The heavy rain continued, and the old abbot sat leisurely in front of the Main Hall with a bowl of hot porridge. He was even more emotional, saying that it had been a long time since he had eaten porridge with so many grains of rice.
Chen Chao asked jokingly: "In other temples, you can get a vegetarian meal even if you donate some money for incense. How come you don't even get a bowl of hot porridge when you come to Master's temple?"
The old abbot realized it later, with a look of pain on his face, "The donor seems to be a rich and powerful person, how can he still value this bowl of white porridge?"
Chen Chao nodded and said with a smile, "I don't mind it."
"..."
So a moment later, Chen Chao also held a bowl of hot porridge, sat under the eaves with the old abbot, and drank porridge together.
The old abbot guessed that he had been hungry for a long time, so he drank up the bowl of porridge in just a few seconds. Then he stretched out his skinny fingers to pull the last grain of rice into his mouth, and then looked at Chen Chao, who was slowly holding the porridge.
Chen Chao took a sip of porridge and said, "Master, if you don't think it is insulting to Buddhism to drink porridge and listen to Buddhist teachings, you can start talking now."
The old abbot put down the big white bowl and said with a smile: "It doesn't matter, but which scripture does the donor want to hear? The poor monk just said a paragraph to the donor."
Chen Chao shook his head and said, "I can't understand the scriptures in the Buddhist scriptures even after listening to them once or twice. Why don't you, Master, tell me about the scriptures outside the Buddhist scriptures?"
The old abbot thought for a while and did not speak immediately. Instead, he looked at Chen Chao. After a moment, he said softly: "The poor monk is good at fortune telling. He looked at the donor who seemed to have some depression in his eyebrows. Please tell me, donor, listen." I’m guessing I’m not happy because someone close to me died recently because of the benefactor…”
Chen Chao was originally immersed in drinking porridge. After hearing these words, he stopped and raised his head, and then began to seriously look at the old monk in front of him.
The old abbot was surprised and said: "Although the poor monk was as handsome as jade when he was young, he is now very old. Can the donor still see some of the former grace on the poor monk's face?"
Chen Chao twitched his lips. The old monk in front of him really looked nothing like those so-called eminent Buddhist monks!
Chen Chao asked: "Master, how many people can you say specifically?"
The old abbot said: "Two or three people."
Chen Chao remained silent and finally began to look serious.
"But it seems that the donor didn't take it to heart. A person as ruthless as the donor should be a bad person, but the donor happens to be a good person. It's strange."
The old abbot thought to himself and said: "The strangest thing is that there is a haze in the donor's heart, but it was caused by an unrelated person. If the poor monk is right, I am afraid that the donor will think of it all the time these days and will never forget it. That’s it.”
"The donor doesn't care when a close relative dies because of the donor. The death of an unrelated person obviously has little to do with the donor, but the donor never forgets it. This is really strange."
The old abbot said with emotion: "This poor monk has never seen even one person like the donor in his life."
Chen Chao looked at the old abbot and asked, "May I ask which ancient temple the master comes from?"
The old abbot smiled and shook his head and said: "We are destined to meet each other, so why bother to ask more about it? The most important thing in this life for a poor monk is his identity. Could it be said that a poor monk comes from Luming Temple, and a fart means he is superb in Buddhism? On the contrary, what if he is a poor monk? Is it just that the abbot of this small temple, even if he talks about lotus flowers, is just being mysterious?"
Chen Chao nodded and said, "Master is right."
The old abbot smiled and said nothing.
Chen Chao calmly asked: "This matter has been on my mind and I can't get rid of it. I wonder if there is any way, master, to help me?"
The old abbot pointed to the merit box over there.
Chen Chao was stunned and didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but he still stood up and threw a few more heavenly coins into the merit box. When he looked at the old abbot again, he unexpectedly shook his head.
Chen Chao then threw a few more heavenly coins into the merit box.
The old abbot then sighed and said, "The donor doesn't have enough understanding."
Chen Chao frowned and said, "Master has gone too far!"
The old abbot just smiled and said, "The poor monk just pointed at the merit box, not to ask the donor to donate more incense money, so when the donor threw it away again, the poor monk shook his head!"
「
What does the master mean? "
Chen Chao stared at the old abbot.
The old abbot smiled and said, "The word merit is two words."
"The donor was always thinking about his mistakes, so he was always depressed and wanted to make up for it with merit. But who in the world doesn't make mistakes? Since it was done accidentally, why should he keep thinking about it and act because of it? , as a result, naturally I have been depressed."
The old abbot smiled and said: "After all, it is the donor who is making things difficult for himself."
Chen Chao remained silent.
The old abbot stopped talking, but looked outside the temple. The heavy rain was not stopping, but several people were pouring in outside. After seeing the old abbot at the door, one of them, a young man who could be said to be as rich as jade, raised his hands and said: "I took advantage of the precious treasure temple to temporarily escape the heavy rain. Master Wanwang, don't blame me!"
The old abbot stood up, saluted, and said with a smile, "All donors, please come into the temple and have a sip of hot tea."
However, the young man just shook his head. Several people stood under the eaves and did not come towards this direction, but he glanced at Chen Chao a few more times.
The old abbot didn't force it, he just said with emotion: "In terms of appearance, the donor was almost the same as a poor monk when he was young."
Chen Chao joked: "Master, are you sincere in saying this?"
The old abbot said solemnly, "The poor Buddhist monk dare not say that he is outstanding, but in terms of appearance, he never feels that he is inferior to others."
Chen Chao could only give a thumbs up.
The old abbot nodded, very satisfied.
After that, the two of them were silent, maybe because they felt that there was an outsider here, and the old abbot didn't say much. However, after about half an hour, the heavy rain stopped, and the group of unknown monks left, feeling clean and relaxed.
Chen Chao muttered: "Two realms of suffering, one realm of the other shore."
The old abbot smiled and asked, "Does the donor want to know where they are going?"
Chen Chao asked curiously: "Master, does he know?"
The old abbot nodded but said nothing.
Chen Chao smiled bitterly and said, "I really don't have much money."
The old abbot laughed and said, "Eight hundred miles away from here, there is a village. The owner of the village has an heirloom that has been passed down from generation to generation and has been kept secret from outsiders. Now that village has fallen into decline, and the old owner knows that his fate will not be long. Therefore, I want to choose a sect to hand over this treasure and my youngest son to. These people are all going to recruit disciples."
Chen Chao asked curiously: "Are you really just recruiting disciples?"
The old abbot smiled and said, "How can the donor see so clearly?"
Chen Chao smiled casually and said, "Since the rain has stopped, I'll leave now."
The old abbot smiled and said: "Send it to the donor."
After that, the old abbot escorted Chen Chao to the gate of the temple, and then stopped and said: "Buddhism says that the six roots are pure. A poor monk has practiced Buddhism all his life, but he can't reach this state. When he is hungry, he will think about getting some money to buy some rice and noodles. After a bowl of hot porridge, after wearing the patched cassock for a long time, I will also think about wearing a brand new cassock. In life, I hope that I can be a perfect person, but people are not saints, and no one can make mistakes, even if it is true. Even if he is a sage, even a poor monk would not think that he has any fault."
"After defrauding the benefactor of some money, the poor monk gave the benefactor a few words."
Chen Chao nodded and said, "Master, please speak."
The old abbot said softly and slowly: "The moon waxes and wanes, and no one is perfect."
