Chapter 30: The Gathering
The first day I came to Moyuan was spent in a panic. The fat man taught me the method of meditation, and I followed it, and it felt really unusual, as if I had touched another realm that I had never understood.
When I woke up the next day, the sun was shining through the window. I opened the window and breathed in the fresh mountain air, feeling reborn.
After a short break, I started to meditate cross-legged again, and continued to observe my breathing according to the method taught by the fat man. When I was impatient, I lay down at the window and looked at the mountains outside. My consciousness, my state of mind, slowly eased, as if falling into a long, sticky river.
As it got dark, I rubbed my wrist and planned to copy the scriptures tonight. Time here is running out, tomorrow is the last day, and I don't want to leave with any regrets.
When night fell, the mountain breeze was blowing, and although the windows were closed, the wind through the cracks still blew the flames of the lampstand fluttering and flickering.
I unfolded the scroll, laid out the rice paper, took a deep breath and picked up the pen, dipped it in the inkstone, and then copied it on the paper. I don't know how to write with a brush, and I hold a pen in the same posture as an ordinary pen, but I am extremely serious, writing stroke by stroke.
Writing and writing, time passed quickly, and I seemed to enter a state of distraction, similar to the feeling of removing distracting thoughts during meditation. Concentrate on one thing, and distracting thoughts do not intrude, this feeling is clear and clear.
The words on the rice paper seemed to come to life, and I slowly immersed myself in the world outlined in the scriptures. The scriptures say: Everything is in the world, all kinds of different sounds, and the Bodhisattva has one sound. All the abilities are performed, and it is decided to say separately, and all the Dharma is so that all sentient beings will be very happy when they hear it...... All the Buddhas of the Ten Directions are not in the body, but they are clearly revealed......
As I wrote, I seemed to be moved, many words and phrases I didn't understand, and I seemed to be able to see through the meaning behind the words. The image of Sister Er appeared in my mind, everything I have done, and now I can sit in this place, everything is because of her.
In the words of the Buddhist scriptures, I entered an indescribable imagination, the Buddha of the Ten Directions is in the world, Sister Er Ya is a Buddha, Qiao Laobao is a Buddha, and those fierce men and hooligans who caught Sister Er Ya are also Buddhas, everyone is promising, everyone is a Buddha. When the Buddha rises and the Buddha dies, everything in the world is in the Dharma, just like a river rushing and staggering, dust to dust, and earth to earth.
I was concentrating on writing, when suddenly the flames of the lampstand flickered twice and went out, and there was darkness all around.
I looked up and couldn't see anything. Stretched out his hand and shook it, he really couldn't see his five fingers, there was no light at all, it belonged to absolute darkness.
I stopped writing and turned my head to look at the window, no matter how dark it was, there was still moonlight, but looking back, I was terrified that there was also a thick darkness behind me. I subconsciously thought that something was blindfolded, and I touched it with my hand, and when I touched my eyelids, I realized that it was not, what the hell is going on?
I admonished myself to calm down, and gradually realized that the black in front of me was extremely uniform, and it was absolutely abnormal. I waved my hand in front of my eyes, trying to dispel the darkness, but it didn't work, I couldn't even see my own hand.
I suddenly realized a terrifying possibility, isn't it...... Am I blind?
I was really scared, and this fear was like suddenly stepping into the air and falling into the abyss. The disaster came suddenly, and I couldn't believe why such a thing had befallen me.
"Little Golden Boy ......" A deep and deep voice suddenly came from the darkness.
I was taken aback, isn't it forbidden to speak here, who is so bold? I didn't answer, and my mind was in turmoil.
"Little golden boy," said the man, "I am a practitioner in the nearby courtyard, and our courtyard is not as lifeless as here, and in the evening we will have a master giving lectures and playing the guqin and pipa, and now I invite you to come over and have a lively time." ”
I was confused, first, how did this man know that my nickname was Little Golden Boy, and second, why did he invite me?
As I hesitated, the man took my hand. His intentions are so firm that I can't question them. I was afraid of making a noise, so I groped my way to my feet in the darkness and followed him forward. Intuitively, we went out of the house, through the hallway, down the stairs.
There are all silent practitioners here, and I didn't dare to speak out for fear of disturbing others, so I had to follow this person and go out a long way.
When I came outside and felt the cool breeze, I remembered that I didn't have shoes on, and the ground was so cold that I grinned at my teeth.
The man dragged me on, and I couldn't see anything but follow him.
After walking for a long time, I didn't know where I went, and suddenly the rough hand that was holding me was gone, and it was replaced by a delicate and weak woman's hand, and a very gentle girl's voice sounded: "Your guest is here, please come with me, pay attention to your step." ”
I didn't speak, groped my way forward, and she laughed "poof": "You are out of the Silent Garden, you can speak." ”
I breathed a sigh of relief and quickly asked, "What is this place?" ”
"It's called 'Buddha Joy Hall.'" The girl said.
"Which 'yue'?" I asked.
The girl chuckled and said, "Pleasant 'Yue'." ”
This laughter made me laugh, numb and crispy, like electricity. I asked her, are there all practitioners here? The girl was very fond of laughing and laughed in a low voice, "Come with me." ”
I could feel us walking through the hall as if we were walking down a hallway, and then the sound of the door being pulled into a well-ventilated room. The temperature here is moderate, and there is a night breeze, and you can hear the voices of men and women talking to each other, as if you are in a room with a lot of people. But where exactly to be located, but I don't know at all.
In my vision, this was a Japanese-style myeongdo, where everyone sat on tatami mats and the pillars were lit up...... Unfortunately, I can't see anything.
The girl sat next to me, which made me feel a lot more at ease, I sniffed her fragrance and asked in a low voice, "You are also here to practice?" ”
"Hee-hee, yes." She said. "Hey, how can you have ......" She was very close to me, as if she was smelling me: "Do you know Hu Tingting?" ”
Hu Tingting?! I was suddenly shocked, why did she mention Hu Tingting?
I was about to say something, when suddenly an old lady in the room coughed not far away and said slowly, "Where is the luthier?" ”
"The little ones are here." It was said.
Their conversations are all honorifics, and they listen to the crepe of the text.
The old lady's voice was very old, but it had an undoubted majesty: "Piano master, there are distinguished guests coming to the door today, and you should perform famous songs to help the fun, how about "Guangling San"? ”
The pianist's voice: ""Guangling San" is very long, and I am afraid that it will be difficult to finish the whole song in a short time. ”
The old lady said: ""Guangling San" has been lost in the world, but fortunately there are still preserved in our family, and there is a section of "The Birds of Time" that is the most appropriate, so you can sing it and listen to it." ”
The luthier stirs the strings of the guqin and starts playing.
The voice was clear, the room was full, and no one spoke. I closed my eyes and listened quietly. In the past, I rarely listened to the performance of ancient instruments, and I felt that the rhythm was too slow and sticky. Now it sounds like a surging heart, like being in the forest, spring and sunshine, and thousands of birds gathering.
I couldn't help but hold the hand of the girl next to me, her little hands were soft and boneless, extremely delicate. The most valuable thing is that she doesn't squirm and struggle, and let me hold it. I listened to the wonderful sound, touched my little hands, oh this comfortable, dizzy, into a state of inextricability.
At this time, the girl leaned into my ear and whispered, "You are Hu Tingting's person, I don't dare to fight with her." ”
I swallowed hard, "Hu Tingting is a vixen." ”
I didn't want to say it so loudly, but this sentence sounded clearly in the room, and when I said this, it was just in time for the luthier to play the two intervals, and I believe that all the people in the room heard it.
The hall was full of silence. After an awkward silence for a few seconds, the old lady's voice sounded: "Little golden boy, what about the fox spirit?" ”
I felt extremely guilty and quickly said, "No. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. ”
The old lady was upset: "Wrong! Unintentional words are the most heartfelt. I hate that when people in the world talk about foxes, they use a contemptuous attitude, 'vixen, vixen', what about 'vixen'? The owner of the dojo here is a vixen. ”
The girl next to me spoke: "Tai Grandma, the little golden boy is really unintentional, don't blame him." ”
I was moved, this girl is really good, she can stand up in a critical moment.
The old lady said, "Piano Master, skip this chapter and play the next chapter." ”
As soon as her voice fell, she only listened to the change of the sound of the piano, originally in the spring woods, ten thousand birds gathered, suddenly there was a thunderbolt on a sunny day, the sky changed sharply, followed by a series of terrible thunder, the sky became cloudy and foggy, a large group of birds died one after another, falling from the sky, first one by two, then a large flock, and the ground was covered with the corpses of birds.
Such a poignant scene, in response to the sharp sound of the piano, shocked that people could not breathe.
In the scene depicted by Qin Yin, deep in the gloomy woods, I seemed to see Sister Erya. She was undressed, tied with a rope, kneeling on the ground with her hands upside down, the wind and the fallen leaves whipped on her, and she endured it all in silence.
The state of mind that I had managed to cultivate two days ago collapsed at this moment, and I cried loudly, sad that I had never felt before.