On this day, Huineng sold firewood in Yuncheng, bought a few catties of rice at the rice shop as usual, and walked on the way home.

The sun slipped down from mid-heaven and reclined lazily in mid-air, watching the wool-like white clouds swing beneath his feet.

When he reached the south side of the city, suddenly, a gray hare, with a limp legged out of the grass in front of him, screamed and ran desperately up the hillside. Then, a fox with brown fur moved its hooves and tailed in pursuit.

Seeing that the injured hare could not escape the catastrophe, a sense of compassion arose in Huineng's heart. He held a bamboo pole for picking firewood and chased it up the hillside. When I went up to the top of the hill, I saw that the hare had been bitten by the fox on its tail and let out a terrible cry of struggle.

Huineng rushed forward with an arrow, shouted, raised the bamboo pole, and slammed it into the fox's side.

The fox was startled, his mouth loosened, and he ran away into the bushes on the left, and fled lawlessly.

The hare looked back at the savior, and then, dragging his wounded body, he jumped and fled into the grass two feet high.

Huineng went up to the top of the slope, and the mountain wind blew, like the sound of a book. He looked far away, and saw the trees on the hill and the birds singing. In the midst of a sea of forests, a blue-gray tiled roof was exposed.

"What is this place?" Curiosity drove Huineng up the mountain along the trail.

It is destined that Huineng has a fate with Buddhism, and as soon as he goes up, he embarks on a road that will always be linked to Buddhism.

Walking through the grove, a monastery stands out: the blue-gray walls have been mottled by wind and rain, and the foot of the wall is covered with a layer of dark green moss.

This temple is called "Jintai Temple", in recent years, the war is in chaos, the incense is not prosperous, the temple is in disrepair, and some places have become the ruins of the wall.

Following the sound of reading aloud from time to time, Huineng came to Jintai Temple.

He saw a middle-aged monk standing on the podium and reading a sutra book from outside the broken wall. He is the abbot of Jintai Temple, and his name is Zen Master Shankong. He was not tall, but he was stocky, with a beard about three inches long on his chin, and he wore a gray-colored monk's robe.

In front of Master Silent Sky there were more than twenty monks sitting on a shabby futon.

Huineng felt strange. He stood outside the broken wall and listened carefully.

After leading his disciples to recite a passage, he turned to the monks and explained the Dharma: "Buddhism is divided into Hinayana Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism. Hinayana is to live by oneself, not to care about the suffering of the world and sentient beings, but to seek to be alone. Mahayana, on the other hand, is for the benefit of all sentient beings, and what it seeks is to help the world. Mahayana Buddhism was retrieved by Tang Sanzang when he traveled west to Tianzhu that year......"

After explaining a paragraph, Zen Master Shankong picked up the scriptures and asked his disciples to recite the scriptures with him.

The Zen Master of the Silent Sky recited to the scriptures: "I smell it." At one time, the Buddha was defending the country, and only the tree was given to the garden of solitude, and the great bhikshus, 1,250 people. At that time, the world was honored, and when he ate, he wore clothes and held a bowl, and went to the city to beg for food. and begged in his city, and returned to this place. After eating, the mantle is collected, the feet are washed, and the seat is sitting. The old man Su Bodhi ...... among the public"

The Zen Master reads a paragraph, and the disciples follow along.

Huineng was illiterate, but the meaning of these scriptures seemed to him to be as clear as darkness, which aroused his great interest, and he walked back as he recalled the scriptures recited by his disciples in the Silent Sky.

At night, after taking a bath, Huineng lay on the bed, recalled the scriptures he had heard in Jintai Temple during the day, and recited them alone, and the more he recited, the louder he became.

After finishing the chores at home, Li sat in the next room doing needlework.

At night in the mountain village, except for the occasional frog drum, it seems particularly quiet.

Suddenly, Li heard a muttering sound, intermittently.

"What's that sound?" Lee's ears listened carefully to identify.

“…… Buddha's words; Su Bodhi, he is not sentient beings, not non-sentient beings. Why ......?"

Li finally recognized that it was the sound of chanting sutras and chanting Buddha, and it came from the Huineng room next door.

Li's heart immediately had a pimple: There are only two people in the family, myself and my son, how could a monk come to my house to recite the scriptures at this night? At first, she suspected that her old ears were not good, and she heard it wrong, so she picked at the ear holes with her hand and held her breath. Listen to the truth. Yes, it is indeed the sound of chanting, and it is indeed coming from the son's room.

Li Shi felt very strange, and hurriedly put down the needle and thread in his hand, put on his clothes, walked to the door of Huineng's room, and put his ear on the crack of the door.

The sound of reciting scriptures echoed through the room, coming through the crack in the door.

Li knocked on the door with his hand: "Huineng, you open the door." ”

Huineng heard the cry, stopped chanting, and asked, "Mother, it's so late, you don't sleep, is there anything important?"

Li urged: "You open the door and talk about it." ”

Huineng had no choice but to get out of bed and open the door.

Li did not step into the door, but stood on the threshold, stretched his neck to look inside to the east and west.

Although Huineng's room was not lit, the bright moonlight shone in through the window lattice, and everything inside could still be seen clearly.

Lee's unusual behavior. Hui Neng was puzzled: "Mother, what are you looking for?"

Li muttered, "Where is the monk in your room?"

Huineng was confused: "The monk in my room? Why did my mother say this, are you asleep, what are you dreaming about?"

Li waved his hand: "I didn't fall asleep, let alone dream." ”

Huineng confessed again: "Child, I sleep alone in the room, how can any monks come to the room?"

Li Shiba blinked his old eyes: "There is no monk, where can you chant scriptures in your room at night?"

Huineng suddenly realized and couldn't help laughing.

Li blamed: "You are not young, and you are not serious yet." What are you laughing at?"

Hui Neng pointed at himself with his finger: "That monk is me!"

"Is that you?" Li Shi was even more puzzled, "When did you become a monk?"

Huineng was serious: "I didn't become a monk, but I did read those scriptures. ”

Li didn't believe it: "You can't read a few words, what scriptures do you read?"

Huineng explained: "Although I can't read, I can read with other people's saliva." ’’

Li Shi chased the same way: "Who did you learn the scriptures with?"

Huineng: "I secretly followed the monks of Jintai Temple to learn the scriptures. ”

Li Shi was surprised: "What, you went to Jintai Temple?"

"Yes, mother, you listen to me tell me the whole story." So, Huineng told the Li family about the chance encounter in Jintai Temple.

After hearing this, Li Shi breathed a sigh of relief: "Heh, I see!"

Huineng replied, "Those verses sound really interesting. ”

Li urged: "You read it to me again." ”

"Mother, listen," Huineng recited the scripture he had heard.

Li has listened to his father who was a village langzhong lecture since he was a child, and he usually likes to read scriptures, so he knows a little about various classics in the world. When she heard Huineng read the scriptures, she asked, "Do you know what scriptures the master disciple is reading?"

Huineng shook his head: "I don't know." ”

Li: "That's called the Diamond Sutra, and the full name is the Diamond Sutra. ”

Huinengba blinked: "Where did the Diamond Sutra come from?" Did the elder of Jintai Temple write it himself?"

This time, it was Lee's turn to laugh.

Huineng was puzzled: "Mother, what are you laughing at?"

Li Shi said solemnly: "How can the old monk of Jintai Temple write such an incisive classic." I heard that the "Diamond Sutra" came from Tianzhu. ”

Huineng asked, "Mother, do you understand the meaning of these scriptures?"

"I don't understand, so profound Buddhism, how can I, a country woman, understand?" "However, I have heard some Buddhist legends and stories from adults since I was a child. ”

Huineng moved a wooden stool to the Li family: "Mother, you sit down and slowly tell me the stories of Buddhism that you know." ”

So, Li told Huineng what she knew about Buddhism and Buddhist scriptures.

The more Huineng listened, the more interested he became.

For a few days, after Huineng sold out the firewood, he didn't even bother to wipe the sweat, and with fatigue, he climbed up the mountain, came to the outside of Jintai Temple, stood beside the stone wall, and listened carefully to the monk chanting the scriptures.

For the peculiar behavior of this lay child, the abbot of Jintai Temple, Zen Master Shankong, saw it.

On this day, after teaching his apprentices to recite sutras, taking advantage of the rest and leisure, Zen Master Lonely Sky walked to the front of the broken wall, bowed to Huineng, and folded his hands: "Amitabha." ”

Huineng also bent down to return the salute.

Zen Master Silent Sky asked Hui Neng, "If the old man is not mistaken, the donor should be a firewood picker, right?"

"Exactly, I have been collecting firewood and chopping wood for ten years since I was fourteen years old." Hui Neng scratched his head with his hand and asked strangely, "Master, I haven't spoken to you, your insight is really powerful, how can you know that I am collecting firewood?"

Pointing to his machete, bamboo pole and rope, Master Silence said, "Everything in the world has its own characteristics. People are also enlightened. Your machetes, bamboo poles, and ropes are silent, but don't they tell me?"

Huineng said admiringly, "Oh, your understanding is really high. ”

Zen Master Lonely Sky: "The donor is someone nearby?"

Huineng pointed to Longshan to the south: "Xialu Village, not far from here." ”