On Manting Peak.
The young Taoist priest was walking on the barren mountains and ridges. The cold wind blew through his thin Taoist robe, and his legs were scratched by thorns and gravel, making his steps more and more difficult.
He put his hands in his sleeves and buried his head in his collar, but his body was shivering violently uncontrollably, and the black and white in his eyes became blurred.
The little Taoist priest's body was cold, and he could only rely on imagining a warm sun to shine through, and warm himself through some insignificant fragments in his memory——
It was a sunny afternoon. The little Taoist priest was reciting Taoist scriptures in the Taoist temple. His master was meditating in front of the statue of Sanqing. Time was so slow that it seemed that after a hundred years, no trace would be left. The traces were so ordinary and meaningless, but for some reason they were firmly remembered in his heart.
Sitting on the futon, the old Taoist priest felt a little chilly, so he moved his seat a few feet away, hoping to take advantage of the long afternoon sunshine to warm his body and dispel the chill seeping out of his bones.
"Master, if you feel cold, go to the alchemy room to warm yourself by the fire. If the firewood my disciple picked up in the morning is not enough, I will just pick up some more before dark."
The little Taoist priest took the time to say something, hoping that the master would give him a chance to breathe and stay away from these densely printed inferior scriptures.
The old Taoist priest poured out two Huang Jing Qi Bu Qi Pills from the medicine gourd and swallowed them whole without even raising his eyelids.
"Don't be sloppy in your Taoist exercises, and recite the "Tai Shang Laojun's Sutra of Constant Peace" ten times again. Practicing tranquility and inaction is the only way to achieve the Great Way."
Seeing that the master was not fooled, the little Taoist priest retracted his head with a grimace, stretched out his cold fingers to turn the pages of the book, and continued to wander away.
The little Taoist priest thought this master was very strange.
In normal times, the old Taoist priests strictly practiced self-cultivation and never relaxed. They recited the clear rhymes, hangings, large and small openings, and the eight sacred mantras and legal edicts every day, until they finished reciting sutras and singing "Qiuzu's Confession" and died. From the beginning of Mao to the end of You, your demeanor is dignified and full of energy, and your sincerity in seeking the truth can be seen from the sun and the moon.
But once the lessons are over, the master plunges into the alchemy room to study the combination of herbs collected from the mountain and learn acupuncture and massage. On every first and fifteenth day of the lunar month, the master stays in the alchemy room to give lessons without leaving home. Li Zhen is as timid and cautious as a mouse in a hole.
If an ordinary person walked into the alchemy room, he would be shocked by the wall-to-wall medicinal materials and the numerous medical books, and would wonder if he had gone to the wrong medical clinic.
The little Taoist priest once speculated that it was because the master was too afraid of death that he devoted himself to Taoism, enlightenment and cultivation, and stayed in this remote Taoist temple with high mountains and rivers?
But if a master like Master lives a life of abstinence from desires and emotions, and stays away from grudges, even if he can cultivate to three to five hundred years old, what difference will he make to a stone in the mountain? Is there any way to live for the sake of living?
"Master, didn't you say that you need to cultivate both your life and your life? Or did you say that you can become an immortal if you live long enough?"
The old Taoist priest never hid his fear of death, but the young Taoist priest's outspokenness this time made him unable to help but tactfully defend himself.
"The alchemy method passed down by our ancestor Bai Yuchan is of course a dual cultivation of life and life, but it also emphasizes the cultivation of life first and then nature. In general, the practice starts with cultivating essence and Qi, and gradually follows the steps of refining essence, refining Qi, and refining spirit. Don't be impatient. "
The little Taoist priest said in confusion: "Fate is the three treasures of the human body, and nature is a bit of truth. Isn't it a way to put fate first and then nature?"
The old Taoist twirled his beard and said with a smile: "To realize the true nature first seems to be from a high place, but in fact it is inevitable to walk on the wrong path of rejecting the secular body and denying life. How can you get liberation like a silly monk who has participated in death meditation for a lifetime? You must not talk about nothing. "
The little Taoist priest always felt that the master was quibbling, but he couldn't find any evidence, so he looked at the two towering green peaks outside the Taoist temple in trance, letting the afternoon sun shine lazily on him.
Seeing that his apprentice still didn't believe it, the old Taoist priest pointed to the Jiuqu River in the distance and said, "Disciple, look at the Jiuqu River. The other side of the river bank is full of flowers and willows in spring and is very lively."
"At this time, for people like us who live at the foot of the mountain, some want to go across, some don't want to go, and some sneer at the other side. If you are a boatman, you can only ferry these people who want to cross the river, right? "
"The so-called life first, then nature, is just to use the magic of divine life to induce them to practice, to feel their true heart through the horror between life and death, and then finally use the true awakening to drive away their dreams and delusions, and step into the path of the golden elixir."
The sun shines into the yard through the leaves, seeming to melt away the lingering cold in the air. Even the distant mountain peaks shine brightly and are very beautiful.
"Master, but we people in the mountains don't want to practice Taoism. Everyone says that with this Manting Peak, one can become an immortal. Wuyi Immortals will hold banquets on the top of the mountain for guests. We, the ancestors of Wuyi and the descendants of Wuyi Grandma, drank the immortal wine and tasted it. Immortal food can lead to immortality."
The old Taoist priest's expression waned, and he said dissatisfiedly: "These are the words of village men and women, you must not believe them easily. All the golden elixirs are false, and the immortal banquet must have a boat to cross it in order to ascend. Otherwise, if you look at the corpses of immortals all over the mountains and plains that have not changed for thousands of years, how many people have seen the immortals?"
"So there are no gods on the mountain? Could it be that my parents have been lying to me since I was a child..."
The old Taoist priest shook his head: "My sect has been searching for caves all over the world since the Han Dynasty. The 16th Immortal Cave Tianhe in Wuyi Mountain should be on Manting Peak - otherwise, why would Immortal Master Bai Yuchan build a temple and stay there for so long? Here it is.”
"What is Dongtian, Master?"
"Dongtian is an empty place in the mountains, where there are often miraculous places. Since the publication of Weishu in the Han Dynasty, there have been thirty-six caves in the world. My brothers and sisters have traveled all over the world's famous mountains in order to find other caves. Where.”
The little Taoist priest looked at Manting Peak with half-understanding, staring at the flat peak. The more he looked at it, the less it felt like it. On the contrary, he felt that the slightly higher Dawang Peak, which was connected to the foot of the peak, looked more like a cave.
"Is it considered a miracle to be able to create more people out of thin air?"
The little Taoist hesitated and gave an example, "I think Dawang Peak is the cave. The person we picked up on Dawang Peak is still unconscious in the wing - it's a pity that he is a weirdo, not an immortal."
"It doesn't count, it only counts if it appears on Manting Peak."
The old Taoist priest refuted unreasonably.
The little Taoist priest became more and more confused as he listened: "Master, are there gods or no gods on Manting Peak? Why do I become more and more confused the more I listen?"
The old Taoist priest smiled mysteriously, "If I tell you that there is, I am lying; if I tell you that there is no, it means that I don't understand the magic of divine destiny. If you really want to know, wait until you practice the gold of our sect. Dan, go up the mountain and see for yourself!”
The little Taoist priest looked at the master's expression and knew that he had been fooled. The master obviously wanted to use a trick to trick him into practicing. If he had the bonus of curiosity, even reading the scriptures would not be so boring.
"Master, what's the difference between you saying this and not saying it?"
The old Taoist coughed twice, picked up the medicine gourd, poured out two more Lingyang Shouwu pills and swallowed them.
"Disciple, you have to remember these four words 'Yedu Fucha'."
The little Taoist priest shook his head and said that he could not remember.
Master no longer pretended to be mysterious and spoke in a clear and clear voice.
"What is a wild crossing? Life is like being on a wild crossing. The other side is far away and cannot be seen. When searching up and down, I feel at a loss and don't know where to go."
"What is Fucha? Cultivating Taoism is like cutting bamboo to make a boat. Although you have toiled endlessly and walked on thin ice, the only way forward is to step on Fucha."
…………
The dark road is far away and endless, and there is a vast star on the top of the sky that shines brightly, peering at the cold mountain peaks, pointing to some unknown direction in the distance.
"Nodu Fukucha..."
"Ascending Immortality..."
The little Taoist priest trembled and repeated the master's words. Even though he was about to become a dead body in the cold night, he still walked without stopping. He held his hand tightly over his heart, and it seemed that there was something there that was getting louder and clearer...
I saw that on the huge stone peak with red cliffs and green pines and bamboos, there was a section of clouds and mist shrouded like a curtain. The fragrance and drum music were lingering, and the golden clouds decorated with flowers were rare in the world.
The banquet at Manting has suddenly begun.
