The monks sat in the hall and recited morning sermons.
In the back row, a short, chubby novice monk closed his eyes and muttered in his mouth, his head hanging down like a chicken pecking at rice, and he dozed off.
clang--!
The bell rang for the end of morning classes, and the hall was filled with the chaotic footsteps of monks standing up.
The chubby little novice suddenly woke up, looked around confusedly, wiped the corners of his mouth, got up, and trotted out of the hall.
The chubby little novice monk has a Dharma title that he doesn't like very much. It was given by the master who kept silent all day long and drummed in the morning. At that time, it was rare for the master to speak:
"Juhao."
The fat little novice monk can't actually write the last word, he can only pronounce it. The Chinese pronunciation is similar to "Gou Di".
Juhao is the largest number in Buddhist Sanskrit, and its free translation is tens of millions.
Anyway, the abbot and other eminent monks in the temple said this every time they introduced him to outsiders.
But only the young novice Jūhao himself knew that the Master gave him this name because the word "胝" can be used together with the word "胼" to represent the hard skin on hands and feet caused by friction...
In short, it shows that the young novice has not yet mastered the skill of sitting and meditating, and cannot sit and meditate for a long time.
Therefore, the other young novice monks of his generation in the temple all laughed at him, saying that he was greedy, could not sit still, and was chubby. At first glance, he was not a serious monk, and he was probably greedy for money and lustful...
Ju Hao hesitated to speak. He really wanted to say that the old abbot was fatter than him. Could it be that the abbot was also greedy... well, greedy is to be determined. The temple was careful to rent out many courtyards to scholars. The abbot was wise in making money.
,But, is it possible that the abbot is also lustful?
Ju Hao shook his head.
After morning classes, he immersed himself in running towards the breakfast hall. With his two chubby legs, he ran faster than the eminent monks, uncles and brothers who walked out of the temple early, which naturally aroused side glances.
However, after the monks of Chengtian Temple saw the figure of Ju Hao, their stereotype was correct, and the monks closed their eyes with satisfaction...
Zaozhaiyuan.
Ju Hao was panting and ran in first, but there were already about a dozen pilgrims and donors in the yard, sitting on stools quietly drinking porridge.
Because the window for serving porridge and the window for serving vegetables are separate, we cannot line up at the same time.
After Ju Hao ran in, he looked nervously at the door behind him. Without saying a word, he picked up a stool and placed it in front of the window of the main dish to occupy a place.
Then he quickly went to the porridge window and filled three large bowls of porridge and rice.
Two bowls of Juhao and one bowl of Master.
Then he came to the food window. Under the dissatisfied eyes of the three or two friends who were already in line, his little chubby hand quietly took back the stool and took his place.
After taking the two bowls of food from the window and placing them on the tray, Ju Hao finally took the dishes and ran away.
Ju Hao sighed. He was bringing food to his master. The master had not left the temple for eight hundred years, so he had to come. He couldn't understand what was wrong with respecting his master...
"Huh."
Ju Hao, who had already stepped out of the breakfast hall, suddenly saw a familiar slender figure in the breakfast hall.
She was drinking porridge silently with her head down.
She is a little mute girl called "Xiu Niang".
At first, a gentle female benefactor, barefooted and dressed in white, brought her over and met her master.
That day, Master made an exception and went out to see the abbot. After returning, he asked Ju Hao to arrange for the mute girl named Xiu Niang to live in Beitian Alms Home...
Ju Hao actually didn't have much communication with Xiu Niang. He just followed the master's instructions and took care of her on a daily basis.
Although Master only mentioned it to Xiu Niang when she first came to Chengtian Temple, he did not ask her any more questions and continued to guard the temple and recite sutras.
Ju Hao would visit her from time to time to prevent her from being bullied by the other beggars who were patients in the Beitian Nursing Home. Poor people must be hateful.
Sometimes, these poor people bully talented people too much. Ju Hao heard many examples from his senior brother at the Beitian Almshouse when he was working as a cook.
This embroiderer is blind and mute, so pitiful and sad.
However, after experiencing the collapse of the Xingzi Lake Buddha two months ago; after huddled in the temple with my uncles and brothers, chanting sutras and praying for several days and nights, I finally overcame the indifference of the female officer and the toughness of the black-armored soldiers.
After the search... Ju Hao no longer thought so at all.
These days, wanted notices are posted all over the city. After reading the descriptions of the rebel leaders in Tiannan Jianghu and copying their portraits, Ju Hao was shocked.
Especially the Wu skirt costumes of Yunmeng Jianze Yue girls mentioned.
Until now, Ju Hao has been praying every day that the gentle female benefactor, who is barefoot and dressed in white, will not come looking for him and his master again. Of course, it is best not to be caught.
As for Xiu Niang, a blind and mute girl who stayed in Beitian Alms Home until the eve of the Lantern Festival, Ju Hao had a complicated attitude.
But then, something happened that stunned Ju Hao.
The embroidered lady was actually attracted by a young official and was picked up by him!
When Ju Hao had a nightmare, he actually thought that the Xiu Niang girl would be picked up by the government, but it was the government that set up a dragnet and finally put her in shackles and took her to prison.
He really didn't expect that it would be like this, that he would take her there to enjoy the happiness.
Ju Hao was confused about the officialdom, but he heard that this young official seemed to be some kind of Sima. The official name did not sound resounding, but he was still an official after all. Even if he did not bully men and dominate women, he would definitely have enough food and clothing, and he could still be an official.
Is that bad? Do you think calling me "Master Guan" is for nothing?
Wait, it’s not necessarily true. For example, the official named Yuan who lives in the temple and never leaves, but he must be a stupid official...
Moreover, this person is still so young and handsome, so he can't be said to be a second-generation official who is idle.
Anyway, Ju Hao feels that even if this young official is bullying men and dominating women, the one who suffers is not necessarily the embroiderer girl. Although the embroiderer girl is also pretty and pitiful, it cannot be said that it is because of her lovable style.
I fell in love with this hobby of young officials...
Anyway, it was a strange and unexpected development. Now the situation is strange. I am all confused and don't know how to deal with it.
The courtyard where the young official took the embroidered girl to live was not far away. Sometimes in the morning, Ju Hao would see the slender mute girl coming to the breakfast courtyard alone to eat a light vegetarian meal in peace.
The entrance of Zaozhaiyuan.
Ju Hao thought for a moment, looked away from the slender mute woman's figure, and did not say hello.
He first left the courtyard with the plate and ran to a remote monastery in the temple.
The Buddhist teachings at Chengtian Temple belong to the Zen sect. There are many such temples, and donors often come to ask questions about Zen.
Ju Hao’s master is named Vacuum.
Among the many "true" eminent monks in Chengtian Temple, his ranking is not high.
The only disciple of Zen Master Vacuum is Ju Hao. He was one of the other Heshan Zen masters who came out to guide him when he first accepted his disciples. Otherwise, there would be very few disciples. It can be seen that Zen Master Vacuum's lineage does not have a prominent position in the temple.
The most fundamental reason is that Zen Master Vacuum is actually from outside. He has been teaching Zen in Chengtian Temple for more than 20 years.
It is said that foreign monks are good at reciting sutras, but Ju Hao found that his own master did not recite sutras well.
The literal meaning is hard to pronounce.
In fact, the fact of "not being able to read well" has also made his master more famous, but I don't know whether his reputation is good or bad.
As a branch of Zen Buddhism, Chengtian Temple often has pilgrims coming to visit the Buddha and inquire about Zen.
Especially those Confucian scholars who look miserable in the eyes of others. They did not study Confucianism well and came to Buddhism to seek some spiritual comfort.
If you are frustrated in your official career and are in a bad mood, can you go out and turn left to go to a brothel? Why do white-bearded masters who come to Buddhism every day and have a soulmate in their 50s and 60s?
We really need to learn from the official named Yuan in the temple about this. He used to return to the temple drunk from banquets every day, and even climbed over the wrong wall one night and almost fell asleep on the old abbot's bed...
Having said that, even if the other "true" Zen masters in the temple speak little, they still have to say a few words to these donors.
But his master, Zen Master Vacuum, was different.
Whenever someone came to see the Buddha and asked about Zen, he would raise one finger and make no other suggestions.
That's right, in front of all the donors who have finished complaining about the essay, they raise a finger and say nothing.
Well……
Ju Hao suddenly realized that his understanding was extremely high. He didn't even need to learn the main Zen method of Benmai. He had already understood it.
It may also be because his disciple learned too quickly. On weekdays, Zen Master Vacuum did not care about his only disciple, nor did he meditate under the pressure of his disciples.
Other novice novices of the same age were guided by their respective masters through words and deeds.
However, Ju Hao felt that even if he took the initiative to ask Master, Master's teachings were just instructions.
As a result, over time, the monks and pilgrims gave his master a nickname:
One finger Zen master.
On weekdays, there are not many pilgrims who come to see Zen Master Vacuum. Unlike other Zen masters, the threshold of the courtyard is worn down by pilgrims. However, one or two pilgrims come every few days. Ju Hao found that most of them came from afar.
Is it considered a different kind of coming here because of fame?
Ju Hao took the breakfast tray and ran back to the monastery.
At the entrance of the courtyard, there were a few unfamiliar tall servants in green clothes with round knives on their waists. Judging from their clothes, they looked like people from Mobei.
Ju Hao slowed down and stretched his head to take a look. Sure enough, in the yard, there was a sick middle-aged man sitting upright, asking his master for advice.
After hearing this, the master raised his eyelids and raised his finger.
The sick, middle-aged man who had come all the way here turned around and looked around. Suddenly, his sick face suddenly became clear. He bowed his head and immediately went to pay for the reward...
When the servants in green clothes at the door heard the excitement, they all looked slightly stunned and turned to look at the door.
Ju Hao seemed to be used to it, so he walked aside and sat down to cook alone.
After finishing his portion, he secretly took two more bites of the master's food. He said hello to the master who was reluctantly collecting the cash at the door, stepped up his little fat legs, and ran out the door.
Not long after, Ju Hao returned to the Zaozhai Courtyard and looked around curiously, but there was no figure of the slender mute girl.
"Hey, where did the embroidery girl go after a while..."