The trip to Banshan Temple left a different time and space in Ai Xiang's heart, and also left him with many inexplicable questions.

It was almost noon, Ai Xiang came out of the Daxiong Hall of Banshan Temple, and waited for Li Yulian outside the mountain gate, and the two made an appointment to go down the mountain together. After a while, Li Yulian also came out of the monastery and told him: "The great monk in charge of the affairs will go down the mountain in the morning to buy Dharma objects for the temple, and he will not return until the afternoon." We might as well have a meal in the temple, I want to wait for the great monk in charge of the affairs, and then go down the mountain after the matter is settled, if you have nothing else to do, we might as well go down the mountain together. ”

Ai Xiang nodded and said, "It's okay, actually, I also want to talk to the old monk in the Daxiong Treasure Hall again, since you also have to wait for the big monk to come back to talk about things, we will wait for you to finish talking, and then go down the mountain in the afternoon." ”

Li Yulian and Ai Xiang returned to the monastery, walked into the dining room where the pilgrims were eating, put some money into the merit box, and then sat down to use the fast food provided by the temple to pilgrims and tourists, and the two talked and then separated. Li Yulian still went to wait for the big monk in charge to talk about spices, and Ai Xiang went to the side hall of the Daxiong Treasure Hall again.

"Amitabha." After Ai Xiang entered the side hall, the old monk at the sign office was still sitting on the futon, with his hands clasped together on his chest, and his eyes closed as if he was asleep. After Ai Xiang hesitated for a moment, he whispered a sentence on the side, and the old monk opened his eyes slightly, and then replied with a slight movement of his lips: "Amitabha." ”

Ai Xiang said apologetically, "Amitabha, I'm bothering you again." The old monk opened his eyes and saw that it was a young man who had just come to ask for a visa in the morning, so he said: "Amitabha, don't be polite, seek goodness and be good, be good." ”

Ai Xiang took out a handkerchief folded into a square from the pocket of his underwear, he carefully opened the handkerchief, opened a very thin notebook wrapped in it, and then gently picked up the note with a poem from the notebook folder, this yellowed note was given to him by Guo Ying's mother after keeping it for more than 20 years.

The old monk took the yellowed note and looked at it and was stunned, and the note was written with four signed poems: "It is good to live in peace under the Beishan Gate, and if you ask the end, be cautious at the beginning." There are many things that can be laughed at, although the scales are not repaired. Although his handwriting had become a little blurry, he still remembered what he had written by hand.

In the early summer season a few decades ago, when it was dark, after an unexpected mountain rain had just stopped, a fifty-year-old mountain man, carrying a bamboo basket used by mountain people to collect medicine, looked around and walked into the Daxiong Treasure Hall.

The hall was quiet and could hear the man's heavy breathing, the man silently looked at the Buddha statues with different expressions in the hall, knelt on the ground with a "plop", kowtowed three times in succession, and kept muttering in a low voice: "Amitabha, Amitabha, Amitabha......"

After kowtowing, the man knelt on the ground for a while, and then reverently got up and walked to the side hall, and saw an old monk sitting cross-legged on the futon with his hands crossed, so he bowed to the ground again: "The five elders ......" The five elders are the distant uncles of the man, and the man called him the fifth uncle before the monk, and the man changed his name to the five elders after the monk.

The five elders opened their eyes slightly, clasped their hands together and said, "Amitabha Buddha ......"

The man knelt on the ground and couldn't stand up: "The five elders give advice." The five elders listened with bated breath to the sound of the newborn in the man's bamboo back basket: "Amitabha." Then he picked up a bamboo stick on the incense table next to him and handed it to the man, who reverently shook the stick holder a few times, and a bamboo stick fell to the ground.

The man handed the bamboo stick to the five elders, and after the five elders took the bamboo stick, they shook it in front of the middle-aged monk standing behind him, inserted it back into the stick, and put the sticker back in the original place of the incense case.

The middle-aged monk behind the five elders picked up a signed poem, turned out the poem corresponding to the sign that the man had just drawn, picked up a pre-cut note, copied and wrote down four signed poems in a dignified manner, and handed it to the man.

The man took the slip and looked at it again, and was about to open his mouth to ask, but the five elders waved his hand and said, "Amitabha, good causes good and good effects, and evil causes evil consequences." There will be afterglow in the house of goodness, and there will be aftermath in the house of evil. Go down the mountain, and remember to do it yourself. The man bowed down to the ground and bowed again, and went down the mountain in fear.

Decades have passed, the five elders have long passed away, and the middle-aged monks of the year have also become old monks. The old monk remembered what the five elders of the master said back then: "Remember, only talk about cause and effect, and don't ask about mundane things in the world." Cause and effect are good, and mundane things are difficult to decide. Whoever does good will be rewarded with good, and whoever does evil will be rewarded with evil. You should know that human nature is always good, and society is always rewarding those who do good. Only by persevering in this way will the power of goodness in this world be the mainstream, and it will eventually be the foundation that governs the destiny of people. From this point of view, karma is by no means an empty talk, but the foundation of the progress and civilization of human society. ”

Ai Xiang asked the old monk and said: "Amitabha, in addition to the literal meaning of this sign, is there any other deep meaning, but also ask the elders to help me solve the confusion in my heart, I hope to give advice, to guide the maze." ”

The old monk clasped his hands together and said: "Amitabha, this sign is indeed from this temple, but it has long since passed the times, and it is not a matter of fact, and it cannot be solved again." Why do young people ask about decades ago? Good is good, good is good, good is good. As long as you settle the past right and wrong in time, you can finally achieve good results. On the other hand, if you want to achieve the good results of life, you must settle with the rights and wrongs of the past. As the saying goes, let go is what it means. Only by letting go of the past will you have the good results you expect. Young people should remember to remember, Amitabha. ”

Ai Xiang felt that the mystery in his heart seemed to be pulled out of it, and the dead knot that had plagued his emotions for a long time began to loosen, he sighed as if he had realized, looked at the old monk and said, "Amitabha, thank you for the elder's guidance." ”

The old monk looked at Ai Xiang and admonished: "Amitabha, the old monk has been here for more than 40 years, and it can be said that he has read countless people. People who come and go to the temple, or for themselves to make a good relationship, or pray for the blessings of relatives and friends, or for the prosperity of the family and plant good fields, or because they have gone astray and atone for their sins, or because of the confusion of the soul and seek peace, or because they have no way to ask for help, or because ......they want to take refuge in Buddhism, the old monk only says cause and effect, good deeds will be good, evil deeds will be evil, karma will be retribution, there will be a cause and effect, this is the justice of the world, and it is also the foundation of Buddhism. Young people should not indulge in what they want, but what they actually do. As long as you do the good deeds that you are supposed to do, you are planting good causes for yourself, and sooner or later you will reap the good fruits. Amitabha. ”

Ai Xiang reverently clasped his palms together and recited: "Amitabha, what the elder said is extremely true, like an initiation, which has benefited me a lot. ”

After returning from the temple, Ai Xiang became quieter than before, and his heart seemed to be more lonely. He originally liked to be alone, but after the trip to the Banshan Temple, he seemed even more alone, like a lonely goose out of the wild goose array, flapping his wings aimlessly, his eyes full of helplessness and sadness.

Ai Xiang remembers that during his college life, there was a time when he was obsessed with oil painting, and was fascinated by the symbolism of the colors expressed in oil painting. He, a top student in medical school, often deliberately went to the Academy of Fine Arts to skip classes.

In the art of oil painting, color is a symbol of emotional expression, has independent aesthetic value, is the most expressive and appealing means of painting, and is also the most emotional artistic language. From those kaleidoscopic colors, he can sometimes experience a positive yearning full of vitality, and sometimes he can feel a kind of uneasiness and sadness. These colors struck his soul strongly, resonating with some underlying pain and memory in the depths of his soul.

Once, Ai Xiang was listening to Gao Bai's masterpiece "Where Do We Come From? Who are we? Where are we going? During the appreciation class, looking at the huge oil painting displayed on the electronic screen, he shed tears inexplicably.

Rich in philosophy and mysticism, Where Do We Come From? Who are we? Where are we going? is one of the most well-known masterpieces in Gauguin's career as an artist. This huge oil painting is not only considered by Gauguin himself to be an unprecedented work of artistic creation, but also a window to show the world the artist Gauguin's personal inner thoughts, spiritual world, artistic concepts, as well as the contemplation and philosophical cognition of the world and life itself.

Looking at this huge oil painting, Ai Xiang at first felt that the colors of the whole picture were too weird, and the characters and landscape were also very special. On closer inspection, the large areas of blue and green, with a few shades of brown and orange dotted among them, gave him a mysterious, eerie hint that sent chills down his spine.

Where do we come from? Who are we? Where are we going? Then it also became several huge question marks hanging over Ai Xiang's heart. This is Gauguin's exploration of the essence and meaning of life, and it is also Gauguin's inquiry into the nature of human beings and the world.

Through those strange colors, Ai Xiang and a great artist have a spiritual resonance through time and space, especially the somewhat vague Buddha statue in the picture, which permeates the infinite mystery and brings an extremely shocking impact to Ai Xiang.

In the Banshan Temple, Ai Xiang felt this shock and impact again from the mysterious color of those Buddha statues. The thoughts and questions about his own destiny, which had been entrenched in the depths of his soul for a long time, returned to his eyes again.

He gazed at the majestic Buddha statues and saw a transcendent wisdom. This is a kind of wisdom that purifies the mind, and only by purifying the mind can we reach the other side; He received a kind of enlightenment, which is a kind of enlightenment for thinking and exploring the problems of nature, the universe, and life.

Ai Xiang remembered that when he was waiting for Li Yulian to come down the mountain outside the mountain gate near noon that day, the look in the middle-aged monk who was in a hurry looked at Ai Xiang also puzzled.

Ai Xiang caught the confusion, doubt, and uneasiness contained in the monk's eyes at the moment when he met his eyes, and a great question arose in his heart. What did the monk see? What would make this monk distracted?

(Next Preview: Chapter 146 Roasted Pheasant at the Edge of the Mountain Dwelling)