Besides, I rushed for a day or two, and I really felt a little tired at this time, and when I arrived at the monk's room, I fell asleep and snored "cooing".

In my sleep, I knew that that night, the sea conditions, earth veins, and celestial phenomena in the area of Tianhua Temple had a rather strange phenomenon:

On that day, it was what the locals call a "small tide" – the tide level was low and flat. However, what is strange is that the tide of that night was unusual, the tide was humming, roaring from the depths of the ocean, like thousands of troops galloping together, the tide was high and the waves were flying, and its magnificence was comparable to the annual August 18 astronomical tide;

The tide of words, like a high wall made of seawater, pushes forward in unison, and it hits the rocks by the sea at high speed, which can be described as a storm that cracks the shore and rolls up thousands of piles of snow!

Herringbone tide, two independent waves in a diagonal line, converge in the center, as if the palms are clapping together, not only striking out waves several feet high, but also making a thunderous sound......

At the same time, smoke rose from Tianluo Mountain near the left of Tianhua Temple, and a cloud of water mist gushed out from a deep cave and soared into the sky.

As the smoke rises, the interior of the mountain emits a rumbling roar, just as the leylines of the earth run, and the magma rushes......

After that, five fork holes appeared in the depths of that cave on Tianluo Mountain, known as Wutong Cave.

Buddhist saints have the saying of "five links". That is: Tianyantong, Tianertong, Hexintong, Fate, and Ruyitong.

With the eyes of the sky, no matter near and far, inside and outside, day and night, can see;

With a person who has a good ear, all sounds can be heard;

With his heart, he can see the minds of others all the time;

With a person who is fatalistic, the past life and calamity can be recalled and well understood;

With a wishful person, everything can be done as you like, such as going to the sky and entering the earth, moving mountains and seas, sprinkling beans into soldiers, calling for wind and rain, and soaring clouds and fog......

Is this and the other five links just a coincidence of names, or does they have some kind of symbolic meaning?

At midnight, the sky was clear above Tianhua Temple. Suddenly, an extremely bright lightning bolt swept across the night sky, illuminating the mountains, rivers, and oceans, and harbors, followed by a thunderclap that exploded, and the echo rippled for a long time......

In the middle of winter, lightning and thunder are not normal, not to mention thunderbolts on sunny days, which are unprecedented and unheard of.

Of course, so many strange phenomena aroused the curiosity of the monks of the whole temple and the people nearby, however, no one could say why.

Only the abbot of Tianhua Temple, Yunqing monk, inexplicably gave birth to a thought in his heart: "Buddhist scriptures, the saint was born, and the heavens and the earth shook." Senior Brother Xian Kuang of Yuelin Temple said in the letter that this is a person with a background, could it be that last night's tsunami and thunderbolt and lightning were related to his arrival? ”

At that time, it was in the turbulent period of the last years of the Tang Dynasty, with warlords separating the territory, soldiers and bandits, and wars were continuous. As a result, many people were forced to take refuge in the relative safety and tranquility of Buddhism.

These people, who could not control their own destiny, had to pray for the blessings of the Buddha and Bodhisattva, and as a result, temples everywhere flourished.

Tianhua Temple faces the sea by the mountain, close to an ancient ferry, a wide post road in front of the door, the most prosperous Dayi Mingzhou in eastern Zhejiang in the north, crosses the sea to the south, and can reach Taizhou, Yongjia and other rich states and counties through Xiangshan.

It is located in the sea and road traffic, the logistics and trade are smooth, and the personnel come and go conveniently, which has brought a large number of pilgrim donors to Tianhua Temple.

Therefore, the incense here is vigorous, the tourists are weaving, and it is very lively. Believers have been giving for many years, and have accumulated a large number of paddy fields, dry land, mountains and forests, and tidal flats for Tianhua Temple.

Food is abundant, life is quiet, a large number of wandering monks come here, and there are as many as four or five hundred monks living in the temple.

If it is a Buddhist festival such as the Buddha and Bodhisattva Christmas, there will be a grand scene of "thousands of monks passing through the hall and ten thousand fingers surrounding".

He was a newly shaved novice and had just arrived, so he did not yet have the qualifications to enter the meditation hall to meditate and practice, so he could only do chores. The master waved his hand, "Go chop wood!" ”

As a result, he was sent to the Chai Tou (monastery), where he was in charge of the firewood under the throne. Its main duty is to go into the mountain to collect wages for the use of the public), and since then, this axe, a flat shoulder, and the woodwood on the mountain are endless every day. He often collected firewood before he became a monk, and he still collected firewood after he became a monk.

However, the subtlety of the matter lies in the fact that although it is the same firewood, the result will be very different because of the different intentions.

Together with the deed, the single monk who was responsible for supplying firewood for the 500 monks of the whole monastery, and three people. Chai Tou's Dharma name is "Yingqing", and he, along with the three senior brothers Yingjing and Yingkong, are already adults.

Half a year ago, the three of them came to Tianhua Temple from Shanxi. It is said that they were robbed on the way, and the official ordination certificate issued during the Tang and Song dynasties was lost.

In those years, there was a shortage of soldiers, bandits, and passers-by were robbed, so the abbot Yunqing monk was merciful and compassionate, and still took them in.

They said that in order to provide for the masses and achieve the cultivation of others, they were responsible for the supply of firewood for the whole temple.

Perhaps because the mountain is high and the road is far away, it is not easy to chop firewood, and it is difficult for the three of them to provide for the whole temple, so they were sent over.

Buddhist monks are not judged by age, but by the age of the monks. The four of them ate and lived together, and worked together, because the three senior brothers entered the mountain gate first, and they were much older than Qi, and they were respected as elders, and they were extremely respectful to them, and they listened to the teachings in everything.

On the first day, they went up the mountain to chop firewood, and the brothers took the deed to a charcoal forest. Ying Qing said: "Xiao Qi, this mountain forest belongs to our Tianhua Temple, you can collect firewood here." We're not around, you can't be lazy! ”

Qi didn't quite understand this arrangement, and asked, "Senior brother, am I here alone to collect firewood?" What about you? ”

Ying Qing and the other two looked at each other and smiled, pointed to the lush and reckless jungle all over the mountains and said, "We are going to the deep mountains and old forests in the distance. ”

Qi said quite innocently: "Senior brother, I have never been into the depths of the mountains and forests, there must be many strange flowers and plants, as well as rare birds. Would you please take me with you? ”

"No way!" The grumpy Ying Jing waved his hand and said, "If you take you, won't it ruin our business!" ”

Qi felt very aggrieved, and muttered in a low voice: "Isn't it just to collect firewood, how can I harm your business?" ”

Ying Qing glared at Ying Jing fiercely, then patted Qi Qiu's shoulder, and said with a smile: "Little junior brother, Ying Jing means that the place where we are going to collect firewood is high and far away, you are still young, and your strength has not yet grown, I am afraid that you will not be able to keep up with our footsteps, and you will be tired." ”

Shadow Sky also said, "That's why we're here to fetch firewood, not for fun." As monks, we should be mindful of the Tao, and we should not just think about curiosity and greed. Besides, there are often tigers and leopards in the depths of the mountains and forests, which are very dangerous, and if we are distracted from taking care of you, we will delay cutting wood. ”

Qi said: "Since the depths of the dense forest are so dangerous, why don't the senior brothers just collect firewood here? ”

Yingqing said: "This forest is too small, if the four of us all cut wood here, it will be cut down in a few days." Besides, if we don't harvest the firewood in the mountains and forests in the temple, it will be wasted. Therefore, although we put a little more effort into it, we can ensure that there is never a shortage of firewood in the temple. ”

It turned out that the reason why the senior brothers arranged it this way was for the sake of the good deed, and for the long-term plan of the temple.

After listening to the teachings of the senior brothers, I felt very ashamed. Compared with the senior brothers, they always think about others in everything and live everywhere (especially referring to monasteries and sangha groups. Because the monastery is a place where monks live permanently, the word "permanent residence" has become synonymous with the monastic permanent residence of monks and the Sangha).

After the senior brothers left, he didn't dare to slack off for a moment, wielding an axe and chopping wood. By the time the brothers returned from the depths of the mountains and forests in the afternoon, he had already cut two large bundles of good woodwood.

Seeing this, Ying Qing praised him very much.

Receiving the praise of the senior brother, of course, he was very excited, and even the trembling flat shoulder was as happy as dancing.

And there are too many firewood cut here, two large bundles of firewood weighing more than 100 catties, after a while, he was a little unbearable by the two large bundles of firewood on his shoulders, plus the mountain road is bumpy, he is so tired that he can't breathe, and his two legs are even heavier as if they are filled with lead, getting heavier and heavier, and it is difficult to take a step......

No wonder the senior brothers said that he was still young and lacked strength, and look, he was carrying a load of firewood, and how easy it was for people to walk, and they left him far behind after a while.

At this time, he realized that the two bundles of firewood carried by the senior brothers were not as much as his bundle.

No wonder they walked with ease! He then thought that the place where the senior brothers went was far away, and the time to collect firewood was short, so of course there was less to fight.

Qi Qi's shoulders were red and swollen from the pressure of the flat shoulder, and the pain of burning was like a burning heart; The senior brothers who walked in front have long since disappeared.

Despite this gritted teeth, when he was still a mile away from the monastery, he could no longer carry the load of firewood.

Just when he was completely desperate and wanted to cry out loud, he found that the three senior brothers were waiting for him at the bend of the mountain road in front of him.

From afar, seeing him staggering, faltering, and miserable under the weight of the burden, Ying Qing said to the other two, "You two separate my firewood and pick it up, and I'll pick it up." ”

Ying Qing hurried back, without saying a word, took the load of firewood from the deed, and walked towards the temple.

Looking at the back of Senior Brother Yingqing, he couldn't help but be moved to tears......

Who says monks are cold and heartless?

From this first day on, whenever Qi was still a mile away from the monastery, there was always a senior brother who came in time to carry firewood in his place and let him walk back to the monastery empty-handed.

One day, when they came back as usual, the prison stood at the back gate of Tianhua Temple, where they went up the mountain to fetch firewood.

The prison was so gloomy that it could almost wring out water. For some reason, Ying Qing, Ying Jing, and Ying Kong were so frightened that their faces changed color, and their steps were a little unnatural.

Only walking in the last Qi is ignorant, happy and happy, dancing with an empty flat shoulder in his hand, and jumping and jumping under his feet.

The prison turned a blind eye to the stammering and flattering smiling faces of Yingqing and the others, and simply pointed at the deed and shouted, "What's the matter with you?" ”

Qi was taken aback by him, at a loss, and stammered, "I...... I...... I, no...... It's not going on! ”

Seeing his innocent look, the prison became even more angry and reprimanded: "Let you go to collect firewood, why did you return empty-handed?" ”

Qi blushed and snorted, "I'm ...... I ......"

The prison unceremoniously interrupted him: "What am I, no wonder some people say that you are lazy every day and put the responsibility of collecting firewood on the senior brothers." Today is what I saw with my own eyes, what else do you have to quibble? ”

Qi quickly explained: "As a teacher, I didn't mean to be slippery and lazy, but because I didn't have enough strength, so I ......."

"If you don't have enough strength, can it be a reason for you to avoid work? Do you remember what Zen Master Baizhang said? ”

Although he had just become a monk, he had been playing in Yuelin Monastery since he was a child, and often listened to the Zen monks tell the story of the patriarch's case and the jungle (another name for the Zen monastery), so he understood that the prison was referring to the story of Baizhang Huaihai Patriarch's "one day without doing and one day without eating".

Baizhang Huaihai is a disciple of Matsu Daoyi.

In the fourth year of the Zhenyuan Dynasty of the Tang Dynasty (788 AD), after the death of Matsu Road, Baizhang Huaihai took a handful of tears and began to travel out. He traveled again and again, and came to the foot of Daxiong Mountain in Xinwu, Jiangxi (now Fengxin County) in a short day.

This Daxiong Mountain is really a good place to go, the mountain is full of ancient trees and forests, the ravines are murmuring, the barren paths are lonely, and the empty valley is fragrant and quiet. The most peculiar thing is that a series of majestic rock walls rise from the ground and emerge from the sky. It is lonely and steep, standing tall and steep, showing the unique charm of a majestic and great husband between heaven and earth.

In the face of the majestic scene, Huaihai couldn't help but cheer, fell to the ground and kowtowed: thank the Creator for giving him such a unique gift, known as the "Baizhang" mountain, the most suitable place to promote Zen Buddhism.

Baizhang Huaihai hung his bag high on a tree branch, raised his head, and opened up a new world in the barren grass.

The mountain wall of Baizhang stands thousands of feet, the devil axe is wonderful, the heaven and the earth are created, majestic and magnificent; Hundreds of zhang Zen sticks are spread in all directions, the spirit is wonderful, the atmosphere is magnificent, and it is fascinating.

Soon after the abbot of Baizhang Huaihai Daxiong Mountain, the monks of the world heard the wind and came, and the Zen guests gathered under the Baizhang Rock, surrounded by the nunnery.

Baizhang Huaihai led the disciples to open up wasteland and farm, and also paid equal attention to agriculture and Zen. He creatively integrated practice into labor, practiced in daily labor, and began a new way of living and practicing in the jungle of Zen Buddhism.

The idea of agriculture and Zen at the same time, in the four ancestors of Taoism, the five ancestors of the Hongren period has sprouted, after one hundred and fifty years to Huaihai, began to be formally included in the "Baizhang Qing Rules" customized by him, consciously from the system to standardize. This is a matter of far-reaching influence and great significance in the history of Zen Buddhism.

It was a major reform for Indian Buddhism's spirit of living by begging for food and giving alms, thus adapting Buddhism to China's national conditions based on a self-sufficient natural economy, and was a decisive step in the sinicization of Buddhism.

According to the "Baizhang Qing Rules", all labor services in the Zen jungle are subject to the general application method (collective labor), and the upper and lower levels are equally beneficial.

In other words, from the abbot to the novice, all the monks had to work with the congregation, without any special distinction.

Baizhang Huaihai has always led by example, and all work must be done before the public. Until his old age, he still worked in the fields every day like a young man.

The apprentices were distressed to see that the master was so old and still working in the fields every day. They also persuaded and pleaded many times, but Baizhang always laughed it off and insisted on farming. Seeing that the soft method was ineffective, the master came to a simple one - he hid the master's head for clearing the wasteland the night before.

The next day, all the monks went to open the field, but Huaihai couldn't find his tools, so he was in a hurry.

The master took the opportunity to say, "Master, you are so old, and you are still working like us, so we can't bear to look at it. In case you get tired and sick, how about calling us? We've all discussed it, so don't go to the field. You can rest assured, we will have a few more heads per person, and we will do your share. ”

There was no tools to open up the wasteland, and Huaihai had no choice but to stay in the temple. At noon, when the Zen monks came back to eat, there was no sign of Baizhang Huaihai in the hall. "What's wrong with Master?"

"Sick?"

"Why don't you come to dinner?"

The master and a few disciples guessed and came to the abbot and asked why Huaihai, who was sitting on the meditation bed, didn't have lunch?

Huaihai said: "I am an incompetent and immoral person, how can I let others replace my own part of the labor!" Since I didn't participate in the opening of the field, I was not qualified to eat. ”

The disciples brought the rice and handed it to him, but Huaihai resolutely refused to eat.

People are iron, rice is steel, and if you don't eat a meal, you will panic. What's more, Baizhang Huaihai is already a gray-haired old man, if he is hungry all day, won't he starve people?

In desperation, the master and everyone knelt down and invited the master to eat.

But Huaihai said unusually firmly: "Don't do it for a day, don't eat for a day." ”

As a result, everyone couldn't resist the master, so they had to return the tools to him.

The next day, the old and happy figure of Huaihai appeared in the crowd of people working in the field.

"Not a day of work, not a day of food." Since then, Huaihai's shocking words of self-discipline have swept the jungle, and the monks have scrambled to follow suit, becoming an unwritten rule of Zen Buddhism. To this day, it has become the motto of the jungle monk, and it is always vigilant to the people of Buddhism.

The prison looked at Qi Ji fixedly, and after a while, said majestically: "Since you know the shocking self-discipline of Patriarch Baizhang's 'don't work for a day, don't eat for a day', how dare you still avoid work?" You are deliberately violating the rules of the temple, and according to the co-living contract, not only will you not be allowed to eat, but you will also have to appear in front of the whole temple (public criticism) and punish incense (kneel in front of the Buddha to repent). ”

At this time, I only felt a stomach full of grievances. However, the prison court used what he saw with his own eyes as a basis and did not give him a chance to speak and confess.

It's hard to argue with this, it's hard to justify, and the tears are like beads with broken threads, falling down one by one......

At this moment, Ying Qing, who had been watching from the sidelines, spoke: "The master of the family, he is not deliberately lazy, he goes up the mountain with us every day to collect firewood." It's just that because he is still young and is in the process of growing his body, we are afraid that the heavy firewood will crush him, so we take turns to pick him back. ”

Yingjing and Yingkong also echoed: "Yes, yes, although the strength is a little smaller, I still try my best to collect firewood every day. ”

Since everyone pleaded for this, the prison court could not say anything more. In the end, he pointed to the door of Qi Ji's head and said, "For the sake of the three of them, I will spare you this time." However, you remember to me that the monastery is not a place for lazy people, you have to do it yourself! In the future, if you make a mistake again, I don't care who recommended you, I will be expelled from the temple! With that, the prison departed.

Ying Qing patted Qi Qiu's shoulder, patted his chest and said: "Qi Qi, in Tianhua Temple, with our brother as your master, you don't have to be afraid." ”

In this way, I was grateful to the senior brothers for being able to do justice for him at a critical moment, and I shed tears again. Since then, he has admired the three senior brothers even more.

Time just flowed like this.

The life of the monastery is extremely hard, especially the kind of coarse tea and light rice that lacks oil and salt, and it is difficult for ordinary people to adapt.

Breakfast is generally only gruel, but at noon, because there are Tanyue almsgiving, donors for fasting, and pilgrims to eat, the meal is slightly better.

Because there is a "non-seasonal food precept" in the Vinaya, Buddhist monks do not eat at noon, commonly known as "holding noon", so the original monks did not eat dinner, and could only eat breakfast and lunch a day.

After the rise of the Zen jungle, it advocated both agriculture and Zen, because Zen monks had to participate in heavy labor every day, and hunger was unbearable without dinner.

The patriarchs were clever and convenient, and made some adaptations according to the actual situation, calling the afternoon food "medicine stone" - to cure hunger and disease.

Since it is medicinal food, of course it is very simple, it is often to add water to the leftovers at noon and boil it into a pot of gruel to deal with it.

At this time, I was growing my body, and it was difficult to adapt to this diet at the beginning of my monasticism. In the morning, I drank three or five bowls of rice porridge, and a few bubbles of urine spilled out, and my stomach was empty. Comparatively, the noon meal at the monastery will be better.

However, due to the high mountains and long roads, they could not come back at noon to collect firewood, so they could only gnaw dry food on the spring water in the mountains.

Because of the lack of oil and water, the dry food he ate couldn't help but be hungry at all, and after a while, his stomach began to sing about the empty city; This is one of the reasons why he is so tired that he can't bring back a load full of firewood.

Heavy work requires a lot of physical strength, and growing the body requires more nutrients. There was no way, the hungry Qi could only desperately pour gruel into his stomach in the morning and night.

As he went back and forth, his stomach became bigger and bigger, and after a few months, he could drink ten bowls of gruel, and his belly was as big as if he was eight months pregnant.

From then on, he became pot-bellied - really well-fed!

At this point, I envy and admire the three senior brothers, they do the same heavy work, and they can only eat some dry food at noon, but they can still strictly abide by the Buddhist system and do not eat at noon. What's even more amazing is that not only did they never say they were hungry, but they were all strong, full of energy, and extraordinarily energetic.

It is said that those who practice to the home and feed on Zen joy can not only moisturize the body and be light and healthy, but also full of Dharma joy and boundless divine power, and its mystery and beauty are unimaginable.

I thought to myself: Could it be that these three senior brothers who collect firewood every day have also cultivated to such an incredible sacred realm?

There is one more thing that I can't figure out. Because he has not eaten meat since he was a child, he is extremely sensitive to the smell of meat. However, since he came to Tianhua Temple and lived with the three senior brothers, he could often smell a fishy smell peculiar to meat in the room.

However, Buddhism quietly forbids all meat, where does the fishy smell come from?

Besides, this room is divided into an inner and outer room, where the three senior brothers live, the outhouse stores their work tools and some of their miscellaneous items, and there is a small bed in the corner, and there is no stove at all, how can it produce the smell of cooking meat?

He thought that this was another demon at work, conjuring up this nasty smell to disturb him, so for a long time, he ignored it.

On this day, it is the traditional temple fair on the third day of the third month of the lunar calendar, and the nearby villagers sing a big opera in the square in front of the temple. The three senior brothers probably went to see the excitement, and they haven't come back yet. He wanted to lay out the quilts for his brothers, so he came to the back room that he had never visited.

The disgusting smell is even stronger!

"Buddha Amitabha, Buddha Amitabha, Buddha Amitabha......" recited the Buddha's name silently in his heart, wanting to use the blessing power of the Buddha to suppress this inexplicable feeling.

However, to no avail, the closer he got to the back wall of the house, the stronger the smell of boiled meat.

His nose was extremely sensitive, and he felt the smell coming from behind a painting hanging on the wall......

When I opened the painting, I found that several bricks on the wall were loose, and I could feel a heat radiating outward.

He carefully removed a brick, and a bright light shot out—the largest candle burning in the wall!

When he removed all the loose bricks, he found that a hole had been cut in the wall, and that there was a casserole above the candle, and in the pot was a skinned hare, which was cooing and bubbling!

"Wow!" As he ran out, he vomited violently. After spitting up gruel and spitting out gastric juice, spitting out dry gastric juice and spitting out bile, he almost vomited out all his internal organs......

He finally stopped vomiting, and his first reaction was to report to the prison that they were secretly cooking meat.

Because, it is a fundamental taboo for monks to kill and eat meat, and it is a precept that cannot be violated.

It's not a snitch, it's about loving each other; The reason why the sangha can live in harmony is that criticism and self-criticism and mutual promotion are important foundations.

However, he thought again that maybe the senior brothers happened to encounter a dead hare while collecting firewood, and they were greedy for a while, so they ......

Mistakes in the journey of life are inevitable for everyone, as long as you sincerely repent and do not repeat them. So, Qi went back to the back room, deliberately leaving a brick and not putting it back in, so that the brothers could understand that what they had done had been discovered and that they should be corrected as soon as possible.

Sure enough, the three senior brothers didn't say anything, and they didn't resent him because of this, and they still treated him the same as before.

However, three days later, Ying Qing approached the prison on behalf of the other two people and demanded that the deed be moved out of their room.

The prison was puzzled: "Why?" Aren't you living together? ”

Ying Qing said solemnly, "According to the precepts, novices are not allowed to share a room with a monk. He was a novice who had not yet received full ordination, so he should not live in the same room with us. ”

The prison court said: "Your house is inside and outside, but in fact it is counted as two, and it is not against the rules. ”

Ying Qing did not budge: "However, there is no door between the inside and outside, only a curtain is separated, and he can enter and leave our sleeping place at any time." ”

Since the precepts were involved, the prison did not dare to be flexible, so they had to let the deed move out and live in a half-warehouse where the farm tools were stored.

Everyone has to keep the precepts.

Isn't it true that every year before the bhikshus recite the vows, they always say, "Is the novice out of the court?" ”

As a novice, you can't listen to what you shouldn't hear, and you can't see what you shouldn't see. This has been the case for thousands of years. Therefore, I didn't think much about it, I still tried my best to collect firewood, still drank porridge with an open belly, and still enjoyed myself every day.

As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. I chopped firewood every day, and slowly mastered the skills, and I still cut so much firewood, but the time for chopping firewood was greatly shortened than before.

So, he had some free time to wander around the mountains and forests, one to enjoy the wonderful scenery of the mountains and forests, and the other to look for some mountain fruits and wild vegetables to fill his rumbling belly.

One day, he was just admiring the beautiful mountain flowers, and before he knew it, he had climbed over a high hill and came to another valley. Here, the bushes are thick, the weeds are waist-high, and the environment is quiet and inaccessible.

Qi thought to himself: Senior brother, they should be collecting firewood in the mountains and forests across the valley, right?

Suddenly, he seemed to hear a thud beside a bush, like the sound of something trying to break free.

He hurriedly walked over. The closer he got, the more rapid the sound became, and finally it turned into a desperate struggle:

"Squeak...... Squeak......"