The temple where the Bodhi tree spirit took refuge is a place called Hengshan on the outskirts of City C, which was a Taoist temple in the Tang Dynasty, and later destroyed the Taoist temple due to the war and chaos. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, some monks built a temple called 'Daling Temple' on the original site. Not far from Daling Temple, there is a white dragon temple, which is also presided over by Taoist practitioners. It is a very good dojo here. In Daling Temple, there are two eminent monks, Bodhi Tree Spirit, who took refuge in one of the old monks called Jinghai. He took a Dharma name, called Bodhi Sheng, which means to defeat the Bodhi tree spirit of the past, defeat the self, and surpass the self.

The arrival of Zhang Fan's green wings and Xuanyuan Star surprised the Bodhi Tree Spirit. He asked his master to do a zazen ritual for the three vow-holders. To be able to get the blessing of the eminent monks, Zhang Fan and the three of them were of course very happy. The origin of the 'Zen Seven' originated from the Buddha's self-vow under the Bodhi tree: if he does not become enlightened, he vows not to leave the throne of Vajra, and then the Buddha preaches under the Bodhi tree for seven days. Therefore, later generations have this ritual of learning Buddhism.

It's actually a Buddhist ritual to learn how to practice meditation, but it's not just about sitting still. Instead, there are monks who cultivate beginners' meditation skills according to the rituals and time of zazen. and the various problems that arise during the guidance of meditation.

In such an ashram environment with the support of eminent monks, the possibility of a meditator being tempted and corrupted by evil spirits is very small! The complete 'Seven Meditations' takes 7749 days, and the simplified version takes 7 days.

Leaving the Bodhi Tree Spirit Meditation Illusion Realm, Zhang Fan even had a difficult time entering the realm of the First Zen Heaven. In the scene of the precept holder Shijie, Zhang Fan also practiced meditation, but there is a bonus in the scene. The reality shijie is completely relying on his own concentration, step by step. This is because Zhang Fan practiced meditation with his master in the past, and he was able to barely reach the realm of the first Zen heaven.

The Xuanyuan Star, which has the highest concentration power, although it is in ambush, has a strong concentration force, and it is also very helpful for meditation. But after all, I had never practiced meditation, so as soon as I sat down, I felt that my mind was scattered, my back hurt, and I couldn't even adjust my breathing. Fortunately, the two Zen masters gave on-site guidance, and Xuanyuan Xing, who was deeply focused, quickly entered the state, adjusted his breathing, collected his mind, counted his breath, and entered the first step of meditation practice - 'careless dwelling'.

Because of its extraordinary origin, the green wing enters the highest realm of meditation in the meditation illusion of the Bodhi tree spirit. But in reality, she is still an ordinary person, neither as strong as Xuanyuan Xing's concentration, nor as good as Zhang Fan's meditation, so she is Zuihou who has entered the state. Fortunately, her concentration is also very strong, and under the guidance of the Zen master, she also entered the 'careless residence' after a while.

Once Green Wing and Regulus Star entered the state, their powerful concentration immediately showed their power! This 'zazen' is the time for three incense sticks! When the Zen master saw that it was almost there, he dropped the 'incense board' and motioned for the three of them to make a decision. Because I just started practicing meditation, I can't necessarily afford it, so I will be entangled by my own yin demons and fall into desires.

When the three of them heard the sound of the incense board, they were all very conscious, not bad at all. To the surprise of the Zen master. This shows that the ability of the three of them to control their own entry is very strong, far beyond ordinary people! The Bodhi Tree Spirit signaled to the Zen master that they could 'sit on incense' for a longer period of time, and not to ask them to be expected by ordinary people's standards.

The Zen master asked the three of them how they felt during zazen, and knew that there was no problem for the three of them to 'live carelessly' in the first step of meditation, so he taught them some precautions when entering the second step of 'careful dwelling', and then rested for a while. Then the second round of 'sitting incense' began. The three of them immediately sat down and closed their eyes......

The so-called realm of meditation is divided into 'four meditations and eight determinations' in Buddhism! And now the three of them have just started to learn meditation, and they are still far from the 'four meditations and eight concentrations'. Because the lowest realm of the so-called 'Four Meditations and Eight Determinations' is the first Zen Heaven of the Color Realm Heaven. Then go to the four Zen heavens of the color realm heaven, plus the 'four empty heavens' of the colorless realm, a total of eight realms, and synthesize the 'four meditations and eight determinations'.

In fact, the so-called Three Realms and Six Realms refer to the realm of desire, the realm of color and the realm of colorlessness. The realm of desire includes the path of hell, the path of hungry ghosts, the path of animals, the path of the earth, and the six heavens of desire, and the six heavens of desire include: the four heavenly king heavens, the heaven of the Buddha, the heaven of the flame of the flame, the heaven of Tushida, the heaven of happiness and change, and the heaven of his transformation. All living beings have various desires such as food, sex, and sleep.

The color realm is divided into four layers according to the power of sentient beings to practice meditation, namely, the first Zen heaven has the three levels of Brahma, Brahma Futian, and Great Brahma; The two Zen heavens have three dimensions: less light, no more light, and three light-sound days.

The three Zen heavens are divided into three parts: the less pure heaven, the immeasurable pure heaven, and the whole pure heaven; Four Zen Nine Heavens: Cloudless Heaven, Fusheng Heaven, Guangguo Heaven, Thoughtless Heaven, No Annoying Heaven, No Heat Heaven, Good Seeing Heaven, Good Appearance Heaven, and Lust Heaven. The first three days of the four meditations and nine days are the ordinary heavens, the fourth is the outer path heavens, and the last five days are the holy heavens, that is, the so-called five non-return heavens.

The beings of the color realm have given up their lust and desire for food, but they still covet special and subtle colors, such as magnificent scenery and beautiful body forms. That's why it's called the color world.

The colorless realm is also divided into four kinds of differences depending on the depth of practice, that is, the four empty heavens of the colorless realm: the boundless sky, the boundless sky, the boundless sky, the non-thinking and non-thinking sky. Here, if you don't think about it, you can't think about it, and the sky is the end of the sky. The beings in this realm have cut off all material desires, transcended the shackles of matter, and only have the mind reside in profound and wonderful meditation.

Now Zhang Fan and the three of them are still learning how to enter the 'desire to define', which is divided into four realms: 'careless dwelling', 'careful dwelling', and 'wanting to define' and 'future Zen'. It is the basis for ordinary people to practice meditation.

At the same time, the backache and bone pain, the body is not upright, and it is crooked, because usually our body is bent, and some people's bodies are not crooked, and their breathing is not very smooth, and they must use the method of counting breaths to calm their minds. After a while, the body will gradually adjust, the breathing will gradually become smoother, and the mind will become more and more refined. This state of mind is called careless dwelling. When entering the careless dwelling, distractions are reduced. However, having fewer distractions does not mean that you are settled, it is just that you are no longer cranky, but your mind will continue to run around.

After entering the 'careful dwelling', the mind at this time is already very subtle, the body does not have to use the force to adjust, it is automatically balanced, it is already used to it, and it does not get tired after sitting for a long time, which is the so-called method of holding the body. If a person who has experience in meditation is very tired after meditating for an hour, it means that he has not yet entered the careless dwelling, and when he enters the careful dwelling, the body will automatically adjust, and he will not get tired after sitting for a long time. If you continue to meditate and go deeper into the state of concentration, you will be able to enter the true definition of desire.

Once the desire is defined, it does not have to be controlled, and delusions do not arise. And the mind is automatically stable, and you don't have to use your heart to adjust it, and your mind is not moving at this time. Once you have entered this concentration, you will be able to sit in meditation all day long. The above three kinds of meditation cannot be called true meditation, but can only be called ordinary meditation.

After you have defined your desires, you continue to cultivate, and at some point, all of a sudden, you feel the feeling of losing your body, you can't see your body in the realm of desire, and you feel that your whole body and mind are gone. This feeling occurs while meditating, not when you open your eyes to see. Once you have this feeling, you will enter the 'future Zen'.

The so-called 'future meditation' is to enter into true meditation, so it is also called the pre-arrival of the realm of desire. The so-called true meditation is the first meditation, the second meditation, the third meditation, and the fourth meditation.

For Zhang Fan, these lessons are just a review of them. Because even if one can enter the true state of meditation, it is not the state of ultimate attainment, not the state of non-retreat. Therefore, every time you enter the meditation, you still have to improve one realm after another, but the speed of improvement is just how fast or slow you are. If you don't retreat from a certain state of meditation, you don't have to be so troublesome.

When one day, when you enter the realm of continuous ascension in this way, you can suddenly enter the realm directly, you can enter it at any time, and you don't have to leave, even if you live, sit, lie down, and do anything, when you enter a fixed state in this realm, that is not to retreat to the realm! It's like reading a text very well, and one day suddenly memorized it, and never forget, reciting it like a stream anytime and anywhere, just not regressing from the realm!

Of course, the state of non-retreat in meditation and practice is much more profound than endorsement. Among them, even if it is the realm of non-retreat, it is divided into many levels, such as the non-retreat of thought, the non-retreat of faith, the non-retreat of position, the non-retreat of evidence, and the non-retreat of action. Therefore, it is conceivable how difficult it is for the Bodhi tree spirit to reach the top level of the 'Four Zen Heavens' after thousands of years of meditation and the 'Great Freedom Heaven' without retreating! And it's such an not easy realm, and I was confused by the heavenly demons and committed karma! It can be seen that cultivation is difficult.

In the second zazen, Zhang Fan directly improved his realm according to the guidance of the Zen master and began to steadily enter the first Zen heaven. However, after the three incense sticks, he did not succeed, and always wandered in the future Zen realm, and was not able to enter the first Zen heaven. Because after feeling that the body is gone, he always does not feel the joy of entering the first meditation heaven and leaving the realm of desire.

Zhang Fan is not in a hurry, because the most important thing in practicing meditation is to calm his mind. Even if you are always in the process of wanting to define, you can't have the slightest emotional fluctuation. And after a day of practice, both Green Wing and Regulus were able to enter the 'Desire Definition'. It's just one step away from entering the realm of 'Future Zen'.

In this way, I sat from morning to 10 p.m., except for eating and going to the toilet, and I was always in meditation practice. At 10 o'clock in the evening, the monks of the temple set the time for sleeping, and at this time, except for the monks who practiced 'non-falling meditation', they all went to sleep. The so-called non-falling meditation is a practice method for Buddhist practitioners to resist the desire for sleep. Because in Buddhism, sleep is also a desire that needs to be removed.