Chapter Thirteen Success and Fame
Time flies, the years are ruthless, and in the blink of an eye, fifty years have passed.
On a hot summer day, the sun is blazing in the sky, cicadas are chirping, everyone is wiping their sweat, and the air is full of "heat".
Pedestrians on the road and vendors on the side of the road also walked listlessly and feebly, hawking prices, and there was a tacit understanding of "saving time and effort".
Suddenly, a burst of rapid hoofbeats broke this tacit understanding. The sound of horse hooves came from far away, and people could see clearly that it was an official. He seemed to have something important to do. He was beating the horse hard and shouting, "Drive! Drive! Don't block the people in front of you. Get out of the way quickly." !”
As the saying goes, "the people do not fight with the officials." Although the pedestrians were reluctant, they still retreated to both sides of the road to make way for the police. The policeman ignored the psychological activities of these ordinary people. He rode on horseback to a beautifully decorated and large-scale temple. He dismounted gently, straightened his appearance, knocked on the door respectfully, and shouted: "Suzhou The prefect Zheng Xing, Lord Zheng, sent someone to see him!" After a while, the temple door opened, and a young Zhike monk politely welcomed the messenger in.
Pedestrians on the roadside were not surprised when they saw this, but they all commented: "The Daming Temple has really become more and more prosperous in recent years. Even these big shots don't dare to disrespect it when they come to visit."
"What does this mean? Didn't the Emperor and Queen Mother also come to offer incense a few years ago?"
"That's all the credit of Master Jianzhen, even the emperor respects him."
"Thanks to Master Jianzhen's powerful magic power, boundless Dharma, and all-round kindness and compassion, he has been able to protect the people of this area. Otherwise, countless people would have died due to monsters, droughts and floods over the years."
"Yes, Master Jianzhen has achieved great success in his studies forty years ago. When he came out for the first time, he successfully rescued the ghost of member Zhaowai in Zhaozhuang and solved the problem of the haunted house in Zhaozhuang that had disturbed the people for many years. He became famous. It’s almost forty years now.”
"That's right. If I didn't tell you the first time, in the future, I would exorcise ghosts in Licun, slay demon tigers in Nanshan, slay evil dragons in the Yangtze River, cure the prime minister's chronic illness for many years, go to the prison in person to persuade the murder suspect to plead guilty and surrender, and lead the temple twice Monks build dams, prevent floods and provide disaster relief, and distribute money and food every month to help the poor, widowed and lonely people. Now people from all over the world are worshiping Buddha and offering incense at home, praying for the Buddha's blessing and for Master Jianzhen's good deeds to be rewarded, and... "
The man became more and more enthusiastic as he spoke. Seeing that no one interrupted him, he continued: "A great monk like Master Jianzhen was born in Daming Temple. From then on, his prestige increased. His reputation spread all over the country. People who admired and worshiped him also flocked to him. Not only did he Common people, even dignitaries and even relatives of the emperor often come to visit, hoping to get guidance from Master Jianzhen and listen to his teachings.
The master also has the demeanor of an eminent monk. Anyone he meets, regardless of their family status or status, as long as they have a predestined relationship with the Buddha or are sincere, can come to the temple to talk in detail, and he will definitely hit the mark without asking for anything in return. These people were grateful for the Master's kindness and virtue, and after returning home, they spontaneously promoted Daming Temple and Master Jianzhen. What happened in the end? Even the emperor and the empress dowager were alarmed. They came to Daming Temple to offer incense and talked with Master Jianzhen for a whole day. After hearing that they came out full of energy and happy, they gave Dayun Temple a plaque saying "Buddhist Pure Land" on the same day. Then he invited Master Jianzhen to be the imperial minister of the dynasty. I heard that the master declined with these Zen sayings: "There are no distracting thoughts in the heart, it is difficult to leave the homeland, the cycle of cause and effect, and fate is determined by fate." "
"Yes, now, Master Jianzhen is truly famous all over the world! In the past, there were always some monks and Taoists who did not know their own abilities to challenge him, but now they are gone."
"I see, as long as the Daming Temple has Master Jianzhen as its abbot, it will continue to prosper."
As these people were talking, they saw the official sent out politely by Zhike Monk, who said apologetically: "Donor, please forgive me, the abbot has been in seclusion for a year, and there is no time when he can come out. After the abbot comes out, this temple will Only then can we ask the old man to go out and do some rituals."
The official waved his hand quickly and replied flattered: "How dare you disturb the master's practice because of such a trivial matter as my master? Your temple is really too polite. When I go back, I will report to Master Mingfutai and ask him to wait until the master comes out of seclusion. It’s not too late to invite you later. Then I’ll go back, little master, there’s no need to send him off.”
Go ahead, turn around, mount your horse, and gallop away. The Zhike monk also sighed, clasped his hands together, said "Amitabha!" and turned back to the temple, leaving only the people outside the temple still talking about it.
In the past fifty years, Jianzhen has practiced Buddhism diligently, and has acquired two top Buddhist practice techniques, "Void Tibetan Sutra" and "Great Light Sutra". In addition, Yun Canghai personally built the foundation for him and found some for him from time to time. He is supplemented by the treasures of heaven and earth, and he himself has extraordinary understanding and deep connections with Buddhism. His progress in practice can be said to be a thousand miles with each passing day. One year of practice is equivalent to ten years of practice for ordinary people.
After practicing for ten years, Jianzhen followed Yun Canghai's advice and went out to accumulate external skills and deepen his experience. At that time, the elders in the temple still had doubts about his strength, but when Jianzhen used a set of "Kasaya Demon-Conquering Skills" After practicing martial arts and using the "Buddha's Light Shining" spell, they were all speechless, because except for a few senior monks and masters from the previous generation who were in retreat, there was no one who could surpass Jianzhen in the temple. Therefore, although they were extremely surprised by the progress of his practice, it could only be attributed to his talent, but no one dared to get to the bottom of it.
After Jianzhen gained the right to leave the temple freely, he began his own journey of conquering demons and saving all sentient beings.
He acted according to his ability and was never arrogant. He started from simply exorcising evil spirits and catching ghosts. As his cultivation level improved, he could do more and more. After subduing the demon tiger and the dragon, Jian Zhen had already After proving his strength, he stopped challenging more powerful monsters and began to focus on accumulating merit and saving people. Whether it is Buddhists, Taoists, or even all practitioners, merit is very important. The higher the merit. , the more and faster one's own blessings, cultivation speed, and realm improve, the lighter the calamity suffered during cultivation.
As Jianzhen's cultivation level became higher and higher, his reputation became more and more popular, and more and more people came to visit him. Jianzhen asked Yun Canghai for advice, and Yun Canghai said to him: "These trivial matters in life can be controlled by you." Make your own decision, don't rely on me for everything, have your own opinion, otherwise, you will never be independent, you must have confidence in yourself." Jianzhen suddenly came to his senses, secretly crying out with shame, saying that he would correct this habit in the future.
As a result, Jianzhen no longer asked Yun Canghai for advice on ordinary matters, but made his own decisions. Yun Canghai saw this and was secretly pleased that his little brother had finally grown up.
Jianzhen was not only very polite to his visitors, but also responded to every request, and everything was done successfully, so his reputation naturally spread far and wide. The elders of the temple saw this and shamelessly asked Jianzhen to train the monks in the temple and teach the apprentices. Jianzhen readily agreed and, after obtaining Yun Canghai's consent, would popularize some of the intermediate and low-level cultivation techniques obtained from Yun Canghai in the temple. Kailai (of course they are all popular in the world of cultivation, and after modification, no one can suspect that they stole it from other sects), he also selected a few talented young monks with good conduct as his apprentices, and poured out what he had learned. The monks in the temple saw that Jian Zhen was so open-minded and sincere, and were impressed by his virtue. From then on, they allowed him to drive him without any complaints. Even after several previous generations of masters came out of seclusion, they greatly appreciated Jianzhen's cultivation and virtues and gave them their full support.
The surrendered dragon was originally very proud, but it was captured by Jianzhen first, and then frightened by Yun Canghai with his own dragon power. It obediently recognized its master and became the guardian beast of Jianzhen. Jianzhen and Yun Canghai thought It also has the blood of the Dragon Clan, and did not treat it badly. It was passed on a set of "Mighty Heavenly Dragon Dharma Protector Magic Skills" and a Dragon Clan Cultivation Technique; but the demon tiger was not so lucky. After recognizing its master, it was only passed on a set of skills called The body refining technique of "Fuhuhu Golden Body", but Jianzhen also taught them a set of joint attack techniques called "Dragon Pan and Tiger Ju". When one dragon and one tiger are used together, the power can be doubled.
After subduing the two beasts, Jianzhen had a means of transportation when he went out to subjugate demons. When the people saw Jianzhen riding a dragon flying across the sky, they all knelt down and worshiped from a distance, and they were even more in awe of Jianzhen.
People and wandering monks from all over the world flocked to Daming Temple, hoping to become one of them and listen to the teachings of Master Jianzhen. Dayun Temple also opened its doors widely and accepted heroes from all over the world. However, after careful selection, only a small number of people with good qualifications, peaceful character, or special skills and deep blessings were left as disciples.
Even after selection, there is still an endless stream of people coming to Daming Temple to become disciples every year. Daming Temple has also benefited greatly from the selection and teaching over the years. It can be said that "pilgrims are like clouds and monks are like rain." The trend of prosperity is already unstoppable.
When there are too many people, there will naturally be some mixed good and bad, but Jianzhen's Buddhist wisdom is not just for decoration. He can see clearly the nature of these ordinary people at a glance, so he also drives out many bad apples, making the monks in the temple hate him. More awe.
Finally, when Jianzhen was forty-five years old, the previous abbot announced his resignation. With the support of all the monks in the temple, Jianzhen became the fifteenth abbot of Dayun Temple. After Jianzhen succeeded as the abbot, he worked hard to manage the temple, and at the same time he did not relax his own cultivation. He managed the Dayun Temple in Nuoda to become more prosperous, and even the temple was expanded and renovated several times.
In this way, with the praise of the people outside, the guidance of Yun Canghai inside, and the support of all the monks of Daming Temple, Jianzhen and Daming Temple have become more and more prestigious in the past fifty years. It can be said that they are famous all over the world and have become the world's leader. There is a big sect in the room.
