In this compartment, although Ying Xing was reading Buddhist scriptures, his little eyes kept glancing around. He was amazed to find that the Sixth Patriarch of Master was sorting out the kapok robe that symbolized the lineage of Zen Buddhism!

The Sixth Patriarch wrapped the robe and walked out of the abbot.

Ying Xing, who had been quietly observing from the side, asked curiously, "Master, what are you going to do?" ”

"I'll go and wash the robe handed down by the five ancestors."

Ying Xing breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I'll go fetch water, I'll wash you here." ”

The Sixth Ancestor shook his head: "My business, I still do it myself." ”

The sixth ancestor held a Zen staff and stepped out of the chamber. He walked out of the mountain gate with his robe, intending to go to Cao Xi Huan to wash.

Cao Xi bends, zigzags, fluttering with splendid mountain flowers, reflecting the blue sky and white clouds, drawing an arc in front of Baolin Temple, and then scattering joy and singing songs to the distance.

By the stream, a few small novices were washing clothes. They were so diligent that they even washed the clothes they wore on them - you pry them, I splashed a basin, and as a result, everyone was drenched all over their bodies.

They were carefree, and seemed to be more joyful and lively than the clear Cao Xishui, and the large and small pebbles on the river beach seemed to be condensed by their giggling laughter:

Cao Xishui, like a string or a hook. Such as the string chanting Bodhi song, such as the hook does not lead the white clouds, the Zen rhyme is quiet and quiet.

The Sixth Ancestor quietly left. First, he didn't want his arrival to make the laughter and laughter of his disciples come to an abrupt end; Second, this robe is a sacred thing that was brought from India by the Bodhidharma Patriarch, in case there are people washing clothes and things in the upper reaches of the stream, and the dirt goes down the stream, will not the robe be desecrated?

The Sixth Patriarch turned around and walked towards the deep mountains behind the temple, observing as he walked, and before he knew it, he had walked four or five miles and came to a dense and quiet mountain forest.

Here, the ancient trees are towering, the green shade is turned, the grass is green, and the air is swirling. For some reason, a faint smile appeared on the corner of the Sixth Ancestor's mouth. With a solemn expression, he stood in the middle of a clearing, closed his eyes and was silent for a moment, and then shook the Zen staff in his hand and poked it into the ground.

He didn't seem to use any force, but the staff was all plunged into the depths of the earth. What's even more incredible is that as the Zen staff is pulled out, a clear spring gushes up, and in a moment it converges into a small clear pool.

The six ancestors took a handful of spring water to taste, the sweetness was clear, and the spirit was uplifted. He crouched down and carefully rinsed his robe......

"Amitabha." Suddenly there was a Buddha horn behind him.

The Sixth Patriarch turned around, and a young monk bowed and asked, "May I ask the Master, how to get to Baoling Temple?" ”

Seeing that he looked like he was on a long journey, the Sixth Patriarch stood up and asked, "Where are you from?" ”

Who knows, when the monk saw the robe in the hands of the six ancestors, he exclaimed, fell to his knees, and shouted excitedly: "Disciple Fang Fang, meet the master of the six ancestors!" ”

The Sixth Ancestor was a little puzzled: "Fang Debate? Your name is Fang Fang? Have the two of us met? ”

"No, never, disciple, this is the first time to get close to the master."

"Then how do you know the poor monk?" The Sixth Ancestor asked.

Fang Fang said: "The disciple is from the Xishu clan, and in order to seek Buddhism, he traveled to India, the hometown of the Buddha, a few years ago. There, I met a miraculous monk. The disciple asked him to teach the Dharma. He said that the Dharma Eye Collection inherited by Buddha Shakyamuni and the robes passed down from generation to generation by the ancestors have already arrived in China. Now, it has been passed down to the sixth generation, and the six ancestors are currently promoting Zen Buddhism in Caoxi, Lingnan. His old man ordered his disciples to return to China and came to Cao Xi to seek the Fa. Therefore, when I saw this solemn and holy kapok robe just now, I guessed that you were the Sixth Patriarch Master. Master, can you give me a closer look at the robe? ”

"Absolutely." The six ancestors shook their robes, and the water droplets that fell one after another were like crystal pearls, just like the magical light emitted by the robes......

Where can Fang Fang still take care of admiration, but the five bodies are thrown to the ground, kowtowing like pounding garlic......

The Sixth Ancestor smiled slightly and said, "Fang Fang, is there rice on the ground?" ”

Fang Fang was stunned for a moment, looked at the ground, and said, "No! ”

The Sixth Patriarch said, "Without rice, how can you eat rice like a chicken?" ”

Fang Wei understood that the Sixth Ancestor was joking, and stood up embarrassedly.

The Sixth Ancestor pondered and asked, "Fang Bian, you value this robe so much, then, what have you always done?" ”

Fang Wei didn't understand the intention of the six ancestors, and replied truthfully: "The disciples have passed on the skills of statue sculpture from generation to generation. Before I became a monk, I made a living by making statues of gods. After becoming a monk, he often made Buddha statues for the devotees. ”

The Sixth Patriarch said, "No wonder you don't stop praying to a robe of the Dharma!" Then, Fang Fang, please make a statue for me to see. ”

In fact, the original intention of the six ancestors is to say that the true Buddha is formless, the reality is invisible, and how can a person create the true image of the Buddha!

Fang couldn't understand the Zen machine in it, and said excitedly: "The blessing of the disciple He Shixiu is that he has the honor to make a statue for the master!" Thank you Master for your trust! ”

The Sixth Patriarch returned to Baolin Temple with Fang Bian, and there was already a wandering monk named Zhichang waiting for him in the guest hall.

It turned out that this monk named Zhichang was a native of Guixi, Shinshu. He became a monk at a young age and was determined to become a saint with a clear mind. However, despite his courageous efforts, day and night, and his practice, a whole decade has passed, and his heart is still dark. Enlightenment and enlightenment, that's just a dream. As he grew older, his troubles increased day by day, and he was restless every day, eager to take out his ignorant heart and wash it in the clear mountain stream. The heart naturally can't be taken out and cleaned, so let's experience the flesh. He traveled with a staff and a bowl.

The lonely clouds of the stone reflect the wisdom of the sun, and the clear spring and the crescent moon shine on the Zen heart; The natural view of the mountains is free, and the sound of the stream is free and round. The magnificent mountains and rivers, the ethereal breeze and the bright moon inspired him to understand the pride of the universe and the road of life. He heard that the monk Datong of Baifeng Mountain in Hongzhou was very clever in Zen law, so he made a special trip to pay homage. However, he came with great hope, but the monk Datong was cold, and for more than three months, he did not teach him a single Zen method, but only asked him to follow the public to meditate and recite Buddha.

If Zhi Chang is to repeat these daily lessons, will he still use his staff to travel and find a teacher?

So, on a dark night when he couldn't see his five fingers, he didn't care about the three seven twenty-one, he directly broke into the abbot and asked the monk Datong: "I have been here for more than three months, and I have not been taught a single law. What does the master mean? ”

"If you have any doubts, ask questions, and undoubtedly self-study. The mountain monk hangs the silk, and the wisher takes the bait. "The monk of Datong wants to capture the old way.

Zhichang asked impatiently, "May I ask the master, how is my true heart and nature?" Monk Chase pointed upwards and said, "Can you see the void?" ”

Zhi Chang said: "Yes, you can see." ”

Monk Datong asked again, "Does the void you see have a shape and appearance?" ”

Zhichang replied: "The void has no shape, where is there any appearance!" ”

Only then did the monk Chase elaborate: "Your nature is like a void, and there is nothing to see, and this is called correct view; There is nothing to know, but it is true knowledge. It has no color, no size or length, but when it is empty, ethereal, pure, and clear, it is to see the nature of the Buddha, that is, to see the nature of the Buddha, that is, to know the seeing. ”

Zhichang listened to this lecture of the monk Datong, as if looking at flowers in the fog, looking at the moon in the water, hazy, ethereal, beautiful, wonderful, but vague, illusory, no matter what, you can't see it really, let alone enter the Zen machine.

Helpless, he traced the Gan River upstream, climbed the high Da Yu Ridge, and traveled thousands of miles to Cao Xi to visit the six ancestors.

The Sixth Patriarch listened to his story and said, "No wonder you don't understand, what the monk Datong said, there are still drawbacks of knowledge. Now, I'll tell you a poem from which you can learn. ”

The voice of the six ancestors is like the spring breeze in February, nourishing the barren soul of Zhichang:

There is no seeing of the law,

It is as big as a floating cloud covering the sun.

I don't know how to keep the sky,

It's like lightning in the middle of nowhere.

This knowledge glimpses the excitement,

Mistaken recognition of how to solve the convenience.

Thou shalt know thou shalt know thou shalt know what is wrong,

I always have a bright light.

The sons of the six ancestors are like a lamp of wisdom, illuminating the darkness of a thousand tribulations; A few drops of spring water melt through the ice of 10,000 years. Zhichang's heart burst out with wisdom, full of inspiration, and suddenly realized. He wept with joy, and as he wept, he said:

gratuitous knowledge,

Seek Bodhi.

Affection for a thought,

Ning Yue is obsessed with the times.

self-conscious source body,

Move in vain.

Do not enter the patriarch's room,

Dazed and funny.

……

One night half a month later, the Sixth Patriarch inspected the disciples' cultivation experience in the main hall.

Ying Xing found that the master was very strict today and it was not easy to pass the test in confusion, so he performed another of his stunts - slipping away!

Hiding behind the figures of the adults, Ying Xing quietly moved towards the door of the main hall, and when he approached the threshold, he turned abruptly and strung out of the door, almost colliding with the Fang Fang who was about to enter the door.

Fang Wei carefully protected the things covered with cloth in his arms, and scolded: "You daredevil, you almost made half a month's hard work come to naught!" ”

Ying Xing's curiosity was aroused, and he forgot the purpose of sneaking out, and chased after Fang Fang and asked, "What kind of treasure are you protecting, and it is worth making such a fuss?" ”

Fang Wei ignored him, walked straight to the Sixth Ancestor, and said, "Master, the disciple has completed the statue according to the order, I wonder if it can enter your eyes?" ”

The infant line rushed forward, lifted the tarpaulin, and held in Fang Fang's hands was a seven-inch tall statue of the six ancestors.

The baby Xing shouted in surprise: "Wow! Like! Nose for nose, eyes for eyes, it's exactly the same! Master, did you shrink it to it, or did it magnify it into you? ”

He didn't care about thirty-seven twenty-one, snatched the statue, looked up, down, left, right, if possible, he really wanted to break it open to see if there was flesh and blood in it. After looking at it for a long time, he handed the statue to the Sixth Ancestor.

The sixth ancestor didn't answer, and asked strangely: "Infant Xing, who is this?" ”

"Master, this is you."

The Sixth Patriarch pointed to this statue that was identical to his own god and said, "If this is me, who are you offering it to?" ”

As he spoke, his keen gaze caught Huai Rang among the group of disciples.

Huai Rang shuddered and felt the Zen feeling on his face......

The Sixth Patriarch asked, "If this is me, what about that?" ”

Xingsi and other enlightened disciples understood in their hearts that the Six Patriarchs were taking the opportunity to instruct the Zen monks to comprehend their own nature: the so-called one is to ask about Buddha nature. All sentient beings have Buddha nature. Although ordinary people can't show it because they have too many afflictions, they don't lack Buddha-nature in themselves, and our every move, blowing our beard and staring at our eyes, is the effect of Buddha-nature.

Therefore, Buddha-nature is also self-nature, true heart, and true nature. However, our Buddha-nature is not a fixed thing, it has no shape, no color, no substance, so it is impossible to grasp.

At the same time, Buddha-nature is alive and cannot be explained by any concept or frame, so Zen patriarchs often use random imaginary words such as "this, that" to refer to it.

The ignorant infant didn't know what "that" meant, and said in a daze: "Master, it's you, you are it, can you be separated?" ”

The Sixth Ancestor said meaningfully: "If you can't separate, you can take it back." ”

Ying Xing's hand holding the statue was just about to retract, but the Sixth Ancestor slapped him lightly, and then said with a smile: "This is a reluctant separation." ”

One can hit you, and the other is in your hands, isn't it separated? Isn't it the role of "that" that can hit you! For some reason, Huai Rang felt that his master's hand was hitting his soul, and he couldn't help but have hair standing on end all over his body and sweating profusely......

Fang Bian was a clever man, and when he heard what Master said, he immediately felt enlightened and said, "If this is the case, you must present the statue to Master." One and two, two and one; It's not different, it's not different. ”

The Sixth Ancestor said, "I accepted it, I accepted it." ”

The Sixth Patriarch held his statue and smiled at it. Then, he said, "Fang Bian, although you have mastered the art of making a vivid statue, you do not understand the true Buddha nature. ”

Seeing that he was at a loss, the Sixth Patriarch inspired him to say, "The Buddha Shakyamuni said in the Diamond Sutra, 'All appearances are false.'" That is to say, the true Buddha is unformed, and those who study Buddhism should not be obsessed with external images and lose their minds, and we should worship the innocent Buddha of their own nature, not these clay and wood statues. ”

The argument seemed to understand something.

The big hand of the Sixth Patriarch stroked the top of his head and said, "Fang Bian, you are a monk, may you always be a model for people and a blessing for the world." ”

It was like an initiation, a feeling that he had never experienced before, slowly flowing from the top of his head into the heart of Fang Dialect, like a Bodhi seed, blooming a cool and bright lotus flower in his heart......

The Sixth Ancestor took off the robe he usually wore and solemnly presented it to Fang Wei.

Fang Bian's hand held the robe, so excited that he didn't know what to do, and the two lines of tears flowed like a stream bursting the embankment, flowing happily and happily.

He walked out of the hall of the Great Hero, came to the side of the hall, and divided the robe given to him by the six ancestors into three parts with a ring knife: one was draped on the statue of the six ancestors, one was put into his arms, and the last one, which he carefully wrapped in palm bark, buried deep in the ground.

Then he knelt in that place, clasped his hands together, and swore to heaven, "In the future, if anyone digs up the earth and digs up this robe, it will be my rebirth." I will be the abbot in this Baoling Temple, rebuild the temple, and spread the Dharma. ”

That night, Huai Rang didn't close his eyes all night. He's been thinking about "that" all the time.

When he first came to Baoling Temple, the Master and the Sixth Patriarch asked him, "What kind of thing is coming from?" It was from that moment that this mystery floated like a cloud in his mind, unsolicited and lingering; It was like swallowing something like a jujube, unable to dissolve, unable to digest, and unable to spit it out, so it was dull in his heart for a long time-

What kind of thing does it come from?

As time went on, this doubt not only did not dissolve, but increased day by day.

He is unwilling to eat, restless, does not know what to do, does not know how to lie down, and every day he compares the mystery in his heart with the truth, trying his best to break through this darkness and find his true face......

- This is Zen meditation. Do not doubt, do not understand, small doubt, big doubt; If the mind and body are suspicious, and the opportunity is ripe, it will inevitably burst with a "bang" - a big realization!

Last night, Master's soul-stirring glance made Huai Rang only feel that his body and mind were suddenly empty, and only that mystery was left in his heart. All his mind, all his thinking, all his energy, all rushed to this question that had been entangled with him for many years, so that he could not distinguish between east and west, north and south, and forgot to eat......

In the morning, Huai Rang was still ignorant.

When the senior brother Xingsi distributed the day's work, he still let him still collect firewood. So, he came to the mountain in a daze, stayed on the mountain for a whole day, and did not even go back to the temple to eat at noon.

In the evening, he walked back with an empty load of firewood, and when he looked up, he suddenly found that it was the season when the rice was ripe, and it was the time when the sunset was golden, and everything was the same as when he first came to Caoxi.

Eight years have passed leisurely, and what remains in his heart is an inexplicable touch. He witnessed the leisurely clouds in the blue sky, heard the friendly sound of the spring in the stream, smelled the fresh fragrance of flowers on the side of the mountain path, and felt the intoxication of the fruits in the golden autumn...... Suddenly, he felt a sense of home.

I see! His heart suddenly became enlightened, the mystery burst, and he was reborn, as if he had let go of a thousand burdens—he forgot to throw down the firewood on his shoulders, and while shouting happily, he ran towards Baoling Temple as fast as he could......

The Sixth Ancestor was standing outside the mountain gate!

Like, for eight years he had not touched a place; It seems that eight years does not exist for him at all; Like, he's been waiting for him! He let out an earth-shattering cry at him:

"What kind of thing is coming from?"

"If you say that it looks like something, you don't hit it!"

Huairang's answer is like a tiger roaring in the mountains and forests, and the sound is shaking the mountains.

Like a boulder thrown into a deep pool, sweet joy was like layers of ripples, constantly pouring out of Huairang's heart, filling every cell and pore in his body......

I don't know how long it took for him to calm down from the great joy of enlightenment, smile shyly, and explain to Master, "The inherent Buddha-nature of all human beings, which is formless and formless, cannot be described in words, nor can it be compared with things, so it would be wrong to say that it looks like something. ”

The six ancestors nodded vigorously, laughed with Huairang's arms, and returned to Baolin Temple together.