The little monk said: "The little monk's name is Gaoye." ”

"Are you Japanese?" ”

The little monk bowed lightly on the ground with his upper body, propped his hands on the ground, and bowed to us as he sat down: "I am Japanese, a native of Koyasan, and my name is also taken from my birthplace. He studied Kukai's Zen teachings from an early age, and studied Chinese philosophy for four years at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangdong Province before entering the temple. Later, he returned to Koyasan and worshiped the Soto sect in the Yin-Yang Dao and became a tantric monk. ”

Xie Ling said: "I remember that there are three schools of Zen Buddhism in Japan, the Rinzai sect, the Soto sect and the Huang Bai sect. The Caodong sect is a lineage of Zen Buddhism, how did it enter the path of yin and yang? ”

Monk Takano said softly: "In the early days of the Caoto sect in Edo, it was divided into Buddhism and Taoism, and the first sect of sitting meditation and enlightenment was Buddhism; There are also people who practice secret arts, you can heal, pray for blessings, marriage, come to sit, alchemy, and subjugate demons, this sect is the Taoist cultivation, and then the patriarch really opened the sect through the sky, and our Caodong sect entered the Yin and Yang Dao. As for my personal teacher, please confess my sins, and do not speak to others. ”

The three of us, Azanway always clasped his hands together, as if he was sleeping. I couldn't interject while I was sitting, and the conversation with Monk Takano was to untie the bell. He slapped his thigh: "Okay, you Japanese monk, tell me honestly, what is the purpose of coming to our China?" ”

"Practice." Monk Takano said lightly.

Xie Ling was speechless for a while, and he said strongly: "Then have you repaired it?" ”

"The little monk is stupid," said Monk Gao Ye, "it's still far from the Great Road." ”

"You can also practice in Japan, so why go all the way to China?" Xie Ling asked.

"The stones of other mountains can attack jade." Monk Takano said.

Xie Lingqi hummed and said, "Our own monk hasn't cultivated yet, how can we teach you?" ”

"I don't know the true face of Lushan, only because I am in this mountain." Monk Takano said.

Xie Ling laughed, sighed a few times, and said to me and Azanway: "See, this monk is very clever and eloquent." At this time, the courtyard wall suddenly "meowed", the scene of leisure and silence, suddenly there was a bit of a strange atmosphere, we looked up, I don't know when there was a cat lying on the temple wall, yawning.

Xie Ling said: "Okay, monk, then let me ask you, do cats have Buddha nature?" ”

Monk Takano looked at the cat on the courtyard wall and said lightly, "Yes." ”

Xie Ling smiled: "Since the cat has Buddha nature, why does it look like that, instead of the Buddha?" ”

"Everything has Buddha nature, but it doesn't realize it." Monk Takano said.

"Then you didn't realize that you are just like this cat. Stupid cat. Xie Ling scolded.

"Buddhism emphasizes practical practice, and if you go further, you will say one step to the realm, and if you have not reached the realm of empty words, it is just a mantra. Cats and I both have Buddha nature, but our cultivation realms are different. Monk Gao Ye said: "Jieling donor, you have never cultivated Buddha nature, don't you also have to bear the word 'stupid'." ”

Xie Ling laughed and played with the paper fan in his hand: "I think I can say enough, you are a Japanese who can speak better than me, it's too much." ”

"Can you say that it's just a phaselessness?" Monk Takano said: "Just now you aggressively asked me a few questions, and I will ask you if I have any questions." ”

"Say." Unfold the fan and fan it quickly. It's autumn now, and I don't know which door he's fanning.

Monk Gao Ye said: "I asked the three of you just now, why did you visit late at night, but you haven't said it yet. ”

Xie Ling said directly: "There have been a lot of strange things happening recently, some children have lost their souls, and some people have learned evil arts to kill people, and all the clues point to your temple, so let's investigate." Now that I've said that, I'm going to ask you, did you do it? ”

Monk Gao Ye was silent for a long time, and said: "Seventy people in life drink one, the Buddha kills without bitterness and happiness, and the Ruyi sword is thrown to the sky, and the heart is really happy without hindrance." ”

"Don't pretend, admit what you do. Aren't you monks the most detached, why do you dare to do it? "The bell is aggressive.

"If the three donors want to debate the scriptures, please tell the scriptures." Monk Takano said.

Xie Ling didn't answer, put away the fan, and asked me: "Wang Qiang, do you know the rules of debate?" ”

I shook my head, indicating that I didn't understand.

Xie Ling briefly told me that the so-called debate is the most widespread in Tibetan Buddhism, and the former monks often debated the scriptures. The so-called debate means that the questioner first asks a scripture question, and the answerer also uses another scripture or Zen language to explain. It doesn't need to be said so clearly, not in hard debate, but in mutual corroboration.

Sometimes it is very likely that the two people's scriptures are not in the same way as the horse's mouth, but as long as you inspire yourself, this scripture is not in vain.

There was once such a public case, a monk once went to consult an old monk, also in the form of a debate, when he put forward the scriptures, the old monk said, "Have you had breakfast?" This sentence immediately made the monk have an epiphany of Zen Buddhism and become enlightened.

This is also an argument.

I don't study Buddhism, so I came with my ears today, but the few conversations between Xie Ling and Monk Takano just now were very enlightening for me, and I thought of a lot of things. Now that I'm going to officially debate with Takano, I'm looking forward to it.

Xie Ling cleared his throat: "Since it is a debate, it lies in the word 'debate', and the two are in contact with each other, which is a fierce confrontation in my imagination." Since the confrontation has to be divided into winners and losers, so I make a request. ”

Monk Takano sat there and watched him.

Xie Ling said: "We won, you tell us the truth about this temple." If we lose, we'll go wherever we want, and we'll bother tonight. ”

Monk Gao Ye clapped his hands, and a small monk came in under the corridor, holding a wooden plate in his hand, and there were three bowls of tea in it, put the tea under the corridor, and then retreated.

Monk Takano said: "There are two debates, the first is based on the scriptures, and the second is based on the three of you can drink tea. ”

The tea was placed under the porch where he was, across a courtyard paved with white sand from us. To get past the tea, you have to walk through the courtyard.

I swallowed my saliva, there was no one in this courtyard, not a single tree, it was all white sand, but I felt that this place was full of vast murderous aura, and I was afraid that it was not a good place to go.

Xie Ling agreed: "Okay, let the horse come." ”

Monk Gao Ye groaned for a while, and said slowly: "Between the cold and hot hell, the handle spoon goes back and forth, and listens to the tea people, without heart and without bitterness. ”

I listened in a daze, and quietly asked what the bell meant. The two of us automatically ignored Azanway, and Azanway sat like a wooden man, his eyelids drooping, as if what was happening around him had nothing to do with him.

Xie Ling played with the fan in his hand, opened and closed, closed and opened, and said: "Their Japanese monks are very different from our Chinese monks, and there is a lot of local Japanese culture in them, and the scriptures he just read are a bit like waka." ”

"What is Waka?" I asked.

"Japanese poetry is similar to haiku, they Japanese don't have any literary talent, they want to learn our Tang and Song poems, but they can't learn it, and in the end, they will just say a few sentences smoothly and make limericks." Xie Ling said: "The poem that the monk just read sounds like borrowing words from things. Borrow a spoon to talk about your ambitions. What do you mean by 'cold and hot hell, the handle and spoon go back and forth'? Look at the spoon, just after scooping boiling water from the boiling pot, it will be put into the cold water tank again to scoop the cold water, hard work, and face it calmly. That's why there is a comment of 'listening to the tea people, no heart and no bitterness'. ”

"What do you mean?" I said, "Praise the selflessness of the spoon? ”

Xie Ling laughed: "I still learn from Lei Feng." You're looking too shallowly. ”

I blushed: "Then you say." ”

Xie Ling didn't answer me, but pointed at Azanwei with a fan: "I said Thai master, you have been here for a long time, and you just said a word, can you say more?" ”

Azanway ignored him, still bowing his head in silence.

Xie Ling shook his head: "This is also a stuffy gourd." I'll tell you the Zen behind this poem. As a handle spoon, it doesn't matter whether it's hot or cold, I am the hot water handle when scooping hot water, and I am the cold water handle when scooping cold water, and I have completely entered my role and function. If this poem was said by a Chinese monk, I think he abandoned his ego and self-desire, but now that a Japanese monk said it, the meaning has changed. ”

I asked how.

Xie Ling said: "Monk Gao Ye is saying one thing, he is saying that he is the handle spoon, the tool for scooping water. There is indeed a big problem with this temple, and the helplessness of the monk Koya can be heard in this poem. “

He cleared his throat: "Okay, Japanese monk, I'll debate the scriptures." Give you eight words, put down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha! ”

Monk Takano looked at him for a long time, made a gesture of invitation with his hand, and pointed to a cup of tea in front of him.

Xie Ling patted me on the shoulder and laughed: "How is it, it's passed, let's go, drink tea with me." ”

"I'm sorry, Jieling donor," Monk Gao Ye said: "The three of you, only whoever is qualified to come and drink tea, if all three of you are qualified to drink tea, I will tell the secret of this temple." ”

Xie Ling was furious: "What kind of scoundrel are you playing, why didn't you say it just now." ”

Monk Takano closed his eyes and ignored it.

Xie Ling scolded for a while, and when he saw that the monk was indifferent, he was helpless, shook his head and said to me: "When I arrived at someone's one-third of an acre, it was the dragon's lying and the tiger's lying on its stomach." Well, brothers, I'll go first. ”

He himself snorted twice: "What to go first, it's too unlucky, I'll go over and drink tea first." ”

He came to the edge of the courtyard, lifted his feet, and stepped heavily on the white sand.