It is said that Zhang Shaofei and Zen Master Huiyuan said goodbye, left Shimen Temple, and stayed overnight along the way. When you are hungry, you can pick wild fruits in the mountains to satisfy your hunger; When you are thirsty, go to the stream and drink a handful of water. In this way, Zhang Shaofei finally came to the boundary of Huangmei in Qizhou (now Hubei).

At this time, it was the first year of Tang Gaozong Li Zhiyifeng (676 AD).

Walking about 50 miles north from Huangmei County, a wide river flows with clear waves, horizontal in front of you. On the other side of the river is a mountain with a difference—two towering peaks that jug into the sky, facing each other in danger.

"Ah, the holy land of Buddhism - Dongshan Huangmei Dongchan Temple has finally arrived!" Zhang Shaofei left the river and shouted from the bottom of his heart. This is in line with the fact that Zen Master Huiming of Xinzhou Zenhui Temple told him about the topography of Qizhou Dongshan.

Dongshan is also known as Twin Peaks because of its twin peaks. On the top of the two peaks shrouded in mist, there are halls and temples faintly hidden among the white clouds and green trees. The place of pilgrimage is not far away, and the five ancestors that have been longing to see are about to appear in front of you. Zhang Shaofei felt inexplicably excited, and the fatigue along the way was swept away.

Zhang Shaofei crossed the river by ferryboat. After going ashore, he climbed up the stone steps, and after a short climb, the "One Day Gate" jumped into view.

This "day gate" granite stone block is built, across the mountain road, engraved with the seal book "Hui Chan Temple" three big characters.

"Huizen Temple? Isn't it Tozenji Temple? Don't? Zhang Shaofei couldn't help but be startled, blinked, and stopped to take a closer look.

At this time, Zhang Shaofei stood at the gate of the day, already in rags, with tattered shoes and socks, just like a beggar.

His trouser legs were covered with mud of various colors, indicating that he had traveled many places and traveled far, long distances, but he was still walking like a fly.

The verdant mountains come into view, beautiful and quiet, verdant and solemn, full of aura, and two tall peaks, showing off from the mountains, reaching straight into the clouds.

Standing here, Zhang Shaofei completely forgot the wind and dust along the way, and a sense of piety and solemnity arose, as if he was passionately thrown into the warm arms of his relatives.

At the foot of the Twin Peaks, the forest is verdant and secluded, and the spring is clear and white. Zhang Shaofei was in high spirits, put aside the doubts in his heart, sped up his pace, climbed a small hill, and stopped to look.

In the distance, at the foot of Fengmao Mountain, a quaint and magnificent temple is hidden in the mountains. Patches of white floating clouds, sometimes clustered under the temple - the mountain temple has no door and clouds to cover the road; Sometimes only one corner of the eaves of the palace is exposed - the heavenly palace looks like an illusion; Sometimes it's like a light yarn man dance - the temple is in the ethereal space...... Zhang Shaofei had an indescribable feeling in his heart, if the big temple seemed simple and simple, distant and arrogant, as if it was quietly telling him the illusory and ethereal Zen myths and changes-

Since the first ancestor of Zen Buddhism, Bodhidharma, in the first year of Emperor Wu of Liang (527 AD) from the distant Tianzhu to cross the river by reeds, nine years to face the wall, after a few twists and turns; In order to obtain the supreme avenue, Shenguang imitated the Buddha Shakyamuni (knocking bones to extract marrow, at the expense of his life), forgetting himself for the Dharma, cutting off his arm, staining red snow with blood, shocking the world and crying ghosts and gods, the name of Hui Ke, from this, continuing the wisdom of the Buddha, becoming the second ancestor; Three Patriarch Monks. Discerning the pearl, he accepted a small novice from the north as a disciple. With a word of opportunity, heart to heart, the 23-year-old Daoxin took on the responsibility of inheriting the Zen bloodline.

Daoxin, who was the abbot of the beautiful Lushan Dalin Temple, one day, he climbed the top of the Lushan Mountain, Wulao Peak, and looked around, and found that the purple gas rose in the mountains on the north bank of the Yangtze River, and auspicious clouds shrouded him. So, he crossed the river and came to Huangmei, Qizhou, which is separated from the Lushan River.

Huangmei Shi Qi Songwei, the forest is quiet, looking into the distance, it is more lush. The mountain wind swept over, the pine waves were gusting, and the green waves were rolling, just like the endless blue waves on the sea.

What's even more amazing is that two steep peaks rise from the ground in the ten thousand mountains, showing off the group, just like two giants standing side by side with the sky and the earth, looking up at the sun, moon and stars in the nine heavens, overlooking the rolling red dust of the earth, listening to the changes of the wind and clouds, and laughing at the change of dynasties......

Such magical and beautiful mountains and rivers, if there are no sages and saints living here, will they not live up to the creation of heaven and earth?

Daoxin looked at the two peaks standing side by side, and a knowing smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

At this time, an old man came down from the mountain with a pickaxe.

Daoxin stepped forward and folded his hands: "Amitabha." May I ask the donor, what are the two mountains that reach into the sky opposite? ”

The old man looked at Daoxin and said, "This mountain is called Potou Mountain." ”

When Daoxin heard this, he said: "Potou Mountain, this name is not good." The two peaks of this thing show off the mountains, and they should be called Twin Peaks. ”

"Thank you, Master, for the name." The old man folded his hands and bowed deeply. It turned out that he was a pine planter in the mountains, and the pine trees all over the mountains were his masterpieces for decades.

The old man saw that Daoxin was wearing a big red robe, looking very solemn and sacred, and he was so envious in his heart, he had a whim, and stepped forward, "Master, you must be a high-ranking monk, I want to worship you as a teacher." ”

Seeing that his beard was white, Daoxin asked, "Old man, are you old this year?" ”

The old man smiled and said, "Nine out of fifty, it's still young." ”

Daoxin also smiled and said, "It's not too old." However, it's still too late to be my apprentice. If you are reincarnated, it will be almost the same. ”

Who knows that this letter, as soon as it is spoken, it is really true: the speaker has no intention, and the listener has a heart.

When the old man heard this, he walked out of the mountain.

After leaving a few steps, the old man actually smiled back meaningfully.

Soon, a layman donated a mountain farm at the foot of the Twin Peaks Mountain for Daoxin to open a dojo.

After several years of painstaking management, Daoxin is famous, and Zen monks from all over the world come to visit. Gradually, more than 500 monks gathered here.

This is the earliest Zen monk group formed in Chinese history, opening up a precedent for Zen dojos to become independent from Vinaya temples.

The pioneering work of the four patriarchs to build a jungle and form a Zen monk order had a profound impact on the development of Zen Buddhism in later generations and on the cultivation of the sect style of Zen Buddhism, which attaches equal importance to agriculture and Zen.

……

On a sunny summer, on the way back to the mountain, Daoxin met a group of children who were playing. Among them, there was a little boy with a strange appearance, and the Taoist god was so strange that he couldn't help but look at him.

The boy seemed to know that Daoxin was watching him, so he stopped playing and smiled back......

Yes! He smiled this time, as if rushing from the depths of the distant universe, just like a lightning bolt that shone through the soul; Like the glow of the sea, the world is pure because of him......

Oh my God, this look, this look, it seems familiar! But he was only a seven-year-old child!

Daoxin bent down, stroked his head, and asked, "Child, which child of the layman family are you?" I look at you very familiarly, I must know your father. What's your last name? ”

The little boy tilted his head and said strangely: "If you want to ask my surname, it's not ordinary!" ”

Daoxin asked curiously: "What is your surname?" ”

The little boy said, "It's Buddha nature." ”

"What? Buddha-nature? Daoxin couldn't help but be surprised.

At this time, the children who were playing with the children said, "He has no surname, he has no surname." ”

Daoxin asked him, "You really don't have a surname?" Everyone has it, why don't you have a surname? ”

"Sex (surname) is empty, so there is no surname." After the little boy finished speaking, he smiled at Daoxin as bright as the morning glow and as bright as lightning.

Everyone has Buddha nature, self-nature is empty, these profound Buddhist teachings, can be said from the mouth of a child, how can Taoist faith not be moved!

You know, he has been looking for many years in order to find a successor to the Great Dharma Weapon.

Daoxin said to the boy, "Is it okay for the poor Dao to take you as an apprentice?" ”

The boy said, "I'll have to ask his mother." ”

Daoxin touched the boy's round head, smiled and said, "Then you can take me to see your mother." ”

"Okay." The boy said happily, and took Daoxin to a hut at the edge of the village.

Generally speaking, orphans and widows depend on each other for their lives, as a mother, how can they be willing to let their sons leave her?

Unexpectedly, the child's mother, driven by an invisible force, readily agreed.

She said to Daoxin, "He grew up under my wing, and he could only be a farmer and woodcutter. Since it is the invitation of the master, it should have the momentum of Kunpeng. Besides, he was originally a child who came out of nowhere, master, you can take him away. ”

It turned out that eight years ago, she was washing clothes by the river, and the old man who planted pine trees in the mountains came over to her and said, "Girl, can I stay with you?" ”

She said: "I am the youngest daughter of the Zhou family, with a father and brother, and they are in charge of everything in the family. ”

The old man said: "The old man must first ask for your consent. ”

She nodded.

The old man who planted the pine disappeared in an instant.

When she returned home, she was inexplicably pregnant.

As the saying goes: Everyone likes a girl when she is big, and everyone laughs when she has a big belly. Pregnancy before marriage is the most embarrassing thing in the countryside.

So, her father and brother kicked her out of the house.

The girl herself didn't know what was going on, so she endured the humiliation and secretly gave birth, determined to give birth to the contents of her belly, and see what kind of freak he was!

However, it was not a freak who was born, but a smart and clever boy. Because he has no father, he has no surname, and the people in the village call him "no surname".

Daoxin counted on his fingers, and the smile of the old man who planted pine eight years ago clearly appeared.

Daoxin left some money, settled the child's mother, led the "surnameless" back to Dongshan in Qizhou, shaved the child's degree, took the Dharma name "Hongren", and began to practice.

Hongren practiced diligently in Dongchan Temple, and his Taoism gradually improved, and he often served Daoxin for more than 30 years.

Under the guidance of the four patriarchs, Hongren realized that the "four instruments" of "walking, living, sitting, and lying" are all dojos, and the "three karmas" of "body, mouth, and mind" have become a new realm of Buddhahood.

He believes that "movement and stillness are not the same", and there is no difference between "silence" and "silence" in zazen and "chaos" and "speech" in life. "Zen" is not limited to meditation as the only way.

In the second year of Tang Yonghui (651), Daoxin passed away at the age of 51.

Hongren got Daoxin to pass on the robe and golden bowl of Zen Buddhism, inherited the master's position, took over the Dharma lamp, and became the fifth generation of Zen masters.