Great Warriors of Sui and Tang Dynasties

Chapter 940 Parents are the biggest Buddha

On Mount Shaoshi, the monk rang the bronze bell.

The melodious sound of the bell spread throughout the mountain gate.

The monks in the temple, the purists, and the hired workers and tenants in the temple were all ordered to gather. There were also many good men and women who were burning incense and worshiping Buddha in the temple. Seeing such a big move, they also gathered to watch.

Abbot Daoxin specially put on the purple gold cassock bestowed by the emperor.

In front of the Daxiong Palace, all the monks were a little nervous. Monk Wuxin was only 12 years old, but his eyes were more focused on Senior Brother Xu who was wearing a flying fish suit and wearing a sword.

The abbot spoke on it, read out the emperor's will, and then announced the examination, which was presided over by Zhao Tongshi Sheren.

Zhao Sheren's exam is also simple. First, the registration is announced, and everyone goes up one by one to register their name, age and place of origin, whether their parents are still alive at home, how many brothers are there in the family, at what age they came to become a monk on the mountain, why they became a monk, and so on.

Wuxin lined up to the front with some anxiety, and sat in front of the desk to answer questions.

"Name?"

"Heartless."

"A layman's name?"

"Wang Baoqiang."

"Where is your origin, at what age did you become a monk, why did you become a monk, are your parents still alive, and how many brothers are there..." A series of questions were thrown out.

Wuxin scratched his hair, "My hometown is Xiangguo County, Hebei Province, my parents are still there, and I have two brothers. I came to apprentice when I was six years old and became a disciple of a layman to learn martial arts. I have been studying here for six years. You can hit the Wooden Man Alley and pass through the Eighteen Arhats, so you can't go down the mountain."

Lay disciples can also be regarded as a feature of Shaolin Temple. Shaolin pays attention to Zen. For young monks, in addition to sitting in meditation, they also practice martial arts to calm their minds and restrain their minds. They can also strengthen their bodies and prolong their lives. Practicing martial arts is only a final skill.

Because Shaolin also has a large industry, many lay disciples are specially recruited. They don't have to lose their hair to become monks like official monks, but can grow their hair to practice. These people practice martial arts and become monks. In Renxiang, the teacher will be counted if he passes through the Eighteen Arhats.

Then some monks will go down the mountain to go home, and more monks will stay on the mountain or go down the mountain to manage the farm and warehouse of the temple.

Every year, the monastery would send monks from the Bodhidharma Academy to various places to find children with good aptitude and talent, and bring them back to the monastery.Baoqiang was chosen when he was six years old. At that time, his family was poor and had six or seven children. The family could not support so many children, so the parents took a few bucks from the monks and let them take the child to Shaolin.

This is six years.

Although they are lay disciples, they are no different from monks, except that they don’t need to shave their hair, but they still have a Dharma name and obey the precepts.

A scribe took the lead to record these things, and Zhao Sheren was also holding a pen beside him, and he wrote a line on his scroll, "Wuxin, common name Wang Baoqiang, 12 years old, a lay disciple , the parents are still at home, and there are two brothers. After finishing writing, he added a sentence at the end, although the family has three children, but they are not yet fourteen years old, they do not meet the requirements for examination and shaving, and they are directly ordered to return to their hometown and return home."

"Abbot, Wuxin doesn't meet the requirements and needs to arrange to go home directly."

According to the latest decree of the imperial court on monkhood management, not everyone can become a monk. First of all, those under the age of 14 and over 21 are not allowed to become monks.Because, the court believed that those under the age of 14 were too young to make decisions, and those over the age of 21 were Cheng Ding. If Cheng Ding became a monk, the court would lose a young man.

Therefore, in the newly issued decree, no matter whether monks or monks, the age of monks is limited to between 21 and [-] years old. Only at this age can monks be allowed to become monks.

As for nuns and nuns, it is even more stipulated that women under the age of 40 are prohibited from becoming a monk, no matter what the circumstances are.This is actually the same as the Han Dynasty that allowed girls in their teens to marry. It was all for the sake of population, and at the same time it was to prevent too many women from becoming monks, which would lead to a bad social atmosphere.

The abbot reached out and patted Wuxin's shoulder, "Wuxin, from today onwards, you can leave the mountain."

"Next!"

Wuxin stood up in a daze, and walked to the side.

A skinny bald man came forward behind him. He called himself Huizhi, a 32-year-old disciple who had been officially shaved.

Zhao Sheren looked through the files in the temple and found that this Huizhi had been a monk in Shaolin for three years.

After writing down his name and other information, Zhao Sheren said to the abbot, "This person used to be a bandit. According to the law, soldiers, craftsmen, and criminals are prohibited from becoming monks. He needs to return to the vulgar, and he is not eligible to take the exam to be ordained!"

The abbot nodded, "Put down the butcher knife and become a Buddha immediately. Huizhi has no relatives in the world, so how about letting him stay?"

"Laws and kings' laws must not be violated!"

Daoxin was still a little hesitant. At this time, Zhao Sheren told him that although Huizhi had no relatives, the court would not pursue his previous crimes of banditry, but would let him re-register for naturalization and grant land allocation.

Huizhi sat there a little uneasy, even her legs were shaking.

During the chaos of the Sui Dynasty, he was forced to be a thief, his hands were stained with blood, and he did a lot of sinful things. Because of his deep guilt, he chose to go up the mountain to become a monk after the army was defeated and fled.

Now I have to go down the mountain, full of unknowns and fears about the future.

"Please take this and wait for His Highness over there." The scribe handed him a wooden card.

Another person came forward, and after the routine questioning, he was still not qualified to be a monk, because through the questioning, he learned that there was an old mother in his family. Originally, he had two brothers, but the elder brother also died during the war. No one to support at home.

"Abbot, it is still the law. Although monks are monks, they still need to worship their parents. They have the responsibility to support relatives and keep filial piety. They must not abolish rituals for heresy, abandon relatives and destroy relationships. That's why there are only three people in the family who are allowed to become monks." Regulations, and now this Huian's father and brothers are not in the war, and there is only one old mother in the family, and he needs to go back to take care of him, so he has to return to the vulgar and go down the mountain."

Hui'an has been on the mountain for more than ten years, and she's used to it. When she heard that she was going to go down the mountain, she felt terrified.

"Abbot, I don't want to go down the mountain."

The abbot comforted him and said, "With a Buddha in your heart, there are Buddhist temples everywhere. Honor your parents, and your parents are the biggest Buddhas." Daoxin said something completely different from many Buddhist sects nowadays. Abandoning the parting and the original everything, but Daoxin believes that the Buddha sees the original heart.

That's why there are Shaolin monks and lay disciples, and now he also supports the court to let Hui'an go home to support his mother.

"Parents are the biggest Buddhas! This sentence is well said, and I will definitely report it to Your Majesty after I return to Beijing!" Zhao Sheren was amazed, this sentence is really great wisdom.

Of the hundreds of monks, after the first round of registration and inquiry, half of them did not meet the requirements for becoming a monk, and were directly asked to go down the mountain and return to their hometowns.The other hundreds of monks and lay disciples were directly asked to go down the mountain.

The more than [-] monks who have passed the first round also have to pass the official scriptural examination.

(End of this chapter)