The Budai monk said earnestly: "Don't underestimate planting crops, this contains the great truth of life in the universe. ”

The young man was not convinced, and deliberately raised the bar and said, "Cloth bag monk, if you say so, planting crops also contains the Dharma!" ”

Several elderly people hurriedly scolded the young man, saying that he did not know the depths and defiled the Dharma. Unbeknownst to him, the Budai monk fully affirmed the young man's statement: "You are right, there is indeed Buddhism in the crops. ”

What? Can Growing Crops Grow Dharma?

All the peasants stared wide-eyed, not knowing what was hidden in his words. Monk Budai swore without being shocked, and simply said: "Actually, to put it bluntly, planting crops itself is the practice of Buddhism, and it is the embodiment of Buddhism. ”

When he saw that people's eyes were confused and they didn't know what to do, he patiently explained: "Buddhism is not something mysterious, it is the inner law of all things, the truth of life in the universe, and the law of nature. In the same way, everything itself is the manifestation and embodiment of the law. The Buddha Shakyamuni did not create the Dharma out of thin air, but discovered this Dharma, mastered this law, attained enlightenment, and became a Buddha. The wisdom of a Buddha is that because he corresponds to the law and body of all things, he is boundless, harmonious, and all-accessible. The teachings expounded in the Buddhist scriptures are not mysterious, but the true laws of the existence and development of life and all things in the universe. The growth of crops will inevitably follow objective laws; Therefore, the sowing, management, and harvesting of crops must also be in accordance with its laws in order to obtain a good harvest. In this sense, planting crops is practicing the Dharma. ”

After listening to the words of the Budai monk, those old farmers seemed to suddenly realize, and said again and again: "No wonder we, the farmers who have planted the land all our lives, are not as good as you, the monks, it turns out that you are using Buddhism to grow crops!" ”

The young man, thoughtfully, asked, "Master Budai, is planting crops the practice of Buddhism?" ”

The words spoken by the Budai monk were very peculiar. He said, "If I'm planting crops, I'm cultivating. Moreover, not only am I cultivating crops, but I am also practicing when I eat and sleep. ”

Even eating and sleeping are you practicing? People don't believe it anyway.

Monk Budai explained: "No matter what you do, as long as you concentrate and do the thing at hand well, you are practicing." This kind of concentration and distraction is the state in which we meditate. Zen Master Huang Bai Xiyun said: 'Carrying water and firewood is nothing more than a Buddhist thing. I once heard a Zen monk who traveled from Heshuo say that Huang Bai's eldest disciple, who founded the Rinzai sect in Zhenzhou, said that the practice of Buddhism is more direct, saying that eating and sleeping are practice, isn't it very reasonable? ”

The young man came to his senses and said, "Master, like you, I also grow crops every day, sleep and eat every day, that is, I am practicing the Dharma?" ”

But Budai said, "I am, and you are not." ”

"That's so strange, it's the same crops, the same eating and sleeping, why are you cultivating and others aren't?" The young man spoke out about everyone's thoughts.

Monk Budai said with a smile: "We monks, especially those who practice meditation, do everything with our minds settled in the present moment, single-mindedly, and with full attention; And you ordinary people are always half-hearted and distracted. There is an essential difference between the two. Therefore, when you receive the teachings, you have to practice them, and then you practice. In other words, only by implementing practice in every corner of life, in every moment of words and deeds, can we realize the sublimation and transcendence of Zen. ”

"Oh......" The young man looked at the cloth bag monk and laughed inexplicably.

"Oh, you're big!" The cloth bag monk flicked his head lightly.

The young man said, "Master, let me tell you, you are a monk, you run around all day long, don't meditate, don't recite scriptures, as if you don't do your job. It turns out that you are practicing all the time! ”

The cloth bag monk smiled incomprehensibly, without affirmation or denial.

……

Although Liu Hanhong, the observer of eastern Zhejiang, had prosperous official fortunes and was promoted to the envoy of the Yisheng Festival, he was a stupid bear with courage and no strategy.

He is ambitious and mediocre, and he has been fighting with Dong Chang, the assassin of Hangzhou, for four years, and he is invincible, and he must fight every defeat.

God seems to be trying to trick him, but he created a resourceful opponent - Dong Chang's general, the commander of the army and horses.

This Qian Biao uses soldiers, and he is unpredictable, and he can always surprise and attack him unprepared. With the strength of just one state, he resisted the attack of seven states in eastern Zhejiang, and he was at ease, and gradually exhausted Liu Hanhong's strong troops and strong financial resources, leaving only an empty frame of foreign strength and middle cadres.

Dong Chang said to Qian Biao: "If the general can capture Yuezhou and occupy the entire eastern Zhejiang, I will give you Hangzhou." ”

Qian Biao smiled and said confidently: "How dare you disobey the king's order?" I'm not coveting a Hangzhou city, but Yuezhou has reached a time when the wind and rain are shaking, we have to beat the water dogs, and we can't wait for Liu Hanhong to slow down and bite us again. ”

Qian Biao did not attack directly from Xiaoshan, which was the shortest distance, to Yuezhou, because, in the entire northwest direction from Yuezhou to Hangzhou, Liu Hanhong set up a defensive line and laid countless heavy troops.

Unwittingly, Qian Biao transported the army from Hangzhou to Zhuji, southwest of Yuezhou, from where he quietly carved mountains and opened roads for hundreds of miles, directly forcing them to Pingshui (only 20 kilometers away from Yuezhou).

When Qian Biao's army seemed to fall from the sky and suddenly appeared in Cao'e Dai in the east of Yuezhou, the guard general Bao Junfu was dumbfounded, as if in a dream, and disarmed and surrendered.

As a result, Yuezhou City was directly exposed to the iron hooves of Qian Biao's war horse, and his horse whip pointed out, and his tiger and wolf army pounced on the empty city......

Liu Hanhong abandoned the city and fled, leading the remnants of the defeated army to retreat all the way to the south. His army fought with Qian Biao, and everyone was bastard, but the robbery of the common people was more vicious than the other. From Yuezhou to Taizhou, they burned and looted all the way, and looted the homes along the way!

The miserable people called the heavens and the earth to be unlucky, so they could only take their wives and children, leave their homes, and flee in all directions......

The Budai monk looked at the swarming refugees, and there was nothing left to do except set up a porridge shed at the intersection of Yuelinzhuang and give a bowl of gruel to the people who had fled in the past - there was no place nearby where he could build a levee to enclose the sea and make fields, and even if he could still make fields, it would be far away to quench the thirst of the near-sighted, and could not relieve the thousands of displaced people at present.

He was ashamed. As a Buddhist disciple, his heart was as bitter as if he was soaking in the sea as if he were soaking in the sea as if he were struggling on the front lines of death.

He carried the cloth bag with a Zen staff and walked aimlessly through the mountains behind Yue Linzhuang. Alas, exactly:

Cangshan Rudai,

The remnant sun weeps blood,

The street child lingers in the twilight,

A sigh is like a whimper.

The wind is miserable,

The tide of the sea,

The Broken Intestine Man has fallen to the end of the world,

What a "bitter" word!

Before you know it, the Budai monk has approached the top of the mountain.

This is the place where the mysterious old monk with boundless wisdom mysteriously disappeared and left his cloth bag.

As if there was something in the dark, he almost instinctively looked at the top of the mountain where the old monk had inserted his Zen staff-

So, as the sun set down, a small pine tree burned like a torch in his eyes—for he could not believe that a living pine tree could grow from the big smooth stone!

He stepped forward and found that this pine tree was actually the Zen staff that the nameless old monk had planted here!

Although it has grown branches and needles, the shape of the trunk is clearly the shape of the Zen staff.

Like a ray of golden sunlight piercing through the dark clouds in the sky, the Budai monk had a clear mind in his heart, he folded his hands and murmured to the sky: "Nan Wu Great Wisdom Manjushri Bodhisattva." ”

After saluting the three salutes, he began to pick the long, thin, distinctly distinctive, and very strange pine needles from the small pine trees.

He kept picking in his hand, and his mouth recited the Zhun Ti mantra over and over again: "Nan Wusa Murmuring the Three Bodhisattvas and the Three Bodas are muttering to the nephew and nephew, and he is the main and the Zhun Ti Suo Po He." Nan Wu Sa, San, Sanbodha, Ku Xuan, ......"

He plucked all the pine needles from the tree, put them in his cloth bag, and walked down the mountain.

The sunset has fallen on the western mountain, and the earth is vast, only the sound of the sea in the distance is still there, like a lonely soul, pouring out something to the diffuse night.

Carrying his cloth bag, the monk quietly came to the beach, picked up the sea green (the long gown worn by the monks), and walked step by step into the soft muddy water. He opened the sack and sprinkled pine needles on the mudflats as he recited the miraculous mantra of Tzu that he had used to sprinkle yellow sand......

Early the next morning, those who came to the beach to dig small clams, catch small crabs, and touch tidal flat fish to catch small seas were suddenly surprised! Because they saw that the original tidal flats were overgrown with moss overnight. They either float with the tide or are rooted in the seabed, and as far as the eye can see, the entire tidal flat is a shiny green.

People only know that lichens grow in fresh water, but how have they ever seen moss grow in the ocean? What's going on? They didn't know what to do, and even Xiaohai didn't dare to rush it.

At this time, the Budai monk appeared.

He took off his straw sandals, plopped and plopped through the sea, and happily picked the lichen plants on the mudflats. Look at his dancing and happy appearance, as if he has picked up some treasure!

People couldn't help but shout curiously, "Master Budai, what is that?" What are you picking those green clothes for? ”

The Budai monk kept busy with his hands, as if he had no time to answer people, until they asked again and again, and then he said: "This is not your usual freshwater green clothes, but precious seaweed." ”

"These seaweeds look inconspicuous, what is there to treasure?" The Budai monk finally straightened his waist and held a handful of seaweed in his hand, "The mushrooms on the ground and the Taiwanese vegetables in the sea are all rare delicacies in the world." Wash it, make soup, or blanch it with boiling water and mix it cold, it tastes delicious! ”

Some people didn't believe it and said: "This seaweed is no different from Tsing Yi, and it must be tasteless when chewed." ”

At this time, the Budai monk had already picked a large handful of seaweed and returned to the shore, and he said, "If you don't believe me, you can follow me back to Yuelinzhuang to give it a try." When the time comes, as long as you smell the smell, I'm afraid you'll swallow your tongue in your stomach! ”

The people, who were already very curious, had already been amused by him, so they followed him in a big way.

The cloth bag monk was busy in the kitchen of Yuelinzhuang for a while, and really brought out a large pot of cold seaweed.

He gave people a pair of chopsticks and let them all try them.

However, everyone looks at me, I look at you, and no one dares to try the first bite.

The cloth bag monk smiled, and he first forked a large chopstick, chewing it deliciously.

So, people followed cautiously and tried a little bit.

After tasting the first bite, I felt that the taste was very unique, with the freshness of the seafood and the mellow aroma of the mountain delicacies.

People couldn't help but have a big appetite, and they snatched a large pot of seaweed by dividing it by two.

Almost on the same night, dozens of miles of vast seaweed near Yuelinzhuang grew a large area of seaweed, green, green, and vibrant.

Those refugees who have no land to grow and no job have rushed to the sea to collect seaweed, and in addition to eating it themselves, they also take it to the market and inland to sell it in exchange for some food.

The cloth bag monk told everyone that fresh seaweed can be divided into a thread and dried in the sun to make moss strips, so that it can be stored for a long time and transported for long distances.

From then on, those refugees who have lost their living capital can find a way to survive as long as they rely on their own hard work to collect, process, and sell seaweed.

As a result, these humble seaweeds feed thousands of displaced people......

Since then, seaweed has become a famous product in eastern Zhejiang.

The small seaweed was included in the royal tribute ranks, and every year it was sent to distant Chang'an for the emperor Lao Tzu to taste.

Strange to say, China's maritime territory is vast, and there are countless large and small tidal flats, but there are only a handful of areas rich in seaweed, and the few are pitiful; Moreover, the quality of seaweed produced in other places cannot be compared with "Xiangshan seaweed".

……

After drinking Laba porridge, the annual Spring Festival is approaching, and the villagers near Yuelinzhuang remember the benefits that the owner of the big-bellied village has done to them in the past year, so they all came to the Grange and invited the Budai monk to have a meal at home to express their gratitude.

Hundreds of households you also invite, I also make an appointment, no matter how big the owner's belly is, he can't eat them all.

What's more, monks do not eat at noon and cannot fast for dinner.

There are only ten days left until the Chinese New Year, that is to say, the Budai monk only goes to a dozen villagers' homes to go to fasting at most.

So, every day at noon, in order to pull him to their own house for dinner, some dragged their arms, some hugged their legs, you fought for it, I took it back, and the cloth bag monk was almost divided by five horses!

Early in the morning of this day, eight families came to Yuelinzhuang one after another to invite the Budai monk.

And he didn't refuse a word, he agreed to it one by one!

Oh my God, how do you go to eight homes at the same time to fast at noon? Could it be that you have a doppelganger?

Those who received the personal consent of the Budai monk felt that they were very lucky, and they went home to prepare the fast.

Monks don't eat meat, and the big fish and meat that the Zhuang family likes are useless, so some of those families went to a tofu house to beat tofu.

Being able to invite a cloth bag monk to his home is a very long-faced and honorable thing.

They came uninvited, and they all claimed that the tofu was made to set up a vegetarian diet for the Budai monks.

The young man who sells tofu is both strange and puzzled: how can you be a Budai monk alone, how can you go to so many people's houses at the same time to eat fast?

Near noon, he couldn't suppress the curiosity in his heart, and quietly hid at a crossroads leading to the village from Yuelinzhuang, bent on finding out how the Budai monk went to the appointment.

After a while, I saw the cloth bag monk walking out of the grange.

When he reached the crossroads, he suddenly split into three, and there was a cloth bag monk walking on each road.

Tofu Lang thought he was dazzled, and rubbed it vigorously, but what he saw was still three cloth bag monks!

Moreover, every time he walked to a fork in the road leading to the village owner's house, the cloth bag monk would be divided into two and three, and he would be divided into seven or eight cloth bag monks successively!

Originally, people had been speculating that the Budai monk was not an ordinary person, but it has not been confirmed.

Now, after listening to the story of Tofu Lang, the villagers think back and forth and recall many incredible things about the Budai monk. People have said that the Budai monk has great magical powers and is the lower realm of the Buddha and Bodhisattva......

The next day, many people came to visit Yuelinzhuang in the name of inviting the cloth bag monk to fast. However, they all pounced.

What about the cloth bag monk? What about the big-bellied owner? What about the mysterious living Buddha? Long gone......

……