Chapter 5 Ten Years of Dreams in Southern Fujian

Ding Chou gave a speech at the Buddhist Yangzheng Yuan of Nanputuo Temple on February 16 As soon as I arrived at Nanputuo Temple, I wanted to come to the Yangzhengyuan to talk to the masters. The original topic was "Yu Zhi's Confession", and it took more than ten hours to finish the story; I have to write the speech well, and I can’t spare a moment, and I’m afraid that I will fail my original wish, so I have to spare a short time to talk to you, and talk about a few things about my ten years in Nanfu! I first came back to Nanfu in November 1928, from Shanghai.At first I was still in Wenzhou. I lived in Wenzhou for a long time, almost ten years.

From Wenzhou to Shanghai, I discussed everything with my friends for editing the painting collection of nursing students; it was not until the end of November that the painting collection of nursing students was compiled. At that time, I heard people say: Layman You Xiyin is also in Shanghai.He is my old good friend, I just want to visit him.One afternoon, I went to see You Layman, and the layman said that he was going to Siam, and he would leave early the next morning.I liked it very much, so I wanted to go with him. I have been preparing hastily for more than ten hours.The next morning, before dawn, I rushed to the ship pier and set off for Siam with You Jushi.From Shanghai to Siam, I have to pass through Xiamen. Unexpectedly, this became the reason for me to come to Xiamen.At the beginning of December, when I arrived in Xiamen, I was entertained by Layman Chen Jingxian and had lunch upstairs. Later, Layman Chen introduced me to Nanputuo Temple.At that time, South Putuo was different from now. There were no roads built, and I came to the temple in a sedan chair.

When I arrived at Nanputuo Temple, I lived in the abbot's building for a few days.Those who often come to chat, there are old Master Xingyuan, Master Zhifeng and so on.Master Zhifeng and I are both in Wenzhou. Although we have never met, we are very similar.I am so happy to meet you suddenly at Nanputuo Temple. I originally wanted to go to Siam, but because of the persuasion of the masters, I stayed in Xiamen and didn't want to go to Siam. Cherries are red, plantains are green After staying in Xiamen for a few days, I went to Xiaoyunfeng to celebrate the new year.I didn't return to Xiamen until halfway through the first lunar month, and lived in the small building of Minnan Buddhist College for about three months.Seeing that although there are only about 20 monks in the courtyard, their attitudes are very elegant and polite, and they have a good relationship with the teaching staff. I admired them very much at that time.

At this time Master Zhifeng started talking about the courses in the Buddhist academy.He said: "There are many categories, but there is very little time allocation. If this continues, I am afraid that there will be no achievements?" Therefore, I expressed a little opinion, roughly saying: "Delete English and arithmetic, etc., but Buddhism cannot be reduced, and it must be increased, so use the freed time to teach Buddhism!" They are all in favor.I heard that since then, the grades of the students have indeed been much better than before! I lived in the small building of the Buddhist College until April, fearing that the weather would get hotter in the future, so I went back to Wenzhou.

The second time I returned to Nanfu was in October 1929.At first, I lived in Nanputuo Temple for a few days, and later moved to Taipingyan because the temple was to be built on land and water.When the water and land are perfect, they return to the temple and live in the old merit building in front. At that time, the number of students at Minnan Buddhist College suddenly more than tripled, to about 60 students, and management inevitably felt difficult.Even though he tried his best to rectify it, he couldn't return to the way it was before.Soon, I went to Xiaoxuefeng to celebrate the new year, and I didn't come to Chengtian Temple until halfway through the first month.

At that time, Master Xingyuan was also in Chengtian Temple, drafting the constitution, saying that he wanted to set up a research institute. Soon, the Research Institute was established, and the scene was very good. The so-called "abundance of talents" was an indescribable grand occasion.Now Master Shanqi of Miaoshi Temple, Master Chuanzheng of Nanshan Temple, and the late Master Guangjuu of Nanputuo Temple...all were student monks at that time! During the first few months of the research institute's establishment, there were very few resident scriptures, and there was time to attend classes every day, so it achieved outstanding results, which is rare in other places.At that time, I also taught how to write two times there. When I had free time, I used the ancient scriptures in the monastery to organize them. Later, I compiled them into a catalog and have kept them there to this day.In this way, I lived in the monastery for about three months. In April, I was afraid that the weather would be hot, so I went back to Wenzhou.

In September 1931, Master Guangqia wrote to me, saying that he was looking forward to my visit to Xiamen.At that time, I set off from Wenzhou to Shanghai, and planned to go to Xiamen again; but many friends said: the current situation is not stable, and it is not suitable to travel far, so I had to return to Wenzhou.Until October of the next year (that is, 1932), when I arrived in Xiamen, counting it, it was the third time! After arriving in Xiamen, Master Xingyuan introduced him to live in Shanbianyan, but he also stayed in Miaoshi Temple for a few days.Although I did not live in South Putuo at that time, the monks and teaching staff of the Buddhist Academy often came to Miaoshi Temple to chat.

On the 21st day of the first month of 1933, I began to give lectures on Vinaya at Miaoshi Temple. In May of this year, he moved to Kaiyuan Temple again. At that time, many monks studying Vinaya were brave and diligent, working hard all day long, and never had a spare time; even the order was very good, and everyone praised it. One day, it was evening time!I stood under the big tree in front of the monks' dormitory, and the lights in each room were very bright; the sound of chanting sutras came back to my ears, and I felt infinite joy in my heart for a while!But this kind of good scene cannot continue for a long time, it seems to be a flash in the pan, and it will disappear soon.But the scene at that time was deeply imprinted in my mind. Looking back now, it is still like witnessing it under a big tree.This is something that will never be wiped out, never forgotten!

In November, I moved to thatched cottage to celebrate the New Year. In February 1934, he returned to South Putuo. At that time, most of the old friends were scattered; none of the teaching staff and monks in the Buddhist academy knew each other! When I came back to Nanputuo Monastery, I accepted Master Chang Xing's appointment to rectify monk education.Later, when I observed the situation, I felt that the cause and condition had not yet matured, and it was impossible to start straightening it out, so I gave up.After that, I did not go to Minnan Buddhist Academy. Speaking of this, I will explain my personal opinion on monk education by the way:

I usually don't want to distinguish which sect or sect of Buddhism, because I think each sect and each sect has its own strengths. But there is one thing, I think no matter which sect or sect the student monks must firmly believe in, that is the basic principle of Buddhism, which is to deeply believe in the principle of karma between good and evil.Good will be rewarded with good, and evil will be rewarded with evil; at the same time, we must firmly believe in the inspiration of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas!This is not only the case for junior monks, but also for those who are promoted to Buddhist universities!

Although good and evil karma and the inspiration of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are easy to understand, not many people can fully believe them.The so-called belief is not a word of mouth, but a heartfelt belief! cough!This is an easy-to-understand truth, but it is not easy to actually believe it! I thought that no matter what, one must firmly believe in the principles of good and evil karma and the inspiration of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to be qualified as a Buddhist! It should be known that good will be rewarded with good, and evil will be rewarded with evil. This kind of karma is not pleasant at all!It should also be known that all our behaviors, every move, and even our thoughts are clearly seen by all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas! If a person can firmly believe in this, his moral character will naturally improve day by day! You must know that we monks are the so-called "monk treasures", and our status is very high above the lay people.Therefore, morality must be higher than that of ordinary people! It would be embarrassing if the conduct and morality could only be equal to that of lay people!What's more?What's more, it's not as good as it is? ……cough! ... In this way, when they see that their family members are very contemptuous and contemptuous, all kinds of ridicules come one after another. ... I remember when I was about to become a monk, an old friend in Beijing wrote to advise me, you know what he advised, he said: "I heard that if you want to be a human being, you should become a monk..." cough! ... How heartbroken we must be when we hear this!He thought that monks were not human beings, and he simply regarded monks as human beings!You think, how powerful this sentence is! Why are monks not human beings?Why are people belittled so much?We all have to reflect on ourselves!I think the reason for this is that we monks are too casual in our lives; all kinds of things are too casual, so there are such rumors. As for why casually?That is because we cannot deeply believe in the principle of good and evil karma and the inspiration of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.If we can truly believe in it, and believe it firmly, I think it will take your head off, and I will not be casual! The above mentioned, not only the monks of Yangzhengyuan should keep in mind, but also the monks of Buddhist universities should keep in mind, believe in the principle of karma between good and evil and the unsatisfactory inspiration of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas! As far as I am concerned, I am nearly 60 and have been a monk for 20 years, but I still like to read such books! ——A book that records the karma of good and evil and the inspiration of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. I've been examining myself recently, and I feel like I'm getting worse and worse!So I often study this kind of books: I hope that my moral character will become more noble every day; Although this passage is what I encourage myself, I very much hope that you can also practice it! Books about good and evil karma and the inspiration of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are printed by Master Yinguang at the Honghua Society in Suzhou, and the prices are very low. If you want to read them, you can ask Master Guangqia to write to buy them. Please, or they will give it away is unknown. The above is my personal opinion on monk education.Let me say a few more things: I went to live in Jingfeng Temple in Hui'an in 1935.In November, I suddenly fell ill, so I moved to the hermitage to recuperate. This serious illness can be said to be a great commemoration of my life! In the first month of 1936, I came to Nanputuo Temple to treat illnesses.There is a clock on the hospital bed, which is always two quarters behind the other clocks. When people see it, they always say that this clock is inaccurate. I said, "This is the Caoan clock." Others still don't understand the word "Cao'an Bell". Are there many different clocks in the world?Now let me explain in detail: I was seriously ill that time and lived in thatched cottage for more than a month.The clock placed on the hospital bed is based on the clock in the thatched cottage.The clock in the Cao'an is always a little slower than the ordinary clock. Although I moved to South Putuo later, my clock was still the same, two quarters slower than normal clocks, so "Cao'an clock" became a noun.From the perspective of others, this matter may be considered funny!But I find it very interesting!Because when I see this clock, I think of my serious illness in the thatched cottage, which often makes me feel very ashamed, ashamed that my virtue is weak and my career is heavy. I want to feel ashamed from time to time, I always deliberately set the clock back by two quarters, just like the clock in the thatched cottage, not only at the time, but it is still the same now, and I want to live my life, often like this. Afterwards, I lived in South Putuo for several months, and in May, I went to Sunlight Rock on Gulangyu Island.In December, I will still return to South Putuo. By the year 1937, I had been living in southern Fujian. Counting it, it had been ten years. Thinking back on the things I have done in southern Fujian in the past ten years, there are very few successes, and most of them are broken, so I often reflect on myself and feel that my virtue is really lacking! So recently I came up with a name, called "Er Eryi Old Man".What is "Elementary Elderly"?This has my own grounds. I remember a poem from the ancients: "A man grows old without doing anything." In the early Qing Dynasty, Wu Meicun (Weiye)’s dying words were: “It’s worthless to say that a penny is worthless.” The beginning of these two poems is "one", so I used it as my own name, which is called "Old Man Eryi". Therefore, although what I have done in southern Fujian in the past ten years is not perfect, I do not want him to be perfect! You should know: My disposition is very special, I only hope that my work will fail, because the work fails and is not perfect, this makes me often feel ashamed!If I can know my lack of virtue and lack of self-cultivation, then I can study hard and work hard to improve my mistakes! If a person finishes a job well, then this person will be satisfied and complacent, which will instead increase his conceited thoughts and give birth to all kinds of mistakes!So it’s better not to hope for perfection! No matter what, I always hope that he will fail, and he will feel ashamed if he fails!If you are proud of your success, that's great! Recently, whenever I think of the name "Old Eryi", I think it is very meaningful! The name of "Elementary Elderly" can also be regarded as the best commemoration of my ten years of living in southern Fujian!