The monk Zhike led the way, followed closely by Guo Mo and Huang Rong, and arrived outside the Main Hall.
The Main Hall of Shaolin Temple is also known as the "Three Generations Buddha Hall" and the "Liu Li Hall". There are statues of the Three Generations of Buddhas enshrined in the hall.
In the center is Sakyamuni from the Saha world, flanked by two Bodhisattvas Manjusri and Samantabhadra. They are collectively called the "Three Saints of Huayan".
On the left is the Medicine Buddha of the Oriental Pure Glaze World, also known as the "Great Physician King", flanked by the two Bodhisattvas Sunlight and Moonlight, collectively known as the "Three Saints of the East".
On the right side is Amitabha Buddha in the Western Paradise, flanked by Avalokitesvara and Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva. They are collectively called the "Three Saints of the West".
Guo Mo also visited Shaolin Temple in his previous life, but the Main Hall at that time was built on the original site after the Ming Dynasty.
In comparison, it is not as solemn and solemn as the hall in front of you.
Guo Mo and Huang Rong came to the statue of Sakyamuni in the center and had everything they needed to kneel down and worship.
Burning incense is also a very particular thing.
You should hold the incense in your left hand and the candle in your right hand, because most people use their right hand to kill chickens and fillet fish (if you are left-handed, vice versa.)
Light the incense first. The more powerful the incense, the better. People often say that the incense is strong.
Hold the incense with your left hand at the top and your right hand at the bottom, raise it high above your head to bow, burn the incense and then kowtow.
When burning incense in the temple, the quantity is also particular.
Burning three sticks of incense means respecting the three treasures of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, and also represents the past, present and future three lives.
Three sticks pray for oneself, six sticks pray for two generations, and nine sticks pray for three generations.
Thirteen is the ultimate, and thirteen sticks of incense are the incense of perfect merit and virtue.
Guo Mo was a man of two generations. During his trip to Shaolin, he was still a little hesitant in his heart, for fear of attracting that powerful person.
So I chose the high fragrance of Thirteen Notes. Anyway, Guo Mo didn't care about getting a little more money for the scented oil.
Seeing that Guo Mo chose the high incense of the Thirteen Notes, Zhike Monk also attached great importance to it. It is really not very common for pilgrims to get the Thirteen Notes on weekdays.
Guo Mo respectfully, almost devoutly, knelt on the futon in front of the statue of Sakyamuni and muttered something while a monk from Zhike was assisting him.
At this time, Guo Mo was thinking a lot, but he didn't know what to pray for. Everything seemed so unreal, but Huang Rong was kneeling beside him.
After offering the incense, Guo Mo took out an ingot of gold from his arms, about ten taels of gold.
"Little master, this is a little bit of sesame oil money that Xiaosheng gave to your temple."
Zhike Monk took it over smoothly. Although he received countless guests offering incense all day long, it was rare to see someone as generous as Guo Mo.
After offering the incense, Zhike Monk took Guo Mo and Huang Rong to the Zen room to sit down and have tea.
"Little Master, Xiaosheng came from far away from Shandong. My mother was weak and sick in the past few years, and she has been bedridden. She has been looking for doctors everywhere, but she has not gotten better for many years."
"Fortunately, a traveling monk passed by last year, and he gave me acupuncture and medicine, and it took more than a month to heal."
"When asked about his name, he smiled and did not answer. He only said that he had been a guest at Zhongyue Shaolin Temple."
"Now that my mother is in good health, she has ordered Xiaosheng to travel thousands of miles to burn incense at the Shaolin Temple to fulfill her vow."
"Amitabha, I think the benefactor's mother must be a lucky person, and I am merciful." The monk Zhike once again clasped his hands together and recited the Buddha's name.
"Before leaving, my mother repeatedly told me that when I get to Shaolin, I must let Xiaosheng copy the scriptures by hand for nine days and offer them in front of the Buddha for her. I hope that the little master will fulfill her wish." Guo Mo also imitated the way of knowing the guest monk, using his hands.
Put your hands together in front.
"This... the young monk understands the donor's heart towards the Buddha," the monk Zhike wanted to refuse, but when he touched the heavy gold ingot in his arms, he couldn't help but hesitate.
As the saying goes: Monks don't love money, the more the better.
Guo Mo saw the other party's hesitation and said hurriedly: "I also want to listen to the morning bells and evening drums in your temple for a few days, bathe in the light of my Buddha, and before I leave, I will reshape my Buddha's golden body."
"Amitabha, it's not that this young monk doesn't want to, it's actually that this matter is not something that a young monk can decide." The monk who knew the guest bowed again and said, "Two benefactors, please wait a moment. I will report to the elders of the Ming Temple and I will give you an answer soon."
Then he asked Guo Mo and Huang Rong to have tea in the Zen room, and the monk Zhike left on his own.
"Mo... Young Master, what are you going to do? Do you really want to copy scriptures here?" Seeing Zhike Monk retreating, Huang Rong lowered her voice and asked in confusion.
Being in the Shaolin Temple, Guo Mo didn't dare to be careless, so he quickly signaled Huang Rong with his eyes, and then said loudly.
"Tong'er, you are aware of the old lady's instructions before leaving. Besides, I have longed for Buddhist classics for a long time. This time I just take this opportunity to pay more attention to them."
After a while, the door of the Zen room opened again from the outside, and the monk Zhike walked in, followed by an elderly monk.
I saw this monk, about fifty to sixty years old, with kind eyebrows and kind eyes. The beard under his chin was already half white. He only had two eyes, which were bright and clear, as if he could see through everything in the world.
"Amitabha, I have troubled you two benefactors to wait for a long time. I am the head of the Sutra Pavilion. I heard that the benefactor wants to copy sutras and worship the Buddha in this temple. I wonder if this is possible?"
As Zen Master Wuwang spoke, he looked at Guo Mo and Huang Rong.
"It turns out they are two kids who are good at martial arts. This kid's internal skills are extraordinary! Well, one of them is actually a little girl?"
Zen Master Wuwang, with his sharp eyes like a torch, immediately saw the details of the two of them without showing any emotion on his face.
"It turns out that it was Zen Master Wuwang of the Zangjing Pavilion who was in front of me. Xiaosheng Guo Mo was being polite." Guo Mo quickly stood up and saluted.
Guo Mo was keenly aware that the old monk in front of him must also be a master of both internal and external cultivation.
Although the current Shaolin Temple has been closed for hundreds of years and has not participated in the battles between rivers and lakes, the foundation accumulated over these hundreds of years is unparalleled by others.
Taking the old monk in front of him as an example, according to Guo Mo's judgment, his martial arts may have already reached the first-class level, and is not inferior to Ma Yu, the "Seven Masters of Quanzhen", and Qiu Chuji, the "Changchun Master".
Maybe it's higher, on the same level as "Dark Wind and Two Evils".
Guo Mo took out the same rhetoric he had told Zhike Monk before and told it to Zen Master Wuwu again.
Zen Master Wuwang listened quietly, with no expression of belief or disbelief on his face.
After Guo Mo finished speaking, Zen Master Wuwang asked abruptly: "Donor Guo, I wonder what that senior brother You Fang looks like?"
"Are you suspicious of me?" Guo Mo was slightly startled, and suddenly the image of a monk flashed in his mind, and he replied naturally.
"Returning to the old Zen Master, the wandering monk is quite unkempt, he drinks and eats a lot. He wears a flowered monk's hat, holds a broken cattail leaf fan in his hand, and always hangs a wine gourd around his waist."
"Xiaosheng also asked him why he was like this. Isn't it against the Buddhist precepts?"
"The wandering monk said, 'The wine and meat passed through the intestines, but they remained in the heart of the Buddha.'"
"Xiaosheng just felt that he was using strong words to make excuses for eating meat and drinking alcohol, so he retorted, 'In Buddhism, if everyone is like you, wouldn't it mean that all the precepts are lost and all descriptions are ruined?'"
"The wandering monk laughed again and replied, 'If people in the world learn from me, it will be like entering the devil's way.'"
"'Food and wine have gone through the intestines, but they remain in the heart of the Buddha. If the world imitates me, it will be like entering the devil's path.' Amitabha is worthy of being a Daoji brother, and I am worthy of him."