This is a big responsibility. Tao Qinghu hesitated but nodded. Those thieves were on the same page as him. He knew very well that generally speaking, they would not buy his account, but it was also a bit strange. From the next day to the end of the year, there was no damage to the property in the Taoist temple, which proved that nothing happened. A theft incident. People in the Taoist temple only praised Master Miaoyi for doing his duty. In fact, Master Miaoyi had worked hard. He knew that Tao Qinghu wanted to worship him as his teacher, so he had to fulfill his responsibilities as a teacher and control or regulate Tao Qinghu's thoughts and behaviors. From the outside, Tao Qinghu obeyed him on the surface. , not sure in his heart, and even doing some indecent things behind his back will damage his own image and damage the reputation of Master. So, Master Miaoyi put on his treasured clothes, gave the order of invisibility, and disappeared without a trace. In this way, he stared at Tao Qinghu without saying a word. That day Tao Qinghu guarded the mountain gate for a while. Unable to sit still, he went down the mountain to find the gang of thieves and said that he had become a disciple of Master Miaoyi. If you want to "get rich" in the future, don't go to Wulong Mountain where there is a Taoist temple.
All the thieves sneered: How is that possible? Tao Qinghu said that my master has a special piece of clothing. You can't see him when he wears it, but he can see you.
Hehe... why not steal these strange and precious clothes for your own use? Tao Qinghu sighed and said: Don't think too much. Even if you steal it, you won't be able to use it. It won't listen to ordinary people's orders.
Everything my disciple says is true. Even if you steal this precious garment from me, you won't be able to use it. Suddenly someone spoke in the open air, with a strong voice and a strong voice. You could tell that it was a weak-headed young man. The words went from low to high, repeated several times and then returned to silence. The robbers were shocked and looked around, but there was no one in sight.
Immediately, Tao Qinghu knelt on the ground. Fortunately, he didn't say the wrong thing just now, so he bowed three times and said: Master, my disciple is polite. Disciple, I admit my mistake to you. I went down the mountain without asking you for permission. I am willing to accept the punishment. All the frog thieves were frightened by this mysterious atmosphere, and they knelt down one by one. A long line of worshipers appeared like wooden posts in the wilderness. The leader said: I would like to hear the master's teachings. Then, all the thieves recited in unison: "I would like to hear the master's teachings."
I can't afford this as a poor Taoist leader. I just hope that all the heroes in the green forest will stop stealing and take care of themselves. The leader also said: Master's words should be kept in mind, and the brothers will not come here to disturb you again. The sound stirred in the empty valley, and then returned to silence.
Since then, in the past few years, Wulongshan Taoist Temple and even nearby villages have not lost any property due to theft. It is said that some of the thieves abandoned the dark and turned to the bright and became good people, while some could not change their habits and went away to cause harm to other places.
Master Miaoyi never uttered a bad word or showed an evil look, but he was able to suppress thieves and gangsters in society who lived for dozens of kilometers around Wulong Mountain. At that time, as long as someone did bad things secretly, others would say, "Can you do it with Master Miaoyi?" He often does good deeds and gets a treasured garment that no one else can steal. This is a blessing! You will be rewarded for doing bad things. Evil retribution will soon appear. As long as you call Master Miaoyi, you can't see him, but he can see you. Even if you do bad things secretly, you will be caught by him. At least you will be beaten and scolded, and at worst you will be prosecuted.
In this way, there will be fewer people stealing in the area, and more people will do good deeds and help each other. If anyone wanted to ask why, they would always praise Master Miaoyi. Gradually, his reputation spread far and wide, and places with frequent thefts came to invite him. However, the Taoist priest from Wudang Mountain in Hubei Province got there first and he agreed. In the early summer of that year, as they were preparing to set off, Tao Qinghu, a Taoist disciple, also wanted to accompany him.
Master Miaoyi thought for a moment and said: You must abide by the Tao rules, otherwise you will be responsible for the consequences. Tao Qinghu cupped his hands and said: Follow Master's instructions in everything. Master Miaoyi didn't say much. He just asked the Taoist disciples to prepare their luggage and set off on a day.
Before leaving, Master Miaoyi lingered over Wulong Mountain, as if he cared for every plant and tree here. Tao Qinghu asked Master to simply stay in Wulong Mountain for a few days. He usually didn't have time to enjoy the scenery here, so why not relax now and fully explore the entire Wulong Mountain.
In the midsummer of this year, the prosperity of Wulong Mountain was beginning to fade, and it was covered with beautiful green clothes. Miaoyi Zhenren and Tao Qinghu came out of the Wulong Mountain Taoist Temple. The breeze blew in their faces, the birds and insects were chirping in the mountains, and the gurgling water reflected their shadows. A hundred meters away was a steep and strange cliff. The master and the disciples were facing that way. Walking, pointing out the rivers along the way, I can't describe the infinite fun of nature. Let's take Wulong Mountain as an example. The four peaks in the east, west, south and north surround the highest peak in the middle, with an altitude of about 4888.6 meters. The shorter ones around it are more than 3000 meters tall. They are all shaped like flying dragons and are magnificent. According to legend, in ancient times, the five sons of the Dragon King of the East China Sea competed for hegemony in the East, wreaking havoc on the sea and rivers, turning the vast expanse of China into a watery country. It was really like "animals are like pearls and clams, and people are like fish and turtles." At that time, the Emperor of Heaven was furious and ordered Hou Yi to kill the five dragons. Hou Yi was so good at killing the five dragons that they turned into a mountain with five peaks facing each other, making it easier for the people to recuperate and reduce all the sins they had committed, so later generations called it this mountain. It is Wulong Mountain.
The Taoist temple where Master Miaoyi practices is on the south peak, there is the Guanyin Temple on the west peak, and the rest of the peaks are natural forests. At that moment, Master Miaoyi asked Tao Qinghu which peak to visit first. Tao Qinghu said: First go to Guanyin Temple to offer incense, so that the Bodhisattva can bless us and have a smooth journey. Master Miaoyi immediately agreed, and then walked towards the west peak with the Taoist disciples. The mountain road was rugged, sometimes shaded and sometimes the slopes were wide open. After walking for a while, I suddenly heard the shrill cry of a rat, and saw a black-tipped snake coiled next to a stone. It had a gray-haired mouse in its mouth, and its tail and two paws were still struggling feebly.
Tao Qinghu immediately broke a branch, removed the side branches and leaves, and was about to hit the snake on the head. He was not trying to save the gray-haired rat that was being devoured, but he had a way of not hitting a snake when he saw it. Dominated by a sense of guilt, he planned to get rid of both snakes and rats.
Immediately, Master Miaoyi said to Tao Qinghu: Don't hurt their lives. From a human perspective, these two aliens are dangerous to humans and can be executed together. But now you are practicing according to circumstances. Taoism emphasizes following nature and protecting the ecology. From this point of view, although snakes are poisonous, they do not attack people easily. On the contrary, they help people.
Tao Qinghu, who was raising a branch to hit the snake, looked at Master Miaoyi in a daze and listened to him continue: Why do you help people? It eats rats, which are recognized as one of the four pests of humans. In this way, snakes are also beneficial insects. But why do two lives need to be saved now? Master Miaoyi stared at Tao Qinghu and asked repeatedly. He couldn't answer, so Master Miaoyi continued: Because we are going to Guanyin Temple to worship Guanyin Bodhisattva, it is not appropriate to violate the precept of killing, and it is best to save living beings.
As Master Miaoyi spoke, he snatched the branch from Tao Qinghu's hand and gently slapped the black snake. After being frightened, it spat out the half-swallowed gray-haired rat in its mouth, curled up its scaly body, and immediately got in. Stone cracks. The gray-haired rat was not dead yet, and one of its front legs was bitten. It was seen limping towards the earth hole half-covered by fallen leaves opposite the stone fence. Tao Qinghu was about to kick it, Miaoyi Zhenren He said: Don't harm your life. Didn't I say that you must not kill any living being when you go to worship Guanyin Temple?
Tao Qinghu said puzzledly: Why does Guanyin protect all living creatures? Master Miaoyi said: Because all living beings have Buddha nature, they are all worthy of pity. To protect living beings is to protect yourself. Tao Qinghu felt that Miaoyi's words were a bit mysterious. He didn't quite understand. He asked and retorted with his own point of view: Is protecting living beings the same as protecting yourself? If I protect a snake, does that mean I am a snake? Master Miaoyi used Taoist and Buddhist theories to explain that the reaction force of life is not good at all. If you protect any living being, that is, if you have a good relationship with it, then once the opportunity is ripe, you will get corresponding protection. Therefore, protection Life is to protect itself, that is, to protect itself indirectly. The self here mostly refers to the future self.
Due to his deep karma, Tao Qinghu always found it difficult to fully understand the words of Master Miaoyi. However, he had many fallacies and argued endlessly with his master. The interest in accompanying Master to sightsee and enjoy the scenery suddenly faded away. In order to refresh his awareness of the true meaning of Buddhism, Master accelerated his pace, bypassed several mountains and crossed several canyons, and gradually reached the west peak. The solemn atmosphere and spacious temple of Guanyin Temple stood in front of him.
A monk was guarding the door in front of the temple. When he saw a stranger coming, he clasped his hands and saluted: "Please come in with the two donors."
There is a large hall of about 40 square meters in the temple. On the shrine there is a row of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas such as Amitabha, Manjusri, Samantabhadra, Guanyin, Maitreya and others with dignified looks and different expressions. Master Miaoyi took Tao Qinghu to put on the incense and candles, and then worshiped them one by one. A monk next to them asked them what they wished for. Master Miaoyi said that he just wanted to buy a good book to educate the Taoist disciples. The monk said to follow me, left the hall, and asked them to wait in front of a row of tiled houses on the west side. He walked into a room, shuffled around for a while, took out a stack of books, and said, I took out the "Sutra Collection Pavilion" "Diamond Sutra", "Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva's Revelations", "Jade Calendar", etc., you can choose whatever you want! Master Miaoyi happily took it and looked at it one by one. Seeing that there was no price tag on it, he asked how much it cost. The monk said, "It's free, and all the scriptures and good books are free." Tao Qinghu walked aside and whispered to Master Miaoyi: Master, you are a Taoist, are Buddhist scriptures useful?
Laozi's "Tao Te Ching" is very similar to some Buddhist theories, and it is beneficial to recite it. He handed "The Jade Calendar" to Tao Qinghu and said: This book not only clarifies Buddhist thoughts, but is also full of strong Taoist viewpoints. It is especially worth reading.
If you read it carefully, you will understand everything you don't understand, including the snake biting the rat we saw on the road just now and why I wanted to save two living beings. You will slowly become enlightened.
After hearing this, the monk praised and said: Amitabha, what the donor said is true. Tao Qinghu reluctantly took the book and read it without any worries. Master Miaoyi thanked the monk and felt grateful. He came to the merit box and took out a wad of money from his underwear pocket. Without counting, he threw them all into the merit box.
The faint smoke from the incense burner swirls this way, curling loosely on the head of Master Miaoyi, as if counting and containing his pious thoughts towards gods and Buddhas...
