Chapter 6 "Bodhisattvas are fake"

Not far from my cousin Gong Yinsun’s house, there is a majestic religious building called Dongyue Temple. It is said that it was built by Cheng Zhijie during the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty.The temple is tall and large, and there are four halls in the front and back, including Shanmen, Lelou, Dongyue Hall, and Yuhuang Hall.The four corners of the main hall facing the south are still raised high. In the hall is enshrined the Emperor Dongyue known as "Huang Feihu", and it is said that even the ten halls of Yama are under his jurisdiction.Therefore, there are corresponding halls on the east and west roads, in which there are statues of Yama in the ten halls, and various decorations in the underworld.In people's minds, Emperor Dongyue is the emperor of the underworld who is in charge of ghosts and is in charge of the misfortunes and blessings of the world.Every year on the first day of the fifth lunar month, a temple fair is held, which is very lively.There are countless people who come to Huai from thousands of miles away to catch up with the temple fair. What is the first class to carry on the mission, the second class to carry the banner, the third class to be the leader, the fourth class to be the ten commanders, the fifth class to clear the road, the sixth class to carry the sedan chair, the seventh class to kowtow, the eighth class to fire the cannons, and the ninth class Wards rounds, ten classes of money and food, what kind of inspection class, school captain class, luan driving class, Zongshu class, etc., are truly spectacular.There is a "organ" at the threshold of Dongyue Hall. When someone who doesn't know it enters the temple, if he steps on the "organ", the big and small Bodhisattvas in the temple can move, shake their heads and shake their hands, with hideous faces, which is really scary.

This day coincides with the temple fair, and Jiang's mother took a bunch of incense and yellow paper, and brought grace to Dongyue Temple to burn incense, begging Dongyue Emperor to bless the Zhou family with safety and all the best.When Enlai stepped into the temple gate, he was faced with the statue of Tianqi Rensheng Emperor showing his majesty. The couplet on both sides is: "I know that God is righteous, the good will bring good luck, and the evil will bring disaster. I am happy to see all retribution; Self-renewal, no faults to encourage oneself, must be a helping hand to support." In front are the sky furnace, candlesticks and a cauldron.Cigarettes made the hall foggy, and the candles dimmed.The temple is gloomy and dark, with many standing and sitting Bodhisattvas: big ones, small ones, red-faced ones, black-faced ones, painted-faced ones, bearded ones, and beardless ones...he was only watching, and when he entered the temple, he accidentally stumbled. Stepping on the "organ", all the bodhisattvas in the hall shook their heads and danced in an instant, especially the red-faced bodhisattva holding an iron chain, shaking the iron chain in his hand and making a "squeaky" sound, which is really scary Dead man!All the people in the temple who were burning incense and praying for Buddha fell to their knees on the ground, kowtowed and chanted words, not knowing what to say.Enlai wanted to ask Jiang's mother, but she was shaking, lighting incense and praying, and had no time to talk to him.

Enlai anxiously transferred to Miaoyan Palace alone.A row of statues here are in various poses.Enlai suddenly saw a Taiyi rescue the suffering Tianzun with a broken finger beside the door.Enlai thought: his finger is broken, he must be in pain.But why no one bandaged him?He bravely walked up to the little Bodhisattva: Hey!Why didn't you see blood?After a closer look, it was full of straw and mud. He picked up the small piece that fell on the ground and twisted it vigorously, and it turned into mud powder. Enlai was stunned.Isn't it said that Bodhisattvas have spirits?Why is it the same as a clay doll?Thinking of this, he turned around and looked at the biggest bodhisattva, and walked up to it step by step.It stretched out its hand to touch the feet of the Great Bodhisattva, and it turned out that they were also made of mud.

Mother Jiang lit incense and knelt down to pray devoutly. Seeing that Da Luan was not by her side, she became anxious and hurried to the east side of the hall to look for it.When he saw that Enlai was shaking his fist at the Bodhisattva, he quickly stepped forward to hold him, and said, "Quickly, kowtow to Emperor Dongyue!" Mother Jiang took him to the main hall in front of Emperor Dongyue, and asked Enlai to kneel down while praying. .Enlai opened her eyes wide and looked at the big Bodhisattva with benevolent eyebrows and kind eyes, and said solemnly: "I don't worship these clay Bodhisattvas!" When Jiang's mother saw Enlai say such words in front of the Bodhisattva and many people, she was angry and scared. The boss in my heart is not happy.But she felt that Enlai was a child after all, and she didn't know that Bodhisattva had boundless magic power, so she pulled Enlai and said in a low voice, "Da Luan, listen to your mother, and quickly kneel down and kowtow to Bodhisattva." Jiang's mother knew that Enlai was born with stubbornness. Tempered, he kept nagging in his ear: "The Bodhisattva is very efficacious! Keep you safe and you will be safe, and anyone who offends him will be unlucky..."

Enlai shook his head disapprovingly: "I've seen it just now, it's made of mud and wrapped in straw; the Bodhisattva is a fake, what's the use of asking him?" Mother Jiang, who has always believed in gods, was terrified now. Now, she covered Enlai's mouth, and hastily lay down on the ground and kowtowed her head several times, saying, "Greatly merciful Bodhisattva, there is no limit to the child's words, if you want to manifest your spirit and bring disaster, you will fall on my head." Well, he is still an ignorant child..." An old Taoist priest and a group of faithful men and women next to her scolded her why they brought such an ignorant child here, talking nonsense and offending the gods.Jiang's mother saw that everyone was blaming Xiao Enlai, and she didn't know what disaster would happen to him, so she was so anxious that tears fell down.When Enlai saw Jiang's mother sad and cried, he felt a little uncomfortable, but he felt wronged again.He thought to himself, those bodhisattvas, big and small, are obviously clay figurines, so why do they have to burn incense and kowtow to him?

Although the young Zhou Enlai didn't understand why the wet nurse went to Dongyue Temple to pray for the Bodhisattva, and he didn't know where the god of Dongyue Emperor was, the wet nurse's character of being kind, loving, tolerant, and helping others left a deep imprint on Zhou Enlai's heart.Later, he also had a full understanding of the various teachings of religion, and was good at getting along peacefully with people of different beliefs.On October 20, 1963, when he answered a question from Asian Buddhist circles about "What is the Prime Minister's view on Buddhism", he also objectively said: "Differences in thinking can be retained, and you should not think that Communist Party members It’s not idealistic at all. Don’t say that a country is a family, and there are people of different beliefs. For example, my parents believe in Buddhism, and I am a communist. This is inconsistent. However, in opposing foreign interference , the requirement for national independence and other aspects are consistent.” This reflects Zhou Enlai’s sublimation of religious freedom from perceptual to rational understanding.