The Fifth Patriarch's premonition was very effective. Huineng worked as a handyman in the north courtyard of Dongchan Temple for eight months and wrote a Buddhist verse: "Bodhi has no tree, and the mirror is not a stand. There is nothing in the beginning, so how can it cause dust?" Became the Sixth Patriarch of Zen Buddhism.
Based on the great cause of Zen Buddhism, the Fifth Patriarch saw that Huineng, the Sixth Patriarch of Zen, had little qualifications. He was afraid that the monks in the temple would not accept it and would be killed, so he told Huineng: "You must first find a place to hide, stay away from the hustle and bustle, and cultivate your nature in the mountains. , purify your mind and cultivate enlightenment, and don’t come out to preach Buddhism prematurely; because Buddhism arises in difficulties, the more difficult the better. Remember, for you, the time to show your great ambitions has not yet come.”
Hui Neng: "Master's wise words should be kept in mind by my disciples."
After the two parted, Huineng stood by the river, facing the river wind, looking at the ferry the Fifth Patriarch took returning to the other side, his figure was submerged in the thick night.
Huineng then let go of his stride and ran towards the south.
The road in front of the future Buddha is full of thorns and storms...
After bidding farewell to Huineng, the Fifth Patriarch hurried back to Dongchan Temple, saying that he was not feeling well and staying indoors.
Three days later, the Fifth Patriarch concluded that Huineng had gone very far, so he opened the door and walked out of the Zen room, summoning all the monks in the temple to the lawn in front of the main hall.
After the verse written by Shenxiu was rejected by the Fifth Patriarch, he searched hard and found it difficult to compose a verse. After thinking hard day by day and worrying about it every night, in just over ten days, his plump cheeks had lost muscle like an invisible knife, and his eye sockets were visibly sunken, with dark circles under his eyes.
When he heard the monk on duty ringing the bell and loudly calling all the monks in the temple to gather on the lawn outside the Main Hall, Shenxiu had a premonition that the historical moment that would determine his status in Zen Buddhism had arrived. He tried his best to appear calm on the outside, but inside he felt like a deer.
The Fifth Patriarch walked out from the south corridor, leaning on a tin staff, and Shenxiu felt that he was a little special today: the usual gold-red cassock embroidered with yellow thread was gone, and was replaced by an old red cassock that had faded in color. The flickering light in his eyes in the past has disappeared, and instead looks carefree.
As usual, Shenxiu stood solemnly beside the Fifth Patriarch, as if a huge stone was tied to his heart, sinking straight down: "Could it be..."
The atmosphere of today's gathering was particularly solemn. Nearly a thousand monks lined up in separate rows and listened with bated breath. Even the usually noisy blackhead bird on the camphor tree squatted quietly on the tree branch and stopped chasing. noisy.
On the wrinkled face of the Fifth Patriarch, his eyes were focused and his expression was serious. He coughed a few times and said: "The sky and the earth are black and yellow, and the universe is primitive. The rivers, sun and moon have remained unchanged through the ages. Ancestor Sakyamuni, the Buddha's light shines everywhere. The mighty China, I have been in the Zen Forest for five generations since Bodhidharma. Now I feel that I am physically and mentally exhausted, so I want to choose a worthy person to inherit the mantle."
"Master, please continue speaking." Shenxiu raised his voice and added a sentence, in order to attract the Fifth Patriarch's special attention to himself.
"The person chosen to be the heir this time must be proficient in Buddhist Zen principles, possess extraordinary virtues, and have great enlightenment. Only then can he truly learn the Buddhist teachings passed down from his ancestors." The Fifth Patriarch ignored Shenxiu's prompting.
All the monks were arranged neatly, sitting upright and listening.
The Fifth Patriarch turned his head to the sky and looked at the white clouds in the blue sky. After a while, he scanned his disciples with his eyes and solemnly announced: "My road is south!" After saying this, he waved his hand to indicate that the meeting was dismissed and he walked alone. Holding the tin staff, he walked towards the south corridor and returned to the Zen room.
"My way is south." This means that the Dharma and mantle of the Fifth Patriarch have been passed on to those who went south.
Shenxiu has always regarded himself as the natural successor of the sixth generation master, and everyone in the temple also holds this view. Now, the Fifth Patriarch suddenly made the decision that "my road has gone south". For Shenxiu, it was like a bolt from the blue. He was almost unsteady, but fortunately, he was supported by the monk Huiming behind him, so he didn't collapse to the ground.
In fact, a few days ago, Shenxiu and his accomplices had already inspected all the monks in Dongchan Temple and found that among the miscellaneous workers in the North Campus, there was missing a rice-pounding monk named Huineng who had already given him a headache. He asked the monk Hongbiao who was guarding the mountain gate that night, but the monk Hongbiao's answer was: "The Fifth Patriarch went down the mountain overnight at the invitation of the governor of Jiangzhou. But he had never met Ge Li, who came from southern Guangdong. .”
After hearing the Fifth Patriarch's decision that "my road goes south", the harsh reality was placed in front of Shenxiu: Huineng had obtained the true inheritance of the Fifth Patriarch and fled towards southern Guangdong.
The black mole monk walked up to Shenxiu. He was the martial arts salesman in the past and Huiming, the foreman of the temple-protecting monks today. He said angrily: "What's wrong, Master? If the Dharma and the cassocks are not passed down to you, senior brother, to whom will they be passed on?"
"It was passed on to Huineng who was pounding rice and growing vegetables." A look of contempt appeared on Shenxiu's lips.
"Oh, it's him? How could it be him?" Huiming shook his head. This martial artist with a noble background only saw the humble side of Huineng, but could not see the other side of him that was hidden and enlightened.
Shenxiu bit her lip with her teeth and stared fixedly at the sky over there.
In the blue sky, there were bursts of shrill screams. An eagle with dark brown fur was holding a yellow-haired chick with its sharp claws and flew over his head.
Shenxiu withdrew her gaze and turned to Huiming's face: "Huiming, what do I do to you?"
Huiming replied: "As soon as I entered the monastery, my senior brother gave me special support. It can be said that he was as kind as a mountain."
"I asked you to do something for me. Are you willing?"
Huiming cupped his hand and said, "I will go through fire and water, no matter what." Although Huiming stepped into Buddhism, he still often retained the habits of the martial arts world, and even the gestures of saluting were not completely changed.
Shenxiu smiled with satisfaction: "Okay! Okay! I think the master was confused for a moment and was deceived by Hui Neng's sweet words, so he gave him the cassock and the golden bowl. Now you chase it for me and take back the robe and bowl."
"Okay!" Huiming nodded in agreement.
Shenxiu ordered the monks who protected the temple and those who followed him on weekdays to take action immediately. The Buddhist holy land Tozenji Temple has always been as calm as water. As soon as the gate opened, a large number of monks armed with swords, guns and clubs came out. They divided their troops into two groups and headed towards the south.
Huiming felt that it was too cumbersome to carry the Daguan Dao while walking, so he switched to holding a short weapon and took the Daguan Dao with him. He traveled day and night, crossing mountains and rivers, and wading through rivers. I don’t know how many days I have been chasing...
Ahead is Dayuling, the junction of Jiangxi and Guangdong, with overlapping mountains and steep slopes and dangerous roads. Waves of smoky mist floated in the valley of this wild and barren land. The shrill cries of foxes added a bit of sadness to the desolate mountains.
"Oh, there!" Huiming pointed his hand downward.
The monks looked up and saw a black figure shaking among the green weeds on the hillside.
"Yes, that's the Geli!"
"Catch him!" someone shouted, and then the monks also shouted.
It was indeed Huineng who was rushing in the mountains.
In Dongchan Temple, due to his thin body, Huineng had a stone weighing more than 50 kilograms dropped on his waist in order to increase his weight and speed up rice pounding, leaving diseases between his waist and legs. He traveled south for more than ten days when he suddenly heard noisy shouting at the foot of the mountain. Looking back, he was surprised. Although he was far away, he could still vaguely recognize that the tall man was Huiming, the foreman of the monks. He was followed by a large number of people, with uniform bald heads and uniform gray monk uniforms, in the green It is very dazzling in the mountains and fields.
Huineng hurriedly adjusted the luggage on his back, ran away, and disappeared after a while.
When Huiming saw this, he shouted: "Where are you running from?" He started to chase after him.
After many days of traveling day and night, the monks who followed him were so tired that their bones fell apart and their whole body was weak. When they lifted their legs to climb the slope, their feet were limp. After a while, they were already far behind.
Huiming used to be a martial artist, and later joined the army. Such a brave martial artist certainly had extraordinary physical strength. He could climb mountains and ridges, and climb over cliffs. It's just a piece of cake. Walking as fast as flying, he soon left the fellow monks far behind.
Huineng emerged from behind the bushes and was running up a small trail. At the turning point, suddenly, a big man jumped down from the nearby mound, blocked the road with his legs spread apart, and yelled like thunder: "Stop." !”
Hui Neng took a closer look and complained in his heart. This big man is Huiming. He looks like a hill lying across the road. If you rely on fighting and charging forward, how can you be the opponent of this warrior? Now there is no way forward and there are pursuers behind you, what should you do?
Huineng thought for a while, clasped his hands, and stepped forward to salute: "Senior brother Huiming, although I have not yet become a monk, my heart toward Buddha is the same. In other words, we are also members of the Buddhist sect, so why do you have to suffer so much? force?"
Huiming put the raised knife in front of his chest and said coldly: "Why did you show off your words and defraud Master Hongren of the cassock and golden bowl?"
"Master has always had a heart as calm as water, a mind as calm as a mirror, and an eye as sharp as a torch. He is clearly aware of the good and evil in the world, and he is not a ignorant and chaotic person. How could he give me the sacred relics passed down from generation to generation without careful consideration?"
Huiming humbly said: "The person who can inherit the mantle should be someone with high moral character and high respect, not a lowly person like you who grinds rice and grows vegetables."
Hui Neng said seriously: "Although I am a lowly person who grinds rice and grows vegetables, I must know that people of lower level have superior wisdom. This is a secular axiom."
"Don't talk nonsense! Don't defend your humble background."
"As the saying goes, 'A hero should never ask where he comes from.' Han Xin took command and became a prince, sweeping across the world, but he was initially a common man who was humiliated by others. Liu Bang ruled the world, founded a business, but was also an unknown commoner at first. This cassock The golden bowl was passed down from generation to generation by the Buddhas of the past generations. The inheritors should be virtuous and capable people confirmed by the Buddha, and cannot be taken by violent hands." Huineng said, took off his luggage and put it away Open it and take out the cassock golden bowl.
Wilmington felt a red cloud pass before his eyes, filled with thousands of golden lights.
Before Hui Ming could think about it, Huineng had already thrown the cassock golden bowl on the big stone on the roadside: "Senior brother Huiming, if you think that power can defeat justice and violence can defeat the meaning of Zen, just take this cassock golden bowl! "After saying that, Huineng clasped his hands together, closed his eyes slightly, and murmured something.
Huiming stepped forward, bent down, held a corner of the cassock in his left hand, and wanted to pull it up.
Strangely, the cassock seemed to have roots deeply rooted in the stone, and Huiming couldn't pull it up with all his strength. He was unconvinced: "I am a fourth-grade general with extraordinary strength. How can I not move my clothes?" So he stretched his right leg to the side, opened his horse stance, and used his Qigong on his hands. I tried to pull the cassock again, but it still couldn't be pulled.
Huiming turned to the golden bowl and tried to lift it up, but the golden bowl seemed to be made of stone, copper and iron. No matter how hard he tried, he still couldn't move it.
At this moment, Huiming's big copper bell-like eyes shone with surprise: "What's going on?"
Huineng opened his eyes: "Brother, please know that this is not an ordinary thing, but a token of the Dharma. In the dark, the sky has eyes. Of course, Buddhist sacred objects cannot be taken away by force. In the Xinzhou martial arts competition back then, you can forget?"
"This..." Huineng's words brought back his memories of the past. He traced his life history, sighed, and said sincerely: "Junior brother, you are virtuous, open-minded, and protected by heaven. No wonder the Fifth Patriarch Master Hongren has passed down the cassock and golden bowl to you. It seems that you are indeed the Sixth Patriarch of Zen Buddhism." After saying that, he knelt down and said, "I hope you can teach me the Dharma, Master."
Huineng waved his hand, his face as cold as ice: "I can't explain it to you now."
Huiming: "I am sincere, why do you say you can't explain it to me?"
Hui Neng raised his voice: "You are ready to fight each other. The sin of killing is too heavy and the six roots are not purified. Since you are here to seek the Dharma, you should get rid of all kinds of causes in your mind, don't have the slightest distracting thoughts, and make the four elements empty. . Only then can I explain it to you."
Huiming was silent for a long time without answering.
Huineng said seriously: "Don't think about good or evil. At this time, do you know which one is Huiming's own nature, that is, his true face?"
After hearing this, Huiming had some thoughts: "In addition to the secret words you just said, is there any more profound secret words? Please tell me again."
Huineng: "Now that I can tell you face to face, there is no secret. If you want to trace the origin of your nature, the secret lies in your own heart, not in me."
After Huiming heard this, the clouds in his mind were swept away, and he suddenly became enlightened: "Huiming, although I am in Huangmei, it seems that I have not actually understood the true meaning of Buddhism and have not recognized my true face. Now. Thanks to the enlightenment, Zen's understanding of the human heart is like a person drinking water. Only you know whether it is cold or warm. Please be magnanimous and forgive me for the offense I just committed. Now, you are my Huiming's master."
Although this Huiming is a reckless man, he understands the truth and can turn around quickly.
Huineng waved his hands repeatedly: "No, no, I can't accept you as my disciple."
Huiming asked in confusion: "Why? Do you dislike me, or are you still worried about what happened just now?"
"No, you and I joined Huangmeidong Zen Temple together. We are both disciples of the Fifth Patriarch Hongren. It is more appropriate for us to call ourselves brothers. No need to be polite, please get up." Huineng stretched out his hand to help Huiming, " You are older than me. Then, you should be the senior brother and I should be the junior brother."
"No, your moral conduct is higher than mine, so I should call you senior brother and me junior brother." Huiming said firmly.
"This..." Huineng heard the cry of killing coming from the distance, and knew that he could no longer hesitate, so he said, "Okay, then I will be a senior brother. Junior Brother Huiming, let's take good care of ourselves from now on. , don’t let it die in the hands of our generation.”
"Brother, what you said makes sense." Huiming patted the dust on his hands and asked, "I feel that there are many murderous intentions in Dongchan Temple. I don't plan to go back. I don't know where to go in the future?"
Huineng thought of the verses that the Fifth Patriarch had given him before he left. He counted them with his fingers and felt warm in his heart, saying: "When you meet Yuan, you stop, and when you meet Meng, you stay."
Huiming gave another salute to Huineng: "Thank you, senior brother, for the instruction."
At this time, there was a noise in the bushes at the bottom of the mountain, and it was getting closer and closer. It seemed that other monks were about to catch up.
Huiming urged Huineng: "The pursuers are coming soon. I will cover you. You can run south quickly!"
"Okay." Huineng immediately picked up the cassock's golden bowl, packed it back into his bag, and gave Huiming a gift, "Junior brother, please take care of yourself."
"I also hope that senior brother, no, no, I should say yes, I hope that the Buddha will take care of you." Huiming also gave him a courtesy.
After the two said goodbye, Huineng continued to run along the trail, turned around a mountain col, and soon disappeared.
Huiming turned around and walked down the mountain when he saw the pursuers running behind him panting.
A monk asked: "Have you caught up?"
Huiming wiped the sweat from his forehead with his hand, with a dull expression on his face: "I chased him just now, but the kudzu quickly fled into the woods and disappeared. I searched back and forth in the woods. We tried several times but couldn't find it. I guess this cunning Geli took advantage of us to chase him up the mountain and turned back down the mountain."
"It's possible." Someone agreed.
"Let's go back to the mountain quickly and catch up." Some people who were extremely tired from climbing the mountain even took the opportunity to retreat.
So Huiming and the other monks returned to the mountain. Of course, chasing after her is just a waste of time.
On the way back to Dongzen Temple, while other monks were not paying attention, Huiming made an excuse to relieve himself, ducked into a bush, walked straight into the depths of the woods, and hid.
After the other monks left, Huiming headed north and came to Mengshan Mountain in Yuanzhou, Jiangxi Province (today's Xinyu, Jiangxi Province). Thinking of Huineng's instructions, he hid in this area. Later, he went to the summit temple of Lushan Mountain to practice. With the proceeds, he promoted Buddhism and gained a good reputation in Jiangxi, becoming the master of Buddhism.
In view of the homophony of the word "Hui" with the Sixth Patriarch Huineng, Huiming changed his name to Zen Master Daoming.
