Huineng set off from Xinzhou and walked north, the heavier the mountains and the wading streams.

One afternoon, I walked into a deep mountain. He felt thirsty, so he went to the brook and drank water.

Suddenly, I heard a shout of "help" in the distance.

Huineng hurriedly ran away, and as soon as he walked out of the grove, he couldn't help but shout: "Ouch!"

It turned out that there was a scholar who was running towards this side without his life, and behind him, a colorful tiger was chasing, and it was getting closer and closer.

Huineng grew up in the mountains since he was a child, and he was used to seeing fierce beasts, so he didn't seem panicked. After he stood still, he thought for a moment, picked up a fist-sized stone from the side of the road, picked up a wooden stick, and shouted as he bravely met it: "Don't panic, I'll save you!"

The scholar saw a man coming to his rescue, and ran towards him quickly.

Huineng said to the scholar, "Hide behind the big rock behind me, and wait for me to deal with this tiger." ”

"Okay." The scholar complied, ran behind the big boulders and hid.

The colorful tiger saw that the scholar was gone, and Huineng stopped in the middle of the road, roaring, and pounced on Huineng with teeth and claws.

Huineng didn't fight hard with the tiger, and his body was extremely flexible and dodged. The leaping tiger pounced into the air and landed behind Huineng.

Huineng took advantage of the tiger's time to react, stepped on the ground with his right foot, and quickly turned around. Meanwhile. The right hand raised the stick. Hit the tiger hard in the ass.

The tiger couldn't pounce, but was hit with a stick, one somersaulted, rolled on the ground a few times, turned sideways, and stared at Huineng.

Huineng knew that at this time, he was already riding a tiger, and he must not retreat, otherwise, he would be forced to eat the tiger that came forward. So, too, his eyes widened and he stared at the tiger. The two have become a confrontation.

The tiger's forelimbs fell down, and then it jumped up, opened its big mouth, bared its sharp fangs, and pounced on Huineng again.

Huineng was not afraid of danger, and looked at it, and threw the stone in his left hand towards the tiger's big mouth.

On weekdays, Huineng makes a living by collecting firewood in the deep mountains, and often throws stones to hit wild fruits hanging high on big trees, and the hit rate is quite high. Now, the two are quite close, and the tiger has a bloody mouth open.

Huineng's hard throw, the stone was thrown directly into the tiger's throat, so choked that the tiger couldn't swallow, wanted to vomit and couldn't spit out, very uncomfortable, rolled on the ground several times, rolled down the hill, and left.

The scholar was shocked, walked out from behind the big rock, and stepped forward to salute Huineng: "Thank you for saving your life." ”

"It's nothing, am I going to watch you, a big living person, get eaten by a tiger?" Huineng waved his hand, he wiped the sweat from his forehead, and asked, "What is this place?"

"This is Cao Xi. It is under the jurisdiction of Shaozhou. The rescued scholar replied after taking a breath.

Huineng looked at him and asked, "Are you—"

The scholar replied: "Xiaosheng's name is Liu Zhiluo, and he lives in the nearby Caohou Village. Cao Hou, the great-great-grandson of the former Marquis of Wei Wu. The stream flows through Caohou Village, and this area is called Caoxi. You're—"

Huineng said frankly: "My surname is Lu, and my name is Huineng. ”

Liu Zhiluo looked at him: "Look at you with your bags, are you going to the north to do business?"

Huineng shook his head: "Definitely." I went to Huangmei Temple in Hubei Province to learn the Dharma from Master Hongren, the Fifth Patriarch. ”

"Ah, you're going to go to Buddhism?" Liu Zhi was taken aback, the light of surprise in his eyes gradually dissipated, and said, "Coincidentally, my aunt is also a monk. ”

Huineng was overjoyed: "In this way, I really have a relationship with the Buddha. ”

Liu Zhiluo pointed to the sky in the twilight clouds and said, "It's not early, you must be in a hurry." Let's take a break in our village. ”

Hui Neng thought about it with his head and said, "That's good." ”

Back in Caohou Village, Liu Zhiluo asked his family to kill chickens and ducks, and entertained Huineng with grand etiquette.

The more the two talked at the banquet, the more they surrendered, and immediately burned incense, taking heaven and earth as evidence, and becoming brothers.

Night has come, and Caohou Village is covered by a thick night.

Liu Zhiluo and Huineng had just finished worshipping, and the two were sitting in the living room drinking camellia, when suddenly, a gust of wind swept in their clothes, and a middle-aged nun appeared at the gate.

When Liu Zhiluo saw it, he hurriedly got up and introduced: "She is my aunt." ”

The middle-aged nun clasped her hands together: "Amitabha." I heard that the donor saved my nephew's life from the tiger's mouth, which is really a great kindness, comparable to Tianqi. ”

Huineng smiled: "Accumulating virtue and doing good deeds is something that each of us should do." Master, you're—"

The nun reported to herself: "The poor nun's name is 'Endless Zang', and she deserves to live in the mountain stream temple over there." ”

Huineng asked, "Master, do you usually recite the Nirvana Sutra or the Diamond Sutra?"

Endless Hidden was surprised: "Ah, you also know the scriptures? Poor nuns often recite the Nirvana Sutra. So, she talked to Huineng about the scriptures.

Liu Zhiluo usually believes in Buddhism, so he interjects from time to time. The three of them talked eloquently, and it was already half the night.

Under Liu Zhiluo's stay, Huineng temporarily lived in Caohou Village.

He often went to the Endless Tibetan nun with Liu Zhiluo to listen to her chanting.

Huineng is good at comprehending the general meaning of the scriptures, and after listening to his recitation, he can explain the meaning of the scriptures to the endless Tibetan nuns and Liu Zhiluo.

Once, the endless Tibetan nun came with a Buddhist scripture and asked Huineng for advice: "There are a few words in this sutra that I don't recognize, so I came here today to ask you for advice." ”

"Ask me for words?" Huineng laughed and confessed frankly, "You know, I don't even know half of the words. But as long as you can read the scriptures, I will be able to answer a question or two. ”

The Endless Tibetan nun was very strange, and blinked her eyes in doubt: "Since you are illiterate, how can you explain the meaning of the scriptures?"

Huineng told her, "The subtlety of the Dharma is not in words. What's so strange about me being illiterate and able to interpret the scriptures?"

The Endless Tibetan nun was very surprised when she heard this, and she had a premonition that Huineng was a strange person, so she told the elders in the village who were virtuous and famous, saying: Huineng is an enlightened and enlightened person, and he should be invited to make a good offering.

Soon, Cao Shuliang, the great-grandson of Cao Cao, Marquis of Wei, and nearby residents rushed to pay their respects.

During that time, Huineng and Liu Zhiluo participated in labor together during the day, and went to listen to the endless Tibetan nuns chanting scriptures at night. After listening to the scriptures, he turned against the guest and explained the scriptures to the endless Tibetan nuns.

When the elders in the village heard about this, they rushed to salute, and after talking to Huineng and listening to him talk about the scriptures, they couldn't help but admire: "This Lu Xingshi has such a brilliant opinion, and he has reached the level of heavenly enlightenment. It's not beyond the reach of ordinary people, you can really go to Baolin Temple to become a monk. That is, ask Huineng to live in the local Baoling Temple and call him Lu Xingzhi.

Huineng lived in Baolin Temple for a short time, and felt that it was difficult to become a great tool without a famous teacher, and he could not forget his original intention of vowing to seek a teacher, so he said goodbye to Liu Zhiluo and other villagers, and continued to go north.

Huineng first went to the Xishan Grottoes in Lechang County, sat in meditation according to Youyuan Zen Master, and then listened to Hui Ji Zen Master recite "Tou Sui Sutra", but after hearing Hui Ji Zen Master recite the scriptures, he shook his head helplessly, and sighed: "What does it mean to make me sit empty?" Before entering the Buddha Gate, Huineng already felt from the bottom of his heart that the benefits of sitting meditation and penance alone were not very great.

During the conversation between Hui Ji Zen Master and Huineng, he knew that he was a dragon elephant and was not suitable for practicing in this small temple, so he said to him: "You should be a great peng to spread his wings and roar in the nine heavens, and this small bird's nest is not a place for you to live late." The old man heard for a long time that Master Hongren of Huangmei Shuangfeng Mountain was opening the door of Zen. He is the Five Patriarchs of the Profound Path, so you can go to him and study Buddhism. This is exactly what Huineng originally intended, so he made up his mind to continue to cross the Meiguan Pass and march north.

In other words, before Hui Neng visited the Five Patriarchs Hongren, he actually had a certain understanding of the "Nirvana Sutra" and so on, and after arriving at the Dongchan Temple, the specific atmosphere there made him give full play to the understanding of Buddhism in adversity.

Huineng walked along the way, and stayed overnight. 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 pluck a handful of water and drink it.

In this way, Huineng walked for more than a month, and finally came to the boundary of Huangmei in Qizhou (now Hubei). This time was the sixth year of Tang Gaozong Li Zhixianqing (661 AD). After walking about 20 miles north from Huangmei County, a wide river flowed with clear waves and was horizontal in front of him. On the other side of the river is a mountain with a difference—two towering peaks that reach into the sky, facing each other in danger.

"Ah, Higashiyama has arrived!" This is in line with Master Shi Hui of Jintai Temple in Xinzhou telling him about the topography of Dongshan in Qizhou. Dongshan is also known as Twin Peaks because of its twin peaks. On 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 long-awaited Buddha is about to appear in front of you. Huineng felt inexplicably excited, and the tiredness after many days was swept away.

Huineng crossed the river by ferryboat, and after going ashore, he climbed up the stone steps, and after climbing for a short time, the "One Day Gate" jumped into view. This "day gate" granite stone block is built, across the mountain road, engraved with the seal writing "Dongchan Temple" three big characters.