Beacon Opera Couple

Chu Huaifeng meditated on the tree all night. He was afraid of being disturbed by the night, so he waited until dawn the next day.

After dawn, he stood up from the tree and flew out lightly.In the white clouds and clear wind, overlooking the mountains, rivers and small towns at the foot, I arrived at the foot of Nanzhao Mountain in an instant.

The mood of going up the mountain is always pious, and one must walk up in person.The world is so big, the temples are so high, and we are so small, we need to be respectful.

When we arrived at Nanzhao Temple, it was already surrounded by incense and mist. The temple is not big and there are few pilgrims.Except for three or five pilgrims worshiping Buddha, there was only one monk sweeping the floor there.

Chu Huaifeng first went to the main hall to worship, and then came out to look around. The original pilgrims also went down the mountain.He stood there not knowing what to do, when the monk came over and clasped his hands together and asked, "What's the matter with the almsgiver?"

Chu Huaifeng also clasped his hands respectfully: "Master, this disciple is here for something. I heard that this is one of the entrances to the depths of the Nine Nethers. I want to go to the Nine Nethers."

The monk was taken aback after hearing this: "The benefactor must have made a mistake. The little monk is called Xingzhi, and he has practiced here since he was a child. He has never heard of this."

Chu Huaifeng said: "Master Xingzhi, I don't think anyone will tell you about it, so I don't know."

Xingzhi: "Even if this is the case, what kind of person went to the Nine Nether Lands, can you know, my lord?"

"The unforgivable person." Chu Huaifeng said.

Xingzhi said: "The benefactor, please go back."

"I want to see the abbot." Chu Huaifeng said.

Seeing this, Monk Xingzhi clasped his hands together and said, "Please wait a moment."

After a while, Xingzhi came back and said to Chu Huaifeng, "Please follow me."

Chu Huaifeng followed Xingzhi into a dormitory, and saw an old monk with white beard and eyebrows sitting on a futon. When he saw Chu Huaifeng, he got up and clapped his hands together and said, "I know my heart well, I have seen the benefactor."

Chu Huaifeng hurriedly returned the gift: "Disciple Chu Huaifeng pays respects to Master Xinming."

"Sir, please sit down."

Chu Huaifeng sat down with Monk Xinming, and Xingzhi brought tea.

"Just now I heard from little Tu Xingzhi that Shi mainly went to the land of the Nine Nethers. I don't know if it's true?"

"true."

"One more question, old man, why do you want to go to the Nine Nether Lands?"

"Find an answer."

The old monk Xinming said: "We Buddhists often say to seek from within rather than from outside. The answer is actually to be found in the young master's heart."

"Master Xinming, you don't know the suffering in my disciple's heart..." So Chu Huaifeng told Monk Xinming about his experience over the past ten thousand years, and the old monk nodded as he listened.

The old monk heard Chu Huaifeng's confusion, and said: "Since this is the case, there is no need for you to go to the Nine Nether Lands. The great calamity, no matter how great it is, is not as great as the heart calamity. The heart is empty and everything is empty, without any appearance. Is there a catastrophe? Excuse me, the son's ego is too strong, this is the most obvious."

Chu Huaifeng said: "But I have asked all the Buddhas, but no one has said so. Could it be that the Buddhas don't know why?"

The old monk smiled and said: "All the Buddhas are silent because it is useless to say it. If you don't realize it and break yourself, what are you talking about. In the past at the Lingshan Dharma Conference, the Buddha held up a flower to show the Dharma. Only Kasyapa smiled. But the Buddhists can’t realize it. Since the beginning of Zen, under the teaching of this sect, they don’t establish words, but directly point to people’s hearts. My son, you have read all the Buddhist scriptures and meditated day and night. Have you ever comprehended a Huatou?”

"No." Huaifeng replied.

"The old man is bold. The law lies in learning and applying it. My son's ten thousand years of hard meditation is tantamount to sitting in dry meditation. The dead tree is dead, and the aphids are born. How can I get rid of it. Are you attached to me? Why can't I understand this hurdle? , is the young master proud of his beauty, cultivation, supernatural powers, etc.?"

"Yes." Huaifeng said.

"I don't let go of my appearance, my attachment is hard to break, my attachment is constant, and my wisdom doesn't show. In my opinion, you are no different from the wild dogs who often come to my monastery."

Chu Huaifeng was furious immediately, but kept suppressing it, but still said displeasedly: "How did the Great Monk insult me?"

The old monk said with a smile: "Young master has many problems. Such a little analogy also makes me angry. What about patience? Buddhism and Taoism both talk about patience."

Chu Huaifeng was accused of being wrong, and lost his temper in an instant.

The old monk Xinming said again: "The Buddha said that all living beings are equal. All living beings on the earth have Buddha nature. What happened to the wild dog, what happened to the son, and what happened to the old man. My son, go down the mountain, and go back to the beginning of the sentence: Who am I?" ?”

Chu Huaifeng said: "Master, I have come here, but I can't go back. It's a karma, and it's because of my attachment. If I don't go and see for myself, how can I die this heart and live that Zen?" "

The old monk nodded: "That's all. If the heart is not dead, it is difficult to leave. If the heart is as dead ashes, you can enter the Tao. Fate brings the young master, and the old monk agrees. However, if you want to enter Jiuyou, the old monk has conditions."

"Master Xinming, please speak."

"Being ordained under my sect and being a monk for seven years, I will guide you to the Land of Nine Nethers."

Chu Huaifeng hesitated, and said, "Seven years?"

"But the young master has clearly waited for 1 years."

Yes, it's not too late, Chu Huaifeng thought, so he said, "My disciple is willing."

Before the Buddha, the hair is shaved, the old clothes are changed, and the plain cassock is worn.From then on, other people enter the empty door and have no worries.

The monks who have shaved their hair always have a different state of mind, although they can't say why, and can't describe the feeling.In short, one life after another, some paths will always be different.

"From now on, there will be no prince Huaifeng in the Three Realms, only the monk Xingyan." The old monk Xinming said.

"Dare to ask Master, what is the reason for the word Xingyan?"

"It means changing, giving birth to Taoism or common feelings, and walking and observing, and observing and enlightening." The old monk Xinming said, "After Xingzhi, you sing the morning bell, and Xingyan comes to beat the evening drum."

From then on, Chu Huaifeng became a monk, followed his brother Xingzhi to do morning and evening classes every day, and spent the rest of his time meditating, learning Buddhist chant and beating the evening drum.

The twilight drum singing at night can be heard not only in the human realm, but also in the ten dharma realms.Whenever drums sound like rain, thunder and lightning, and "Gather of Knocking the Bell" is sung loudly, the punishment in hell will stop temporarily, and the blessed beings will be liberated with the power of compassion and wish.

The first time Chu Huaifeng beat the evening drum and sang gatha, he wept while singing, his voice was thick and powerful, full of compassion, soul-stirring: [1]...

"Hong Zhong first knocked on the treasured verse and recited the high-pitched heaven and earth. I wish all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to illuminate the universe and the lower capital. In the year of famine, the southern mu and the eastern suburbs all looked forward to the day of Yao and Shun, and fought forever. Zhenjing Dharma, Changxing Land, Dragon God, Anseng, Dharma Protector, Parents, Teachers, Six Relatives, Family members who have passed away through the ages, went to the other side together"

……

In this way, day after day, without interruption.

In the first year, seeing the flowers blooming and withering, looking at myself without silver hair in the wooden barrel full of water, I felt a little sad; Reading scriptures in the porch, the heat in his heart slowly calmed down in the scriptures; in the third year, when Yanzi returned to the south, the autumn wind swayed the yellow leaves of a tree, and the endless leaves made him raise his head to the sky at a certain moment After a glance, he thought it was a pretty good day, that’s all; in the fourth year, in the cold winter when the mountains were covered by heavy snow, he sat and drank tea with his master and brother Xuelu, talking and laughing and forgetting the time; In the fifth year, when the grain rains came, there seemed to be more pilgrims, but he locked himself in the meditation room and knocked on the wooden fish. Here, he lived in Bodhi; in the sixth year, there seemed to be no special scenery in the four seasons. Houshan stayed in seclusion for a whole year, and Xingzhi brought him meals every day.On the night when I left customs on the Shangyuan Festival, I saw the fireworks all over the sky, it was very beautiful...

In the seventh year, it was quite normal, everything was normal.The days went on like this, and he himself didn't notice anything.

On the night of the mortal New Year's Eve, when it was time for the evening drum to beat the bell, he beat the drum and chanted as usual.When I sang about the six relatives who died first and went to the other shore together, suddenly many images flashed in my brain: Wanling Mountain, Zhantan Cave, Difu, Nanzhao Temple; there are many people: Chu Qingcheng, Biluo, Ghost Thirteen , and another one, a particularly handsome face, with a deep and evil smile, looking at himself in the boundless darkness.

Who is that last person?So where is the dark place?Could it be, Jiuyou? !

Yes, Jiuyou, what year is this year, how many years have I been here?Chu Huaifeng, oh no, Xing Yan suddenly thought of the purpose of coming here.He did the math, isn't this the seventh year?

So he found the old monk Xinming and said, "Master, the disciple is interrupting you."

The old monk asked: "It's okay, let's talk."

"The seven-year agreement has come, please tell me the entrance to Jiuyou, Master."

The old monk put down the scriptures in his hand and said, "It's been seven years, haven't you put it down yet?"

"Master, please allow the disciple to return to vulgarity, and after this period of karma, come to repay the Buddha's grace." Xing Yan said.

The old monk said: "Since this is the case, if you have not broken your heart, just follow the fate. Go ahead, enter the Jiuyou entrance, and I will tell you in three days. During these three days, you will circle the Buddha and chant the Buddha during the day, and kneel to the 88 Buddhas at night to worship and repent. "

Just do it!

On the third day, he worshiped all night to repent, for the teachings of his master in the past seven years, and for not learning to let go of himself in the past seven years.

The moment the morning light shone into the Daxiong Palace, he got up and walked into the hut of the old monk Xinming, but found no one there.I went to other places where the master often went, but there was no one there.So I went to look for Xingzhi again, but Xingzhi was not there.

He had no choice but to go to the main hall to sweep the incense ashes, light incense again, and chant Buddha's name.After a long time, he put down the wooden fish, bowed and left the hall.

I saw Xingzhi standing under the plane tree in the courtyard, holding a box in his hand.He ran over and asked, "Brother, where is Master?"

Xingzhi said, "Brother, Master passed away three nights ago."

"what?"

"Master was with me before he passed away, and he asked me to give you the relic that he transformed into after tea ceremony. In addition, the place where he tea ceremony is the entrance to the land of the Nine Nethers." After Xingzhi finished speaking, he handed the box to Xingzhi Yan.

"Master, he passed away?" He asked incredulously.

Xingzhi said: "If he does not pass away, the entrance of Jiuyou will not be opened. You eat this relic. Then I will tell you."

Chu Huaifeng opened the box, but saw a blue relic, he swallowed it.

Xingzhi continued: "Junior Brother, you have returned to the vulgar world now. Master asked me to convey a few words to you before he passed away. You listen carefully now. Although you have already returned to the vulgar world, he hopes that you can be obedient to all sentient beings, neither angry nor angry; If you can't, I hope you will stop killing; if you can't, I hope you don't give up on yourself. Don't despair, you will always have a way to go. There is Buddhadharma in your heart, and Buddhadharma is everywhere. This will be your eternal reliance. Buddha is the heart, When the mind is pure, the land is pure, and the present moment is the pure land.”

Chu Huaifeng's eyes were red, he was born as a husband, and there were tears to shed, not desolation.

Xingzhi continued: "Junior brother, you can enter the entrance of Jiuyou here with confidence. There is still a section of road down to the center of the earth, which is the place of ecstasy. Be careful. Master said before his death that only You will be given two chances to come out, after which the entrance will disappear."

The author has something to say: [1] Quoting the Buddhist bell-knocking gatha, which is a very nice evening drum.The version that the author usually listens to is Dabei Temple's "Gather of Knocking the Bell". If you like it, you can Baidu it.This version sounds very compassionate.