The brothers who traveled westward in those years

Chapter 24 0024, Three-year-old child knocks wooden fish
In the tenth life, Jin Chanzi joined a champion family.It's a pity that he was put into a wooden basin by his mother and pushed into the river before he saw his biological father.

In Fahua Temple, the old Zen master is holding Jiang Liuer, who has just turned eight months.He had to go to the main hall to chant scriptures every day. Since Jiang Liuer came to Fahua Temple, the old Zen master took him everywhere every day.The child was quite obedient, sitting motionless next to the old Zen master.Looking up at the Buddha statue on the main hall, a strangeness flashed in his eyes.

Chanting scriptures today, the old Zen master explained the doubts of the pilgrims who came to offer incense.Jiang Liu'er leaned on the feet of the Buddha statue, and little by little supported the feet of the Buddha statue, trying to stand up.The first time was unsuccessful, and the buttocks just left the ground before sitting on the ground again.The eight-month-old stared at the condescending Buddha statue, as if expressing his dissatisfaction.No one saw it except Jiang Liuer. The moment he was about to stand up just now, the feet of the Buddha statue moved.

The second time it was halfway through, but this time Jiang Liuer was prepared.He just leaned on the Buddha's feet and didn't sit on the ground.Two small hands hugged the Buddha's feet tightly, and gnawed on the big toe.At the same time, the Buddha statue frowned slightly, and then returned to normal.Jiang Liu'er tried to stand up straight again, and this time he really stood up.

The pilgrim on the side pointed at Jiang Liuer and opened his mouth wide, and the old Zen master followed the gaze of the pilgrim.Looking at Jiang Liu'er standing in front of the Buddha's feet in amazement, he was only eight months old and could stand on his own.

Eight months passed in a blink of an eye, and Jiang Liu'er was already one and a half years old.He ran in and out of Fahua Temple every day, and there was not a day when he could be seen staying in the house without stopping.But he is very honest with two fixed times every day, one is during morning class and the other is evening self-study.

No one in the monastery will insist on morning classes and evening self-study, it all depends on personal wishes.Not to mention those monks who have been in the temple for three to five years, even those who have been in the temple for more than ten years are not very persistent.Most of them are lazy, living the days of being monks striking the clock for a day.

In the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, the current saint respected Buddhism, so the temple was revitalized after he ascended the throne.Over the past three years, hundreds of monasteries have been established throughout the territory, and the monks who enter the monastery and become monks are treated well.The most important thing is to be respected everywhere. Even an ordinary monk can be treated as an equal when he meets a government official.

Monks don't care about common things, but they can't escape from common things.The old Zen master has no other hobbies, but he likes to solve problems for people.At that time, Jiang Liuer couldn't understand what the old Zen master said, but he could always see some people pointing at the old Zen master's nose and cursing.Most of the people who do this are women, and one is prettier than the other.

When she was two years old, Jiang Liu'er had to recite a chapter of scriptures every day, and before going to bed at night, she had to copy the scriptures she had recited stroke by stroke.Every time he wanted to be lazy, he would be reprimanded by the old Zen master. He would not beat or scold him, but he would not let him sleep, and he would keep telling him about Buddhism, scriptures, compassion, and salvation of all sentient beings.

Such a young child listened to the old Zen master for three or four hours, and he was not allowed to take a nap.If he hadn't grown up in that kind of environment, he wouldn't have mastered the supernatural skill of nagging.

It is rare to see the gate of Fahua Temple open, and all the disciples in the temple went to line up outside the gate.Three-year-old Jiang Liuer went with the old Zen master, standing at the back of the line and not seeing what was going on in front of him.The old Zen master has been in the temple for a long time, but he is not qualified to stand in front according to his seniority.

The abbot of Fahua Temple personally went out to greet him, and led a group of people to stand at the door for two hours.During the period, Jiang Liu'er asked the old Zen master several times, what kind of important person would come to the temple, so that the uncle, the temple supervisor, who was always mean, was so careful.He emphasized it five or six times within two hours, telling everyone not to be distracted.

The old Zen master finally couldn't bear Jiang Liu'er's repeat function, and told everything he knew.Now not only Jiang Liu'er understood, but also the other monks around him.

There was an eminent monk from the Western Regions, who traveled all the way to the east on foot for thousands of miles.He enjoyed excellent treatment and reputation in the Western Regions. There was an envoy from the Tang Dynasty who went to the Western Regions. When the envoys returned, they brought back a sentence from the eminent monk to the current Holy Majesty.For this reason, the Holy Majesty personally decreed that if he could come to the Tang Dynasty to recite scriptures and teach the Dharma, he would build a separate temple for him.

Before Jiang Liu'er could continue to question, the voice of the supervisor's uncle team came from the front.In less than a meal, the abbot led a person into Fahua Temple.The rest of the monks stood on both sides of the gate, so that everyone could see the true face of the eminent monk from the Western Regions.

In the main hall, all the monks gathered, and the eminent monks came to the stage to give lectures.He doesn't teach the scriptures in the book, but needs someone to fight with him.The so-called Wendou is a question and an answer.The typer can ask questions, but the person who is questioned can not answer.It's not to tell the winner, just to communicate.

The abbot chose his personal disciple, and after taking the stage, he first bowed to the eminent monks in the Western Regions, but was stopped by the eminent monks halfway through his bow.He smiled and said something that only the two of them could hear, and the abbot's direct disciple immediately blushed.Glancing in the direction of the abbot, he stepped down in despair.

Everyone was a little puzzled, only a few people in the temple nodded secretly.Of course, there is the abbot of Fahua Temple, but there is also Jiang Liuer's master, the old Zen master.The direct disciple of the abbot made a big taboo when he first came to power. Before he came to power, he had to declare his family name, and then his master would introduce his name to the eminent monks in the Western Regions.

He was too impatient, so he just signed up after he took the stage.But he didn't say that he was the abbot's first disciple, but called himself an eminent monk of the Tang Dynasty.How can an eminent monk give himself the title of eminent monk, and even his master has never been awarded the title of eminent monk, so he fiddled with it from there.

There is a clear regulation in the Tang Dynasty that eminent monks are generally recommended by monasteries and reported to the Ministry of Officials with the approval of the government.Then the emperor will review it in person. Although there are many temples in the Tang Dynasty, the number of monks who have really won the title of eminent monk can be counted without using two hands.

The first monk who came to the stage ended before it started, which made the other monks present feel a little guilty.No one said a word for a full 2 ​​minutes, and finally many people standing behind looked at the old Zen master.Some people looked at the prison temple, and the last group looked at the abbot sitting under the stage.

The old Zen master completely ignored the gazes of others, but whispered to Jiang Liuer beside him: "Today is a good opportunity to test your homework, do you dare to go up and chat with that great monk?"

Jiang Liu'er, who was only three years old, tilted his head and asked, "Master, if I chat with him for a while, can I not write at night?"

The old Zen master laughed, winked at the stage, and said: "As long as you can chat with him for an hour, from now on you can write whenever you want, and if you don't want to, the teacher will never urge you to write again. "

Jiang Liu'er stretched out her little finger and said to the old Zen master, "What you say is what you say, let's pull the hook."

The old Zen master had no choice but to pull the hook with Jiang Liuer, and then picked up Jiang Liuer and sent him to the stage.Thinking that Jiang Liu'er would be stage fright on stage for the first time, the child stood on the stage and looked around for a week.He walked up to the eminent monk Xiao Yu without any haste, put his hands together and bowed in a bow, and said, "Great monk, my master asked me to come up and chat with you for a while, you can talk about whatever you want."

Hearing Jiang Liu'er's words, the eminent monk in the Western Regions frowned slightly, and instantly relaxed, looking at the old Zen master standing under the stage.I made a gesture of clasping my hands together, which was regarded as a greeting to the old Zen master.

The old Zen master stood in the audience very calmly, as if this literary battle had nothing to do with him.In the past few years, all his thoughts have been on Jiang Liuer, just because from the night he brought Jiang Liuer back from the river, he has had the same dream every night.I can't see clearly what I can't touch, but there are many things that the old Zen master has seen.

Some things should not appear in the human world, and some things should not appear in the Three Realms.Because the old Zen master loves to read books, he not only likes to read the scriptures in the Buddhist scripture pavilion of the temple, but also likes to read books that are not very popular in the market.In these years, he went to bed early and got up early, and spent two-thirds of his time reading books every day.

No matter what questions the eminent monks from the Western Regions asked, Jiang Liu'er could answer them without haste.Every time Jiang Liu'er asked rhetorical questions, the answers were very simple, and almost every monk present could answer them.But the simpler the problem, the more difficult it becomes when it comes to the eminent monks in the Western Regions.

Maybe he thought Jiang Liu'er was a child prodigy, but the truth is that the abbot's personal disciple's unfavorable start to the teacher dampened everyone's enthusiasm.No one dares to go on stage for fear of bad luck, only this little guy doesn't think so much.Coupled with his inexplicable master, didn't he chat with eminent monks from the Western Regions for a long time in a daze.

Jiang Liu'er chatted with eminent monks from the Western Regions occasionally, and then went to the old Zen master to ask a few questions.Finally, I asked the abbot a few questions, and their answers were different from those of the eminent monks in the Western Regions.Those are questions without standard answers, but their answers can show their knowledge of Buddhist scriptures.

Just a three-year-old child, but he can impress the eminent monks of the Western Regions.After eating the vegetarian meal, the eminent monks in the Western Regions specifically asked the abbot.I hope I can stay with Jiang Liu'er for a while, but I didn't expect it to be one night.

The eminent monk from the Western Regions left early the next morning without saying goodbye, leaving a note to the abbot before leaving.He no longer went on tours to other places, and immediately returned to the Western Regions to concentrate on comprehending the Dharma that Jiang Liuer taught him.This actually startled the abbot, worried that the child would give some bad ideas to the eminent monks in the Western Regions.

Fortunately, the eminent monks from the Western Regions visited Fahua Temple again later.It's a pity that the abbot had retired at that time, and the abbot's direct disciple who was questioned by the eminent monk became the new abbot.Jiang Liu'er has left Fahua Temple, and the old Zen master has disappeared.But before Jiang Liu'er left, he left an item as a gift to the eminent monks in the Western Regions.

A very common wooden fish, this thing can be seen everywhere in Fahua Temple.It looks slightly different though, because of some weird writing on the wooden fish.Five strange characters are engraved on the bottom of the wooden fish, and the sound it makes is different from other wooden fish.Even the old abbot couldn't tell what kind of wood it was, he only knew that the wooden fish was made by the old Zen master.

At Fahua Temple that night, Jiang Liu'er did help the eminent monks in the Western Regions to explain a lot of doubts.In the first half of the night, the two asked and answered, and in the second half of the night, Jiang Liuer was knocking on the wooden fish, while the eminent monk from the Western Regions fell into samadhi instantly.It only felt like a dazzling effort, but found that it was already dawn outside.

Three-year-old Jiang Liu'er went out to stop the eminent monks from the Western Regions at Fahua Temple.After returning to the Western Regions, he retreated and practiced Zen, and never left the Western Regions for a full 18 years.In the Buddhist world at that time, it was passed as a good talk, and many people made a special trip to Fahua Temple to listen to Jiang Liuer's lecture.He also officially bid farewell to the days of living in a woodshed, and moved into a standard room with windows and a desk.

(End of this chapter)