ps: Thanks to Chen Tianxin, Master Phoenix for the reward, and other fellow Taoists for their monthly votes for encouragement.
The night breeze was blowing, the moon was bright, and the fields were silent and deserted.
After a whole day of fighting, three battles in total, both of them gave their all. Zhao Ran did not suffer any external injuries, but his energy was exhausted. At this moment, he just felt exhausted and just wanted to lie down on the lawn.
, never get up. The monk is covered with wounds, blood scabs and dirt, all over his head and face. His once good skin is now in disgrace, but he has no strength to clean it. He feels like it is being torn even when he moves his fingers.
pain.
"Monk, should we fight?"
"No more fighting. Let's take a rest. I'm exhausted and my body aches."
"Am I convinced by Master Dao?"
"You're awesome, stop bragging. I've never lost to you, Lord Buddha. At most, it's a tie. If Lord Buddha goes back and practices for another half a year, you'll have to suffer a huge defeat!"
"Bald Donkey, you are really stubborn. If you don't accept it, I'll beat you again!"
"If you can stand up now, Lord Buddha, I will kowtow to you!"
After fighting for a while, each side was unable to defeat the other, so there was no more fighting of spirit.
Zhao Ran took a Yangxin Pill, lay quietly for half an hour, meditated on the inner breath diagram, and felt a little better, so he picked a topic and said: "Monk, you are really cunning when it comes to it.
You dug a hole to wait for me, and even put a broken book as bait, and it almost fell into your hands yesterday."
The monk said: "What is a broken book? That is a precious scripture passed down from my temple. I put it in it because I was afraid that you would not be fooled. Who would have thought that you didn't even take a look at it, and you didn't know what was in the pit?
I jumped in. It was a waste of all my efforts. By the way, those scriptures are of no use to you, please return them to me as soon as possible."
Zhao Ran couldn't help laughing when he thought about it, and said angrily: "Let's take a rest. I'm too tired to move now. Monk, do you think I should call you Senior Brother Jueyuan, or should I call you Bald Donkey?"
Woolen cloth?"
The monk smiled and said: "Name and form are nothing, but seeing one's nature is true. It doesn't matter whether it's a bald donkey or a senior brother. If you say you are a monk, you are a monk."
Zhao Ran said sarcastically: "You are good at playing tricks, but you don't look like a great monk at all. You are good at sneak attacks, deceit, and cunning. Is this the way to practice for Buddhist disciples?"
The monk leisurely said: "Although there are thousands of Buddhist dharma, all dharma are the same and there is no divergent path. The so-called divergent path is just the human heart. If you want to kill me, I will attack you. If you want to coax me, I will deceive you. You are not sincere.
I, I will respond with cunning, even if I am a great monk, I can’t stick my neck out and let others slaughter me, right?”
Zhao Ran was very interested: "So you are still a realist. Don't you understand? Well, it means recognizing the status quo, accepting the status quo, achieving the goal under the current conditions, and not doing anything lofty and ambitious."
The monk smiled slightly and said, "You are saying that I can adapt to the wind, right? It's up to you. You are not the abbot of a temple. You don't have such a heavy burden on your shoulders, so it's useless to talk to you."
Zhao Ran said in surprise: "Oh, I said monk. Can't you tell, you are actually the abbot of a temple? What is the name of your temple? It seems to be the Great Leiguang Temple, right? How many monks are there? How many rooms are there?
Where?"
The monk said: "Why do you ask so clearly? These have nothing to do with you. You can't be ordained and join Buddhism with me."
Zhao Ran urged: "Okay, monk, don't interrupt. Come and tell me quickly. I'm very curious about your Buddhist sect. By the way, what level is your Great Leiguang Temple among the Xia Kingdom's Buddhist sect? And what is your abbot's rank?
Level? What benefits do you enjoy?”
The monk was speechless: "Brother Taoist, our Buddhist sect is different from your Taoist sect. You don't even know this, right?"
Zhao Ran's face turned red and he defended: "I focus on my practice and have never gone down the mountain. This is the first time. I didn't have the mind or energy to pay attention to foreign affairs before. I wonder what's so strange about your Xia Kingdom?"
The monk sighed: "Only the monks from your Taoist sect and pavilions will ignore secular affairs. We Buddhist monks all take care of both. Your Taoist sect has a distinction between palaces and pavilions. The palaces specialize in secular affairs."
, the temple specializes in cultivating Taoism, but our Buddhism does not pay so much attention. All the monks are crowded into one temple. Everyone has enlightenment, so everyone can practice, and everything in the world contains Buddhist principles, and everything is convenient.
Door. Speaking of which, the purpose of our practice of Buddhism is to enter the world, to observe the sufferings of all living beings, to experience the sorrow and glory of the mortal world, to understand the past and present lives, and to understand the cause and effect of the future. If you practice alone, you will not achieve the status of Buddha. But your practice is different.
What is important is to be born out of the world, stay away from the hustle and bustle of the world, and travel in the mountains and forests. What you are cultivating is yourself, why should you care about the various conditions in the world? It is best not to eat the fireworks of the world, then it can be regarded as realizing the emptiness of the Tao."
"Monk, you know a lot. But according to what you said, how can Taoist temples and temples be in charge of secular affairs? Everyone goes to take care of themselves. What do these Taoist temples, Taoist palaces, and Taoist courtyards do when they are full?
With?"
"Brother Taoist, you are really inexperienced in the world. What do you practice in Taoism? Taoism, law and wealth! Practicing exercises, fighting against supernatural powers, mentoring masters and fellow Taoists. These are the secrets of your monks gathering in the pavilion.
The reason! As for wealth, if you don’t reach a certain level, you have to dress, eat, make elixirs, and draw talismans, not to mention those natural and earthly treasures. Who has the time to take care of these things by themselves? If everything is done
You have to do it yourself, and you have to find a way to get every object by yourself, so don’t practice Taoism, you don’t have that much longevity for you to mess around with!"
After a pause, the monk continued: "Actually, Buddhism and Taoism are the same. There is no difference in Ming Xia. It's just that the methods are different. In our Buddhist temples, those with and without cultivation are all together, because there is no need to separate them.
There is no question of who is in charge of who; your Taoist sects are separated, and those who have no cultivation go to the palace to support the monks in the palace. It is like a government office, so naturally there are upper and lower levels."
"So, although your abbot's skills are low, your status is the same as the abbots of other big temples?"
"The truth is this. Our Buddhist sect emphasizes the equality of all living beings. Everyone is equal and no one is inferior to anyone else... But Xingqing Mansion has Tianlongyuan, and eminent monks and virtuous men from various temples are selected as elders. Major matters are discussed and decided by the elders.
The big temples take advantage, and when you speak, the small temples have to listen."
Zhao Ran said: "You can even think of it with your toes. With your ability, you won't be able to enter Tianlongyuan. Therefore, you, the abbot, have no status, right?"
The monk was silent.
Zhao Ran suddenly didn't know what to talk about. After all, he had fought and killed twice during the day. Although he later joined forces to fight against the enemy and felt sympathy for each other due to the same hatred, Buddhism and Taoism are different after all. The general environment is really
It's so bad, like the story described in the novel about the elders of the demon sect and the upright elders who are surrounded by powerful enemies, playing the piano and flute, chatting and laughing freely, although the story is very cool, but the feeling of being willing to have the entire family wiped out in order to pursue art is not normal in any case.
capable.
Just lying on the lawn and resting like this, the two of them fell asleep involuntarily. They didn't wake up until about three o'clock in the morning, and both of them had recovered a lot of energy.
Zhao Ran took out the cooked meat from the small bamboo box, tore off a chicken leg, threw it to the monk, and said: "Monk, I don't think you are a pedantic person. Can you still get the fishy meat?"
The monk took the chicken leg, took a big bite, and said as he ate: "You must not be too rigid in your practice. You must also divide your time for observing the precepts. As time changes, things change. Otherwise, it will be superficial and violate your true intention...
…Is there any wine?”
Zhao Ran laughed and said: "I know an old man who carries a gourd around the world every day. There is an unknown amount of fine wine in the gourd. I can steal some for you to try when I have time."
After filling our stomachs, it was time to say goodbye. This time, the two of them did not give each other any backhand, engaging in the same thing where you turn around and I go up to pat you.
Before leaving, Zhao Ran took out an empty bottle and threw it to the monk: "Aren't you looking for this insect? You don't know what's good about it. Take it. I'll give it to you. You're welcome."
The monk took a look at the bottle and said happily: "I planned to go there again to see if the insect is still there. Since you caught it, you will save me the trouble. You are not a master and don't know the difficulties of being a master. This insect is useless to you.
, but it is of great use to me.”
Zhao Ran asked: "What's so wonderful about it? Come and hear it, monk. I've given you the bugs, and I can't get them back. It's okay for you to tell me." (To be continued)