We saw the "Qingjing City Tower" commemorating the sixth ** master.

The white marble texture of the tower, although the flowers are covered with brocade carved with the story of the Buddha's "Eight Phases of Enlightenment" and the pattern of representing the meaning of the law, but it is not floating at all, but more ice muscle jade bones, plus thirteen layers of finely carved mantra wheel on the tower neck, shining in the sun on the gilded pagoda umbrella and treasure top, let people experience a different kind of coolness and comfort in the air that has been slowly warmed up.

We walked through a white marble road lined with pine trees and well-trimmed greenery on both sides to a row of west-facing side halls.

I asked Xu Konglan, "Have you ever been here?" Seems familiar? ”

"I've been here." Xu Konglan turned around and looked at me a little unnaturally, "The last time I returned to China, I asked someone to bring me here and met this Buddha. This Buddha is a well-known figure at home and abroad, and an accomplished university scholar. I came to ask the Buddha for the Dharma. Have you taken refuge? ”

I was stunned by Xu Konglan's question.

Xu Konglan saw that I was stupid when I was asked, so she smiled and explained: "The first step in learning the Dharma is to take refuge, which means relying on the Three Jewels (Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha) to gain liberation from knowledge and the merit of becoming a Buddha. If you have a strong desire to take refuge, invite a teacher who has the virtue of quiet vows and compassion to take the vow for you. ”

Xu Konglan and I stood there whispering, and some of the lamas who passed by were all looking at us.

Xu Konglan looked at me confused, and smiled slightly: "I think it's better to forget it, when you have such a strong desire, then consciously and voluntarily seek refuge in the Buddha." She took out two neatly rolled white silk fabrics from her pocket, and I knew at a glance that they were Hada.

It turns out that Wang Ziyuan brought me here, and every time he would offer a hada to his teacher. I also followed suit, and offered Hada to that teacher more than once. I am familiar with the auspicious patterns and Tibetan characters of the silk on Hada.

Xu Konglan asked me gently, her gaze seemed to melt all my troubles: "Mingxi, do you know how to do it?" ”

"I know this, I've done it before." I smiled faintly.

Xu Konglan took one in her hand, handed me one, and just like that, led me to the matching hall.

When I walked to the side hall, I found that there was a long corridor inside, with windows on the west side of the corridor and a row of doors on the east side. There are also a few makeshift kitchenettes, probably dedicated to cooking for the older living Buddhas.

The small kitchen is not very clean, and the greasy and strange ghee and milk tea on the liquefied gas cylinders make people feel a little rich life in a sacred atmosphere.

We came to the door of a room.

On the windowsill opposite the door, there is a row of small Buddha statues made of plaster with very detailed patterns, painted in gold with gold pigment, bright and sacred. A curtain printed with colorful patterns hangs on the door, and at a glance, you can see that it is an auspicious pattern unique to the Tibetan people.

I remember Wang Ziyuan told me a long time ago that it was a pattern of "eight auspicious things" combined into one, which was used to express the best wishes and blessings.

Xu Konglan knocked on the door, and someone inside came to open the door, speaking Chinese, and when I heard it, it was Chinese with a Tibetan accent. Although it is not standard, it is pure and simple, and there is an extra kind of cuteness.

The door opened, and it was a very young lama.

He was about twenty years old, with thick eyebrows and big, bright eyes that shone with a light that was very different from ordinary people.

The high bridge of the nose, his cheeks flushed by the dense blood vessels under the superficial skin, indicate his Tibetan roots. The pure smile on his face, the shallow dimples that bloomed, the faint hairs on his lips, and the crimson monk's dress that showed one arm made people immediately feel a different temperament.

This kind of temperament is like a temperament that comes from the influence of worldly learning, which is a kind of sincerity, naturalness, and purity that flows from heartfelt satisfaction and happiness because of the purification of the soul.

He smiled and nodded to us, with a very enthusiastic attitude: "The Buddha knows that you are here and is waiting for you." ”

We took off our shoes, walked on the carpet of broken flowers, and walked into the room.

I was in a nervous mood, and I didn't have time to think about it, so I followed behind Xu Konglan, bent down respectfully, and came to the Buddha's Dharma bed.

Xu Konglan and I skillfully opened Hada. The Buddha laughed, it was a kind of laughter that was no different from that of an old man who kindly told stories to children in an ordinary village.

Xu Konglan offered Hada, and then knelt on the ground, and the Buddha touched the top of her very kindly and blessed her, and greeted her with a very cordial attitude: "Hello, hello." ”

When it was my turn, I did the same, but the Buddha did not take the Hada down, but happily hung the Hada around my neck, and then touched the top of the blessing for me, still saying kindly: "Hello, hello." Then he put his hand on my face and touched my forehead.

This is called a "meeting ceremony" and is a form of etiquette that shows respect and recognition.

Why did the Buddha use such etiquette with me? I was surprised and strange, so I thought about it.

At this moment, I finally saw the appearance of this living Buddha clearly.

He was about sixty years old and very strong. A round face with a slightly pointed jaw. There was only a little hair left, and the sideburns were already white. The nose is high and straight, and the eyes are not very large, but they have a unique look. With a smile on his face, so innocent, he turned out to be like a child, but there were deep wrinkles at the corners of his eyes.

The bright yellow soft satin "dongga" on his body, and the darker saffron woolen robe, show a different identity and status from ordinary monks.

He looked at me very kindly and said with a smile, "I haven't seen you before, have I?" First time? ”

"It's not the first time I've been here, but I haven't seen you before." I hastened to answer.

Buddha Ye smiled: "Oh, I like young people very much, they are more energetic and hopeful, which reminds me of when I was young." When I was younger, I studied very hard, but at that time, something happened that made Buddhist books very dangerous. Well, now the state is very open-minded and allows us to study the scriptures. But I was too old and ashamed to be old before I had time to study...... Haha......"

"I can't speak Chinese well," he smiled happily, and then asked me, "It's not standard Mandarin, can you understand it?" ”

I looked into the eyes of the Buddha with a smile and replied sincerely, "I understand, the Buddha speaks Chinese very well." ”

"Really? Thank you. The Buddha smiled very humbly, "To be honest, there are still a lot of difficulties in really speaking, hehe......"

After we were arranged to sit down by the young lama, Xu Konglan began to chat with the Buddha about some family matters.

It's really strange that a living Buddha with a lofty status and profound knowledge has the patience to accompany an ordinary person to talk about everyday things?

I was absent-minded and began to look at the room.

The Buddha's Dharma Bed is a large wooden bed carved with fine patterns, somewhat like the willow bed we used in ancient times. It's just that the backrest of the Dharma bed is carved with many treasures attached to the stems and vines and the legendary "Flame Ruyi Treasure", and the bed box is more carved with lifelike lions, big statues, fish, Peng birds and other Dharma protection animals.

Behind and on both sides of the Buddha, there are also backrests and hands with yellow satin surfaces of "Flowing Clouds and Dragon Patterns", which are very similar to the decorations in the Forbidden City, which are not only rich but also **.

The room is small, but a beautifully carved and colourful shrine occupies an entire wall.

This kind of shrine is set up in a private room, and it is so large that it can only be seen in the rooms of living Buddhas. The shrine is divided into two large circles. The inner circle, which is relatively thin, is divided into twelve small grids, and a Buddha statue is placed in each small grid. The outer circle is thicker and is divided into eight large lattices, which are filled with Tibetan scriptures.

Those classics are a kind of loose-leaf layout that is more than a foot long, all neatly wrapped in yellow silk, and the outward head is also sandwiched with red, green, and blue gold silk colored satin, which is superimposed and sewn from small to large to form a catalog head, which can be easily consulted and named.

In front of the Buddha shrine, offerings such as "Seven Treasures" and "Eight Treasures" are placed, as well as five essences such as honey and ghee, eight offerings such as incense and snails, and nectar water made with saffron and mint ice in seven small gold bowls.

At the front, there is a hollow hearth made of silver, from which cigarette smoke slowly rises.

A silver lamp with high stilts, inlaid with small beads of coral and turquoise, and inside is a half-melted milky ghee, which burns brightly in the light of the quiet flames, emitting bursts of frankincense. On both sides are the freshly cut flowers that are brought to the Buddha by the "laymen" (believers who study Buddhism at home), which are delicate and full of life.

It may be that there are too many people who send flowers, and they can't be placed on the table, so they have to be placed on the ground in front of the table and lined up.

The Buddha statues in the shrine are very different from the Buddha statues we see in the Han area, they all wear very precious Nepalese handmade gold silk satin fine clothes, some wear the kind of high pointed yellow monk hat worn by the eleventh ** master when sitting on the bed on TV, and some are a few petals like the five Buddha crowns inlaid with a lot of pearls.

Those Buddha statues, with their skin matte purple and gold, their long and soft fingers, their beautiful and sacred faces, their jewels crystal clear, and their compassion and kindness always seemed to encourage me to get close to them, or to tell them about the pain in my heart.

Looking, watching, a happy and peaceful thing couldn't help but rise from the bottom of my heart, like smoke and fog.

On the other wall, there is a bookshelf full of books, both in Tibetan and Chinese.

Further down is a closet embedded in the wall, I think it's for clothes. On this wall, behind our seats, are three very large paintings of Buddha. The colors are particularly bright, with glitter mica pigments of varying particle thicknesses in some places and pure gold leaf in others.

The Buddha statues are not painted in the usual way of mounting, but are inlaid with layers of sewn multicolored gold satin, and the heads on both sides of the scroll are made of silver, and I say that they are also plated with gold. The front of the Buddha painting has a thin layer of bright yellow translucent silk that serves as a curtain. The curtain is folded into a beautiful pattern and fixed at the very top of the painting.

There are two bright red silk threads, hanging directly from behind the flowers folded by the curtain, and continue throughout the picture.

The whole painting is full of flowers and is unusually beautiful, and the mysterious religious significance of its magnificent colors makes me dare not look at it for a moment. I remember Wang Ziyuan told me that this kind of portrait is called "thangka".

The windows behind the Buddha are very large, all of them are antique carved partition windows, and the glass is bright and pure.

The branches and leaves of the pine trees outside the window are lush and green. I think in the summer it can soothe the harsh heat of the sun directly into the house, and in the winter, the cedars will add a quiet ** scenery to the room.

All this made my mind suddenly quiet and settle......

When I was wandering, Xu Konglan got up, and the Buddha also got up.

I also hurriedly got up, followed the Buddha and Xu Konglan, and kowtowed three times to the Buddha statue in the Buddha shrine.