Along the way

After packing up the luggage, several people were already hungry. After all, it was almost time for afternoon tea.

Uncle Pan took them to a nearby restaurant for dinner.Several people ordered the shop's signature dishes, but because the tastes didn't suit, everyone ate very "reservedly" even if they were very hungry.However, the prices of the food here are quite cheap. Uncle Pan said that this is the price after the price increase in the summer peak season.After that, Uncle Pan bought old yogurt for them to drink.The cool old yogurt has a different flavor in your mouth. "It's as good as our old Shanghai yogurt." Xu Chengan said, and everyone agreed.The sun was a bit vicious, so they found a small shop, the boy bought a cowboy hat, and Lu Yu picked out a nice big-brimmed hat.Several people also bought sunglasses.However, Shu Ming's short-sightedness is a little troublesome. Although he brought contact lenses, he is wearing black-rimmed glasses at the moment.If I took off my glasses and wore sunglasses, I couldn't see clearly, so I had to lower my head and squint as much as possible.

Then Master Pan drove everyone to Kumbum Monastery.

Kumbum Monastery is a temple of Tibetan Buddhism. It was established in the Ming Dynasty and has a high religious status.It is named after the Great Silver Pagoda built in the Dajinwa Temple to commemorate the founder of the Yellow Sect, Tsongkhapa. It is called "Gunben Xianbalin" in Tibetan, which means "Maitreya Temple where a hundred thousand lions roar Buddha statues".

"Tar Monastery has three wonders, butter flowers, pile embroidery and murals, you must take a good look at them." Uncle Pan said.After a while, he said: "There is another story about the origin of Kumbum Monastery. There is a branch of Tibetan Buddhism called Yellow Sect, and its founder is Tsongkhapa. Tsongkhapa was very smart since he was a child, so So I went to Tibet to study the Fa. Then, his mother missed him so much that she asked someone to bring him a bunch of her white hair, saying that he was getting old, son, you should go home and see his mother. But this case Kaba was still obsessed with his career, so he used nosebleeds to draw a self-portrait and a lion roaring Buddha statue, which was brought to his wife and sister, saying that in the place where he was born, [-] lion roaring Buddha statues and bodhi trees were used as fetal treasures. Building a tower is the same as seeing him in person. So there is the earliest tower."

"Ouch, nosebleed..." Lu Yu was a little helpless.

"It's just a story, little girl, don't take it too seriously." Uncle Pan said with a smile.

When we arrived at the temple, Uncle Pan said, "Under normal circumstances, photography is not allowed there, because it has something to do with people's religion and culture, but it depends on whether you can take photos. Many people took photos."

"Understood, thank you Uncle Pan."

"That's all right, you go in and play, I'll wait for you here, call me anytime you need anything." Uncle Pan waved his hands at the young people.

The outermost wall of Kumbum Monastery is dark red and dark green tiles. Although it is red and green, it is not tacky at all.Looking in from the wall, the high and low buildings are well arranged.

Several people bought tickets to go in, and the first thing they saw was the Eight Ruyi Pagodas.According to the introduction, this tower was built to commemorate the merits of Sakyamuni.The blue brick base is taller than a person, and the main color of the waist of the tower is dark red, decorated with patterns and scriptures.Further up is the White Tower with a golden tip.Some other tourists quietly took pictures, but after thinking about it for a while, they still didn't take pictures. "Respect their religious culture." Xu Chengan said.The other three nodded.For these devout believers, their religion is extremely sacred.Although Shu Ming and the others didn't understand, they still respected the believers' beliefs.

Going forward, on the wall of the building, there is a mural of one of the "Three Wonders of Art".The murals are brightly colored, painted on religious themes, and have a strong exotic style. "These mural paints use stone minerals, so they haven't faded after so many years. The painting style belongs to the religious painting department of Lamaism, and it is based on the classics of the Yellow Sect of Buddhism..." Xu Chengan read the information on the printed A4 paper to everyone popular science.

"Director Xu, what's that in front?" Lu Yu teased Xu Chengan.

"It should be the Great Sutra Hall." Xu Chengan compared the materials and said.The Dajing Hall occupies a large area and is a Tibetan-style flat-roofed building with a civil structure.Xu Chengan was interested in architectural structures, so he took out his mobile phone and started Baidu, while others began to observe the Great Sutra Hall itself.The Great Sutra Hall is the place where the lamas of the monastery chanted scriptures intensively, so there are futons inside.The decoration in the hall is shining with gold, which is not luxurious.There are also many large and exquisite pile embroidery for decoration, and pile embroidery is also one of the "three masterpieces of art". It has a relief-like three-dimensional effect and at the same time has the delicate embroidery, and several people are amazed.

"It's really rich here." Xue Yu said that as a tourist, he was really going to be blinded by gold.

The believers are very, very devout. The most devout believers may donate [-]% of their family property to the temple; some believers will go to the Kumbum Monastery to worship [-] times.When Xu Chengan and the others entered Kumbum Monastery, they didn't see the merit box, and the believers directly put the money on the tribute platform.

After walking out of the Great Scripture Hall and seeing the Dajinwa Temple, everyone really realized the piety of the believers: the roof of the Dajinwa Temple is made of gold and silver, and it can really brighten a dog's eyes under the sun.Entering the Dajinwa Temple, you will see the Dayin Pagoda more than ten meters high. This is the pagoda built for Tsongkhapa that Uncle Pan introduced on the road.The big silver pagoda is made of sterling silver, plated with gold, and inlaid with jewels. In the eyes of Shu Ming and others, there is only one feeling: it is extremely valuable!Seems like a takeaway!The body of the tower is wrapped with hada to show its nobility, and there are butter lamps and other things in front of the tower.In the corridor, they saw Tibetan believers and monks kowtowing.With faith in mind, a pious heart will no longer experience pain, and long kneeling is also happiness.

Then they visited the Butter Flower Pavilion.

"...It is said that when Princess Wencheng entered Tibet, she brought a statue of Buddha from Chang'an to enshrine in Lhasa. In winter, there were no flowers, and believers made flowers with ghee to express their respect. Later, it was passed to our Kumbum Monastery and transformed But the production of ghee flowers is very difficult, because the basic raw material of ghee flowers is ghee, a milk product eaten by plateau herdsmen every day. It is done in the middle of the cold winter months. In order to prevent the oil from melting due to the temperature of the hands, the art monks do it in a room with a low temperature below zero. When cooling down in the pot and shaping the holy butter flowers, their fingers are numb. If there is no absolute devotion to the butter flowers, ordinary people cannot bear it during the dozens of days of cold winter production.”

The four of them lingered on a director's explanation, and couldn't help but be touched, and then looked at the beautiful butter flower, with a trace of respect in their eyes.

After reading the important points, everyone is ready to go back to the urban area. After all, Kumbum Monastery is too big to be seen in such a short time, and it is actually unnecessary to visit all of them.

When you arrive in the urban area, the chef recommends everyone to try the noodles here.Everyone found a small shop that looked relatively clean, and tried the pasta and lamb here.

"It's okay to eat these things once in a while, but you can't stand it if you eat them often." Lu Yu stopped eating after eating half a bowl of noodles, and Shu Ming didn't finish his noodles either.Southerners are still accustomed to the thinnest rice, and they will definitely protest after eating these pasta.They don't often eat mutton, but the mutton in this store is still fresh and the taste is acceptable.

The master sent them to the hotel and went back.Several people found a supermarket to buy some snacks and fruits.I originally planned to go shopping in the street again, but I was afraid that it would be unsafe when it got dark, so I gave up this idea and went back to the hotel.

"Do you play cards at night?" Xu Chengan asked.Xue Yan glanced at him, and Xu Chengan immediately understood: "Let's forget it, I think I'm quite tired after flying during the day, and I can go to sleep after talking with Shu Ming Bingzhu at night. You two, don't make too much trouble."

Shu Ming's name was suddenly called on, with a puzzled expression on his face.

"You are so filthy, Xu Chengan!" Lu Yu rolled his eyes straight, "We are very pure, okay! But you..." As he spoke, his eyes turned between Xu Chengan and Shu Ming, "The sound insulation here seems to be quite mediocre, please pay attention click it!"

"Get lost!" Xu Chengan scolded with a smile, "Xue Yan, take good care of your family!"

"Don't worry about it." Xue Yan held Lu Yu's hand, and the two returned to the room after smiling at each other.

Xu Chengan couldn't see it, and went back to the room angrily, so Lu Yu is also a rotten girl!

After packing up his luggage, Xu Chengan went to take a shower first.When Shu Ming came out after washing, Xu Chengan was leaning on the bed and looking at his phone.Shu Ming lay down on his own bed, and also took out his mobile phone to read.There is a new series updated today.

"Do you think the two of them will..." Xu Chengan turned his head and asked Shu Ming.

"Could it be something?" Shu Ming straightened the headphone cable, after a while he understood what Xu Chengan was talking about, "No way."

"Hmm. Will you get rid of your virginity during college? Mingming?" Xu Chengan smiled lewdly.

"Probably... no." Shu Ming replied with some hesitation. "And you, it's not anymore."

"Why do you think so, I haven't been in love a few times, the most I can do is hold my little hand and kiss, it's innocent." Xu Chengan pretended to be wronged.

"...I don't care about you. I'll take a look." Shu Ming rolled his eyes and ignored Xu Chengan.

After Shu Ming finished watching the update of the episode, he put on his earphones and heard Xu Chengan ask in a low voice: "Shu Ming, what do you mean by faith?"

"Huh?" Shu Ming was a little surprised.

"Today we went to see the Kumbum Monastery. Those believers would donate most of their property to the monastery and would kneel down on their knees. Isn't it because of their faith? When we visited the monastery, we only saw its gorgeous and luxurious appearance. I feel that its architectural structure is unique; but more, its religious significance and sacred status in the hearts of those believers are beyond our understanding. I have read some articles before, saying that Chinese people lack faith. So, what is faith? What?"

"...I don't know." Shu Ming replied sullenly.

There are Tibetans in Sichuan who, after retiring in old age, go on a pilgrimage to the Potala Palace in Tibet, taking three steps, one kneeling, five steps and one prostration. How can their old bodies endure such a long journey?What sustains them is nothing more than faith.

"For those believers, faith is what they are willing to sacrifice everything for." Xu Chengan thought for a while and said.

"Maybe." Shu Ming adjusted the alarm clock, put the phone beside the pillow, took off his glasses and put it on the bedside table.

"But it's not that complicated or lofty. I think belief is a kind of pursuit, motivation or something like that. The idea that you can't live without belief is too nonsense. How can I put it... Belief is a high-level principle? Love without desire?" Xu Chengan was thinking.

"Why don't you study philosophy." Shu Ming said, looking at Xu Chengan, he could only see a vague outline.

"If this happens, China will lose one outstanding architect." Xu Chengan also put away his phone and lay down, turning off the lights.

The room was plunged into darkness. "Good night, Shu Ming." Xu Chengan said.

"Well, good night." Shu Ming replied vaguely.

I will put the person who will spend my life with me on the same level as faith, even as faith.I don't believe in God, I don't believe in Buddha, but I believe in myself and my lover, happiness, isn't it all in my own hands?Before falling asleep, Xu Chengan thought so.