host and the two old monks to the ashram. Shikamaru really doesn't believe in Buddhism, but after living here for a few days, he likes to play with these three old monks, which is also very interesting, and these old but clear-minded monks can often break through the fog in his heart, and sometimes even make him feel like he is suddenly open.

"Master." After entering the ashram, the thin abbot took care of himself and found an abacus and account book, and counted the accounts, Shikamaru looked strange, found a futon and sat down cross-legged, and asked: "Not long ago, I also added a sum of incense money to the temple, why don't you improve the food for everyone?" ”

Shikamaru naturally won't eat and live here for nothing, he can carry a lot of money on him, not long ago he added a lot of incense money to this temple, but in the past two days, he found that the food in the temple has not even changed, if it weren't for the fact that the three old monks in the temple are not greedy and cheating people, he would have asked a long time ago.

"Some of the Buddha statues in the temple are already a little dilapidated, and the houses are damaged, and the abbot is going to pay someone to renovate them," said the old monk who was sitting on a futon opposite Shikamaru, the hidden part of his robe also patched, and his body was withered, as if a gust of wind could blow him down, "so that the craftsmen in the surrounding villages can also make some money." ”

Shikamaru nodded clearly, no wonder the abbot calculated the accounts early in the morning, but this abbot looked a little strange in Shikamaru's eyes, Shikamaru rarely saw him lecturing or reciting scriptures, and several times I saw him either checking the accounts or wandering around the temple, which made Shikamaru a little puzzled.

Thinking that he might be leaving here soon, Shikamaru said this question directly, he remembered that there were many unruly monks in his previous life, who had a unique view of things, and the sixth ancestor Hui Neng was even illiterate, maybe this old abbot was also this kind of 'master', listening to him explain the reason, maybe he could make himself feel a little bit.

Hearing Shikamaru's question, the two old monks didn't make a sound, but looked at the abbot himself, at this time he had already heard Shikamaru's question, so he stopped his movements, looked at Shikamaru deeply, and then said in a deep voice: "I don't believe in Buddhism." ”

The other two old monks in the room all whispered a Buddha horn at this time, but no one had the idea of reprimanding the abbot for saying the truth, and Shikamaru couldn't help frowning, not knowing if there was a Zen machine in the other party's words, and asked rhetorically: "The abbot has been in the temple for a long time?" ”

"I entered the temple at the age of 20 to serve the Buddha, and now I have one in my 60s, and I have spent forty-one years in the temple." The abbot tilted his head and thought for a moment, then quickly replied.

"That is, if you don't believe in Buddhism, why do you enter the temple to serve the Buddha?" The abbot has never used self-proclaimed titles such as "old man" and "poor monk", Shikamaru has long been accustomed to it, seeing that his demeanor and tone are extremely serious, the doubts in his heart are deeper, and he added: "You also became the head monk of a temple? ”

"Survive, repay the favor." The abbot did not hesitate to inform Shikamaru of the answer: "I saved my whole family, I am proficient in arithmetic, and I can't survive, so I went up the mountain to take care of the accounts for him and maintain the livelihood of the monks." I became the abbot, I read the scriptures by heart, but I only read the scriptures, and never had the heart to worship the Buddha, just to survive, repay the kindness, and do good. ”

Shikamaru didn't know what to say, no wonder the abbot was not responsible for the usual lectures, every day he only saw him settling accounts and wandering around, but as the abbot said that he didn't believe in Buddhism, but he couldn't make people despise and hostile feelings, Shikamaru knew how hard it was to manage this poor temple and maintain the tradition that had always been there.

It's just that an old man who doesn't believe in Buddhism has been a monk in the temple for more than 40 years, and finally became an abbot, Shikamaru really feels a little ridiculous.

"The donor thinks it's funny?" The abbot seemed to see through Shikamaru's thoughts, and asked directly and unceremoniously, "If you don't believe in Buddhism, you can't do good?" Can't serve the Buddha? ”

"I want to live, I want to repay my kindness, I want to do good, Buddhism teaches people to accumulate virtue and do good, love all living beings, these places are in harmony with my heart, why can't I be the abbot, why can't I inherit the mantle of the former residence, why can't I maintain the livelihood of the temple, teach people to accumulate virtue and do good?" The abbot said with a smile: "Why does the donor laugh at me, do you know what you want?" ”

Shikamaru hesitated slightly, then replied, "I want the world to live a better life." ”

"Is it 'do you think people are better' or 'people themselves feel better about life'?" The abbot asked rhetorically.

"What do you mean?" Shikamaru asked with a frown.

"If you can't figure this out, you don't understand what you want." The abbot said softly, "I want the rich to help the poor, the lords to collect less taxes from the poor, and the landlords to give land to the landless, so that people can have a way to live." ”

Shikamaru nodded, after leaving the country of fire, he really saw the true face of this world, the feudal system relied on the ninja ruling power to be more stable, and it also made some classes have more unscrupulous capital, not to mention those small countries that are struggling to survive in the cracks of big countries, even in the territory of several big countries, dirty and dirty incidents are not uncommon, there is no hybrid rice, there is no developed technology, for many people, it is already a luxury to be able to eat enough.

"But the rich people's money is also earned by themselves, even if they can't use it for the time being, they hope that they can be blessed with their descendants, and future generations can continue to be rich and not become poor. If I promote this concept, there will be many people who are about to get rich who are worried that they will repeat the footsteps of the rich and their efforts will be in vain, and even some people who think that they may be rich in the future will also feel that this move is to dig meat on them in the future, how can they feel that their lives are better? The abbot stretched out his hand and pointed to the old monk beside him and said, "My senior brother advises people to practice penance, hoping that the monks can polish their minds, seek detachment, set an example for the world, and live a simple life - are all the monks willing?" Are those believers who are unable to concentrate on serving the Buddha and can only rely on incense money to buy peace of mind? ”

"It's obviously imposing your own ideas, why bother with beautiful descriptions, what you think is a good thing, others may see it as evil, and the right choice in the eyes of others may be an extreme mistake in your opinion." The abbot looked at Shikamaru calmly: "So I warned the monks in the temple that when I turn into a fate to admonish the rich, there is no need to do more entanglement, we are willing to work hard for the poor, naturally regardless of gains and losses, but why impose it on others?" Annoying them, it will cause trouble. ”

"The reason why you are admonishing the monks in the temple to do this is because you don't have more strength, you don't have enough power." Shikamaru raised his eyebrows and said with a slight sarcasm, although the abbot did not directly accuse him, he always felt that the other party had something to say, and his mood was a little unhappy.

"Yes." Unexpectedly, the abbot simply and generously admitted: "If I am the lord of my country, I will definitely persecute the rich and unkind, embarrass them, and help the poor, but this is against the original intention of Buddhism, so I don't believe in Buddhism." ”

"That's why I don't believe in Buddhism, so I don't believe in Buddhism......." Shikamaru was stunned for a moment, touched his forehead a little distractedly, and muttered the abbot's words, but the corners of his mouth flashed a smile, and finally turned into a wild laugh, pointing at the abbot and saying: "In this case, you are not a monk at all, you are clearly a 'robber'!" ”

"Some people will call me a robber, but many more will call me a bodhisattva." The abbot also laughed, then his smile retracted, and he sighed: "It's a pity that I can't be a robber or a bodhisattva, so I can only be an 'old monk'." ”

"I think many people will call me a madman or a robber in the future." Shikamaru spread his hands and said, "As for whether it's true or not, we have to wait for their descendants to comment, and I can only let more people call me 'Bodhisattva' first." ”

(Today, I was arguing with someone in the post bar, I thought the other party was just poisoned, and posted information in a joking tone to refute the other party's childish remarks, and in the end, people directly claimed to be a "leading the way * party", which really made the servant have nothing to say, and outsiders really can't say anything about values...... ）

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