After breakfast, washing dishes and pots, Li Ye walked to the backyard of the dining hall, looked at the neatly stacked firewood in the woodshed, and thought to himself, this is not going to stop me.
There are even two wooden houses built on Tianshan Mountain, let alone chopping firewood in the temple!
He moved a chair from the house and sat down, looking at the firewood in the woodshed. He thought that if he spent an hour, it would be fine. This was also the time for him to practice his sword, but it would only take a lot of effort.
After resting for a quarter of an hour, when his body's strength returned, he stood up, picked up the ax in the woodshed, picked up a piece of wood, put it away, and chopped it down with a wave of his hand.
Fortunately, I had practiced the Formless Dharmakaya with my husband. Otherwise, I really couldn't chew the firewood in the shed. I don't know how much effort and time it would take.
Unexpectedly, what seemed to be the easiest thing took him a lot of time. Just because the wood in the woodshed was dry and wet, it naturally took a lot of effort to chop it.
By the time he finished chopping the firewood for cooking in the temple tomorrow, it was already past noon. The monks in the temple had already finished their lunch meal, and the old monk also returned to the temple to rest.
Li Ye sighed, took out a towel, filled a basin of water, washed his face, wiped away the sweat stains on his body, pushed the back door of Tianzhai Hall, went to the pot and uncovered the steamer, which contained a bowl of vegetables and a bowl of dry rice. .
As he chanted scriptures, he thought that he was just putting in some effort to do manual labor, and his senior brother left the food for him, so he was naturally grateful in his heart.
Sitting in the empty dining hall with rice in hand, I thought that from now on, I would start practicing in the temple.
The board-beating monk outside the dining hall watched Li Ye fetching rice, chanting sutras, and sitting down to eat. Every move he made was a treasure, and he secretly admired it in his heart.
I am afraid that only the abbot master in the temple can practice like this.
After eating, washing dishes, and cleaning pots, Li Ye gently closed the door of the dining hall and went to the edge of the Sutra Pavilion to find the mixed room where he wanted to live.
When he arrived at the miscellaneous room that the old monk had mentioned, he discovered that it was a small courtyard behind the Sutra Pavilion.
It's fairly clean inside, with a well, a firewood shed, and a living room. The strange thing is that there is a stove built outside the firewood shed with an iron pot on it, which is probably a sign that someone lived there not long ago.
He fetched water from the well and put it into the water tank next to the firewood shed. He carried a bucket of water into the house and started cleaning his living room.
Thinking that I would live here for half a year, or even longer, I wiped harder with the rag in my hand.
Before he could finish wiping the dust off the two rooms, the senior brother from the temple came in holding a quilt. He looked at Li Ye and said, "Brother, this is what the master ordered me to give to you. You need more." Tell me what, I will take it from you later."
Li Ye quickly took it and said with a smile: "I'm causing trouble to my senior brother. What do you call me, senior brother?"
The monk returned the gift to Li Ye and said, "I accept Dabei. If you have anything to do in the future, senior brother, you can come to me at the Guest House."
Li Ye put the quilt on the bed, clasped his hands together and said, "Amitabha, please give me more advice from senior brother in the future."
Monk Dabei nodded and said: "Brother, take a rest quickly. Shen Shi, you still have to clean the two courtyards outside the Sutra Pavilion."
After saying that, he clasped his hands together and exited Li Ye's room.
Looking at the newly cleaned house, Li Ye opened the quilt that Dabei had brought and saw two pairs of mango shoes and a set of linen monk robes wrapped inside.
Laying the quilt on the bed, Li Ye took off his armor and walked to the well to fetch water for a bath. The old monk asked him to boil hot water. He thought that he was very angry and it was autumn, so he naturally used the cold water from the well to wash away the sweat stains on his body.
I dried myself and lay on the bed to rest, looking at the empty room and the desk in front of the window, thinking that I would go back to the city one day to buy some paper and pens, and copy scriptures for the old monk in my free time.
I slept on the edge of the bed. When I woke up, it was already past midnight. I looked up at the sky outside. The light rain during the day had stopped, and the shadow of the sun was revealed in the sky.
Putting on the monk's robes, he walked out of the small courtyard where he lived and walked to the Sutra Pavilion.
The eunuchs of the Great Buddha Temple have free time in the afternoon. At this time, no monks can be seen walking around the temple. They think they are all practicing.
Li Ye found a long broom under the eaves of the Sutra Pavilion. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be made of purple bamboo. He smiled faintly and started cleaning the fallen leaves and dust in the yard from the top step.
After spending half an hour cleaning up the fallen leaves in the inner courtyard, Li Ye came to the outer courtyard with a broom. He looked at the fallen leaves on the ground and wondered how long it had been since no one came to clean them.
Shaking his head, he swept the fallen leaves on the ground bit by bit along the courtyard wall under the bodhi tree where he used to practice boxing. He found the basket on his back, put the fallen leaves on the ground into it, and carried it to the burning place in the temple.
He remembered that the old monk had told him that the leaves would be burned, and the ashes would be carried back to the vegetable fields on the back hill to be used as fertilizer.
It took Li Ye an hour to clean the two yards. Even though he had the skill of Wuxiang Dharmakaya, he still felt a little sore in his back.
Carrying the broom, he walked to the inner courtyard of the Sutra Pavilion and was about to put down the broom and leave. Unexpectedly, a gust of wind blew up. The autumn wind blew under the trees around the temple, and the dead leaves on the trees fell on the ground he had just cleaned. ground.
Standing under the eaves, Li Ye was stunned. He finally understood why the ground outside the courtyard looked like it hadn't been cleaned for many days. It turned out that no matter how clean you were, as long as the autumn wind blew, the ground would be covered with fallen leaves.
I was thinking about being lazy and cleaning again tomorrow, but unexpectedly the voice of the old monk came from the attic:
Bodhi tree
The heart is a mirror
Wipe frequently
Keep away from dust
Li Ye was shocked, thinking that he was here to seek hard training, but he should be lazy and lazy. As I thought about it, a little cold sweat flowed down my back.
At that moment, he put his hands together and said to the attic: Amitabha.
Picking up the broom, he continued to sweep up the fallen leaves along the steps.
On the second floor of the Sutra Pavilion, an old monk with a long beard and white eyebrows looked at the old monk standing by the window and said, "Junior brother, are you being a little harsh in demanding so much from him? After all, he is still a child."
The old monk looked at Li Ye who was sweeping the floor downstairs, turned around and said with a smile: "Brother, I don't know, this guy has practiced "Fuhu Luohan Fist" to a perfect state, and Fang Cunshan's "Shadowless Dharma Body" has also been practiced to the fifth level. realm."
"So powerful, it seems I underestimated him." The old monk with a long beard and white eyebrows said with a smile.
"Although I have sealed his cultivation, his physical strength is unbelievably strong. If I don't find more things for him to do, how can he get the training of hard cultivation?
The old monk with a long beard and white eyebrows nodded, held up a lotus finger, and said with a smile: "It's true, the hard work you asked him to do requires three or four monks in the temple. He only did it at half past noon on the first day. over."
"And he didn't even take shelter despite the wind and rain. He is really a talent that can be made. He is so good."
"Let him hone his skills for a few days first. When he is proficient in these chores, I will find some hard work for him to do." The old monk said with a smile.
Li Ye downstairs had no idea that there were two old monks upstairs paying attention to his practice. He just wanted to clean up the leaves in the two courtyards before dark.
As he swept the leaves on the ground, he thought about the allusion the old monk told him two years ago:
The young monk asked the old monk, "Master, what did you do before you became a Buddha?"
The old monk said, "Before I became a Buddha, I fetched water, chopped firewood, and swept the floor every day.
"Master, what will you do after you become a Buddha?" the young monk continued to ask.
The old monk said, "After I became a Buddha, I still fetched water, chopped firewood, and swept the floor every day."
The little monk was very surprised and asked, "Is there any difference? Isn't it the same?"
The old monk said, "It's different. Before I became a Buddha, when I was fetching water, I was thinking of chopping firewood. When I was chopping firewood, I was thinking of sweeping the floor. When I was sweeping the floor, I was thinking of fetching water. After I became a Buddha, when I fetched water, I was fetching water. When I swept the floor, I was sweeping the floor. When I was sweeping the floor, I was thinking of fetching water. firewood."
Thinking back to two years ago, the old monk had discussed with him how chopping firewood, sweeping the floor, and making tea were related to the practice of Buddhism. Looking back now, it really made sense, and I had some understanding of the practice of Buddhism.
It took another hour to clean the inner and outer courtyards of the Sutra Pavilion. Looking at the clean floor, I couldn't help but feel a little emotional. The practice of Buddhism is really tiring.
I looked up at the sky and saw that it was already half past midnight. The setting sun in the sky had already set in the west. I carried a basket of leaves on my back and walked slowly towards the burning place...
The old monk with long beard and white eyebrows in the Sutra Pavilion pinched the Buddhist beads in his hand and said: "It took three and a half hours to carry water, another one and a half hours to chop firewood, and another two hours in the afternoon to clean the fallen leaves in the front and back yards. He practiced for a whole day without even complaining about being tired, which is really rare."
"Let's talk about it some time later." The old monk lowered his eyes and said softly.
...
In the Sutra Pavilion on an autumn night, an oil lamp was lit in a small courtyard next to it.
Li Ye was sitting quietly on the bedside, holding the Lotus Sutra and gently flipping through the pages, trying to find out the principles of his own practice. When I read the wonderful part, I couldn't help but say:
Not knowing the end of suffering
Don't know how to seek relief
...
Also know the way to go
also know wisdom
Think carefully about what the old monk said: You can gain liberation through hard practice and seek meditation while sitting. Is this liberation of the physical body or liberation of the mind during practice? Meditation means no delusion, and only without delusion can you meditate.
At the end of the Xu hour, he opened his mouth and blew out the oil lamp. The monks in the temple rested at this hour. Li Ye stopped meditating and fell asleep on his side.
When he wanted to close his eyes, he unconsciously thought of Mr. Li, Li Hongxiu, Bai Susu, Mu Mu, Xiao Qing, Xiao Bai, Lao Lang, Lao Yuan and others.
Although he is practicing hard on Tianshan Mountain, he seems to have never been so alone. He is always accompanied by his relatives. Only tonight, an oil lamp in the small courtyard in front of the temple is quietly accompanying him.
With no fixed thoughts and a tiring day, he fell into a deep sleep within a quarter of an hour.
On the roof of the Sutra Pavilion, a crescent moon was hanging in the sky. The old monk with a long beard and white eyebrows in the building glanced at the small courtyard outside the courtyard wall, murmured a Buddha's name, and waved his hand to wipe out the Buddha in front of him. lamp.
...
At this time in Tianshan, at Yaping where Li Ye practiced, the old ape and the old wolf were drinking.
The two old men looked at the two empty wine jars on the table, thinking a lot.
"I didn't expect that this little guy would still be thinking about us two old men when he came down from the mountain. He sent the little girl to bring these many good wines and dishes for you and me to satisfy our cravings." The old ape said, slapping the table.
The old wolf picked up the wine jar, filled their glasses with wine, and murmured: "He thought that the two of us would not be able to attend my husband's wedding, so he asked the little girl to bring wine and food, which can be regarded as satisfying our thoughts. ."
"Although we have no chance to meet Mr. Mo's wife, I think she won't be far behind. Let's drink to Mr. Mo's wife." The old ape raised the wine glass in front of him.
The old wolf raised his wine glass and followed the old ape. He smiled and said: "That girl Xiaoqing brought the news from Mr. Let's just go there and find Master Bai Susu directly. In this way, we have no worries."
"In the remaining days, we two old men will slowly drink up the dozens of jars of wine here, waiting for the disaster to come. To be honest, I am already looking forward to it."
"Isn't it just to be struck by lightning again? We have already been struck eight times, so what if we are struck by one more time?" The old wolf looked at the crescent moon in the sky and roared loudly.
"Be happy as you are, don't scare my grandchildren by crying like a ghost or howling like a wolf." The old ape glared at the old wolf.
"No, no, you kids are so arrogant! They all know that my two old men are drinking here, and they won't make random guesses."
The old wolf took another sip of wine, looked at him and smiled.
"It's a pity that we met that kid Li Ye too late, and his time here was too short."
The old ape looked up at the sky and said calmly.
"Just be content. He has been living here for a whole year for your promise. Remember, he is still a child."
Whenever Lao Lang thinks of Li Ye carrying Xiao Bai on his back, he can't help but sigh.
The old ape nodded, pointed at the old wolf and said, "It is such a child who leads your grandson into the world."
The two said in unison: "I hope we can meet again one day."
As long as there is tomorrow, there will be hope.
Hope is in the world.
