The Legend of Shushan Xuanjian

Chapter 215

Wuwu does not cultivate goodness, flourishes without doing evil, silently cuts off what he sees and hears, and has no mind.

—— "The Last Verse of the Altar Sutra", Patriarch Huineng, the Sixth Patriarch

……

Hu Changgang asked: "Why don't there be writings for the teaching of Zen?"

The old monk said: "When you enter the text, you will enter into thinking. Thinking is useless. The rules of thinking will shield the world. Only by jumping out of thinking can you observe and directly understand the truth of the world. Worldly knowledge needs to be learned and accumulated. , Buddhism is not like this. Buddhism pays attention to experience and understanding, and only when the mind is clear can one see the nature.

Therefore, the Zen method emphasizes heart-to-heart communication, heart-to-heart confirmation, self-enlightenment and self-understanding.The patriarchs have been passed down from generation to generation, and they all pay their hearts secretly. "

Hearing this, Bai Fu remembered that he had asked Abbot Kong what Buddhism is.

Abbot Liaokong said: "Don't do any evil, but do all good."

Bai Fu was taken aback, and said, "So simple?"

Abbot Liaokong sighed softly: "It's so simple, even children can understand it, but few people can do it."

……

Hu Changgang finally asked: "Then how does the master know that the disciple has enlightened the Tao and obtained the Fa?"

The old monk smiled and said: "The clouds in the sky are like white clothes, nailed and hung. Master has seen it before."

……

When the old monk finished talking about the Buddhist classic "Diamond Sutra" and heard "the mind should be born without a dwelling", Hu Changgang said that he had great enlightenment.

Hu Changgang then told the old monk: "When will the self-nature be pure by itself.... The Zen Buddhism understood by the disciples is not separated from the self-nature, does not fall on both sides, comes and goes because of each other, and becomes the middle way."

As soon as this remark came out, the old monk knew that Hu Changgang was enlightened and understood the wonderful meaning of Buddhism.The old monk nodded and smiled, chanting Wuxiang, and Yinke Hu Changgang said: "Speaking and heart are connected, it is like the sun in the sky. Only the teaching of seeing nature can be born to destroy evil sects..."

The old monk passed on his mantle, and handed over the four volumes of the Langa Sutra, Dharma's tiger stick, incense board, and wooden fish to Hu Changgang.The old monk said:

"The world is about to be in chaos, and Shaolin may be destroyed by war. These four volumes of the Langa Sutra are handwritten by Bodhidharma. Bodhidharma's tiger stick, incense board, and wooden fish are the things that Bodhidharma carried with him. From today, Shaolin mantle It will be passed on to you. You are the head of the new generation of Shaolin. I hope you will be good at protecting yourself, broaden the sentient beings, and spread it in the future without ordering it to be cut off."

The old monk continued: "In the past, Patriarch Bodhidharma came to China for the first time, and people did not believe that he was the eighth generation disciple of Buddha No. 20. Therefore, Patriarch Bodhidharma passed on the Buddha's tokens - dharma robes, kapok cassock and purple golden bowl, as Zen tokens, from generation to generation. Succession.

Kapok cassock and purple golden bowl are used as tokens of the Zen sect, whoever holds them represents the authentic Zen sect.As a result, the achievements of preaching and propagating the Dharma have turned into disputes among Zen sects.

The fifth patriarch, Hongren, handed over the mantle to the sixth patriarch, Huineng, and asked him not to pass it down.If you pass on this garment, your life is like a hanging thread.

Sure enough, as Patriarch Hongren expected, the disciples of the first Chan Master Shenxiu wanted to prove that Shenxiu was the successor and that Shenxiu's lineage was the authentic Zen sect.His disciples continued to send people to hunt down the sixth patriarch Huineng and rob him of his mantle, so that he lived in seclusion in the mountains and lived with hunters for fifteen years.

After the sixth patriarch Huineng came out of the mountain again, he followed his teacher's orders and did not rely on his mantle to prove the authenticity of the Zen school, but to spread the Dharma with profound Buddhist principles.From then on, the dharma robes, kapok cassocks and purple gold bowls were hidden in the Zen school.

……

The Langa Sutra, the tiger stick, the incense board, and the wooden fish are all tokens of Bodhidharma. Whoever holds them also represents who is the authentic Shaolin descendant.Keepers are indeed a disaster, so don't show them to others easily.Otherwise, there will be dangers and life hanging by a thread.

It is said that Buddhism is pure, but in fact Buddhism is only vast, so how can we talk about purity?People with ulterior motives often show others with kindness and kindness.

I am afraid that people will harm you, and I am afraid that the past events of Shenxiu's disciples chasing and killing Patriarch Huineng and robbing him of his mantle will repeat itself.You will leave early tomorrow morning by going down the mountain to carry water. "

Hu Changgang was taken aback, and said, "Master, where should I go then?"

The old monk said: "When there is oil, it stops, when it encounters cotton, it hides. I have arranged a small boat for you among the reeds by the river. You can use the boat to go south and return to Shu from the Yangtze River.

I will not pass away until three years after you leave.Hello self-cultivation.It is not advisable to spread the Dharma and spread the Tao prematurely, and preach the Zen method.Because in the past few years, it has been difficult for Buddhism to flourish.

When the war in the Central Plains is over and the world is peaceful, you can go back to Mount Song and present the token of Patriarch Bodhidharma to the public.Integrate Shaolin disciples who survived the catastrophe, rebuild Shaolin, promote Buddhism, and protect scriptures together!
Like a single lamp, it burns hundreds of thousands of lamps. "

……

In the early morning of the second day, Hu Changgang went down the mountain to carry water as usual, wearing a bamboo hat and carrying two large wooden barrels on his shoulders.He crossed the hanging foot bridge over the canyon, turned over Mingyuegang, crossed a stone arch bridge, and came to the Guilin stream where water is usually taken.The stream is gurgling, clear as a mirror, and the pebbles at the bottom of the water are clearly visible.

Hu Changgang put down the pole and barrel, and took out a rucksack from the bottom of the barrel.In the rucksack are incense boards, wooden fish and the Lenga Sutra wrapped in oiled paper.Hu Changgang put the "Langa Sutra" in his breast pocket, carried a rucksack, and carried a Dharma tiger stick in his hand, wading across the Pearl Beach.

After walking for another half an hour, a big river appeared in front of my eyes. The big river rushed for thousands of miles, spread mightily across the vast wilderness, and rushed eastward.

The reeds and grass on both sides of the big river are vast and uninhabited. Only one or two sailboats appear and disappear from time to time at the intersection of water and sky.

Hu Changgang followed the route pointed out by the old monk and came to a reed marsh where a quaint monument stood among the reeds.A group of waterfowl circled and chirped among the reeds.

Hu Changgang pulled out the reeds and walked straight along the grass marks by the river, startling a group of gulls and herons.In the depths of the reeds,

There is a small ferry, and a small boat is tied beside the big stone at the ferry.

Hu Changgang was about to board the boat when he stopped suddenly.Turning around and kneeling on the ground, he kowtowed several times in the direction of Shaolin Temple.Tears overflowed from the corners of his eyes, and he couldn't bear to leave for a long time.

After standing upright for a long time, he gritted his teeth, strode into the boat, untied the cable, and was about to paddle into the water.

I only heard a hearty laughter from the depths of the reeds: "Brother Changgang, are you here all right?"

……

　Notes:
　　The dialogue between the old monk and Hu Changgang is adapted from the Zen sayings and allusions of the fifth patriarch Hongren who taught the Dharma to the sixth patriarch Huineng.

　　References

　　1. "Tan Jing", translated and annotated by Shang Rong, Zhonghua Book Company, April 2013 edition
　　2. "Introduction to Zhizhong Zen", edited by Lowell, CITIC Publishing House, September 2017

　　
　　
　
(End of this chapter)