Chapter 30 I, who converted to Buddhism, should have taken root! (28)

That day, because of a cold, I went to the city to see a doctor, but on the way back to the temple, it was raining heavily, and my whole body was soaked.His body, which was already slightly ill, is now even worse!In the wind and rain, I thought of the poet Lu Hanxiu's "Birds in the Rain": "The rain arrows flying all over the sky hurt my wings that were rushing back. I only know that my whole body is damp and cold, from the end of the world to the cape." Am I not just like a bird in the rain at this moment?The rain hit my body like thousands of arrows piercing through my body, and I just wanted to go back to the temple as soon as possible.As soon as I entered the atrium, I saw the lanterns in front of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the main hall, showing warm and bright light, and my heart instantly warmed up.

Thinking of rushing in and out by myself, I was often lazy and didn’t tell Buddhas and Bodhisattvas for leave. Sometimes when I was in a hurry, I even nodded, bent down, said "goodbye" and went out.Only now did I realize that the Buddha and Bodhisattva have been sitting there waiting for me, waiting for me to return in the rain. When I was in elementary school, I saw my classmates clamp the pinnate leaves with cogtoothed leaves in the book. After a while, new fibrous roots will be produced between each cogtooth. of seedlings. In my memory, I have never planted and taken root like this, probably because I don't like to let the roots be stuck in the textbook alone!The slightly wrinkled fibrous roots on the slightly dry leaves, how eager for the land!Wouldn't it be nice to let it land freely and grow freely?

Now, I should be "rooted on the ground"!When I grew up, I converted to Buddhism.Like a leaf that has taken root, it has fallen to its own land.And this decision was made after a long time of thinking: "What is my life's support?" The process of the Buddha's enlightenment and becoming a Buddha throughout his life shocked me deeply, and the Dharma is like a lamp of wisdom, shining through the darkness in my heart.I would like to follow the Buddha and explore the ultimate truth of life. More than ten years have passed in a blink of an eye, and I have a special feeling in my heart for what the Buddha said, "depending on oneself, relying on the Dharma, and relying on nothing else".Although the Buddha still protects all sentient beings, if we cannot think about and practice the Dharma taught by the Buddha, how can we respond to the Buddha?

The dojo of practice is actually in one's own body and mind. The Buddha said: "It is in this six-foot body with consciousness that reveals the origin, extinction, and path to extinction of the universe." To become a monk is not just to be a vegetarian for life, do morning and evening classes, and recite the Buddha's name by mouth, but also to observe the arising and passing away of inner troubles in the place where the body and mind are facing each other, and truly take the "Dharma" as the teacher.This is the deep meaning of the Buddha's earnest exhortation before his death: "Rely on yourself, rely on the Dharma, and never stop"!

(This picture is provided by Wu Xiaodan)