Zhang Shaofei once experienced such a state of mind.

In fact, everyone in the world has experienced such a state of mind. And today, by chance, Zhang Shaofei took the initiative to realize it, experienced it, recognized it, and grasped it.

Zhang Shaofei retreated to the edge of the mountain forest, picked up the firewood neatly with his hands and feet, and after a while, he bundled two large bundles. He picked up his shoulders and leisurely turned up the mountain path and descended the mountain.

After the rain, the air is very fresh and quiet. There is a bit of wildness in the tranquility: there are remnants of rainwater sliding down from the tall leaves and hitting the broad leaves of wild plantains, making a "knock" sound; A gentle breeze swirls through the low bushes, rustling the leaves......

Zhang Shaofei has a smart and smart heart, fully immersed in nature, feeling and appreciating the wonderful realm......

……

Zhang Shaofei carried the firewood, along the winding sheep intestine path, turned a mountain col, suddenly, in the silent empty mountain, there was a burst of poetry:

Take a hoe with your bare hands and ride a buffalo on foot.

People cross the bridge, but the bridge does not flow.

Zhang Shaofei slowed down and looked around, but when he heard the sound of poetry, he didn't see the bard.

Zhang Shaofei thought for a long time, and then whispered softly: "Take the hoe empty-handed, ride a buffalo on foot; People cross the bridge, but the bridge does not flow. People cross the bridge, but the water does not flow on the bridge? ”

Zhang Shaofei groaned, scrutinized, and asked and answered himself-

Doesn't seem to make sense? Since it is empty-handed, how can you make a hoe? If it's walking, why is it a buffalo ride? When people walk across the bridge, they clearly see the water flowing under the bridge, how can it be said that the water on the bridge is not flowing?

The more Zhang Shaofei scrutinized, the more he felt a little interesting, the more he felt a little Zen, and the more he felt a little wonderful......

In fact, this is a very high Taoist master who looks at the world from a higher realm, hoping that the world will understand equality from differences, and silence from the noise. As long as a person's heart is clear and quiet, there is also a quiet deep forest in the hustle and bustle, which is the realm of Tao Yuanming's "knot in the human realm, without the noise of cars and horses".

In short, the world is a reconciliation of contradictions.

"Empty-handed hoe" means to recognize everything from "emptiness", and emptiness is the emptiness that covers everything, and it is also the space for people to live.

The philosopher said,

The nostrils are not empty, how do we breathe air?

The heart is not empty, if it is full of troubles? And how does the truth enter?

Therefore, only with empty hands can we grasp the world, and how can we "pull out our heads with empty hands"?

"Riding a buffalo on foot" means that seeking the Tao is like riding on the back of an ox, as long as you have patience, step by step, you will definitely be able to reach the destination, and it is not difficult to become a saint and a sage. Thousands of miles away, as long as you start from this step under your feet, you can also reach it by trekking through mountains and rivers. However, the walk here is a symbolic use of the mind.

"People cross the bridge, the bridge does not flow", that is, do not divide things into two sections, as long as the heart is not moving, the grass, trees, tiles and stones are nothing more than quiet things, where will the flowing water move? Where is the bridgehead still? As long as we understand this truth, we will be able to find freedom in this universe of great differences, get rid of differences, and see the equality and reality of all things.

In fact, whether it is a bridge or a water current, it is all due to the fluctuation of the heart. So much so that Zhang Shaofei once passed by the Xihai Dharma Temple, and happened to be teaching the "Nirvana Sutra" to the monks. At this moment, a gust of wind came and blew the flags. A monk present had a whimsical idea and quietly said to the monk next to him: "Look, is this the wind moving, or the flags moving?" ”

A monk closer to him retorted, "No, it's not the wind moving, it's the flags moving." ”

The two men have their own opinions and cannot argue.

Zhang Shaofei said quietly beside him: "It is neither the wind moving, nor the flags, but your hearts moving." ”

The so-called "benevolent heartbeat" does not mean that this is the heart and not the wind flag, Zhang Shaofei actually said that the wind is moving, it does happen, it is a phenomenon, but this phenomenon does not have the concept of "moving", only when the definition and concept of they are moving in the heart, people call it moving, and then you will say "Oh, it's moving".

There is no difference between movement and stillness, "movement and stillness" is only the definition and distinction of people, it is the text phase, the heart dwells in the phase, and the heart has the difference between "movement and static", so that the wind and the wind move. This is the same as the Buddha's saying that Prajna, that is, it is not Prajna, but the name Prajna.

With the perception of ordinary people: the wind blows the flags, this is meaningless common sense, how can it be said that it is not the flags moving, nor the wind, but the benevolent heart?

Starting from the level of human cognition: what we see is that the first thing we see is that the flag is moving, which is the first layer of human cognition; Why? The wind blows before moving, which is the second layer of human cognition; Wind movement is perceived by the human heart, which is the third level of cognition.

This epistemology is a materialist view of cognition, in which they believe that matter is primary, consciousness is secondary, and existence determines consciousness. Contrary to the perception of materialists, idealism believes that it is not the movement of the flag, not the movement of the wind, but the movement of the heart.

According to the materialists, since existence determines consciousness, the same being should derive the same cognition. However, the fact is that the so-called same existence can never come to the same understanding, some are very different, some are-for-tat, incompatible, and even cannot be unified for thousands of years.

On the contrary, different people's perceptions of the same environment (object) are often very different, and some are even diametrically opposed; The same person's perception of the same environment (object) is often different; People often have dreams and illusions, and zazen practitioners can also enter realms that people have never seen, and these "realms" are either inconsistent with reality or do not exist, and these three types of phenomena proposed by scholars are often faced by people.

As for Zhang Shaofei's astonishing "benevolent heartbeat" at that time, its inspiration is not unrelated to this ethereal poetry.

At that time, there was a little monk Wu Neng, who circled around Zhang Shaofei and muttered: "I know who you are, I know!" You are ......"

The monks were listening to what Wu Neng was saying.

Who knows, Wu Neng stood in front of Zhang Shaofei, but asked, "Are you?" ”

The monks felt that Wu Neng's words were nonsensical.

But Zhang Shaofei replied with a smile, and the answer was even more inexplicable: "You think I am, I naturally am." ”

So, the two of them smiled inexplicably, looking very happy.

There was an old monk at the scene, and when he saw Zhang Shaofei smiling inexplicably, he looked a little unhappy: "This benefactor, all living beings have Buddha nature, and it has long been said in the "Nirvana Sutra", this is common knowledge in Buddhism, what is there to be proud of!" ”

"Well, ladies and gentlemen, today's karma is rare, so I will simply say a few more words. From the perspective of Buddhism, everything in the universe comes into being because of a cause. The same is true of the fluttering of the flag, which does not move if there is no wind; If there were no flags, no matter how strong the wind was, there would be no flags fluttering. So, I say, it's not the wind, it's not the flag. ”

Suddenly, the noisy sounds stopped.

Master Fa Zong got down from the high Dharma throne and walked towards Zhang Shaofei.

He bowed deeply to Zhang Shaofei, and said with a smile on his face: "The walker talks extraordinary, and every sentence is to the point of Zen, he must not be an ordinary person!"

Zhang Shaofei also smiled and saluted: "Don't dare." Zhang Shaofei is a woodcutter. ”

Master Fazong said aloud: "The walker was born with a dignified appearance, extraordinary manners, and amazing words, and when he was in trouble, he went to the people, received it on behalf of his parents, and tempered it in the mountains. Xi Hui Neng was also a woodcutter, and later came to Dongchan Temple to seek Buddhism, chopping wood and miscellaneous enlightenment, cultivating positive fruits, and becoming the sixth ancestor. The practitioner's comprehension is not under Huineng, and he will become a wise master in the future, please accept the worship of the poor monk! ”

Master Fazong knelt on the ground and bowed to Zhang Shaofei. Zhang Shaofei rushed forward, pulled him up, and said: "The rules of Buddhism are that you should only worship and leave your family in your family, how can you bow to me!" ”

"Why should a walker be too humble? In the world's etiquette, those who hear the Tao first are teachers; Buddhism rules, those who get the degree early are respected. You are a generation of talents, and we deserve to be taught! ”

Wu Neng didn't care about thirty-seven twenty-one, squeezed over and said brainlessly, "Are you really you?" Zhang Shaofei smiled: "I am naturally me." ”

Wu Neng said: "You are the son of your father and mother who snatched people's love and broke up others?" ”

Master Fazong shouted: "Wu Neng, don't be rude!" ”

"It doesn't matter. If so, good and evil will be rewarded. Zhang Shaofei's words full of Buddhist principles and Zen machines come from his accumulation in the long-term practice of firewood in Yunwu Mountain.

However, this Zhang Shaofei participated in the imperial examination in the future, and was proud of the spring breeze from the hospital examination, the township examination, the meeting examination, and the palace examination.

It's a pity that on the way back to the house from the next dynasty, he suddenly had a whim and visited Chang'an to assassinate Shi Wenlong. Shi Wenlong saw the arrival of Zhang Shaofei, a fellow classmate, the same door, and the same department, and set up a banquet to entertain him with the friendship of the landlord. After three rounds of drinking, he was on the rise, and asked the waiter to go to the wine cabinet and take out a pair of small wine glasses to help Yaxing.

When Zhang Shaofei saw it, he couldn't put it down on the spot, and even said that the wine glass was exquisite and exquisite, which was rare in the world. "If you get this cup, what more can you ask for?" Brother Wenlong, what a blessing! ”

Shi Wenlong generously said: "It is rare to be in the same classmate, the same door, and the same subject with Brother Shaofei, and our brothers are blessed to share and work together." After that, he gave a cup to Zhang Shaofei on the spot.

Zhang Shaofei didn't push back, thanked him again and again, and returned with a glass of wine.

As the saying goes, "a sage does not show off his strengths, and a gentleman does not win the love of others." Although Shi Wenlong and Zhang Shaofei were born in Jinshi, they were chaotic in their wines, and they committed a big taboo, and they couldn't escape the hidden spell of this wine glass, which caused the history of Zhang Thorn in Zhongzhou, who was proud of the spring breeze, to begin to decline and fall into trouble.