Today, the monks in Qingshan Temple got up earlier than usual in the morning because today is a big day for the abbot of Qingshan Temple to give lectures. You must know that there are several serious Buddhist scriptures in this large temple with eight thousand disciples.
A great lecturer, but when it comes to preaching and reciting sutras, it has to be the abbot of Qingshan Temple. After all, this abbot is a holy monk who is said to have recited thousands of sutras and practiced Zen for half his life. Even the previous abbot Duan Chen
Living Buddhas have all praised this
Abbot, the chanting is still amazing, and he has great understanding. I don’t know how many times better than my apprentice who only knows martial arts. Master Xuanzheng was young at that time, so when he heard this, he felt a little dissatisfied.
, I once discussed scriptures with the abbot in public many times, but after several discussions, Xuanzheng always failed. Later, Xuanzheng stopped this kind of self-humiliating behavior. To be honest,
When it comes to chanting sutras, I'm really not as good as others.
The combination of the abbot's scriptures and the eminent monk Xuanzheng's martial arts has created the glorious scene of the eight thousand disciples of Qingshan Temple today.
However, as the abbot gets older, his body is not as strong as before, so he must not be able to cope with the non-stop lectures for three days as before. In addition, the abbot himself is already very busy dealing with temple affairs.
So later on, the abbot only lectured once a month, and the time was set on the seventh day of each month, and today happened to be the seventh day of the month.
"Today is the seventh day of the Lunar New Year. You should go to the temple to listen to the abbot's sermon." Xuan Zheng sat upright with a bowl of white rice in his hand, chewed slowly and then looked at the disciple beside him and told him expressionlessly.
A young monk with a simple appearance and a tall stature sat next to Xuanzheng. Then he picked up the vessel that was more like an iron pot than a rice bowl. He lowered his head and was about to shovel the rice into his mouth, but
Before he could even move his chopsticks, he was stopped by Xuan Zheng. The young monk looked up at Xuan Zheng with some confusion, his eyes were very unfriendly and slightly angry.
"Today is the seventh day of the Lunar New Year. You should go to the temple to listen to the abbot's sermon." Xuan Zheng repeated expressionlessly again.
"I won't go." The young monk answered neatly.
"It's impossible not to go."
"Then go ahead."
Hearing the young monk's words, Xuan Zheng slowly picked up the chopsticks that were on top of the young monk's rice bowl, and then sat upright and began to chew slowly. Compared with Xuan Zheng's eating posture, the young monk's eating posture was simply incompetent.
Look, although it is just a simple vegetarian meal, the little monk eats it like a big fish and meat, wolfing it down without any scruples.
"Ahem."
Seeing the little monk's appearance, Xuan Zheng gave a reminder in a low voice. The little monk looked at Xuan Zheng with disgust, then simply turned around with his big rice bowl and turned his back to Xuan Zheng to devour it. Xuan Zheng shook his head helplessly.
He shook his head and said nothing further.
About half an hour passed. The master and the apprentice put down their rice bowls at the same time. The young monk wiped his mouth, and then smiled at Xuan Zheng with a simple and honest expression. Xuan Zheng shook his head helplessly and took out his clothes.
He took out an egg from his sleeve and handed it to the little monk. After seeing the egg, the little monk seemed to have seen some strange treasure. He quickly stretched out his hand to grab the egg and threw it away three times.
He picked up the hard skin on the outside of the egg, then put it whole in his mouth and chewed it. After a while, the little monk finished eating the egg, burped comfortably, patted his belly, looked at Xuan Zheng and asked: "Master,
The abbot once said in his sermon that all eggs are inedible. We monks must cultivate compassion, so we are not allowed to eat meat. Then why do you give me an egg every day?"
Xuan Zheng smiled and said nothing.
"Is it possible that the master also heard the great principle that Buddha kept in his heart when wine and meat passed through his intestines?" The young monk continued to ask when Xuan Zheng didn't speak.
"The last two sentences of that sentence are that if people in the world imitate me, it will be like entering the devil's path." Xuan Zheng replied softly.
"Then why do you still give me eggs? Master, do you want to see your disciple enter the devil's path and suffer the suffering of reincarnation in the next life? A monk should be compassionate. Although I am usually disrespectful to you,
But you can't be so vicious, right?" The little monk asked Xuan Zheng while repenting in his heart for having just eaten an egg and looking at Xuan Zheng with wide eyes.
Xuan Zheng glanced at his apprentice indifferently, then clasped his hands together and whispered: "Cultivation, just do whatever you want."
"Disciple doesn't understand." The young monk shook his head.
"There are morning bells and evening drums in the temple. Where do the drummers come from? They kill cows and sheep, skin them into drums, and beat them every day. Dare I ask, is this good or bad? All monks are vegetarians, then all vegetation is life.
Why eat them? If you must, why don’t you eat them?
I don't do any business during my time, I just peel the skin into paper, prick the blood into ink, use the marrow as water, and analyze the bones as a pen to write Buddhist precepts. Does this count as following the teachings? Do you think it is not allowed to eat eggs? Just don't eat them at home.
I think it's okay to eat eggs, just eat them at home." Xuan Zheng continued to explain.
After hearing this, the young monk suddenly realized. Then he looked at Xuan Zheng intently and asked: "Master, since you think it's okay to eat eggs, why don't you give me meat?"
"Meat is expensive." Xuan Zheng replied.
"Oh." The little monk nodded slightly and stopped talking.
"It's getting late, you should go to the temple to listen to sutras." Xuan Zheng raised his head and looked at the sun in the sky, turned to the young monk and said.
"knew."
"Remember to ask the host for some incense money, there is no rice." Xuan Zheng saw the young monk was about to leave and quickly gave him instructions.
"If you have money, can you buy me a piece of meat?"
"cannot."
The little monk was a little disappointed when he heard this. Then he found a schoolbag from the house, then said hello to Xuan Zheng and walked towards the temple. Xuan Zheng stood in front of the door and looked at the little monk.
The monk's back was watched quietly until the little monk disappeared, then he turned around and returned to the house.
…
Although the young monk hurried along slowly, he finally arrived at the temple and found that the abbot's lecture had already begun.
"Why don't you go in?" The old monk sweeping the floor in front of the lecture hall held a big broom in his hand and looked at the young monk with a smile and asked.
"The lecture has already begun. I'd better wait for the abbot to rest before going in." The young monk sat on the ground a little depressed.
"If you go in now, you will only hear a small part less. When you go in later, you will hear less and a larger part. Which one is more appropriate?" asked the old monk.
The young monk was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then opened the door and walked into the lecture hall. In the lecture hall at this time, the abbot was sitting on the futon, reciting the "Mahaprajnaparamita Sutra".
The monk casually found a remote place and sat down, and then listened attentively to the abbot's sermon. However, his mind was like that wooden fish. No matter how carefully and seriously he listened, the young monk could not hear a single word.
don't know.
"Prajna is a person who is separated from words and appearances. It is separated from the conditions of the heart. It is completely different from the middle and the extreme. It transcends all limits. It is more peaceful than anything else."
The young monk looked at the scriptures on the Buddhist scriptures, and then repeated the words of the abbot just now. After thinking for a long time, he finally gave up because he couldn't understand these things at all, so he simply didn't bother. Master
I once said that some people are born to study this scripture, and some people are born to practice martial arts, but they seem to be unable to understand the scriptures, and their martial arts practice has never been up to the master's standards, so the young monk's expression is very sad now.
Frustrated.
"If you can return to the realm of enlightenment, you must first get rid of greed, anger, and delusion, and have no intention of loving Dharma. Then you can gradually achieve it. What you seek is not achieved in the end."
The abbot's voice sounded in the young monk's ears again. The young monk was stunned for a moment, then slowly stood up and shouted to the abbot on the futon: "Abbott, I have a question in my mind."
After hearing the young monk's shout, the abbot's voice slowly stopped and he looked at the young monk with half-open eyes. At this time, not only the abbot was looking at the young monk, but all the monks in the lecture hall raised their heads.
Looking at the young monk, the young monk looked directly at the abbot, without any shame at all.
"Ask." The host replied calmly with kind eyes.
"Just now, the abbot talked about the seven emotions and six desires of human beings, but it is said in the Buddhist scriptures that if I don't exist, how can hatred and love arise? Since I am a non-existent person, where does our hatred and love come from?" asked the young monk.
.
"The seven emotions and six desires are like the hair and skin of the body, received from parents." The abbot replied.
"The Buddha also said that Bodhi has no tree, and the mirror is not a stand. There is nothing in the first place, so where does the dust come from? Where does the dust in our hearts come from? Is it also the parent of feeling?" The young monk then asked.
"If it is originally pure, how can it be contaminated with dust? If the heart is impure, it will be contaminated with dust." The abbot replied.
"Abbott, what is Buddha?" the young monk asked.
"What are you?" the abbot asked.
"I am me." the young monk replied.
"What is a tree?" the abbot asked again.
"The tree is a tree." The young monk replied.
"What is water?" the abbot asked.
"Water is water." the young monk replied.
"What is Buddha?" the abbot asked.
"Buddha is Buddha." the young monk replied.
"Buddha is Buddha, and different people feel Buddha differently in their hearts. No matter what you think Buddha is, whether it is water or land, as long as you have Buddha in your heart, then Buddha is Buddha, and there is no Buddha everywhere."
After the abbot finished explaining, all the monks in the lecture hall suddenly understood. Their eyes changed instantly when they looked at the abbot. Countless people had wondered what the Buddha in their hearts was, but at this time, the doubts in the minds of the monks were finally answered.
.
"Disciple, I have one more question." The young monk then shouted.
"ask."
"The Sutra of Forty-Two Chapters of the Buddha's Speech says that ascetics who become monks should stop wanting to love, recognize the origin of their own minds, and understand the Buddha's profound principles. We monks should cut off greed in order to realize our true selves, so we
Why does Qingshan Temple still accept offerings from donors and accept the incense money?" the young monk asked.
After hearing this question, the abbot smiled slightly, then looked at the young monk and said: "If you give up your desire and love, then you and your master will be free of money for incense this month."
The young monk was slightly startled when he heard this, and then slowly sat down. He only had one thought in his mind, which was that he was sorry for the master who was waiting at home for him to take the money back to buy rice.