The prince asked Fan Ling, "Who is this? Why do some people scatter fragrant flower cloths on him, but many people cry and send him away?"
Fan Ling had no choice but to remain silent because of Zhang Si's instructions.
Seeing that Sang Hou was silent, the prince asked several more questions.
Fan Ling had no choice but to reply respectfully: "This is a dead man."
The prince asked again: "What is death?"
Fan Ling said: "The so-called death is like the wind of a sword dissolving the body, and the consciousness goes away with it. The upper and lower limbs and various organs of the person have no consciousness. When this person was alive, he was greedy and persistent in the five desires, cherished money, and worked hard , only know how to accumulate wealth, but do not understand the impermanence of fate. Now once you give up these possessions, power, status and want to die, you will be loved and missed by your parents, relatives, and family members, so there are these people who follow behind and cry. However, after a person dies, Like grass and trees, the so-called kindness, likes and dislikes in the world are no longer relevant to him. It is indeed a very sad thing to die like this."
The prince heard that he was greatly touched, and an abnormal terror suddenly enveloped his whole body. Trembling all over, he asked Fan Ling, "Is this the only one who will die, or will everyone else die as well?"
Fan Ling replied: "Everyone in the world should die. No matter high or low, there is no way to escape."
The prince was a quiet man by nature, and it was rare that anything could move him. But this time after hearing Fan Ling's words, he suddenly felt very uneasy, and his heart was as anxious as fifteen buckets.
He whispered to Fan Ling: "Since there is such pain of death in the world, why do people still do so many wild, indulgent, comfortable and happy things in it? The human heart is really like wood and stone, without any fear or terror!"
The prince immediately ordered the servant driving the car to return to the palace quickly.
The servant who drove the car replied: "The prince just left the city gate the first two times and returned halfway before reaching the wilderness, which made the king very angry and angry, and it also affected us and was punished. Now, he has to go back halfway again. The king doesn't know How can you be angry and punish us!"
When Fan Ling heard what the servant driving the car said, he thought it made sense, so he advised the prince to go ahead and go to the wild for a while and then go back. The prince reluctantly agreed.
In the wild, in the dense jungle, hundreds of birds are singing together, thousands of flowers are blooming, the fragrant grass is more beautiful because of its blue color, the flowing springs add beauty to the green mountains, the breeze blows, the warm sun is like playing, and the mountains and rivers are like In the past, I lay peacefully and relaxedly in the vibrant spring light of March.
Only then did the prince calm down his trembling heart. He put away his attendants, rested in the shade of the trees, and sat down to think. Then he fell deeply into boundless thoughts, and all the noise and turmoil from the outside world seemed to be completely irrelevant to him. Irrelevant.
In the context of his thinking, he seemed to feel that he had sat like this under a tree at some point, as if he was far away from the world of desire...
Seeing the prince sitting in meditation, Fan Ling stepped forward and said to the prince: "The king has ordered me to be friends with the prince. If we have gains and losses from each other, we must enlighten each other, or encourage him, or persuade him to correct himself. Make friends. There are basically three methods: 1. When you see your friends making mistakes, you should dissuade them and explain the truth; 2. When you see your friends have good behaviors and do good deeds, you should follow them to complete them; 3. When your friends are in pain , when there is a disaster, don’t abandon each other. Now, you have a problem. According to the wishes of my friends, I should contribute my true and honest opinions. If my words are offensive, I hope you won’t be offended. The monks in the past were all You must first take the five pleasures of pleasure and then become a monk. Prince, why do you want to cut off the pleasures of pleasure forever and disdain them? Besides, in life, one should obey human sentiments, do human affairs, and follow humane principles. Throughout the ages, no matter which king, None of them have given up on the country and studied Taoism. I only hope that the prince can accept the five desires, give up the idea of becoming a monk and practice Taoism, and inherit the throne after a hundred years, so as to relieve the worries of the king's family and country."
After hearing this, the prince replied: "What you said makes sense. The reason why I don't accept the pleasures of the five desires is because I am afraid of the pain of old age, illness, and death, so I dare not be greedy or persistent."
After the prince finished speaking, he still sat silently. Fan Ling exhausted all his wisdom and eloquence, but could not change the prince's mind.
…
Zhang Si knew that the prince's determination to practice Taoism was getting stronger and stronger. Although he was worried day and night, he also knew that this was God's will and could not be undone by human power. Therefore, he had no other choice but to suffer.
However, for the sake of the future of the country, Zhang Si still came up with many ways to entertain the prince, hoping that one day he would give up the idea of becoming a monk.
In the eyes of the world, no one can escape the temptation of beauty. Not to mention ordinary people, even the most brilliant and virtuous people have abandoned their practice because of beauty. Therefore, every time the prince comes back, Zhang Si Many graceful singers and dancers were arranged to serve the prince, so that the prince would fall in love and return to the world.
But the prince was never moved.
When the prince fell into meditation, he always saw many beautiful singers and dancers singing and dancing in the splendid palace, and they were always surrounding him. They were as light as swallows, soft as orioles, and full of warm fragrance, which was extremely joyful.
However, things are unpredictable, and in a blink of an eye, these beauties in pink and pink have turned into chicken-skinned and white-haired women, without any beauty and charm; these painted pillars and carved beams have turned into broken walls and ruins, adding unnecessary sentimentality.
Based on this, the prince thought again: When we come to the world, we are all inevitable from the process of old age, illness, and death. Everyone is getting closer to aging and death day by day. Thousands of years are like an instant, and life is soft and fragile, like a dream. Isn't it surprising? Condolences! If you indulge in the five desires all day long, you will be no different from an ignorant beast. It's a pity that the world regards this temporary and unreal phenomenon as eternity and reality. Isn't this the persistence of ignorance? The world is like a huge sea of suffering, in which there are various processes and phenomena such as aging, illness, and death. How pitiful it is for ordinary people to be immersed in this sea of suffering and unable to extricate themselves!
In this way, the prince carried the great pain of the human world and entered the boundless sea of troubles.
There is a saying: The sea of suffering is boundless, but when you turn back, you will reach the shore. Where is the shore?
Since he realized the pain of birth, old age, sickness and death, and the vagaries of the human world, the prince no longer had any illusory images of the vagaries of fate.
However, this shore requires the prince to find the answer himself.
The prince could not find the answer and was deeply immersed in the boundless sea of distress.
…
What is the purpose of life? What is the meaning of life? People are like a lonely boat in the vast sea, and the capricious sea water floats them to the distant place without a destination. Since the third trip, the prince was still depressed when he came back. Zhang Si knew that the prince's desire to become a monk was getting deeper and deeper. But apart from the drunken woman, Zhang Si didn't know any other way to tie down the prince's wandering heart.
…
Spring goes and spring comes, and the years are ruthless. In March of spring, the prince said to his father: "While the earth is returning to spring and the spring flowers are in full bloom, I want to go for a spring outing in the countryside."
Zhang Si thought to himself: The emperor made deliberate arrangements three times to alarm the people and cause trouble. This time...
"Father, do you agree or disagree? Can you please say something?" The prince raised his voice an octave, thinking that his father had not heard it before.
"Oh..." The prince's high-octave voice was like a spring thunder, awakening Zhang Si from his deep thoughts.
The prince repeated what he had just said to Zhang Sizhong.
"Yes." Zhang Si nodded, agreeing.
So, the prince happily jumped on his horse, rode in a simple carriage, and took only the scholar Fan Ling with him, and started traveling for the fourth time.
This time, the prince went out from the north gate. Although the street was still gorgeous, there was not much joy and wonder in the prince's eyes.
After leaving the north gate, he walked freely until he reached the outskirts and walked into a lush and dense forest. The prince got off the horse and rested under the tree. He looked at the sky. The sky was still blue and the sun was shining brightly. With the sun shining on his head, the magical power of nature soothed the prince's hungry heart. A gust of spring breeze blew gently, and the prince suddenly felt relieved.
The prince waved his attendants to go away, and came to a Jamfu tree alone. He sat down, lost in thought... The painful scenes of old age, illness, and death that he had seen in the past came to mind one by one.
Life is fleeting and everything is changing, but no one knows what this is for. Things come and go, human life dies and reappears, cycles change, and there is no end. Do these phenomena really exist? The prince could not answer.
He thought: before there is an answer, people are not vigilant and do not suffer from the short life. They are still busy coming and going for profit, until they harm their own bodies without any care. How sad this is! Although I have seen that this world is a big sea of suffering, and although I have realized that I cannot rise and fall like other people in the world, I can overcome the fleeting youth and age, overcome the karmic obstacles of old age, illness, and death that cause pain in life, and seek liberation. The great road to reach the other side of bliss, but this great task is not something I am capable of now. However, I should explore it, complete it, and save thousands of living beings who are drowning in the sea of suffering, including myself...
While the prince was thinking like this, suddenly, a monk wearing dharma robes came over from a distance.
The bhikkhu held a bowl in one hand and a tin staff in the other. He looked down at the road and walked up to the prince.
The prince stood up and asked respectfully: "Who are you?"
The bhikkhu replied: "I am a bhikkhu."
The prince asked again: "What does a monk do?"
The bhikkhu replied: "Bhikkhus are monks who become monks and practice to seek the Tao. When we become monks and practice, we can get rid of the shackles of life's troubles, so we are called bhikkhus. People in the world actually know that life is fragile and unpredictable. However, they have not thought of how to seek help. We are different. We live in seclusion in the mountains and forests for many years, stay away from the hustle and bustle of the world, and cut off the suffering of the five desires of fame, wealth, and sex in the world. We have neither anger nor delusion, nor love and evil. What we seek is the road to liberation that is immortal and immortal. What we have entered is a realm that has no beginning and no end. Demons and illusions do not arise, mental states cannot arise, all living beings are one, and all dharmas are equal. This is the practice of a bhikkhu."
When the prince heard this, he suddenly felt that it was what he was thinking about, and he was filled with joy. He thought: I just want to find the road to liberation, so as to save all sentient beings, but I don't know how to implement it. Today I happened to meet this bhikkhu, and it was really a dream come true...
Just when the prince was about to inquire further about the specific steps of practice, the bhikkhu suddenly disappeared.
The prince raised his eyes and looked around. Except for his attendant Fan Ling, there was no one in the empty wilderness.
Although the prince felt a little disappointed, since he met this bhikkhu and heard about the merits and deeds of the bhikkhu becoming a monk, it was actually the bhikkhu who showed him a way to obtain liberation, and this was what the prince had always hoped for, so , the prince was very happy, no, to be exaggerated, it was a mixture of joy and sorrow.
"It's good, it's good. In the world, this is the greatest and most sublime. I want to leave home to practice and seek the path to liberation." The prince said to himself.
At this time, the sun was setting in the west and dusk smoke was rising. The prince untied his horse, jumped up, and headed back to the palace.
When the prince returned to the palace, he was extremely happy. As he walked quickly, he muttered hurriedly, saying: "When I went out of the city, I saw the suffering of old age, illness, death, etc., and I was worried day and night. Forced by these phenomena, I met this monk today and he showed me the way to liberation. This is really the opportunity I have been dreaming of!"
At that moment, the prince secretly made up his mind: I must become a monk like that monk, and I must find an opportunity to run away from home (I won’t mention it here for now).
Let's say that after Zhang Si saw the prince return to the palace, he saw the prince's face was happy and his steps were brisk, and he felt happy and surprised at the same time - the happy thing was that the prince usually went home with a sad face, but this time he was very happy. This made Zhang Si, the father, also look happy. What was surprising was that the prince usually had some weird thoughts, so he was always worried, but this time he ran home so happily, there must be something fishy in it.
So Zhang Si asked Fan Ling, "Did the prince encounter anything happy when he went out today?"
Fan Ling replied: "The prince went out today. The road was clean and there was nothing unlucky. When we arrived in the wilderness, the prince scolded Fan Ling and sat alone under the tree. After a while, I saw a man with a beard and hair from a distance. He had already shaved his head and wore dyed clothes. He walked up to the prince and talked to the prince for a while. The man without hair and beard left like a gust of wind. But I don’t know what they said. The prince therefore rode on horseback. Came back. The prince looked extremely happy at that time, but it was only when he arrived at the palace that he became a little calmer."
After hearing these words, Zhang Si was very suspicious and had no way of guessing what the benefit of the bald man's appearance was. Therefore, he couldn't help but feel a little annoyed. He also thought of what he had said inadvertently when the prince was born: "It seems that the emperor and the Buddha are Destined!" With those words, I couldn't help but stand in the palace and said to myself: I'm afraid the prince really has to abandon his family to learn Taoism. I have to tell his wife to keep an eye on him and not let him go out; at the same time, I must strengthen the guard to prevent the prince from secretly Run away from home.
Zhang Si immediately ordered all the military officials to strictly guard the city gates and added many sentries in the palace to watch the prince's every move. The Crown Princess also obeyed the instructions to walk, sit, and lie down, and never leave the Prince's side.
…
In seven days, it will be time for the prince to ascend the throne and become the king of the country. It was already midnight, and the prince was still staying in his room as usual. The prince's concubines were always with him, and the maids came in and out like meteors, leaving no room for the prince to act randomly.
In seven days, the prince will be able to ascend the throne. When Zhang Si thinks that this day is coming soon, he can't forget how happy he is. But Zhang Si knew that the prince's determination to become a monk was rock-solid. But during these seven days, the prince did not take any action or make any move. He was still reading books and doing daily homework as usual. He still meditated and meditated most of the time. He had no intention of escaping from the palace and becoming a monk. Zhang Si was confused and felt very strange...
