Seeing that the woman was constantly blaming herself, repenting, and apologizing, she smiled sincerely from her heart, and then turned around and floated away.

With his tolerance and unbearable cultivation, he finally won people's understanding and respect, and not only did they not mock him, but gradually fell in love with this mild-tempered, broad-hearted, and smiling big-bellied monk.

……

At that time, the monk in charge of the monastery's fields was called the owner. He was responsible for supervising the farmlands, repairing the farms, and managing all the affairs of the farm, including the households.

The land of Tianhua Temple is near the temple, so there is no special owner, which is equivalent to a supervisor, responsible for supervising the work of the villagers.

He was personally involved in everything, and was completely in harmony with the peasants who were hired to do the work, and he led by example in the fields, often doing more than anyone else.

What touched those farmers the most was that they not only treated them completely equally, but also trusted them very much, and regarded them as their own father and brother.

Real gold for real gold, people's hearts for people's hearts. Because of the sincerity of the contract, the farmers are naturally very sincere in their work. This year, the autumn rice of Tianhua Temple was harvested like never before, and the farmers were paid more.

After the autumn harvest, the farming work came to an end, and he returned to the temple.

The Zen jungle, starting from the ancestor of Baizhang Huaihai, has always been a combination of agriculture and Zen: monks farm when they are busy with farming, and participate in Zen when they are not working. Every year after the autumn harvest, the meditation festival is held in the meditation forest, and most of the monks live in the meditation hall to concentrate on meditation.

However, he was not qualified to meditate in the meditation hall during his spare time, and who let him become a monk for a short time and not receive ordination.

"Let's be an outsider!" Abbot Yunqing said. External protection is to fully support the Zen people who practice diligently in the meditation hall and obtain evidence during the period, so as to ensure that their food is in the bowl and the tea is in the cup, and they have no distractions and work hard.

So, Qi just put down the farm work in the field and started the chores in the temple again.

That day, he went to the town to buy soybeans and did not return until the evening.

As soon as he entered the mountain gate, he felt a little strange, and when those novices and walkers saw him, they couldn't help but cover their mouths and secretly laugh, and they didn't know what they were laughing at.

After dinner, when he was returning to the tool shed where he lived, he found someone quietly following him, as if there was something unusual to seem.

He is innocent and doesn't care. When he pushed open the door, one foot had just stepped in, but the whole person was pushed out by a strange smell!

The smell is very strange, how disgusting it is, how disgusting it is, it seems to be able to penetrate the bones for three points! Isn't it, Qi was so smoked that his stomach turned upside down, and he couldn't help but vomit......

And behind him, a burst of long-suppressed laughter erupted - those naughty little novices finally saw the expected scene.

It turned out that at noon that day, a wandering monk with a Zen staff and a pocket on his back came to Tianhua Temple. He seemed to be too old to age, his clothes were ragged, his face was covered in dirt, his body was covered in scabs, and there was an indescribable stench all over his body.

People were three feet away from him, and they were so smoked that they couldn't breathe and wanted to vomit. Therefore, everyone on the road covered their noses and hid away when they saw him.

The wandering old monk walked into the guest hall by himself as if there was no one beside him. When Zhike saw him like this, he almost turned his back on his anger: "Get out, get out, get out quickly!" ”

The old monk did not move at all, and said vigorously: "The jungle of ten directions lives in ten directions, and the monks of ten directions live in ten directions." Tianhua Temple is a jungle in ten directions, and the monks of the world should be allowed to place orders (stay and live), why do you want to drive the old monks out? ”

When Zhike heard this, he was speechless for a while, and he hummed for a long time before saying: "Although Tianhua Temple is a jungle in ten directions, it is holding a sitting meditation festival. During this period, there were a lot of Zen monks who came to meditate, and there were no beds, so they temporarily stopped placing orders. So, Master, please borrow it somewhere else. ”

The monk has the power to place orders, and the knowers can also place orders at any time. Therefore, whether or not to let the wandering monk place an order, it is still up to the knower.

The ancients said: The old man is immortal, and he is called the essence. This old monk seems to be too old, so he has already become a refiner.

He said unhurriedly: "The jungle rules (system), the order must be told to the public." However, I didn't see your stop order sign at the entrance of the living room. ”

"This ......" Zhike was hit by the key point and was speechless.

The old monk did not embarrass him, and continued: "Master Zhike, you see that I am old and sick, and I am so hungry that I have no strength, where can I still walk? You can find me a shack where I can rest. ”

"But ......"

The old monk didn't wait for him to say the meaning behind "but", and interjected in time: "Zhike Master, you don't have to be embarrassed, if there is really no place, I will rest in your guest hall for a while." ”

As he spoke, the old monk really sat down cross-legged on a meditation bench in the guest hall. And, with his eyes slightly closed and his hands in the seal, it seems that he wants to meditate deeply here and meditate for a few hours.

The guest hall is the face of a temple. A filthy and smelly monk sits here, which not only obstructs the view and harms the decent, but also "spreads far and wide", and even the most pious pilgrims may have to flee when they smell it, look at the wind, and retreat.

Zhike had no choice but to pinch his nose and come over, and begged the old monk Heshi: "Old man, please understand, the little monk has the difficulties of the little monk." During the Seven Meditation Festival, there are too many people from all directions, if you find a random place, I am afraid that you will be wronged by a great virtue like you......"

The old monk opened his eyes at the right time: "Just find me a grass hut." ”

At this time, Yingqing came over and said to Zhike: "Since this old man has repeatedly said that he lives in a grass shed, then please go to the tool shed where he can rest for a while." ”

So, the nameless old monk was led to the room by Yingqing.

After spitting up the gruel in his stomach, the degree of nausea was a little better, he pinched his nose and walked into the room, only to see an extremely filthy old monk lying on his bed. He didn't react to someone entering the room, as if he were dead.

Qi was a little worried and asked, "Master, what's wrong with you?" Is it sick? Do you want me to invite you to Langzhong? ”

The old monk remained motionless, still sleeping with his head covered. Listening to his breathing evenly, it probably wouldn't be life-threatening, so he put down a hanging heart. However, his house was originally a small shed for the storage of farm tools, low and cramped, and damp and cold, and now it was the slack season, and a large number of farm tools were stored, and there was no place to insert in it, and his bed was taken up, and there was no place to sleep.

He really couldn't bear to wake up and drive away the nameless old monk who occupied the phoenix's nest, so he had to put together the farm tools himself, vacate a place the size of a dustpan, bring some straw, make a grass nest, and half-sit and half-lean there to deal with it all night.

The next morning, when he opened his eyes, he found that the old monk was still lying on the bed.

He hurriedly got up and found that the old monk was covered with scabies and boils, red and swollen, and bleeding blood and pus. I tried his forehead with my hand again, and it was hot and scary.

It seems that he is indeed very sick.

Qi hurriedly found the guest hall and reported to the customer so that he could ask a doctor to get medicine.

However, the acquaintance said, "This person has never been seen before, I don't know where he wandered from, and he didn't even have a monk, so who knows if he is a monk or not?" Besides, if a person is sick before his karma appears, and if he gets sick and hurts for a few days, it is for him to eliminate his karma, so there is nothing to make a fuss about. Look at it, don't let him die in our monastery. ”

He had no choice but to return to the room, constantly soak his hand towel in cold water, and then apply it to the old monk's forehead to cool him down.

However, after soaking a basin of cold water into warm water, the old monk was still burning like coals.

It is clear that relying only on cold compresses will treat the symptoms but not the root cause. The point is that he has abscesses all over his body, which must be treated in order for the fever to really go away.

I looked at the festering boils, the hard scabs formed by pus and blood, and retched with disgust.

Wearing clothes and covering the quilt, the stench emitted by the old monk can smoke people, if you pick up those scabs, and then squeeze out the rotten pus and blood, you will not be disgusted to death!

He subconsciously and involuntarily walked out......

As soon as he came out of the door, he seemed to hear a slight sigh from the old monk who was sleeping on the bed.

This reminded him of his father Zhang Chongtian, if it was his father lying on the bed, would you still avoid it? Talking about equality between relatives and relatives, can you really do it?

He resolutely decided to go back to the bedside, took off the monk's robe that had not been changed and washed for thousands of years and six lifetimes, thoroughly washed and wiped the pus, blood and dirt on his body with warm water, and then he used a bamboo skewer to pick up the rotten boils one by one, and squeezed out the sticky, thick, fishy and smelly pus inside......

After a whole morning of busy work, he finally "cleaned up" the old monk thoroughly. It is strange to say that when he devoted all his body and mind to cleaning the pus and blood of the old monk, he did not smell the suffocating stench.

He suddenly realized that this smell of the outside world can only be produced when it corresponds to your heart! When your attention is focused on everything else, you won't even notice it!

From this, we can see that because the mind is born, there are all kinds of Dharma births, and as long as the mind is extinguished and there is no distinction, all kinds of factors that cause your psychological changes will not exist.

Therefore, the patriarch said: "The Three Realms are idealistic, and the Ten Thousand Laws are only knowledge." ”

Isn't it, the hidden and the obvious, the presence and absence of this stench, is the proof of the impossibility outside the heart. Therefore, the ancients said: "All laws start from the heart, and there is no need to seek outside." ”

In this way, I realized the realm that all laws are born from the heart and cannot be outside the heart. From then on, there is no need to seek any Dharma, Zen Buddhism or anything like that from others, everything is in your own mind.

It was not enough to remove the pus and blood from the old monk's body, and he had to be smeared with an ointment that was specially used to treat boils in order to heal.

However, he is a novice and must take the money ring. In other words, not only could he not save a penny of private money, but he was not even allowed to reach out and touch money, so he had no money to buy medicine for the old monk.

Qi thought of the farmers who were kind to him, so he took the time to go down the mountain and asked them to think of a way.

The farmers were poor, and they couldn't afford to buy medicine with money. However, there is a cure for the poor, who have traditionally used a local herb to treat boils that are very effective.

Although this herb is effective, it is also processed in a unique way: it is chewed in the mouth, mixed with saliva to form a puree, and then applied to the sores.

So he became a cow, a cow that chewed hay.

However, it would be nice if he were really a cow - the old cow chewed hay and was full of joy; And this is very painful!

Just chewing a bite or two is fine, but the old monk is covered with boils and needs a lot of medicinal mud to apply.

I chewed and chewed, until my mouth was dry and my throat was smoking, as if the water in my whole body had been absorbed by the dried herbs, so that my lips cracked and the corners of my mouth bleed......

Under the careful care of Qi here, the boils of the nameless old monk have faded red, disappeared, scabbed, and gradually healed. After seven days of sleep, I slowly opened my eyes.

"Nan no Master Shakyamuni Buddha. Old man, you're finally awake! He clasped his hands together and muttered.

Unexpectedly, when the old monk woke up, he turned a blind eye to the healing of his boils, and did not ask how they were cured, as if he had never had those abscesses.

He didn't say a word, so he gave orders to Qi this, and for a while he said that he had an itch on his back, and asked Qi to scratch him, and then he shouted that his back and legs hurt, and he called Qi this to give him a beat......

Before he could catch his breath, he pointed to his mouth again, indicating that he was thirsty and wanted water.

Qi then scooped a bowl of water from the crockpot he usually drank from and handed it to him. But he didn't look at it, and said, "I don't drink cold water." ”

He went to the kitchen to get him a bowl of boiling water, but he still refused to drink it, saying, "I don't drink plain water." ”

In desperation, I went to a fellow staff who loved tea to ask for a pinch of tea, erected three stones outside the door, and boiled a pot of hot tea.

Who knows, as soon as the old monk drank it in his mouth, he spit it all out, and reprimanded him: "Is this tea?" Pure rotten leaves! I want to drink Hangzhou Longjing. ”

Although Hangzhou is only more than 300 miles away from Fenghua, Longjing tea has never been heard of by a poor monk like this. However, the old monk shouted vigorously, and he would not stop if he couldn't drink Longjing tea.

Qi had no choice but to go to the abbot to kowtow to Monk Yunqing with a cheeky face, and then asked for some Longjing tea, which finally satisfied the old monk's demands.

In the next few days, the nameless old monk tried all kinds of ways to toss Qi here, as if he was born to be a grandfather and a master, and Qi Qi was originally a slave who served him!

"Here's it, give me a bath!"

"Here's it, cut my nails!"

"Here's it, give me ......"

What to do for him, Qi didn't complain, but after Qi was busy, he couldn't even eat.

It turned out that the old monk didn't know where he came from, and he didn't have a degree. It is a proof of the identity of a monk. According to the rules of the jungle, if you don't have a degree, you can't place an order, and you won't have anything to eat. At this point, he was secretly hungry and gave his share of food to this wandering old monk......

It was when I was young, and I had no food in my stomach, so I would inevitably lose my spirits, so as soon as it got dark, I would lie in the grass nest early in order to forget the unbearable hunger troubles:

A dream is never frightened, sleep until the sun rises, and naturally sit back and relax;

All fates are put down, and he is allowed to ridicule honor and disgrace, but I am still the same.

A wisp of fragrance wafted slowly, and he felt that he was being led by it and flew up suddenly, to the sky, and into a gorgeous palace.

In the center of the palace there is a tall, wide Leo. Without even thinking about it, he sat down on the throne as if it were his home.

As soon as he sat down, a group of beautiful celestial maidens flocked to him and offered him all kinds of fairy melons and fruits, and delicacies.

Qi was so hungry that when he saw such a sumptuous immortal feast, he couldn't help eating insects and moving around, so he couldn't care about it much, and stretched out his mouth to eat......

"Bang!"

I didn't get any food in my mouth, and I was beaten in the head first.

He opened his eyes in a daze, where is there any heavenly palace! Where is there a throne! Where is there a fairy feast!

It turns out that everything is just a dream!

He, however, still lives in a cramped tool shed.

The only difference was that what stood in front of him was not a beautiful celestial maiden, but a fierce old monk.

The old monk was pointing his Zen staff at the door of his head and scolded, "It's just dark, and you're sleeping." How can a monk be so relaxed? The Buddha said that at the beginning of the night, it is time to meditate. Get up, get up! It's the time of the meditation puja, get up and sit in meditation. ”

He said, "People who participate in meditation are meditating in the meditation hall. ”

"Is it possible to sit in meditation only in a meditation hall?" The old monk's staff almost poked the tip of his nose.

He thought about it and shook his head.

"Is it true that only people who specialize in meditation pujas can practice?"

He thought about it again, then shook his head again.

"Monks, they should always keep their cultivation in mind, and major events are not over, such as mourning and examining. Could it be that your mother and mother have just died, and you can still sleep? ”

Qi couldn't help but be stunned. The old monk pointed to the wall with a Zen staff and said, "You have been waiting for a few days and will give you a couplet." ”

Here I saw some words on the wall:

Every brick and tile, every porridge and a meal, are all donors' ointment, the blood and sweat of the peasants, the meditation is not cultivated, the wisdom is not shown, the worry is fearful, and the sigh is lamentable;

One day at a time, one month and one year, how can time pass easily, you can't see it, your heart is not over, you haven't done big things, it's terrifying, it's sad and pitiful.

After reading the couplet, I was shocked, and a cool breath rose from the middle of my backbone and went straight through my brain.

The ancients said: "A grain of rice in Buddhism is as big as Mount Meru." If you don't eat it, you can wear hair and horns! "If the monks do not practice and do not enlighten, they will turn into cattle and horses and repay the offerings of others!

Unconsciously, I was drenched in cold sweat, like a bath. The old monk's couplet made him frightened, and he couldn't help but repent of the empty time he had spent a year.

He obeyed the instructions of the old monk, made the straw nest into a futon, stood on his feet, erected an iron backbone, knotted his hands with meditation seals, and began to meditate.

After sitting cross-legged for two hours, the instep of my feet and the back of my calf overlap with the burning and burning sensation of the nerves coming from the nerves inside, as if I were on top of a stove, which is unbearable.

As soon as he wanted to move, the old monk who was lying on the bed with his eyes closed seemed to be an uncertain prophet, and coughed vigorously.

Qi was taken aback and didn't dare to act rashly.

The next night, the old monk urged him to sit in meditation again.

He said, "I'm really sleepy tonight, can I make up for it tomorrow night?" ”

The old monk smiled coldly and said, "People, I'm afraid that what I said doesn't count." ”

Qi heard his voice and asked, "Are you talking about me?" What did I say? ”

"Didn't you say to the idle Zen master: human life is between breaths, and if you can't get up in one breath, you will die with a whimper."

Qi was taken aback: "Oh, when I said this to Master, there was no third person present, how do you know?" ”

The old monk smiled incomprehensibly and said, "It doesn't matter how I know, the key is what you do." You must know Maitreya, right? ”

"Of course I do. Although he is a bodhisattva, he is a bodhisattva who has made up for his life, the successor of Shakyamuni, and the next main Buddha of the world of Suva, so he is called 'Maitreya Buddha in the next life.' ’”

"So, do you know that Maitreya Bodhisattva set out to practice a full forty eons earlier than Shakyamuni Buddha, why did he become a Buddha later?"

Qi blushed inexplicably.

The nameless monk continued: "Maitreya had a very early heart, and was a disciple of Manjushri with many other people, including the most famous Buddha of the Burning Lamp in the past. However, because he was slack and relaxed, he was not as diligent as Shakyamuni, so he was surpassed. You have to understand that if you don't advance, you will retreat. ”

The old monk obviously said Maitreya, but he was so ashamed that his cheeks were feverish and sweating profusely. He didn't say a word, crossed his legs and sat down.

He has practiced not falling down (i.e., not sleeping at night. sit on your knees all day long, day and night)? In addition, I didn't close my eyes last night, and I did another day's work during the day, and I insisted on sitting until the second half of the night with a spirit of bravery.

After that, the sleepy worms in his head could no longer be controlled, and they all ran out, so that his upper and lower eyelids kept fighting, his mouth yawned, and tears and snot flowed together......

So, he leaned back and back, swayed from side to side, and snooze from time to time.

He didn't know it, but the old monk lying on the bed had a foresight, and whenever he was just about to get confused, the Zen staff in his hand fell suddenly, knocking on the bald head of Qi here......

After only four or five nights, I have overcome the two major obstacles of lethargy and unrestful mind, and have entered a state of meditation that is like the autumn moon in a clear pond.

The mind dwells in this state of emptiness and purity, and a kind of peaceful pleasure arises spontaneously, so that not only will it not be tired, but it will be more energetic.

It turned out that the long night required hard work was only a moment.

No, after dinner, he began to meditate, and by the time he felt uncomfortable urinating during his meditation, it was already past midnight.

For three whole hours, in his impression, it was just a process of cross-legging and putting his legs down.

When he arrived at Toshi, he returned to his hut. The old monk had fallen asleep on the bed.

There was no longer any need for his supervision, because sitting meditation had become his greatest pleasure and highest level of enjoyment.

Before he stumbled and sat down, he couldn't help but glance at the sleeping old monk, and a thought couldn't help but arise in his heart: Hmph, you are still a senior, so relaxed!

I don't know if the old monk who was asleep magically sensed the psychology of this, he turned over, turned his back to the sky, and snored:

"Hmph...... Call...... Hum...... Whew......"

A series of thunderbolts rolled in his ears - the old monk's snoring, like a continuous thunder, disturbed him to sit still.

Because I can't settle down, I can't calm down my emotions and feel more and more irritable;

The spirit became more and more restless, and the mood became more and more troubled, so that I couldn't help but feel resentful in my heart, and wanted to buckle a stinky shoe on the old monk's snoring mouth......

At this time, even the rats in the house came to add to the chaos, running around, biting and fighting, disturbing the distraction and restlessness......

Early the next morning, the old monk yawned, stretched his waist, and asked how he was practicing at night.

Qi Zheng was not angry, and when he heard the old monk ask like this, his face turned blue with anger.

He unceremoniously grabbed Bai and said: "You still have the face to ask, you don't practice, and you still snore, so noisy that people can't meditate." ”

The old monk said, "You were so angry and angry last night that you almost put a stinky shoe on my old man's mouth. ”

"Oh my God, what is going on in my heart, how does he know?" Qi exclaimed in the bottom of his heart.

The old monk continued: "People and rats are chasing each other and playing, what is in your way, and it is also worthy of your resentment? ”

"God, the thought that flashed in his heart, the old monk can even perceive it, what kind of realm is this?"

Qi Qi's mouth opened into a big "O" shape - I was so surprised that I couldn't even scream!

The old monk didn't care whether his mouth could be closed or not, and continued to say in shock: "Your angry thoughts disturbed the two mice, and they panicked and ran away in a hurry, and squeezed through a small gap, although the mouse was not injured, but one of the fleas on its body was squeezed out of its leg and fell off. ”

As he spoke, the old monk walked to the place where the rats had run last night, and really picked up a flea from the ground and handed it to Qi to see.

I saw that the flea's leg was really broken!

The old monk said, "This flea's leg is broken, and it hurts so much that it barks all night, and I don't sleep well." ”

Oh my God, what an incredible realm!

The slightest movement in the outside world makes it impossible for me to concentrate on it: while people sleep with their heads covered, they are aware of everything around them. Even, even your mind is clearly observed, and it is clear! At this time, it can be said that he admired this nameless old monk so much.

The old monk said, "Well, don't think that people's minds are formless, and they don't have any material essence. You have to understand, don't say that you only know yourself in your heart, and a thought is earth-shattering! Not only does it affect your behavior, but it can really radiate out of your body and be detected by the outside world...... Therefore, practice must start from the mind, and the precepts of Mahayana Buddhism must also start from the mind. ”

Qi listened convincingly, and nodded vigorously.

The old monk said, "You said that my snoring was so disturbing that you couldn't practice. Cultivation should not only be practiced in stillness, but also in motion; It is necessary to cultivate not only while sitting, but also while walking and working. ”

I don't understand: "How to practice walking and working?" ”

"When you walk, you focus on walking, and when you work, you work wholeheartedly, that's practice! Even, even eating, sleeping, and, as long as you are fully focused and have no distractions, you are also practicing. You must know that as long as our minds are on the Tao, all our lives, all moments, we can practice, we are all cultivating! ”

It suddenly became clear. Since we can practice all the time, everyone will be able to see the nature of our minds and become enlightened.

Since then, he has truly established the confidence to become a Buddha and an ancestor.

Early the next morning, the prison found the dormitory where Qi was staying, saying that it was for heating in winter, and that there were too many people for the puja, so there was not enough firewood in the monastery, so he asked Qi to continue collecting firewood.

Collecting firewood is collecting firewood, anyway, you can practice everywhere, and whatever work you do is the same for Qi.

When preparing axes, ropes, poles and other tools for collecting firewood, the nameless old monk said: "You are gone, I am left alone, strange and lonely." ”

"Then let's go up the mountain together, the scenery on Tianluo Mountain is very beautiful."

"Well, I've been in this little shed of yours for half a month, and I want to take a look outside. However, my body is still very weak, and I am afraid that I will not be able to walk. ”

"It's okay, I can carry you on my back."