"Looking through Buddhist classics, we find that Buddhas and Bodhisattvas often came from rich families. Poor monks and poor monks are not poor monks. It is a kind of self-effacement combined with the culture of the Central Plains.
As we all know, the Buddha was a prince, Venerable Kassapa was also from a distinguished family, and although Master Xuanzhuang was not as described in Journey to the West, he was indeed not from an ordinary family.
Because in that era, ordinary people had no chance to read, read or receive education. The master of modern Zen Buddhism, the old monk Xuyun, also came from a family of officials. It is precisely because of this condition that they were able to learn and generate ideas from an early age.
The first thing a cowherd boy thinks about is filling his stomach, not where he is coming from. He just wants to finish herding the cows and go home as soon as possible. His highest ideal may be to own his own cow.
There is a saying called becoming a monk halfway, which has a certain derogatory meaning. It means that something unexpected happened and you can no longer survive in reality, or you want to escape from reality and use Buddhism as a way to escape from the world.
In fact, Buddhism is not like this. Many Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and eminent monks did not become monks because their lives were difficult. On the contrary, they often have happy families, have shown their wisdom roots since childhood, and have formed a bond with the Buddha.
Because he first ensured that he had enough food and clothing before he could start thinking about more profound issues.
They also shoulder the responsibility of passing on the family lineage, and many of them are also married. For example, Venerable Kasyapa and Master Xuyun all share the same room with different beds after marriage.
Of course, in modern times, if you want to become a monk, you should not accept the orders of your parents and delay other women. But in the past, women rarely existed as independent individuals. No matter how great the thinker was, there were limitations of the times, so modern standards cannot be used.
judge.
In general, after he has thought, he is able to put down his wealth and wealth, give up the enjoyment of love, and transcend the ordinary needs of mortals, which makes him more valuable. He is not converted or forced, but voluntarily.
Novels, movies, and TV dramas always have to find a reason for becoming a monk, and Tang Monk’s life experience was also very miserable. Novels, movies, and TV dramas must create contradictions for artistic effect, but the fact is that people have liked it since they were young.
We should do everything because we like it. So there is no need to escape into Buddhism because reality is not what you want, and you cannot use the mentality of escaping to learn Buddhism. Since you want to escape, it means you have not let go. How can you enter Buddhism without letting go?"
The group of tour guides listened very carefully, and they didn’t feel tired on the mountain road.
Long Teng looked at him. Was he afraid that she would not be able to come down after going up the mountain?
He Huan meant this. Jizu Mountain is very spiritual. Many people go up and never come down, but many people just hate the world and avoid the world. After accompanying her to Jizu Mountain, she also wants to take her to more places! There is so much in this world.
Beautiful!
"So Buddhism, or all religions, can only be accessed by rich people at the beginning, and the children of rich people become interested. Then they pass it on to ordinary people and form relationships with all living beings. Buddhism is about joining the world, not escaping from it."
A group of people around him nodded.
"Organizing the classics and confirming the authentic editions is the greatest contribution of Venerable Kasyapa to Buddhism. Otherwise, future generations can blame the Buddha on whatever they say.
This first disciple did a perfect thing for the Buddha and Buddhism after the Buddha passed away. With the collection of authentic texts, Buddhism has developed to this day and has a theoretical basis for inheritance.
In addition to his overall contribution to Buddhism, Kassapa is known as the No. 1 Tutu and adheres to the arduous way of practice. Most of the precepts followed by Buddhism in the Central Plains today were passed down by Kassapa.
Although Kasyapa compiled the classics, he emphasized meditation and enlightenment. Meditation means sitting in meditation, holding flowers and smiling, which is enlightenment. Therefore, Kasyapa is revered as the first ancestor of Zen.
Before the Buddha passed away, he handed over his robe and mantle to Kassapa and told him to hand it over to him when the future Buddha came to this world. Before he passed away, Kassapa passed on the true Dharma to Ananda. Then he carried the cassock to the feet of the chicken in accordance with the Buddha's instructions.
Mountain.
I make a vow: I will use my supernatural power to make my body indestructible. Sixty-seven billion years from now, when Maitreya is born, he will visit here and I will pass on the mantle and bowl of Sakyamuni to him, thus fulfilling the cause and destiny of this great event.
After Kasyapa completed his oath, he opened the stone cliff and made a stone door. He took the tooth relic and the golden cassock, entered it to meditate, and closed the stone door with the power of his great vow.
This is the Huashou Gate of Jizu Mountain, where Maitreya Buddha is the future Buddha. Since then, Jizu Mountain has become a place of practice for many Buddhists who practice asceticism and abide by the precepts."
A lama came up with three steps and one kowtow. Regardless of other people's opinions or the dust on the ground, he bowed his head to the ground and focused on measuring with his body, pursuing his Dharma and getting close to his Buddha.
Only the dark red sarcoma on his head showed the difficulty of his journey. The sarcoma was similar to the one on the head of Venerable Kasyapa.
Of course, others don't look at me with curiosity, only admiration.
He Huan and Long Teng stood on the roadside and let him pass first.
Other pilgrims and tourists also stood on the roadside.
"This kind of scene is relatively common in XZ, and these devout believers are often lamas and Tibetans. He came from the north with three steps and one kowtow. It took him at least two or three months to get here. The Buddha is already in front of him.
.”
Everyone rejoiced for him.
Several pilgrims and tourists followed He Huan and Long Teng, entering temples whenever they saw them, worshiping Buddha when they encountered them, and rejoicing in their merits.
"Rejoicing is not only to accumulate merit for oneself, but also to rejoice in the merits of others." He Huan explained to Long Teng.
"Nowadays, many monasteries have used QR codes as a way to rejoice. Many people say: Can the Buddha receive it like this?"
The pilgrims and tourists who followed him laughed.
He Huan also smiled and said: "Don't worry, Buddha is already online. But I couldn't receive gold, silver, and copper coins before, and then I couldn't receive banknotes and coins, and now I can't receive them through Alipay and WeChat.
Buddha never accepts money. As a prince, he doesn't want the wealth of a country, so what does he want?"
"Then where did the merit money go?" a tourist asked.
"These merit money are mainly used for temples and monks. The three treasures of Buddhism, Dharma and Sangha, real monks practice hard and only need to meet their basic needs.
Merit money has cause and effect, and true monasteries and Buddhists will never use it indiscriminately. As the saying goes, 'A grain of rice from a donor is as big as Mount Sumeru. If you can't pay it back in this life, you can pay it back in a coat of hair and a horn.'
So if you believe it, there is no problem if you make offerings to real monks, it is a meritorious deed. The problem is not the method of payment, but the recipient.
Nowadays, many temples in our country have become commercialized, especially some famous mountain temples, which are managed by companies. Many golden Buddhas were built by companies, and those merit boxes were set up by companies. Some companies are even listed on the market.
Because ordinary people do not understand Buddha, they worship all kinds of gods and Buddhas, and they feel more efficacious when they see the golden Buddha. The incense in front of these Buddhas is the most prosperous, and the merit boxes are the fullest, but those expensive incense flowers, paper candles and merit boxes
It's the company's.
Many monks do not do it to practice Buddhism, but to make a profit. They turn being a monk into a job and receive a salary. So be happy, if you just want to be happy, it doesn’t matter who uses it. If you do it for merit, you still have to do it.
Learn to tell the difference.”
Everyone nodded.
"What about Jizu Mountain?" a tourist asked.
"Relatively speaking, Jizu Mountain is still a pure place for Buddhism. During the Spring Festival of the past two years, there was a conflict between the temples on the mountain and the tourism company. In order to protest against the tourism company taking advantage of the Buddha to make money, all the temples in the mountain closed their doors and conducted a seven-day meditation.
Jizu Mountain is the ashram of the Venerable Kassapa, and the monks are still mainly Toutu who meditate and practice asceticism. This obviously conflicts with the commercial interests of the tourism company.
Nowadays, many famous religious mountains have become scenic spots and have become profit-making tools. For example, Wenfeng Temple does not charge entrance fees because there are few people. But the incense here is prosperous, so it is profitable.
There are many famous mountain monks in the world. In the past, only travelers like Xu Xiake and literati traveled everywhere. Now that everyone is traveling, we cannot require everyone to believe in Buddhism.
Can’t people who don’t believe in Buddhism go up the mountain to see the scenery? Although it is true that many people come here for the famous Buddhist mountains, there are also many people who just come to climb the mountain to see the scenery or even watch the excitement.
If you are willing to walk to worship Buddha, but some people are unwilling to walk to worship Buddha, then you need to build roads, cableways, sightseeing cars, ride horses, and carry sedans. Some people may despise it, but are you afraid of being tired when worshiping Buddha?
However, many people worship Buddha and do not believe in religion, and some of them do not come to worship Buddha, or they just come to worship Buddha. In short, there were more believers in the past, but now there are more tourists. Don’t ask for connotation, just go wherever you hear it is beautiful and spiritual.
"
Long Teng looked at him, "Why do I think you are here?"
He Huan smiled, pulled her hand, and quickly let go, "I didn't tell you. Even so, there is nothing wrong. Because in the past, ordinary people were too busy guarding one-third of an acre of their own land, so famous mountains and rivers were given to monks and Taoists.
Practiced.
Now that you have the opportunity to go out, how can you stop people from coming to visit and play? When people come, they will come to do business, how can you stop them? This is all about the country.
But when people come and money comes, it is detrimental to spiritual practice. Therefore, monks and monasteries in some places have been completely corporatized and cannot be considered a pure place of Buddhism at all.
The various monasteries and monks in Jizu Mountain still want to maintain this pure land. For them, they may only want Buddhists and people with predestined relationships to come and practice in peace."
Several pilgrims and tourists followed He Huan silently and listened, devoutly hoping that they were destined to be the right person.
"Tourism companies rely on temples to make money. If the temples are closed, tourists will not come. During the period when the temples are closed to thank guests, pilgrims and tourists come from afar, and unfortunately they gather outside the Golden Summit gate and linger.
Especially the believers we just saw, who kowtow step by step, finally climbed to the top of the mountain, but were unable to worship Buddha. What a pity. This kind of dispute hurts believers and all sentient beings.
Therefore, under the emergency coordination of relevant departments, all the temples in the mountain opened their doors to welcome guests the next day. This is a conflict manifested by the commercialization of Buddhist holy places. Although they are open, some problems are still there.
Having said that, are the local governments and tourism companies completely wrong? Developing tourism is a national matter, and using religion to develop tourism to revitalize the economy is also a national matter.
From the very beginning, the revitalization of Jizu Mountain by the old monk Xuyun was only successful with the support of the government. The Zhusheng Temple was called Zhusheng Huguo Zen Temple, and Emperor Guangxu conferred the title of "Master Fo Ci Hongfa".
Except for Emperor Guangxu, which military and political figure in modern times did not have contact with him? Who among the inscriptions on the temple was not a big shot? Through these people, Jizu Mountain became famous.
Religion must rely on politics to survive and develop. Monks themselves will seek asylum and support, and sect leaders know how to build good relations with the authorities.
It is impossible for monks to build such a grand temple by themselves. It requires government funding or private donations. Therefore, monks cannot completely refuse the secular requirements. But if they are coerced by the secular world, it will not be good for Buddhism.
Therefore, the monks all over the mountain put forward some requirements and asked the management department and the tourism company to agree before opening the mountain gate. Otherwise, they would continue to meditate.
What they mainly oppose is the tourism company's plan to build a giant Buddha in the mountains, because it is a project to attract incense to the company.
Another thing is that Buddhists also need to charge tickets, which blocks many believers, especially many poor believers. But how to prove that you are a Buddhist? Now you can get free of charge if you have a refuge certificate.
Opening restaurants on the mountain and down the mountain, selling incense and specialties cannot be stopped. Since it can be opened, it shows that there are people who have this need. A famous Buddhist mountain is here, countless people come to worship Buddha, and the towns at the foot of the mountain all exist around religious tourism.
Moreover, the tourism company also expropriated the villagers' land to develop tourism. The villagers also need to eat. Sitting on a mountain and receiving offerings from the ten directions, then it is appropriate for the people of one area to survive and develop through Buddhism. This is also the salvation of all sentient beings.
Monks were the earliest travelers, and monasteries were established with the support of the government and believers. Buddhism has never been in favor of severing contact with the secular world. This is called cutting off all living beings and is not conducive to spiritual practice.
Therefore, the relationship between religion and tourism cannot be completely severed. It is just that temples have become tourist attractions, which further tests the practitioners' determination. If they are not to be influenced by the outside world, they need to put in more effort. Tourism companies cannot turn religion into a pure profit-making tool.
Today we are here not only to worship Buddha, but also to travel. The government and the tourism company built roads and built toilets, which is really convenient for us. There is no such tourist trail. If we follow the ancient trail that Xu Xiake walked, it may take us two days to climb up.
Regardless of whether the tickets, ropeways, sightseeing cars, horseback riding, sedan chairs, meals, are expensive or not, you can choose to walk or bring your own dry food for free. If you choose these services, don’t complain.
You may say that we shouldn’t charge tickets. If a place can charge tickets, it must be charged if there are many people. You see that Wenfeng Temple is also very beautiful, so you don’t charge it. But what if there are too many people? Do you think we should charge it?
Firstly, the local area will not give up such a development opportunity. Secondly, when there are too many people, management is needed. If something goes wrong in those wild mountains and undeveloped areas, why don’t you go to the local government?
You can't just think that they are meddling in other people's business and making money from you if nothing happens. Take hygiene as an example. There are few people and nature can still accommodate it. If there are too many people and no one cares about it, can this place still come? It will eventually be destroyed.
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Moreover, the temples in Jizu Mountain are quite good. The vegetarian accommodation is not expensive and the incense is free. So don’t blame the temple for the entrance fee and transportation fee. That is the business of the tourism company. The monks are not willing to do it and have protested about it.
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So I ask you not to buy those big incense or high-quality incense at the foot of the mountain, but to give it directly to the merit box of the temple. I am a tourist myself, so I understand travel companies.
They also built roads, built toilets, provided services, and invested money. They had been losing money in the past few years, so they wanted to increase development, which led to closed-door protests in temples all over the mountain.
When you come to travel, you will be happy after spending money. After negotiation, the current charges are still reasonable, much cheaper than those at famous mountains and temples.
When you come to worship Buddha, you should endure some hardships and be happy as you please. Be happy as you like, and be happy when you come. Don’t be bitter and resentful, and don’t complain.”
The pilgrims and tourists behind nodded.
Unknowingly, I heard the roar of people and the smoke of smoke, and arrived at a large temple.