Jin Yutong

Chapter 327 Dharma Stone Wall

As Master Dechun walked into the mountain gate, he saw Maitreya Buddha enshrined in the altar, with a big belly and a constant smile.

Behind the shrine stands a wooden statue of Wei Tuo, holding a magic stick, who is the guardian god of Shaolin Temple.

After passing the mountain gate, there is a corridor with stone steles on both sides, so it is called forest of steles.The Hammer Hall is on the west side of the forest of steles inside the mountain gate. There are clay sculptures and wood carvings inside, which deduce the development history and outstanding achievements of Shaolin martial arts.

After passing through the forest of steles through the corridor, there is the Temple of Heavenly Kings. It is a three-room hall with double eaves on the top of the mountain. There are two big King Kongs outside and four statues of Heavenly Kings inside.

Pass through the Hall of Heavenly Kings, followed by the Daxiong Hall.The statues of Sakyamuni, Amitabha Buddha and 'Medicine' Buddha are enshrined in the hall. Avalokitesvara is hung behind the screen wall, and eighteen arhats stand on both sides.After the Daxiong Hall, there is the Sutra Pavilion, which is the place where the monks collected scriptures and preached.In the corridor in front of the hall, there is a large iron bell cast in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, weighing about 650 kilograms.To the southeast of the Sutra Pavilion is the Zen room, where monks sit and meditate, and the west Zen room on the opposite side is the hall for receiving guests.

The two walked through the main hall, bypassed the tower forest in the west, and arrived at the Chuzu Temple. Along the way, the monks in the temple bowed their heads when they saw Master Dechun. It can be seen that Master Dechun has a very high status in the temple. high.

It wasn't until he entered the Chuzu Temple that Chen Ran felt the solemn and solemn feeling brought to him by the thousand-year-old temple. Most of the buildings in Shaolin Temple have been renovated, and it looks magnificent, but Chen Ran feels that it is It's not like that.

This is the downside of over-commercialization.

The commercial operation of Shaolin Temple is so successful that people can’t connect it with the original Shaolin Temple. , I can't find that kind of solemn and pious feeling.

It wasn't until after entering Chuzu's nunnery that I found that feeling, that kind of solemn and solemn feeling. I couldn't help but dare not make loud noises or make too much noise, as if I was afraid of disturbing the Buddha's pure cultivation.

"Chen Benefactor, my family teacher is practicing Zen in the back mountain. You can enter by yourself, but after entering, don't 'crash', so as not to disturb the quiet practice of other Zen masters..."

Master Dechun took Chen Ran around Chuzu's nunnery and stopped at Houshan, turned around and told Chen Ran solemnly that Houshan was a place where the older generation of monks practiced. Even he is not allowed to enter easily, mainly because he is afraid of disturbing the monks of the older generation. What matters is age. The people living in the back mountain are all senior monks of the older generation. These monks have different seniority in Shaolin Temple, but most of them are over 80 years old.

After Master Dechun explained to Chen Ran, he turned his head and left. Chen Ran wanted to ask him how to find the old Zen master, but he didn't have time, so he had to look around at the environment in front of him.

The Shaolin Temple was originally built on the hillside of Songshan Mountain. The place where he is in front of him is actually an inclined valley where two mountains meet. Presumably the entrance of this inclined valley is the entrance of the back mountain.

That being the case, Chen Ran walked slowly into the back mountain.

There is a canyon in the back mountain. The mountain is beautiful, the environment is quiet, and it is very quiet. You can hear the sound of running water and birdsong... Chen Ran walked along a mountain road towards the top of the mountain. Along the way, the two sides of the mountain road were planted There are also peanuts, which reminded him of the Shaolin hermit who had been rumored a while ago.

That Shaolin monk has always lived a hermit life, but he is not in the Shaolin Temple, but in the lower courtyard of the Shaolin Temple. He lives in the cave day and night. It was exposed by reporters at that time, except for this hermit , and other old monks and nuns also live in seclusion. They still combine farming and Zen, and work hard. It is quite a Zen tradition of Zen Master Baizhang Huaihai in the Tang Dynasty who "does not work for a day, does not eat for a day".

In the back mountain of Shaolin Temple, Master Dechun didn't come in easily. Obviously, the old monks who farmed the land were probably the old monks. Chen Ran felt that it was a little less flashy and a little more real.

He didn't let Chen Ran go far, but just turned over a rocky slope along the small mountain road, and saw the old Zen master.

In front of me is a small stream in the mountains. The stream has many branches, and in the middle of the stream there is a big rock. Below the big rock is a pool. The pool is not big, only a few feet in diameter, and it looks like the size of a reservoir. Like a dam, all the water of the creek was trapped in this pool, and only a layer of water flowed down the stone wall.

Sitting on this big stone was an old monk with a long silver beard covering his chest, an old face, wrinkled and wrinkled.

Chen Ran had never met Master Dechun's mentor before this, but he had a feeling that the old monk in front of him was Master Dechun's mentor, that is, the old Zen master he wanted to meet.

"Old Zen Master..."

The old Zen master sat motionless on the stone, even if Chen Ran walked over, he didn't seem to see him. Seeing that he was silent, Chen Ran could only yell, but he still didn't respond.

It wasn't until he reached the rock where the old Zen master was sitting that Chen Ran realized that the old Zen master had been staring at the opposite side, and he didn't know what was so attractive on the opposite side that he didn't even blink his eyes.

Chen Ran couldn't help but follow the old Zen master's line of sight towards the opposite side, only to find that on the opposite side, that is, on the other side of the pool, was a karst cave with a width of tens of feet, and various strange-shaped stalactites. The stones are scattered around, but the inner wall of the cave turned out to be a smooth mirror-like stone wall. It may be due to the light, there are dots of beautiful light spots hanging on the stone wall, shining with colorful lights, embellishing the cave. It becomes a colorful world, just like a paradise.

The stone wall is as smooth as a mirror, but if you look closely, you will find a figure reflected on the stone wall.

Seeing this scene, Chen Ran's heart suddenly moved. Anyone who saw the scene in front of him would involuntarily think of a legend.

Chen Ran is no exception.

This legend is impressively the legend of Patriarch Bodhidharma.

According to legend, Emperor Wu of Liang set up a large translation site in Nanjing, and many eminent monks from India came here. Among them was a famous monk who came to China and had a profound impact on Zen and Chinese Buddhism. Needless to say, he is the famous Patriarch Bodhidharma.

After Bodhidharma arrived in Jinling, Emperor Wu of Liang was an emperor who believed in Buddhism. After he came to the throne, he built temples, wrote scriptures, taught monks, and made many statues. He asked Bodhidharma very conceitedly how much merit I have done for doing these things?

But Bodhidharma said he had no merit, and Emperor Wu asked why he had no merit?Bodhidharma said that this is something to do, not a real merit.

Emperor Wu couldn't understand, and the two broke up unhappy. After Bodhidharma left, Emperor Wu of Liang felt deeply regretful, and when he heard the news of Bodhidharma's departure, he immediately sent people to chase after him on mules.

When chasing to the middle of Mufu Mountain, the peaks on both sides suddenly closed, and the group was caught between the two peaks.Bodhidharma was walking to the river, and when he saw someone coming, he broke a reed and threw it into the river, turning it into a flat boat, and floated across the river.

This is the legend of Bodhidharma crossing the river with a reed.

After Bodhidharma crossed the river, holding a Zen stick, he walked casually, worshiped at the mountains, sat in meditation at the temple, and arrived at the Shaolin Temple in Songshan in the third year of Xiaochang in the Northern Wei Dynasty.

Patriarch Bodhidharma came to Shaolin and saw the surrounding mountains and quiet environment, so he took Shaolin Temple as his preaching place. Later, there was a legend that Patriarch Bodhidharma faced the wall for nine years. Patriarch Bodhidharma lived in a cave in Shaolin Temple. The inner wall, one side is nine years.

According to records, the cave facing Patriarch Bodhidharma is a natural karst cave. When you walk to the entrance of the cave and look back outside, a ray of sunlight is thrown in through the bushes, and the inside of the cave is full of light. It is really a natural treasure cave.

Bodhidharma stepped into the entrance of the cave and found that the cave is very shallow, surrounded by rock walls, airtight, and the inner wall is like a mirror. It is really a natural place for retreat and cultivation.

Patriarch Bodhidharma faced the wall for nine years, and a personal shadow was reflected on the stone wall in the cave. The monks at that time exclaimed amazingly when they saw this.

There have always been many speculations about the cave where Patriarch Bodhidharma faces the wall. Most of them regard Bodhidharma Cave as the place where Bodhidharma faces the wall. But seeing the scene in front of him, Chen Ran knew that the cave in front of him should be Patriarch Bodhidharma A real place to face the wall.

In addition to the fact that the situation in front of him was the same as described in the legend, there was another reason, that is, when Chen Ran looked at the stone wall, it gave him a pious feeling.

The old Zen master looked at the cave in front of him without moving. Seeing his appearance, Chen Ran tried to imitate him and sat down. Don't look at the old Zen master's sitting posture as if it was casual, but Chen Ran knew that it was an ordinary person. I really can't learn it, and only he who has been practicing weird dances has such a flexible body.

Chen Ran didn't notice that when he sat down like this, the old Zen master who had been staring at the stone wall couldn't help but look at him more.

After sitting down, Chen Ran also looked at the stone wall in the cave and stood up. After calming down, the pious feeling was infinitely magnified in front of him.

Realizing this, Chen Ran was not surprised at all. He might have been surprised if it was changed before, but since he discovered that Buddhist artifacts really have the effect of calming the mind, he is no longer surprised. Over time, he also had a better understanding of Buddhist artifacts.

He understood the aura emanating from the Buddhist vessel as the magnetic field or aura of the Buddhist vessel. The reason why he understood it this way was because he had read some books on Feng Shui during this period. The theoretical basis of Fengshui is the aura.

Feng Shui believes that the aura is everywhere, but the aura can be good or bad, strong or weak.A place with a good and strong aura is a place with good feng shui; on the contrary, a place with a bad and weak aura has bad feng shui.

The aura in Fengshui is no doubt similar to the aura of Buddhist artifacts, just like after he released the energy aperture, some magical artifacts imparted suction to him, while others gave him repulsive force, just like the ax knife and madman Yang's house. soul bottle.

It can give him a feeling of piousness, which means that this thing has a strong aura, and the cave in front of him is the place where Patriarch Bodhidharma faces the wall, so it goes without saying.

Sensing the pious feeling coming from the stone wall, Chen Ran moved slightly in his heart, and checked the magic weapon. He could only detect the breath of the magic weapon by releasing the energy aperture, but now he can feel it without releasing the energy aperture. The reverent feeling coming from the stone wall, if the energy aperture is released, wouldn’t it be a bigger feeling, but I don’t know if the energy aperture can detect the stone wall in front of me... I looked at the old monk next to me and saw that he was still staring at the stone wall. Looking at the stone wall, Chen Ran couldn't help releasing the energy aperture to detect the past...