Buddha crossing a predestined person: Dharma and wisdom in life

Chapter 16 Learning to Let Go—Ordinary Mind Is the Way, Perseverance Is the Demon (4)
In the third year of Dali in the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Daizong admired the demeanor of Zen Master Daoqin and issued an imperial edict to invite him to Jinjing.Most Zen masters do not like to associate with dignitaries, let alone serve the emperor.Many people always refuse the emperor's imperial edict for various reasons.Zen Master Daoqin said: "My Buddha is merciful and does not give up anyone. What happened to the emperor? He is also one of the mortal beings!"

So, Zen master Daoqin came to the palace to give lectures for the Tang Dynasty.Daizong studied Zen for many years with Master Huizhong, a disciple of the Sixth Patriarch Huineng, and he understood the rules of Zen.

One day, Zen Master Daoqin was sitting in meditation in the palace, when Daizong arrived, he immediately stood up to pay tribute.

Daizong had a lot of experience with Zen, and said, "Why did Master get up?"

Zen most emphasizes non-discrimination.Therefore, when sitting in meditation, the emperor's arrival can be ignored.

Chan Master Daoqin chuckled and said, "If you don't stand up, how can you see the old monk in the four postures (walking, standing, sitting, lying down)?"

Emperor Daizong was delighted when he heard the words, and named him a national teacher and gave him the honorary title "Guoyi".

■Sentiment——

Daizong was different from Huizong. Huizong was arty and did not really learn Zen, so Daokai ignored his title at all;

no age
Among the emperors of the Tang Dynasty, Wu Zetian was most interested in Zen.According to historical records, she once invited many Zen masters to the palace to give lectures. Only the disciples of the fifth patriarch Hongren, she invited two—Shenxiu and Hui'an.There is another one, the Sixth Patriarch Huineng—she, the only empress in China, was also unable to invite her.

Master Songyue Hui'an, also known as Lao An, is a legendary Zen master.At a young age, he has already gained world fame.At that time, in order to dig the Grand Canal, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty conscripted hard labor, the fields were barren, and the hungry people were like locusts.Hui'an begged everywhere to help the refugees, and countless lives were saved.Emperor Sui Yang invited him into the palace admiringly, but he ignored him and sneaked into Taihe Mountain to hide his name for decades.Tang Gaozong also sent envoys to welcome him as a national teacher. His old man escaped from his shell and fled to Songshan overnight.

He was 20 years older than Hongren, the fifth patriarch, and he was much more famous than Hongren. However, he didn't care and bowed down in front of Hongren.He was 56 years older than the sixth patriarch Huineng. According to his age, he could be Huineng's grandfather, but he and Huineng were very speculative. He recommended Huineng to the court many times, saying that Huineng was the true successor of Zen.Huai Rang, Hui Neng's most important disciple, originally cast himself under his disciples. He said: "I can't teach you. The master who fell in love with you is Huineng."

This old naughty boy did not beat Wu Zetian, and was carried to the capital by the royal sedan chair.At that time, he was more than 120 years old. He was shaped like a pine wind and a crane, with a silver beard fluttering.

Wu Zetian was very curious and asked how old he was?He said I don't remember.Empress Wu said how is it possible, how can a person forget his age?Zen Master Hui'an smiled lightly and said:
"The human body has birth and death, just like a circular cycle, with no beginning and no end. What's the use of remembering this year? Besides, this heart is like water flowing, there is no gap in the middle, and seeing the bubbles Mie Mie is nothing more than an illusion. People, from the very first awareness of death, it has always been like this, how many years can we remember?"

Wu Zetian, the iron and blood queen, knelt down at Hui'an's knees convincedly.

In the third year of Shenlong, the 128-year-old master Hui'an returned to his beloved Songyue with the Mona cassock and the title of national teacher bestowed on him by Tang Zhongzong.On March [-], he said to his disciples: "Wait for another five days, and I will die as a teacher. After I die, you put my body in the woods on the hillside, and there will be a wild fire to tea (cremation) .”

On the eighth day, Master Hui'an passed away peacefully.The disciples followed his instructions and put his body in the forest. Sure enough, the wildfire spontaneously ignited, burning out countless crystal clear and colorful relics.

■Sentiment——

Life and death have been seen through, so what's the point of remembering this age?

"There is no love for life, no fear of death" (in the words of Zen Master Daoying).For living, there is no nostalgia; for death, there is no fear.Zen Master Benjing of the Tang Dynasty replied: To be alive is like sleeping and dreaming; to be dead is like sleeping without dreaming.Zen Master Zhiqin believes that life is like floating clouds in the sky, where it comes from, it will go there.

out of the coffin
From the Song Dynasty to the first year of Taoism, Zen Master Ruilu Yu'an was about to pass away.After he bathed and changed his clothes, he walked into the coffin by himself and had the lid closed.

Three days later, the disciples wanted to cremate the master according to the usual practice, so they opened the coffin lid and saw Zen master Yu'an lying on his side just like the Buddha Sakyamuni when he passed away.When the disciples saw Master's remains, they couldn't help crying bitterly.At this time, Zen Master Yu'an, who had been dead for many days, came back to life.He walked out of the coffin, ascended to the throne, and severely admonished his disciples: "From now on, whoever opens my coffin will not be my disciple!"

After speaking, he returned to the coffin and passed away in silence.

■Sentiment——

In the face of death, most Zen masters are very open-minded, very free and easy, without any worries about it, and speak and laugh freely.In addition, many novel tricks have been conjured up in the way of death, some died sitting, some died standing, some died standing upside down, some walked into the coffin by ringing a bell by themselves; In the middle, he played the iron flute and sang songs. When the wooden basin overturned on the sea, he threw the iron flute into the air. When saying goodbye to everyone, he also talked about the benefits of water burial, without a trace of sadness at all.

Freedom of life and death
Chan Master Puhua sat under the seat of Chan Master Linji.One day, he was begging people for robes on the street, and some believers gave him good robes, but he did not accept the robes offered by people.

Someone reported this to Zen Master Linji, and Linji bought a coffin for him. Puhua said happily, "I bought back my clothes."

Puhua immediately picked up the coffin, ran to the street and yelled loudly, "Linji made me a vestment, I can wear it to die, tomorrow morning, I will die at the east gate."

The next day, Puhua arrived at the east gate on time with the coffin on his shoulders. When he saw it, there was a huge crowd of people, all wanting to see this strange event.Puhua said to everyone: "There are too many people watching the excitement today, it's not easy to die. Go to the South Gate to die tomorrow."

After three days in this way, from the south gate to the west gate, and from the west gate to the north gate, no one believed the words of Chan Master Puhua. Die? Don't fall for his tricks again."

On the fourth day, Puhua carried the coffin to the north gate. When he saw that there were not many people watching, he said happily, "You are very patient. You are not afraid of hard work. I can die for you now." Look." After saying that, Puhua entered the coffin, closed it himself, and then fell silent.

■Sentiment——

Why can the eminent monks who have attained the Tao predict life and death?Because they have seen through life and death, surpassed life and death, and are completely in control.

Budai Monk
Smile as soon as you open your mouth, laugh at the past and laugh at the present, and laugh at everything;
A big belly can accommodate, accommodate heaven and earth, how can it be tolerated by others?

As soon as you step into the temple, the smiling and chubby Maitreya Buddha greets everyone with his big belly exposed.The prototype of Maitreya Buddha is a Zen master in the Five Dynasties period of China, Bu Dai Monk.

His real name is Qibi, and his nickname is Tingzi. I don't know where he comes from.He always has a big belly and carries a big cloth bag on his Zen stick, and he often wanders the streets of Fenghua in Mingzhou (now Ningbo).He begged for anything he saw and put it all into his big cloth bag.He always sang:

I have a sack, empty and unobstructed.

Spread it all over the ten directions, and watch yourself at ease when you enter the time.

Monk Bailu saw it clearly, and asked Zen: "What is a cloth bag?"

Hearing this, he put down the cloth bag.

"What is under the cloth bag?" Monk Bailu was of course asking what is the deeper essence of Zen.

Without saying a word, he picked up the cloth bag and left.

That day, a wandering Zen monk was walking on the street.He chased after him and slapped him on the back.The Zen monk looked back, thinking that he was going to ask about the Dharma, but he stretched out his hand and begged brazenly: "Give me a penny." The Zen monk felt the rush of wit from this vulgar behavior.The Zen monk said: "If you speak well, I will give you money."

He put down the cloth bag and stood with his arms crossed.Seeing this, the Zen monk continued to worship deeply.

The famous Zen master Baofu heard about his career and came to examine him specially, asking: "What is the general idea of ​​Buddhism?"

He still put down the cloth bag.Baofu asked: "Is it just that? Is there anything more uplifting?"

He picked up the cloth bag, put it on the Zen stick, and walked away.

One day, he stood at a crossroads.A monk asked him what he was doing here?He said wait for someone.The monk fought with him and said, "Come, come!"

Zen Master Budai said, "You are not the one I am waiting for."

The monk understood that he was referring to the "true person" - self-nature, and asked again: "What is that person?"

But he pretended to be stupid, stretched out his hand and said, "Give me a penny?"——A real person has no form or form, how can he say that?Although it can't be said, it can be expressed - isn't it the role of a "real person" who stretches out his hand to speak?

One night in March, instead of sleeping on the street, he returned to Yuelin Temple where he became a monk, sat on the rock under the east corridor, and said:

Maitreya is really Maitreya, with thousands of billions of clones.

Show the current people all the time, but the current people do not know themselves.

After speaking, he closed his eyes and died suddenly.The strange thing is that after he passed away and was cremated, his figure carrying a cloth bag often appeared in nearby counties.People thought of his last dharma gatha, and then suddenly realized that this Bu Dai Zen master is the incarnation of Maitreya Buddha!
As a result, various places competed to draw pictures and shape his image. Over time, people recognized him as the same as Maitreya Buddha.For thousands of years, it has greeted people with a smiling face and a big belly in front of the temple gate, and has seen all kinds of things in the world.

■Sentiment——

Laugh at the past and laugh at the present, laugh east and west, laugh south and north, laugh back and forth, laugh at yourself for being ignorant;
Observing things and objects, observing the sky and earth, observing the sun and the moon, observing the upper and lower, and observing others are always high and low.

The story of Maitreya with a big belly tells us that to be a real person, one should be able to afford and let go, everything will go with the wind, so why be so obsessed with external things!

jokes come true
For example, a Zen master is like a cloud, free and unrestrained, traveling all over the world.People don't know where he came from, who he studied under, and even his Dharma name. They only see him wearing a coarse cloth robe, so they call him "Punaru Chan Master."

In Shuangxi Mountain, he met a Zen friend who shared his heart and interests—the eminent monk of the Yunmen sect, Fori Qisong.Zen Master Fori Qisong shone like the sun, and everyone admired him.Even Ouyang Xiu and Su Dongpo admired his literary talents; Song Renzong also bestowed on him the title of "Master of Mingjiao".

Zen Master Qisong is very famous in the court and the public. Han Qi, a famous prime minister in Chinese history, invited him to the capital to preside over the temple. He had to part with Zen Master Ru.The mind of Zen is like the autumn moon, and the light is the same for thousands of miles.One day, Zen Master Qisong, who was living in the capital, missed his old friend Bu Naru, but he couldn’t see each other again, so he wrote a memorial poem jokingly, playing with Chan Master Bu Naru:
Following the ancestors and being our generation, the fate of life can be regulated;
Life is still on the road, knowing the disease and lazy to seek medical treatment.

It's hard to write with ancient looks, and it's hard to know the love in the world;
Wherever the clouds of kindness are spread, the lonely moon is suitable for itself.

Zen Master Qisong recited it twice by himself, feeling very proud, and sent it to Bu Naru.After reading it, Chan Master Bu Naru also liked this memorial poem very much. He raised his pen and wrote on the letter paper:

Who is more in Dao Qi's life? I know Xianqing best.

At the beginning, I didn't want to be separated, I was afraid that I would mistakenly refer to the same poem.

After finishing writing, Buna passed away like a Zen master throwing a pen.

He originally lived a free and easy life with a lot of fun and no intention of dying at all, but in order to live up to the memorial poem of fellow Taoist, he just passed away like this.

What's even more amazing is that 60 years later, the gate of the pagoda where Zen master Bu Naru was stored decayed and opened automatically.People saw that his body was intact and his appearance was lifelike.

■Sentiment——

Chan Master Qisong's memorial poem was originally just a play on words, and Chan Master Bu Naru laughed it off; however, isn't life also a game of illusion and disillusionment?What's more, Zen master Qisong's poem has the meaning of directly accepting Bunaru's Zen method. Whether it is a joke or a real view, Buna died without hesitation in order to give recognition.You must know that the Zen master has already explored life and death, and he is free to come and go. Therefore, the Dharma lineage has been passed on, and he just left.This kind of unrestrained and unrestrained, this kind of freedom can only be achieved by Zen people.

Zen master's courage
Zen Master Xinyue, whose Dharma name is Xingchou, styled Xinyue, and nicknamed Donggao, was originally from Puyang, Jinhua Prefecture, Hangzhou.In the seventh year of Kangxi, when he was 30 years old, he came to pay homage to Zen Master Cuiwei Pavilion.The master asked him to live in the meditation hall to study Zhaozhou's "dogs have no Buddha-nature" Huatou.He participated in it for three full years, and finally saw his nature clearly, and got the master's seal.In the fifth year of Yanbao in Japan, he traveled across the ocean and went east to Nagasaki, Japan.

At that time, there were three major temples in Nagasaki: Xingfu Temple (or Nanjing Temple), Fuji Temple (or Zhangzhou Temple), and Chongfu Temple (or Fuzhou Temple).Zen Master Xinyue quickly stood out from his peers, and even General Mito, who was famous and powerful in Japan at that time, sent people several times to sincerely ask Zen Master Xinyue to come to Mito so that he could ask for advice at any time.

After Zen Master Xinyue arrived in Mito, he completely remodeled Tiantoku Temple according to the jungle pattern of Zen Buddhism and renamed it Gion Temple.The more the heart is the founder of the mountain.

One day, General Mito suddenly thought that people in Buddhism, who have the softest heart, must also be the most timid, so he wanted to test Xinyue.

That day, Zen Master Xinyue was invited to the mansion to set up a vegetarian meal for him.During the banquet, General Mito personally poured a cup for the Zen master with tea instead of wine.Zen Master Xinyue had just received the teacup with both hands, and when he raised the cup and was about to drink it, suddenly, there was an earth-shattering loud noise: "Boom!"

The earth trembled, the houses shook, and the dishes on the table jingled.It turned out that General Mito had asked his subordinates to lurk in the next room in advance, waiting for an opportunity to scare Zen Master Xinyue with the sound of cannons.The sound of the cannon suddenly rang out, and General Mito thought that Xinyue, who was unprepared, would at least drop the teacup and spill tea all over his body, even if he didn't freak out in fright.Unexpectedly, Xinyue didn't change his expression, didn't even frown, and drank the tea in one gulp with a calm expression.

General Mito was puzzled, and asked tentatively: "Master, I'm sorry, my subordinates were practicing guns just now. They didn't know you were a guest, so they were rude. Did they frighten you?"

Zen Master Xinyue's mind is as clear as a mirror, and his mind is as calm as water. With a faint smile, he said: "Firing guns and cannons is a common thing in your army. It's nothing. I don't think it's strange, and I won't be frightened."

Saying that, Zen Master Xinyue poured a cup of tea and paid respects to General Mito.The general raised his glass, and just when the teacup was about to touch his lips, he shouted, "Hey!"

This drink was like a lion roaring in the wilderness and a tiger roaring in the forest. General Mito, who was caught off guard, trembled with fright, and the tea in the cup poured all over his body.Mito asked sullenly, "Zen Master, what are you doing?"

Zen Master Xinyue said: Just like your soldiers handling guns and cannons, drinking sticks is a common thing in our Zen. Does the general think there is something wrong? "

General Mito wanted to frustrate Zen Master Xinyue, but he made a fool of himself.

■Sentiment——

We know that monks live in a quiet monastery all day long, so how can Xinyue have no fear of the sudden sound of artillery?This is the concentration formed by Zen monks who have practiced meditation for a long time.With this power of concentration in the human mind, one will be able to be struck by thunder without being surprised, be seduced by beauty without being chaotic, be humiliated without reason without anger, and complain when bad luck strikes.

poker zen

Thousands of years ago, two Zen monks came to Zhaozhou to learn from the Zen master.Regardless of the newcomers or old acquaintances, Zhaozhou let them drink tea.The head teacher (supervisor) who was sitting on the side didn't understand, Zhaozhou said, you go and drink tea for me too!There is also a large set of various tea drinking rituals in the temple.Therefore, it can be said that Zen monks are probably the most tea-drinking and tea-drinking people in the world.

A teahouse opened at the fork in the mountain, and the business was booming.This is neither a traffic hub nor a busy market town. The owner of the teahouse is an old woman in her 60s and [-]s.Most of the tea drinkers who come here here are monks who have become monks.Why are teahouses so prosperous?
There is a large-scale Zen temple on the mountain near the fork, so it is not surprising that there are many monks who come to drink tea.However, some Zen monks have traveled thousands of miles to drink tea, which may not be as simple as a bowl of tea.

It turned out that they had heard that the old woman who opened the teahouse had great insights and Zen skills.

For the tea drinkers, the old woman took a look from a distance and immediately knew who was drinking tea and who was spying on her Zen skills.For those who come to drink tea wholeheartedly, she greets them with a smile and warm hospitality.If she met those who came for Zen, the old woman would always smile mysteriously and signal him to the side of the screen with her eyes.Look at her demeanor, as if she wants to tell you the secret Buddhist Zen.

Beyond the screen was the dusty stove.However, many Zen monks quietly and excitedly came behind the screen, ready to listen carefully.At this time, the old woman would always pick up the tongs to poke the stove, and beat them mercilessly on their bald heads.

It is true that some people suddenly realized after the old woman drank the blow, and left with a smile on their faces;

The same smile, different tastes, ups and downs, everything goes without saying.

■Sentiment——

Zen tea is blind, Zen is in the tea!If you don’t drink tea honestly and savor the Zen in your life carefully, what kind of Zen are you looking for?Only found the poker Zen!However, few people can resist the temptation of "over the screen".Because his opportunistic mind is never dead, and he always imagines that there will be a pie in the sky.For imaginary pies, they often fall into all kinds of traps.Song said:
There is no way outside the mind, there is no Zen outside the mind, contemplate your own mind, and the eyes are full of green mountains.

one and two
Zen Master Yunju always advises people to believe in themselves, not to believe in any ghosts and gods, let alone entrust their fate to ghosts and gods.Invisibly, he offended Maoshan Taoist priests who lived by reciting mantras and drawing talismans, descending gods and exorcising ghosts.

One day, a Taoist priest from Maoshan, who came prepared, stopped Zen Master Yunju in the street market and said, "Your Buddhism is not comprehensive, and it is far worse than our Taoism. For example, the highest state of your Buddhism is 'one mind'. ', 'one multiplier', 'one true dharma realm', everything is 'one'; and our Taoism pays attention to 'two' in everything, such as yin and yang, two instruments, and heaven and earth. Is it more reasonable than your 'one', Better?"

"One becomes two, two become one, everything is one and has two sides, so why bother to make a distinction, what is the difference between superiority and inferiority, victory or defeat? Besides, two may not necessarily win one." Chan Master Yunju said.

The Maoshan Taoist refused to give up and blocked his way: "You don't want to slip away, I must defeat you! Tell me, as long as you can 'one', I can do 'two'."

(End of this chapter)