The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

Under the dead lights in the meditation room, Su Jin and Master Shanxiang, the abbot of Daming Temple, sat opposite each other. Wang Chao and others were sent outside to guard. This somewhat reduced the panic of Master Shanxiang, and his expression became calmer.update the fastest

"Master, I'm here because I can't think about some Buddhist problems, so I'm here to ask for advice; I have a strange problem, I can't sleep when I have something on my mind, so I come to visit at a longer time at night, and I beg the master to give me some advice. Confused."

Shanxiang said: "So that's the case, please tell me, my little benefactor, I will try my best to clear up your doubts."

Su Jin said: "Thank you, master, may I ask you, is there any eclecticism in Buddhism, no matter who can enter Buddhism and take refuge, can you ask for the blessing of the Buddha?"

Shanxiang thought for a while and said: "My Buddha is merciful and saves all living beings. In the eyes of the Buddha, people in the world are not divided into beauty, ugliness, high or low. Regardless of high or low, good or evil, as long as they are devoted to the Buddha, the Buddha will naturally tolerate him."

Su Jin said: "Since this is the case, if someone commits all kinds of crimes, murders like hemp, and creates endless crimes, and then he wants to convert, the Buddha will not blame him, so he will accept it?"

Shanxiang said: "Buddhism is a pure land. This means the pure land of the heart. No matter who commits any crimes, as long as he puts down the butcher knife and acts good in his heart, Buddhism will still take him in."

Su Jin smiled and said: "The master said it very well. Can I understand it this way? To enter Buddhism, you only need to have no evil thoughts in your heart, and everything in the past can be forgiven."

"Exactly, the little benefactor is smart, that's exactly what I mean."

Su Jin said with a smile: "From this, there is a question, how does the Buddhist sect judge that these people have really changed their minds, and will there be people who are duplicity?"

Shanxiang was taken aback, stroked his beard and said: "There is no standard for how to judge, but it is based on the heart. Whether a person is kind or not can always be seen from the appearance. The test is like the changing wind and clouds in the sky, no one can guarantee whether he can tell whether he is sincere."

Su Jindao: "In other words, you don't know which of the monks in your temple are sincere and good, and which are harboring evil intentions?"

Shanxiang was stunned and said: "That's true. The Buddhist school pays attention to having a Buddha in their hearts. Those who are devout will be blessed, and those who are not sincere will be rejected by the Buddha. It is fair."

Su Jin laughed and said: "After all, it's not a Buddhist gate, it's not a pure place, it may even be a place where filth is hidden, isn't it? To say something disrespectful to the Buddha, you don't know whether the Buddha blesses you or not. And know."

Shanxiang suddenly changed his face and stood up, Gao Xuan Buddha shouted angrily: "Little benefactor, what are you talking about? How can the pure land of Buddhism say such blasphemous words? You are not asking for advice, but just slandering. If so, please leave this place immediately, so as not to blame the Buddha."

Su Jin waved his hand and said: "Master, don't get excited. I have evidence for what I said. Please sit down, Master. How can you be so restless? Master's self-cultivation is worse than mine."

Shanxiang said angrily: "The benefactor's words are different. If the old monk is himself, but you will scold him and never fight back. But you insulted the Buddha, how can the old monk be calm?"

Su Jin said seriously: "Sure enough, the Buddha can't be insulted?"

Shanxiang said: "Nature cannot be desecrated."

Su Jin said: "You can blaspheme, but I can't? Don't you only allow state officials to set fires and not allow people to light lamps?"

Shanxiang was stunned and said, "Why did the old man blaspheme the Buddha? Although the old man's Dharma is not profound and thorough, but he asked himself since he entered the temple to practice at the age of six, and has served the Buddha devoutly for more than fifty years. He has never had a double heart. How can he blaspheme the Buddha? "

Su Jin said in his heart: This old monk is really unfortunate, he has been a monk all his life, and he has never experienced the flowers and plants in the world, what a pity for him.

"Master, if you think about it carefully, you will naturally understand."

"I have a clear conscience, why do you need to think too much?" Shanxiang finally got angry, this young man was putting on a show, and came here in the middle of the night to talk nonsense, even clay figurines would be angry.

"Okay, since the master refuses to admit it, I will offend you; dare to ask the master, is it blasphemy to accept someone as a disciple of Buddhism even though he knows that his intentions are not righteous?"

"Who has accepted the evil-minded people? Please tell the benefactor clearly."

Su Jin sneered and said, "You don't cry when you see the coffin? Do you want me to point it out?"

Shanxiang was about to go berserk, and he didn't care about the image of an eminent Buddhist monk. He picked up a mallet and knocked on the wooden fish.

"Little benefactor is so unreasonable. Although Buddhism is a place of mercy, it will never allow madmen to do things indiscriminately. I have to make it clear today, otherwise... otherwise... Lao Na will never end with you."

Su Jin laughed and said: "You are not finished with me, I am not finished with you, you old monk, you still do not admit that you have done something wrong, let me ask you, one of the two lay disciples you accepted is called 'Puji' One is called 'Rescue', isn't it? Who are these two people?"

"You mean the old monk has taken in people with bad intentions?" Shanxiang pointed to his nose and said in amazement.

"Is it you or who? Don't gossip about him, answer my question, are general aid and disaster relief your lay disciples?"

"Amitabha, these two are the disciples of the old man, but..."

"Don't quibble, let me ask you, do you know the details of these two people?"

"This... I have heard that these two are merchants from Yangzhou. I also inquired about them when I was accepting apprentices. These two people are kind and generous. They are well-known benevolent people in Yangzhou City, and they are devoted to Buddha. Of course, I want to accept them. .”

Su Jin said contemptuously: "Don't say it so high-sounding, okay, you said it all day long, you are not satisfied with these two people, just because these two people contributed to help you build a temple, so you accepted them as apprentices for money Is it?"

Shanxiang's face was gloomy, and he sat down on the futon and said, "To be honest, I did agree to accept them as lay disciples because they promised to fund the construction of the Manjusri Hall and pay money and things to worship the temple. , Who would have imagined... Amitabha, what a sin."

Su Jindao: "What's not to say? I've done everything. Are you still afraid of people talking about it?"

Shanxiang clasped his palms together, and murmured the scriptures for a while, presumably begging the Buddha for forgiveness, then slowly said: "When I was accepting disciples that day, the old monk did send people to the city to inquire about the conduct of the two, but they asked a lot. People say that the two of them are kind and generous, and they are two great benevolent people. The old monk thought that since this can solve the difficulties of the temple, it does not violate the Buddha's admonition. If you accept it, you will accept it. A few months later, the old man went to the city to work as a dojo, and overheard people talking about Puji, saying that he was a tyrant in the city and had done a lot of bad things, and that the rescuer was also with him, and the two joined forces. I did a lot of unreasonable things here, and I was dumbfounded at that time..."

Su Jin said: "In that case, why didn't you drive these two people out of the gate?"

Shanxiang said dejectedly: "It's also my fault that my six sense organs are not clean, and I worry about gains and losses. At that time, Pu Ji and Ji Nan had donated a lot of money and silver to rebuild the Manjusri Hall, which solved the livelihood of hundreds of monks in the temple. The two must be begging for alms, what will I give back to them when the time comes? Besides, the hall dedicated to Manjusri Bodhisattva has collapsed for a long time, and the golden body of Bodhisattva was exposed and eroded by wind and rain. The senior monk? After much deliberation, it was expedient for a while, and he wanted to wait until the Manjusri Hall was completed and the temple’s incense income could be self-sufficient. This is what I thought, and I have followed it to this day.”

Su Jin sighed: "A Duwu is really harmful to people. Even eminent Buddhist monks are bound by it. However, it is understandable for the master to think about the monks in the temple."

Shanxiang said: "The benefactor excused the old monk. The old monk is very grateful, but I am afraid that he will not be able to forgive the Buddha. For the sake of peace of mind, the old monk often recruits the two of them to teach Buddhism alone in the Zen room, and wants them to be enlightened by the Buddha's teachings. Wake up, if they can repent and rehabilitate, it can be regarded as a meritorious deed of Lao Na, or they can make up for their mistakes."

Su Jin said: "Master is too naive. What these two people have done is both human and godly. If they want to change their minds, it will be almost the same unless the sun comes out from the west and the water of the great river flows back to the mountains."

Shanxiang looked at Su Jin with a sad face and said: "Who is the benefactor? How do you know these two people so well? You also know the matter of the old monk taking them as apprentices?"

Su Jin said: "Master, do you know about the food shortage and famine in Yangzhou recently?"

Shanxiang said: "Why don't you know? The old monk even took out the temple's grain and gave it away at the foot of the mountain for several days. However, the temple was in short supply and there was really no more grain to help the people; later I heard that the imperial court sent a promising official He came to the relief to open a warehouse to release grain, and transferred a large amount of grain to the relief, which relieved the suffering of the people in Yangzhou, and the old monk heard that he had recited the Mahayana Sutra of Infinite Life for him 49 times [-] times in front of the Buddha."

Hearing this, Su Jin got up and bowed and said: "Thank you, master, for praying and chanting sutras for me."

Shanxiang was stunned and said, "You...you are...?"

Su Jin smiled and said, "It's my servant, Su Jin, the special envoy for food affairs."