Wang Shaoxiang couldn't help but think to himself: There were only two of me and Fei'er at home. How could a monk come to my house to recite sutras at this night?
At first, she suspected that she had bad ears due to her old age and had heard something wrong, so she dug her ear holes with her hands and held her breath. Then listen carefully.
Yes, this is indeed the sound of chanting sutras, and it does come from Fei'er's room.
Wang Shaoxiang felt very strange. He quickly put down his needlework, put on his clothes, walked to Zhang Shaofei's door, and put his ear against the crack of the door.
The sound of chanting scriptures echoed in the room and came from the crack in the door.
Wang Shaoxiang knocked on the door with his hand: "Fei'er, please open the door."
When Zhang Shaofei heard the cry, he stopped chanting and asked, "Auntie, it's so late and you don't sleep. What's important?"
Wang Shaoxiang urged: "You can talk after you open the door."
Zhang Shaofei had no choice but to get out of bed and open the door.
Wang Shaoxiang did not step in, but stood on the threshold, stretching his neck to look east and west inside.
Although Zhang Shaofei's room was not lit, the bright moonlight shone in from the window lattice, and everything inside could still be seen clearly.
Wang Shaoxiang's abnormal behavior puzzled Zhang Shaofei: "Mom, what are you looking for?"
Wang Shaoxiang murmured: "Where is the monk in your room?"
Zhang Shaofei was confused: "The monk in my room? Why did you say this? Are you asleep? What are you dreaming about?"
Wang Shaoxiang waved his hands: "I didn't fall asleep, let alone have any dreams!"
Zhang Shaofei confessed: "My child, I am sleeping alone in the room, how could any monk come to the room?"
Wang Shaoxiangpa blinked his old eyes: "Without a monk, how could there be the sound of chanting sutras in your room at night?"
Zhang Shaofei suddenly realized this and couldn't help laughing.
Wang Shaoxiang scolded: "Fei'er, you are not young anymore, and you are not serious yet. Why are you laughing?"
Zhang Shaofei pointed at himself: "That monk is me!"
"That's you?" Wang Shaoxiang was even more puzzled, "When did you become a monk?"
Zhang Shaofei said seriously: "I did not become a monk, but those scriptures were indeed recited by me.
Wang Shaoxiang looked at him in disbelief.
Zhang Shaofei explained: "I read it after others."
Wang Shaoxiang asked: "Who did you learn to recite the sutra from?"
Zhang Shaofei: "I secretly learned the sutras from the monks at Chanhui Temple."
Wang Shaoxiang was surprised: "What, you went to Chanhui Temple?"
"Yes, mother, listen to me tell you the whole story." So, Zhang Shaofei told Wang Shaoxiang about the chance encounter at Chanhui Temple. But he didn't dare to mention Zhang Daocheng's gift of silver.
After Wang Shaoxiang heard this, he breathed a sigh of relief: "Oh, that's it!"
Zhang Shaofei said thoughtfully: "Those scriptures sound really interesting."
Wang Shaoxiang urged: "Read it to me again."
"Auntie, listen." Zhang Shaofei recited the scripture he heard again.
Wang Shaoxiang has listened to her father preaching Buddhist scriptures since she was a child. She also likes to read scriptures, so she knows a little about various Buddhist scriptures in the world. When she heard Zhang Shaofei reciting scriptures, she asked: "Do you know what scriptures the great master taught his disciples to recite?"
Zhang Shaofei shook his head: "I don't know."
Wang Shaoxiang asked again: "Then do you understand?"
Zhang Shaofei blinked: "I seem to understand, but I don't understand. Auntie, do you understand the meaning of these scriptures?"
"I don't quite understand. How could I understand such profound Buddhist principles." Wang Shaoxiang said frankly, "However, I have heard some Buddhist legends and stories from your grandfather since I was a child."
So Wang Shaoxiang told Zhang Shaofei the stories she knew about Buddhism and Buddhist scriptures.
Zhang Shaofei became more and more interested as he listened.
…
For several days, Zhang Shaofei went outside Chanhui Temple whenever he had free time, stood beside the broken wall, and listened carefully to the monks reciting scriptures.
Zen Master Huiming, the abbot of Zenhui Temple, noticed the strange behavior of this layman.
On this day, after teaching his disciples to recite sutras, Zen Master Huiming took advantage of his free time to walk to the broken wall, bowed to Zhang Shaofei, and clasped his hands together: "Amitabha."
Zhang Shaofei also bent down and returned a salute to him.
Zen Master Huiming asked Zhang Shaofei: "If I am not mistaken, the donor must be a firewood collector, right?"
"Exactly, I have been collecting firewood in the mountains since I was fourteen..." Zhang Shaofei scratched his head with his hand and asked strangely, "Master, I have never spoken to you. Your eyesight is really amazing. How could you know that I am a firewood collector?" Woolen cloth?"
Zen Master Huiming pointed to his hands and posture: "Everything in the world has its own characteristics. People also care about understanding! Although your hands, waist and posture are silent, don't they tell me?"
Zhang Shaofei said with admiration: "Oh, your understanding is so high."
Zen Master Huiming: "Is the donor someone from nearby?"
Zhang Shaofei nodded and said, "Taizhen Village is not far from here."
Zen Master Huiming asked again: "What is your name?"
"Zhang Shaofei."
"Zhang Shaofei?" Zen Master Huiming shuddered and stared at Zhang Shaofei, "You are a layman, why did you take the name of a monk?"
"I don't know. My dad gave me this name since I was a kid."
Zen Master Huiming murmured: "Perhaps you will have a fate with our Buddhist family in the future."
Seeing the abbot in the temple talking to the young man outside the broken wall, the monks gathered around.
Zen Master Huiming was puzzled and asked: "You have been coming to our temple for many days, and you stand outside the broken wall every day and listen so fascinated. Why is this?"
Zhang Shaofei spread his hands outward: "I don't know what the reason is. In short, since I came outside this temple and heard you chanting sutras to your disciples, I can't help but come here every day."
"Ah, it seems that you have an inexplicable fate with our Buddhist school." Zen Master Huiming raised the scripture in his hand and handed it to Zhang Shaofei, staring at him with his eyes: "Do you understand the scriptures I teach? ?”
Zhang Shaofei answered casually: "These scriptures are easy to remember, but I don't understand them very well."
"Is the sutra easy to memorize?" Zen Master Huiming frowned. He didn't expect that this young boy looked so honest and honest, but spoke so arrogantly.
Zhang Shaofei answered frankly: "I do remember it."
Zen Master Huiming was full of doubts: "There is no joke in Buddhism, can you really recite it?"
"Yes." Zhang Shaofei nodded and said loudly, "Yes."
Zen Master Huiming asked tentatively: "How many passages can you recite?"
The simple Zhang Shaofei answered straightforwardly: "I can recite them all."
"Wow, you really feel bad after eating garlic!" Zen Master Huiming and the other monks were all shocked by his answer.
Zen Master Huiming's eyes widened and he stared at him: "What? Can you recite all the verses in this book?"
Hearing the young man's loud tone, an older monk spoke up and said, "Young man, it's good to eat too much, but it's hard to talk too much!"
A young monk even said in a sarcastic tone: "Master teaches me face to face during the day, and we memorize it by ourselves at night. I racked my brains and struggled to recite such a short paragraph."
Some monks wanted to prank the young boy in person and make him suffer a little, so they encouraged Zen Master Huiming: "Master, since he keeps saying that the scriptures are easy to memorize and can recite all the scriptures in this book, then Let him recite it to us on the spot."
Zen Master Huiming seemed to be disturbed by something, and thought: This person has been listening outside the wall for several days. I have also taught and read the scriptures in this book intermittently. Why not give him a try...
So, he said to Zhang Shaofei: "What people are most afraid of is talking in vain. Young man, just recite the verses from this book to us."
"Okay!" Zhang Shaofei was confident, because he had a preliminary understanding of the "Diamond Sutra" from Zhang Daocheng before. He cleared his throat with confidence, imitating the posture of his mentor Li Xueru, holding his hands behind his back, slightly He raised his head, half-squinted his eyes, opened his mouth, and the scriptures flowed out from the chatterbox, just like the mountain stream beside the temple:
The reasons for the first-class puja...
The monks at the scene didn't take this young boy seriously at all. But after Zhang Shaofei had recited most of it, he became impressed with him. Some even took out scriptures to compare them to see if he had read correctly.
Zen Master Huiming has a profound practice of Zen, so he naturally keeps the scriptures of the Diamond Sutra in his heart and listens calmly.
Zhang Shaofei recited: "...Why should Yun give a speech to others? If it doesn't depend on appearance, it will remain motionless..."
Zen Master Huiming: “What about the last paragraph?”
Zhang Shaofei swallowed his saliva and continued to recite: "The Buddha said this is just a sutra. Elder Subhuti..."
Until Zhang Shaofei recited all the scriptures of the Diamond Sutra, Zen Master Huiming and the other monks were so shocked that their mouths opened wide.
The monks who listened to Zhang Shaofei's recitation and compared it with the scriptures all exclaimed in unison: "Ah, every word is not missed!"
A naughty little monk posed another problem to Zhang Shaofei: "Chai Clan Boy, can you recite the scripture from back to front and backwards?"
Zen Master Huiming glared at the young monk: "Can you ask me to recite it backwards like this?"
The little monk stuck out his tongue and then retracted it.
Zhang Shaofei looked at the young monk, smiled and said: "Little master, you want me to recite it backwards, right? I think it can be done."
Zen Master Huiming looked at Zhang Shaofei suspiciously: "Can you really recite it backwards?"
"Okay! Listen, practice and accept the faith..." So, Zhang Shaofei actually recited the Diamond Sutra backwards from behind, and he recited it equally fluently. This made all the monks present, from the oldest to the youngest, speak in unison. No matter how much they agree, they are all convinced of this young boy.
Zen Master Huiming gently stroked the short beard on his chin with his right hand and stared at the firewood boy in front of him. He couldn't help thinking: the average monk in Zenhui Temple has to recite these scriptures dozens of times before he can memorize them. I received guidance from the Fifth Patriarch at Dongzen Temple and practiced a lot, but it took me more than ten times to memorize a sutra. And this firewood boy could memorize it so well after just listening to it a few times without any Buddhist scriptures to read and no famous teachers to enlighten him.
In Qiu County, the trees are so ordinary; the streams are so ordinary; and the living beings coming and going are so ordinary. But the firewood boy in front of him was a genius, a peerless genius. A wave of enthusiasm hit Zen Master Huiming's heart, and a mysterious feeling gripped him tightly.
