At this time, a burst of heavy fog hit, and the mountains and fields suddenly stopped rolling...
Huiming was scurrying around in the thick fog, looking for Huineng everywhere. He was scurrying around so dizzy, dazed, and unconscious that he turned towards a human figure that seemed to be winking at him. Shizhu slapped her hard...
With a sound of "Bang!", the stone pillar stood still, but blood flowed from Huiming's palm. He held his injured hand, grinning in pain and spinning.
The mist swarmed in, and the shadowy and strange rocks seemed to come to life, approaching him step by step.
He was frightened, flustered, cold sweat seeping from his armpits, and retreated step by step...
Huiming didn't realize that behind him was an abyss! He stepped on the air, screamed, and fell downwards...
Huiming finally managed to grab a crack in the stone with his hand while he was slipping.
However, his body was suspended in the air, with a bottomless abyss below and a bare cliff above.
His body was getting heavier, his fingers were bleeding and trembling.
He closed his eyes in despair...
Just when he could no longer hold on and was about to fall, he heard a cry: "Senior Brother Huiming, hurry up, catch me! I'll pull you up."
Huiming opened his eyes and saw a mountain vine as thick as a toe thrown down from the cliff.
Ah, it’s Huineng!
I saw Huineng hanging a mountain vine in front of Huiming. At this moment, he was holding on to the old vine as if he was grasping a "life-saving straw."
Huineng struggled to pull Huiming up to the top of the cliff little by little.
Finally, Huineng used all his strength to pull him up to the top of the cliff. Both of them were exhausted. Huineng was leaning on a big rock and breathing heavily, while Huiming collapsed on the ground, panting and looking at it in confusion. He looked at Huineng with a strange look in his eyes. Huineng wanted to smile at him, but the smile turned out to be uglier than crying.
Huiming finally spoke: "Hui... Huineng... why did you save me?"
"God has the virtue of a good life, and those who follow Buddhism should be compassionate. How can I see death and not save him? Besides, you and I are brothers in the same school."
Huiming was puzzled: "But, I'm here to hunt you down!"
Huineng said solemnly: "Buddha Sakyamuni could sacrifice his life to feed tigers and cut his flesh to feed eagles. Why can't I save you? We worship the same master and study Buddhism in the same temple. No matter what, I can't just watch you fall into the trap." Abyss, fell to pieces.”
Huiming was deeply conflicted, in a dilemma, and his expressions changed in extremely complicated ways.
After a long while, he gritted his teeth and said with a cruel heart: "You have a bodhisattva heart and saved my life. I am grateful to you. However, I still have to take back the cassock and golden bowl for Master Shenxiu! Only he is qualified to inherit the master's legacy. He will take the mantle and become the sixth generation patriarch. But you, a hardworking practitioner, are not qualified to lead the world's Zen forests. We are afraid that the great cause of Zen Buddhism will be destroyed in your hands, so..."
Huineng looked serious and said: "Rescuing, helping people in trouble, relieving difficulties, and surviving adversities are the most basic responsibilities and virtues of Buddhist disciples. How can it be to seek rewards? I pulled you up from the cliff just to save your life. What you do after you are saved is your own business.”
After saying that, Huineng left slowly.
Huiming stood up, thought about it, and chased him in the direction he was walking.
Hui Neng walked towards the mist-shrouded peak.
From a distance, Huiming caught up.
The distance between the two is getting closer and closer.
Huiming shouted: "Huineng, don't run away! You know, I practiced martial arts for many years before I became a monk. You can't run away from me, let alone beat me. You saved my life, and I won't hurt you. You put the cassock on me." Just put it down with the golden bowl."
Hui Neng ignored him and kept walking.
Huiming said: "Don't force me, just put down the cassock and the golden bowl. Put it down quickly!"
Huineng laughed and said, "I gave up long ago, but you never let go." Huiming was startled. Because Huineng's words were so strange, his spiritual orifice subconsciously moved and a koan came out:
During the time of the Buddha, there was a Brahmin of the Black family who practiced very hard. After decades of perseverance, he finally developed great supernatural powers and could do anything in heaven or on earth.
However, he himself understood that this was not real relief, and there was always a vague trouble of ignorance lurking in his heart.
So, he came to ask Buddha for advice.
He often saw believers offering flowers to the Buddha, so he used his magical power to lift an acacia tree and a sycamore tree in full bloom to offer to the Buddha.
The reason why he came here holding two huge flower trees was of course to express his unspeakable respect to the Buddha. However, in his subconscious, he was also expressing himself!
The Buddha's Dharma eyes are as clear as a torch, and he has already understood every fluctuation in his heart.
The Buddha called him affectionately and said, "Let it go."
Hei put down the acacia tree on his left hand.
"Let it go," Buddha said again.
Hei put down the sycamore tree in his right hand again.
"Let it go." Buddha still said.
Hei was puzzled and said: "World Honored One, my hands are empty, what else should I put down?"
The Buddha smiled slightly: "World Honored One, I am not asking you to put down the flowers and trees in your hands. What you should let go of is the attachment in your heart. That is, let go of the six outer objects, the six inner senses, and the six middle consciousnesses."
The Black Brahmin said: "I understand that the six sense organs confront the six objects, resulting in the six consciousnesses. If a person abandons these, he will have nothing and nothing to abandon."
The Buddha said: "When you reach this state, you will transcend life and death!"
Like a thunderbolt exploding in the depths of the soul, like a ray of lightning bursting out from the soul, the Black Brahmin suddenly realized!
…
Although Huiming vaguely felt something, his mind was on the cassock gold bowl and he could not understand the mystery. Therefore, he said stubbornly: "Huineng, I don't want to talk about Zen with you. I just want the cassock gold bowl." Bowl.”
As he said that, he took a quick step and stood in front of Huineng.
Huineng smiled faintly, took off his luggage, took out the cassock golden bowl passed down to him by the Fifth Patriarch, opened it, and placed it on a "big stone" by the roadside.
Wilmington felt a red cloud pass before his eyes, filled with thousands of golden lights.
Before Huiming could think about it, Huineng said to Huiming: "You have followed me all the way here just to compete for the cassock and the golden bowl. Well, this is the robe and bowl passed down by the ancestors of the Zen sect. Take it. However, this robe is How can the tokens of heart-to-heart enlightenment between the ancestors be obtained by relying on strength to fight for them!"
Huiming never expected that such a precious cassock and golden bowl would be obtained so easily. Could it be that the title of the sixth-generation Patriarch came into our hands so easily?
He looked at Huineng doubtfully.
Huineng looked at the place where the mountain and the sky connected, clasped his hands, closed his eyes slightly, and murmured something.
Huiming saw nothing unusual, so he went to get the cassock.
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 be deeply rooted in the stone, and Huiming could not pull it up with all his strength. He was unconvinced: "I am a dignified fourth-grade general with extraordinary strength. How can I not move my clothes?"
So, he stretched his right leg to the side, took a horse stance, put enough Qigong into his hands, and 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 connected with stone, copper and iron. No matter how hard he tried, he could not move it.
At this moment, Huiming's big copper bell-like eyes shone with surprise: "What's going on?"
Hui Neng opened his eyes: "Senior brother, you must 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 Huiming's memories of the past.
He traced his life course, sighed, and said sincerely: "Junior brother, you are of noble virtue and open-minded, and you are protected by heaven. No wonder the fifth ancestor, Master Hongren, passed down the cassock and golden bowl to you. Junior brother, please forgive me. Wrong. I came here for the Dharma, not to compete for the cassock and the golden bowl. It seems that the Sixth Patriarch of Zen is indeed you."
After all, Huiming was a devout and upright monk who knew the cause and effect. After speaking, he knelt down and said, "Master, I hope you can explain the Dharma to me."
Huineng nodded happily and sat down on the big rock. He patted the place next to him and motioned for him to sit down and rest too.
Huiming respected Huineng with all his heart at this time, so how could he be willing to sit side by side with him?
He sat on the floor at Hui Neng's knees, and respectfully saluted the Sixth Patriarch Hui Neng with his hands together.
Huineng stretched out his right hand, stroked his head kindly, and said kindly: "Since you are here for the Dharma, I will teach you the essentials of Zen Buddhism."
A warm current slowly spread from the top of Huiming's head throughout his body, like bathing in the spring breeze, drinking nectar, being enlightened, and moistening the heart with fine wine... Huiming was so excited that tears filled his eyes.
Seeing that Huiming was so excited, Huineng waved his hand and said, "Don't be too excited yet. 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 conditioned shadows 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 patted him gently and said, "Close your eyes first, calm down your mind, cut off the outer world, and clear away all the thoughts in your heart. Then I will tell you."
Huiming closed his eyes and slowly calmed down as Huineng said.
After a while, Huineng saw that Huiming's face had returned to normal, and his breathing had become thin and light, as if there was nothing there, so he whispered in his ear: "Don't think about the good things, and the evil ones." Don’t think about it, which one is your true face at this moment?”
Not thinking about good or evil means being free from all delusional thoughts of distinction and opposition. The mind should be unwavering and clear without even a single thought. What kind of state is this?
It's like a pool in the deep mountains and old forests. When the wind stops completely, there are no ripples on the water. Because the water in the pool is still, all the impurities in the water settle down. At this time, you will see that every detail of the objects in the pool is clearly visible; at the same time, all the scenes outside the pool are accurately reflected on the water.
This kind of artistic conception, in the words of the founder of Zen Buddhism, is "the autumn moon in the clear pond, the spirit is bright and not ambiguous."
At this moment, Huiming's heart was in this state.
Under Huineng's prompting, he suddenly looked back, reflected back on his thoughts, and suddenly realized something. It's like a heavy burden has suddenly been lifted off, like a thousand-year imprisonment has been broken free unintentionally...
Huiming, who was enlightened in the moment of stone fire and lightning, was so happy that he didn't know what to do. He just hugged Huineng's legs with tears and kept shaking like a child.
After a while, when he noticed his very childish behavior, he smiled sheepishly.
Huiming thought for a while and then asked Huineng: "Master, besides these, is there any more secret Dharma?"
Huineng said: "What I can tell you is no longer a secret. If there are any secrets, they are all in your own heart. In your own heart, you are no better than me or Buddha. "
After hearing these words, Huiming felt like a poor beggar who had been looking for wealth outside all day but failed to find it. Now he suddenly found an inexhaustible treasure in his home.
He couldn't help but feel happy and annoyed at the same time. I am happy that I will no longer be poor; I am upset that I have spent all my life searching for it, but it turns out that the treasure is within myself.
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 is like 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 master, Huiming. Please accept my disciple's bow." Hui. Ming knelt down solemnly to thank his 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 you should be my senior brother and I should be your junior brother." Huiming said firmly.
"this……"
Just as the two were giving in, Huineng heard the sound of killing in the distance. Knowing that he could no longer hesitate, he said, "Okay, then I will be my senior brother. Junior Brother Huiming, we must do our best in the future." Protect your memory and don’t let it die in the hands of our generation.”
"Senior brother is right." 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 just want to follow senior brother."
Huineng waved his hands repeatedly: "Now the opportunity has not come, you should leave quickly."
Huiming was confused: "Brother, I don't know where to go?"
Huineng thought for a while and said: "When you come to a place with the word 'Yuan', stop, and when you encounter a place with the word 'Meng', stay."
Sure enough, Huiming was born in Mengshan, Yuanzhou (today's Xinyu, Jiangxi Province) to preach the Dharma, abbot the Taoist temple, and promote Zen Buddhism. He had great influence and became the master of Buddhism.
After Huiming got Huineng's heart seal, he was naturally filled with joy.
At this time, noises came from the bushes at the bottom of the mountain, and they were getting closer and closer. It seemed that Yingyin and the others were about to catch up.
Huiming hurriedly said to Huineng: "Brother, please leave as soon as possible and continue south. Otherwise, Yingyin and the others are about to chase you! After you leave, I will deal with them."
"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.
Huineng nodded and drifted away in the breeze.
I saw him, like a wandering master, disappearing into the mountains shrouded in white clouds.
In the misty clouds, there seemed to be Sanskrit sounds sounding, floating in the wind...
Suddenly, a great spectacle appeared in front of Huiming: in the misty cloud sky, a lifelike "Buddha Sakyamuni Buddha" sat in the sky shrouded by white clouds, showing a colorful halo, reflecting the entire Buddha's shadow. In the sky, it looks like a colorful halo above the head of the Buddha statue.
In an instant, Huiming was shocked by this discovery.
Could it be that the Buddha had insight into Huineng's difficulties and asked the Buddha's light to appear and divine secrets to show him? Could it be that the Buddha is still living in the present, protecting the Sixth Patriarch Huineng, the mountains and rivers, and all living beings?
...
When Huiming returned to the "Statue of Sakyamuni Buddha" in the sky from the long history and the profound meditation of Buddhism, he realized even more the profoundness of Buddhism and the wisdom of the Fifth Patriarch to recognize people. The bowl was passed on to Huineng.
