Chapter 36 Endurance is the most powerful, and Xunyicao, which endures the scorching sun and gravel, is the most beautiful! (34)

After returning from a trip to France, I have a special feeling for lavender.Is it its purple clusters of flowers, its fragrant scent that attracts me?Or are you impressed by the various lavender products in the streets of Provence?I think so! In addition to the beautiful purple flower sea, accompanied by the scorching sun and gravel in the lavender field, it is even more shocking! It's hard to imagine!Lavender grows on extremely dry soil and blooms in the scorching heat.There is no barrier on the top of the empty mountain, the hot sun above the head and the hot ground under the feet, being in the middle, I just feel unbearable for a moment.

In the distance, the sky is blue, the earth is brown and yellow, and a large piece of purple floats at the junction of the sky and the earth, like light waves in the water and moon shadows under the trees!The fragrance overflowing from the sea of ​​purple flowers permeates the four fields... This is the lavender field I saw on the side of Fandu Mountain in July. When we arrived at Senonque Monastery, the lavender had already been harvested. We did not see the most famous lavender field in the world, but only the plain stone church house built with limestone slabs.Wandering in the empty corridor, I seem to see the figures of monks practicing penance and hear their devout prayers.It takes a lot of perseverance to live such a life!As a Buddhist monk, I can't help but be in awe of them.

Lavender grows in the hot sun and gravel, and the monks are willing to live in poverty, which also reveals the meaning of "enduring humiliation". "Patience" is one of the six perfections of bodhisattva practice.For practitioners, there are many things to endure: all kinds of pain caused by wind, rain, cold and heat in nature, as well as physical distress such as hunger, aging, disease, or other people's compliments, praises, misunderstandings, insults, etc. Therefore, all kinds of obstacles and difficulties in learning Buddhism must be "forbeared". There is a passage in the "Forty-two Chapters Sutra": "A recluse asked the Buddha: Which one is more powerful? Which one is the most enlightened? The Buddha said: Endurance has a lot of power, so you don't harbor evil." When we observe that everything arises according to conditions and the nature is empty, It is the most bright and powerful to be able to not be turned by the outside world, maintain a mind of equality and indifference, and observe the birth and death of afflictions and gradually eliminate afflictions.

Practicing patience is not only a surrender of ego, but also a test of determination.It is easier said than done to overcome one's own habits and be patient.What are you going to endure?What should I bear?How to endure?When to endure?Everything is knowledge.When "forbearance" has passed the tempering of the realm, the meaning of Buddhism will be opened to you at the other end. When I left Senonque Abbey, I bought a few sachets made by the monks themselves. The lavender fragrance in them was fragrant, meaningful and long-lasting, with a smell of persistence and patience... (This picture is provided by Wu Xiaodan)