In the courtyard of Dongboluo Temple in the capital city, hundreds of people sat on low stools and listened to Master Fasheng's Zen lectures on the Zen platform.
"Master, who do you think is more honorable, Guanyin Bodhisattva or Emperor Zhenwu?" an old woman stood up from a low stool and asked loudly.
Master Fa Sheng sat cross-legged on the futon, holding Buddhist beads in both hands. He nodded slightly to the old woman and said with a smile, "It is really difficult for the poor monk to answer the donor's question. I feel ashamed." The disciple under Fa Sheng said that this old woman was deliberately making things difficult. He was about to get up and walk over to stop her from asking any more questions, but saw the master shaking his head slightly.
The old woman looked doubtful and asked loudly, "Others say you know a lot and can answer any question? This problem has troubled me for many years!"
"Oh, in that case, the old monk is very willing to help you solve your doubts, but you need to know the reason." Fa Sheng asked, "There is no cause and effect in Shicai's question, so why is it confusing you?"
The old woman raised her voice and said, "My family has always believed in Bodhisattva, and several families in the neighborhood believe in Zhenwu. Nine years ago, on February 19th, the grandson of the neighbor Zhang family turned one year old, and the Zhang family's wife invited me to have a drink. It happened to be the birthday of Empress Guanyin. I said to her, "Today is the birthday of Empress Guanyin. I have to go to the temple to offer incense and not eat meat or wine." Zhang's mother-in-law said angrily, "The birthday of Emperor Zhenwu is not that important. He has the birthday of Empress Guanyin." It’s my birthday and you didn’t even come to drink my only grandson’s birthday!” I argued with her, “It’s not important to celebrate Emperor Zhenwu’s birthday, but I definitely can’t neglect the birthday of Lady Guanyin.” After I said this, several people around me The ladies in the neighborhood all came over to stop me and refused to argue with me. They said they would fight for a high position for Emperor Zhenwu and compare with Concubine Guanyin. How could I be convinced? How could I outshine them with just one mouth? Since that day, my heart has always been unhappy and my whole body has been uncomfortable. For nine years, I have been afraid of Goddess Guanyin’s blame, which is why I can’t sleep well and eat poorly.” After saying that, tears fell down and I started to sob. .
"Amitabha!" Master Fasheng clasped his hands and said, "Both Buddhism and Taoism serve to save oneself and save others, so there is no distinction between high and low. The world is a sea of suffering, and the sea of suffering is boundless. Although we, the disciples of Buddhism, wholeheartedly serve the Buddha, But he only forced himself to escape from the seven sufferings, and was determined to save others, but in the end he was unable to do so. Although the Buddha's teachings are boundless, they can only save those who are destined to be saved. The donor's neighbors have no connection with my Buddha, but the Taoist door can save them, so that there will be fewer lost lambs in the sea of suffering. It is the virtue of the highest good. I, the Buddha, am compassionate and feel relieved. Tao seeks the infinite, and Buddha seeks emptiness. Although Taoism and Buddhism have different teachings, they seek the same state. This is the principle of seeking common ground while reserving differences. Donors and neighbors each follow their own path. , everyone gets what they want, and they should live in harmony and respect each other."
"Oh, is that so?" The old woman seemed to understand and said loudly, "That is the size of Guanyin Bodhisattva and Emperor Zhenwu!" The old woman waved her hand and said with a grin, "I don't care about this. .As long as Lady Guanyin’s status is not lower than that of other gods.”
"Amitabha!" Fa Sheng recited the Buddha's name and said warmly, "May the donor get rid of this stain of anger, be safe and happy from now on, and sleep and eat well!"
The old woman also clasped her hands and said thanks, "Thank you, Master! I will have a good sleep tonight!"
"Good! Good!" Fa Sheng said with a smile.
"Master, what are the seven sufferings you are talking about? Can you tell me in detail?" As soon as the old woman sat down, Mei Yuanchen stood up and bowed and asked.
When Master Fa Sheng saw Mei Yuanchen standing up to ask questions, his manner was gentle, he nodded slightly, and then said, "The world is like a boundless sea of suffering, and this sea of suffering is filled with the seven sufferings: birth, old age, illness, death, and love. Separation, failure to seek, resentment and hatred. The suffering of life refers to the sufferings of hunger, cold, heat, pain and so on that people in the world have endured since birth, so everyone is born crying. The suffering of life is the source of all suffering. , illness occurs because of birth, aging occurs because of birth, and death occurs because of life. The so-called suffering of old age is that time passes easily, youth is no longer available, and all the good things in the past will leave you. The third suffering in the world It is the suffering of illness. Wind, cold, heat, dryness, dampness, fire, poison, malaria, miasma, etc. can cause people to contract diseases, and thus suffer the suffering of illness. The fourth suffering is death. There is nothing to fear about death. But the memory of life makes death unbearable. The four sufferings of birth, old age, illness and death are inevitable for everyone from the king to the common people. In addition, love is the highest good of human beings, and it is part of it. The love between parents and children, the love between brothers and sisters, the love between best friends and close friends, the love between male and female lovers, and so on. However, parting after love often makes people miserable, and there are countless sufferings. The so-called best, at this time, becomes The most poisonous and evil thing in the world! What you can't get is that everyone has desires, such as a rich family, a happy family, a happy marriage, a gold medal, achievements, and so on. Once you suffer, Pursuing hard but not getting it will give rise to the suffering of not getting what you want. The Buddha said that resentment and hatred will cause suffering, which means that love cannot be obtained and it is difficult to bridge. Love breeds hatred, love breeds resentment, and these hatreds and resentments often hurt others when they hurt others. In turn, it hurts itself and causes others to suffer. This is what the Buddha said about the seven sufferings in the world. Amitabha, good, good, good!"
Mei Yuanchen concentrated his attention to listen, and felt that this statement was really exquisite and worthy of the boundless Dharma. He bowed deeply to express his thanks. After the ceremony, he asked, "Master, I have learned from you. I have one more question, can you answer it?"
"As long as a poor monk can understand it, he will answer it all." Fasheng saw that he was very respectful in his salute, so he put his hands together to salute the world and replied.
"Junior generation would like to know, if a person is in such a miserable situation, how can he overcome it by himself?" Mei Yuanchen bowed again and asked.
Master Fasheng closed his eyes, kept moving the Buddha beads, and said in a clear voice, "The sea of suffering has no end, and you will find the shore when you turn around. To escape from the sea of suffering lies in giving up. Giving up life, giving up the three poisons, giving up the seven emotions, and giving up the six desires. The three poisons refer to human greed, Anger and ignorance. Greed is the source of hungry ghosts. It refers to people’s desire to keep all the people, things, and things they like as their own. Anger is the source of hell. It refers to people’s treatment of people, things, and things that do not conform to their own wishes. Feeling disgusted, thus giving rise to emotions of anger, hatred, resentment, annoyance, jealousy, and harm. And ignorance is the source of animals, acting entirely according to one's own nature, following one's own will lead to joy, and going against one's own will lead to anger, completely ignorant of reason, and no knowledge of restraint. . To get rid of these three poisons, we need to learn three things: precepts, concentration, and wisdom. Precepts means stopping mistakes, concentration means letting go of thoughts, and wisdom means wise explanation." Master Fa Sheng's lecture was suddenly interrupted by someone shouting. break.
"Ah~~! Ah! Ah!" A man covered in filth and in ragged clothes shouted, and Master Fa Sheng's words were interrupted by him.
At that moment, hundreds of people in the courtyard looked at him. But he was looking straight at Mei Yuanchen, his face seemed to be filled with fear and regret.
Mei Yuanchen didn't know why he suddenly screamed so strangely, let alone what the strange scream had to do with him, or why he looked straight at her, and could only look at him kindly.
"It's not me, it's not me, Brother Baili, it's really not me!" The man yelled this and ran away.
"It turned out that I recognized the wrong person, so it has nothing to do with me." Mei Yuanchen thought.
Master Fa Sheng continued, "The seven emotions refer to people's joy, anger, worry, thinking, sadness, fear, and surprise. The six desires refer to the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind."
Although the scene just now had passed and the filthy man had long since disappeared, Mei Yuanchen still felt faintly uneasy. "'It's not me, it's not me, Brother Baili, it's really not me!' Why did that man say this? Why was he looking straight at himself?" Mei Yuanchen couldn't help but think.
"Did he mistake me for someone?" Mei Yuanchen didn't know why her heart was beating faster and faster. "Could he know someone who looks like me?"
"Ah, it's uncle!" Mei Yuanchen woke up suddenly, and with a "whoosh" sound, he turned into a stream of light and flew out of the courtyard.
Seeing this situation, hundreds of people in the courtyard were all stunned and dumbfounded, not knowing what to say.
Mei Yuanchen used all his strength to push his body to run very fast. His mother's words came to mind over and over again: "You are just like your uncle when he was young."
"Uncle and I look exactly the same!"
"I actually forgot that my uncle and I look exactly the same!"
"My uncle's name is Baili En. Is the 'Brother Baili' mentioned by that man my uncle?"
The more Mei Yuanchen thought about it, the more anxious she became, and the more she thought about it, the more pain she felt. Her feet could no longer go any faster, and two lines of tears were scattered in the endless wind.
