The prince asked Fan Ling, "Who is this?" Why did some people scatter fragrant flowers on him, but many cried and sent them away? ”

Fan Ling had no choice but to answer silently because he was instructed by Zhang Si.

Seeing that Sang Hou was silent, the prince asked several times in a row.

Fan Ling had no choice but to reply respectfully, "This is a dead man." ”

The prince asked again, "What is death?" ”

Fan Ling said: "The so-called death is like the dissolution of the sword, and the divine consciousness is gone, and the upper and lower limbs and various organs of the person are no longer conscious. When this person was alive, he was greedy and clinging to the five desires, cherished money, worked hard, and only knew how to accumulate wealth, but did not understand the impermanence of fate. Now once you give up these possessions, power, and status to die happily, but you are loved and missed by your parents, relatives, and dependents, so there are these people who cry behind you. However, after the end of a person's life, just like grass and trees, the so-called kindness and dislike in the world are no longer related to him. To die like this is indeed a very sad thing. ”

When the prince heard this, he was greatly touched, and an abnormal horror suddenly enveloped his whole body. He trembled and asked Fan Lingdao, "Only this person will die, or will everyone else die as well?" ”

Fan Ling replied, "All people in the world should die, no matter whether they are high or low, they cannot escape. ”

The prince is quiet and quiet, and it is rare for him to have anything to do in normal times, but this time after listening to Fan Ling's words, he suddenly felt very uneasy, and his heart was worried, like there were fifteen hanging buckets, seven up and eight down.

He whispered to Fan Ling: "Since there is the pain of death in the world, why do people still do so many indulgent, comfortable and happy things in it? The human heart is really like wood and stone, and I don't know a little fear and terror! ”

The crown prince immediately ordered the servants who were driving to hurry back to the palace.

The servant who drove replied, "The prince went out of the city on the first two occasions, and before he had yet to go out into the wilderness, he returned halfway, which made the king very angry and angry, and caused us to be punished. ”

When Fan Ling heard the servant who was driving the car, he felt that it made sense, so he persuaded the prince to go further, go to the wilderness for a while, and then go back. The prince reluctantly agreed.

In the wild, in the dense jungle, hundreds of birds are singing, thousands of flowers are splendid, the grass is delicate because of the blue color, the flowing spring is beautiful for the green mountains, the breeze blows each other, the warm sun is like playing, the mountains and rivers are as in the past, lying peacefully in the spring glow of full of vitality in March.

The prince settled down with a trembling heart, and he sat down in thought among the trees, and then he fell into a deep state of thought, and all the noise and turmoil of the outside world seemed to have nothing to do with him.

In the context of his thoughts, he seemed to feel that he had sat under the tree at some point, as if he had been far away from the realm of desire......

When Fan Ling saw the prince sitting down, he stepped forward and said to the prince: "The king has ordered me to be friends with the prince, and if we have mutual gains and losses, we must enlighten each other, or encourage them, or persuade them to make corrections. There are three ways to make friends: first, when you see a friend's mistakes, you must dissuade them and explain the reason; 2. When you see that your friends have good deeds and do good deeds, you should follow your friends to complete them; 3. Friends have pain and disaster, don't give up on each other. Now that you have a problem, I owe it to me, as a friend, to give my true opinion, and if my words are offensive, I hope you will not be offended. In the past, monks would first abstain from the pleasures of the five desires before becoming monks. Prince, why do you want to cut off the pleasures of the world forever and disdain them? Besides, in the world, you should follow people's feelings, do your best, and walk humanely, throughout the ages, no matter which king, no matter which one, has not given up the country and learned the Tao, I hope that the prince can accept the five desires, give up the idea of becoming a monk, and inherit the throne after a hundred years of the king, in order to share the worries of the king's family and country. ”

When the prince heard this, he replied, "There is some truth in what you say. The reason why I don't accept the pleasure of the five desires is because I am afraid of the pain of old age, sickness, and death, so I don't dare to be greedy for love and attachment. ”

After the prince finished speaking, he still sat silently. Fan Ling exhausted all his wisdom and eloquence, but he could not make the prince change his mind.

……

Zhang Si knew that the prince's heart for cultivation was becoming more and more firm, and although he was worried day and night, he also knew that this was the will of heaven and could not be reversed by manpower, so there was no other way than distress.

However, for the sake of the future of the society, Zhang Si still came up with many ways to entertain the prince, hoping that in case, he would one day break off the idea of becoming a monk.

In the eyes of the world, no one can escape the temptation of beauty, not to mention ordinary people, even the most intelligent and virtuous people, they have also abandoned their own practice because of beauty, therefore, every time the prince comes back, Zhang Si has arranged many gentle and graceful singers and dancers to serve the prince, so that the prince is moved to love and return to the world.

But the prince was never moved.

When the prince enters the time, he always sees many beautiful and colorful singers and dancers singing and dancing in the splendid palace, and always surrounds the left and right, like the swallow is light, the warbler is delicate and soft, and the warm fragrance is full of hugs, which is very joyful.

However, the world is impermanent, and in the blink of an eye, these pink beauties have become goosebumps, and there is nothing beautiful and moving; These carved beams have become broken walls, which only adds to the senseless sentimentality.

Based on this, the prince thought: When we come to the world, we are inevitably old, sick, and die, everyone is approaching aging and death day by day, thousands of years are like a moment, life is soft and brittle, like a dream, isn't it sad and sad! If you indulge in the five desires all day long, you will be no different from an ignorant beast. It is a pity that the world regards this ephemeral phenomenon as eternal and real, and is this not the attachment of ignorance and ignorance? The world is like a huge sea of suffering, and there are various processes and phenomena of old age, sickness, and death in the sea of suffering.

In this way, the prince bears the great pain of the world and settles into the boundless sea of troubles.

There is a saying: the bitter sea is boundless, and turning back is the shore. Where is the shore?

Since realizing the pain of birth, old age, sickness and death, and the vagaries of the world, the prince no longer has such illusory images as the vagaries of fate.

However, this shore needs the prince to find the answer himself.

The prince is deeply immersed in a boundless sea of distress because he cannot find an answer.

……

What is the purpose of life? What is the meaning of life? People are like a lonely boat in the vast sea, allowing the impermanent waters to drift them to the aimless distance. Since the third trip, the prince is still sullen when he comes back, and Zhang Si knows that the prince's idea of becoming a monk is getting deeper and deeper. But apart from the alcoholic woman, Zhang Si didn't know what other way to tie up the prince's wandering heart.

……

Spring goes to spring, and the years are merciless. In March, the crown prince said to his father: "Take advantage of the spring in the earth, spring flowers are in full bloom, and you want to go to the suburbs for a spring outing." ”

Zhang Si thought to himself: The last three times the emperor deliberately arranged to alarm the people, etc., resulting in rampant incidents, this time ......

"Father, do you agree or disagree? Did you say something? The crown prince raised his voice an octave, thinking that his father had not heard him.

"Oh......" The prince's voice was an octave high, just like a spring thunder, which woke Zhang Si from his contemplation.

The prince repeated what he had just said to Zhang Si.

"Hmm." Zhang Si nodded, which was considered to be an agreement.

So, the prince happily jumped on his horse, followed the chariot simply, and only took the scholar Fan Ling with him, and went on his fourth trip.

This time, the prince went out through the north gate, and although the street was still gorgeous, there was not much joy and strangeness in the prince's eyes.

Out of the north gate, walking by the reins, until he came to the outskirts, to a lush woods, the prince got off his horse, rested under the tree, he looked at the sky, the sky was still blue, the sun shone well on his head, the miraculous power of nature soothed the prince's hungry heart. A gust of spring breeze blew gently, and the prince suddenly felt his heart suddenly clear.

The prince waved his attendant away, and came alone under a Yanfu tree, where he sat and fell into deep thought...... The painful situations of old age, sickness, and death that I had seen in the past were reflected in my mind one by one.

Life is fleeting, everything is changing, but no one knows what it is for. Are these phenomena real, such as the rise and fall of human life, the cycle of change, and the endless end? The prince could not answer.

He thought: Before there is no answer, people are not vigilant, do not suffer for the transience of life, and still bustle to come for profit, go for profit, until they harm their own body and do not care. What a sorrow! Although I have seen through the great sea of suffering in this world, and although I have realized that I cannot rise and fall like the rest of the world, the great work of overcoming the fleeting years of youth, surrendering the karmic obstacles of aging, sickness, and death that cause the suffering of life, and seeking the path to liberation and reaching the other side of bliss is not what I am capable of doing now. However, I should explore it, I should complete it, I should save the thousands of beings who are drowning in the sea of suffering, including myself......

Just as the prince was thinking like this, suddenly, a monk wearing a dharma robe came from a distance.

The monk held a bowl in one hand and a tin staff in the other, looked down at the road, and walked in front of the prince.

The prince stood up and asked respectfully, "Who are you?" ”

The monk replied, "I am a monk. ”

The prince asked, "What do the bhikshus do?" ”

The bhikshu replied, "A bhikshu is a monk who has become a monk and has practiced the path of enlightenment. When we become monks and practice, we can get rid of the shackles of life's troubles, so we are called bhikshus. In fact, people in the world know that life is fragile and unpredictable. But they didn't think about how to find liberation; We are different, we have lived in seclusion in the mountains and forests for many years, far away from the hustle and bustle, cut off the suffering of the five desires such as fame, fortune and wealth in the world, and have neither anger nor love and evil, what we seek is the road of liberation that is immortal, and we have entered the realm of no beginning and no end. Magic is not born, the state of mind is not born, all beings are one, and all dharmas are equal, this is the practice of bhikshus. ”

When the prince heard this, he suddenly felt that it was exactly what he was thinking, and he was full of joy. He thought, "I am asking for the path of liberation to benefit all sentient beings, but I don't know how to do it." I happened to meet this monk today, and it was really a blessing......

Just as the prince was about to inquire further about the specific steps of the practice, the monk suddenly disappeared at some point.

The prince raised his eyes and looked around, except for the attendant Fan Ling, there was no one in the empty field.

Although the prince felt a little disappointed, since he had met this monk and heard about the merits and causes of the monk's ordination, it was actually the monk who pointed out to him a path to liberation, and this is exactly what the prince had always hoped for, so the prince was very happy, no, to exaggerate, it was a mixture of joy and sorrow.

"Good, good, heaven and earth, only this is the greatest, the most wonderful, I want to leave home to practice, to seek this path of liberation." The prince muttered to himself.

At this time, the sun was slanting in the west, and the twilight smoke was rising, and the prince untied the reins of his horse, jumped up, and then went back to the palace.

When the prince returned to the palace, he was overjoyed in his heart, and as he walked briskly, he hurriedly muttered, "When I used to go out of the city, I saw the pain of old age, sickness, death, and so on, and I was worried about being persecuted by these phenomena day and night. ”

At that moment, the crown prince secretly made up his mind in his heart: I must become a monk like that monk, and I must find an opportunity to run away from home (I will not press the list here).

Let's say that after Zhang Si saw the prince return to the palace, he saw that the prince's face was happy, his steps were brisk, and his heart was overjoyed - the joy was that the prince usually went out and went home with a sad face, but this time he was very happy, which made Zhang Si, who was a father, also happy; Surprisingly, the prince usually has some strange ideas, so he is always worried, and this time he ran home so happily, there must be something strange hidden in it.

So, Zhang Si asked Fan Ling: "When the prince went out today, did he encounter any happy things?" ”

Fan Ling replied: "The prince went out today, the road is clean, and there is nothing unlucky. When he arrived in the wilderness on the outskirts, the prince scolded Fan Ling and sat alone under the tree. After a while, I saw from afar a man with a beard and hair that had been shaved off, dressed in dyed clothes, walking up to the prince, and after talking to the prince for a while, the man without hair and beard went away like a gust of wind. But I don't know what they said. So the prince rode back. At that time, the prince's expression was extremely happy, but it was only when he arrived in the palace that he became a little quieter. ”

When Zhang Si heard these words, he was very suspicious, and he couldn't figure out what the benefits of the appearance of the bald man were, so he couldn't help but feel a little annoyed, and thought of what he inadvertently said when the prince fell to the ground, "It seems that the emperor is destined for the Buddha!" At that sentence, I couldn't help but stay in the palace, and said to myself: I'm afraid the prince is really going to give up his family to learn Taoism, I have to tell his wife to keep an eye on him and not let him go out; At the same time, the guards must be strengthened, and the prince must not run away from home quietly.

Zhang Si immediately ordered all the military ministers to strictly guard the city gate, and added many sentry posts in the palace, always watching the prince's every move. The crown princess also followed the instructions to live, sit and lie down, and never leave the prince's side.

……

In seven days, the crown prince will ascend the throne and become the king of a country. It was already nighttime, and the prince was still staying in his room as usual, the princess was by the prince's side every step of the way, and the maids were coming in and out like meteors, so that the prince did not have a single gap to act randomly.

Seven days later, the crown prince will be able to ascend the throne, and Zhang Si couldn't be happier when he thought that this day was coming soon. But Zhang Si knew that the prince's determination to become a monk was as firm as a rock. But in the past seven days, the crown prince did not take any action, did not move any sound, still read as usual, did his daily homework, and spent most of his time still meditating and meditating, without the slightest intention of escaping the palace and becoming a monk......