Chapter 32 3. The transformation of a gambler

Mei Xuanzi was originally a Taoist priest in a small Taoist temple at the foot of Huangshan Mountain in Anhui. His master, Mr. Mei Fuzu, was a senior Taoist.When Mei Fuzu was teaching in Tianjin in his early years, because he had long admired the talent of Mr. Li Shutong, a master of Chinese studies, he visited many times and was enlightened by Li Shutong a lot.After Li Shutong became a monk, Mei Fuzu also became a monk immediately, and practiced in the "Plum Blossom Temple" at the foot of Huangshan Mountain. Mei Xuanzi's real name was not Mei, but his real name was Xu Leshi. He was from Lanzhou, and his father was a mule and horse merchant. Businessmen in the Central Plains would hire his father's mules and horses to carry their goods when they traded goods in the Western Regions and went west to Loulan.

Xu Leshi had a bad temper since he was a child and refused to obey discipline. At the age of 15, he learned to gamble with street gangsters. He once stole and sold his father's mule for money to gamble. His father was so angry that he wanted to chop him up. Fortunately, his mother Begging bitterly, this was a blow to the stick. In 1920, the "Haiyuan Earthquake", which was rare in human history, broke out in Ningxia, and a quarter of China was shattered.The house of Xu Leshi's hometown was destroyed by the earthquake, and his parents and brothers died. He himself survived the earthquake because he went out to gamble with some gamblers at night. .

After the earthquake, Xu Leshi, who was addicted to gambling, not only did not want to repent, but sold all the mules and horses in the stables and the relics in the collapsed house, and used them as gambling money.Later, he lost everything and owed money, and the other party wanted to chop off his hand, so he fled Lanzhou in a hurry, begging all the way, and came to Anhui. Xu Leshi, who was unfamiliar with the place where he was born, had been starving for several days on the street, and came to Mr. Mei Fuzu's Plum Blossom Temple in a daze.Mei Fuzu Bodhisattva is kind-hearted, and immediately asked someone to make him a bowl of plain noodles.

Xu Leshi, who hadn't eaten for several days, pounced on the food like a hungry wolf, holding the bowl and gulping it down. Mei Fuzu said: "No hurry, no hurry, there will be more after eating." Hearing Mr. Mei's words, Xu Leshi, whose mouth was full of noodles, stopped, his nose was sore, he didn't know whether his conscience had discovered his cleanness, or the hunger and cold for many days made him deeply depressed, and his tears couldn't stop The residence flowed out, and finally knelt down with a plop, and said, "Master, master, you accept me as a disciple! I am too tired, and I don't want to take a step out of this door again!"

Hearing this, Mei Fuzu said slowly: "If you can experience suffering, you will not be far away from enlightenment. If the benefactor really sees through the red dust, and your parents don't hinder you, you can stay in the small temple, recite scriptures and meditate every day, and pray for the common people. For more than a year." It was only then that Xu Leshi remembered that his parents were gone, and the two people who loved him most in the world were gone forever.He felt that his heart seemed to be possessed by demons in the past few years. In addition to gambling, he still gambled. His parents died, but he didn't touch him in the slightest. Thinking of this, Xu Leshi burst into tears!

Mei Fuzu knew that this young man had unspeakable sufferings behind him, but fortunately his conscience was still alive, so he accepted him as a disciple, bestowed the Taoist name "Xuanzi", and changed his surname to Mei. From then on, Xu Leshi became Mei Xuanzi, and ended up Before and after his life, the magic weapon of the green lantern will accompany him for the rest of his life. The Buddha said: "Subdue the strong and strong beings." The word "strong and strong" can be seen from the bone to the blood. Human nature is stubborn, and bad habits are hard to change. A bad person may have repentance, but the repentance is fleeting.

When he first started to practice, Mei Xuanzi did have a feeling of great enlightenment. He repented and prayed every day, and sometimes shed tears on the incense table.But after a few months, the demon in his heart began to stir again. One day, while some senior brothers were not paying attention, they actually stole the incense money from the incense table and went out of the Taoist temple to gamble. The result can be imagined, nine out of ten bets lost, and they lost everything in less than two hours. After losing, I felt uneasy, and returned to the Taoist temple in a hurry.When he reached the door, he hesitated, what face would he have to meet the master!Then he turned around and wanted to leave, but he had nowhere to go. After thinking about it, he bit the bullet and entered the Taoist temple.

Mei Fuzu had been meditating in the back hall, so he didn't notice this matter. During the evening fast, a disciple named Xuan Kong in the front hall came to report: "Master, there is less money on the incense table..." Mei Fuzu was taken aback for a moment, and asked: "Can outsiders come to the Taoist temple this afternoon?" Xuankong said: "Only three or five pilgrims came to offer incense and fulfill their vows. But...but..." Mei Fuzu raised his eyebrows kindly: "But what?" "But...but, Junior Brother Xuanzi went out this afternoon..."

Mei Fuzu glanced at Mei Xuanzi and said, "Xuanzi, what are you doing out there?" Mei Xuanzi was nervous for a while: "Go out...to buy sesame oil, I saw that the fragrance oil in the lamp was exhausted, so I went..." "You're talking nonsense!" Xuan Kong said, "Where is the sesame oil? It's the money you stole..." "Presumptuous!" Mei Fuzu yelled, "Xuanzi is your junior brother, how could he steal money!" Mei Xuanzi's heart was pounding. Afterwards, Mei Fuzu said to Mei Xuanzi: "Xuanzi, when you go down the mountain to do business in the future, you must tell your brother in advance, do you remember?" Speaking of the last sentence, the old man emphasized his tone.

Mei Xuanzi was sweating all over his face, and said, "The disciple has made a note." At night, Mei Fuzu called Mei Xuanzi into the meditation room and gave him a private lecture. "People who become monks, serve as monks and Taoists, worship the Three Purities, respect the Three Treasures, and get rid of all the worldly affairs. This is a great good. No matter how good things are in the world, they are like mirrors, do you understand?" Mei Xuanzi nodded slightly. Mei Fuzu looked at him and continued: "Let me tell you a story. There is such a person who knows the temperament. He is the first person in China to compose music with staves. He is good at calligraphy. It is an honor to get one of his characters; he wrote poems, and after composing a song "Farewell", it was sung throughout the Republic of China; Naturally, it is natural; he promoted the drama, and in the 33rd year of Guangxu, he appeared on the stage as La Traviata. These realms that ordinary people can't reach in their entire lives, but he has reached them. He is a near-perfect person. This person, you know Who is it?"

Mei Xuanzi said in a low voice, "Li Shutong." Mei Fuzu said: "That's right. People in the world know Li Shutong with his halo and glory, but they don't know about Master Hongyi of the Buddhist Temple. He gave up all his hobbies and honors and devoted himself to Buddha. Why?" Mei Xuanzi bowed his head and remained silent. Mei Fuzu said: "People in the world say that people who become monks are out of helplessness and can't get along in the secular life; some people say that people who become monks are stupid and don't understand happiness in the world. Li Shutong interprets the world with his own actions. The true meaning of becoming a monk. Is he helpless? No, he is knowledgeable and has the most fulfilling heart; can he not survive in the world? Not to mention, he is well-known in Kyushu and is loved by thousands of people; is he stupid? The world is smarter than him I’m afraid he hasn’t been born yet; doesn’t he understand the happiness in the world? Not to mention, the unparalleled attainments in many aspects make him understand the happiness in the world! The reason for becoming a monk is because he sees through that all these are illusions! Willingness, If you are willing, you will gain if you give up, Master Hongyi can give up so many hobbies, think about it yourself." After Mei Xuanzi heard this, he suddenly became sober as if enlightened. He gritted his teeth and made up his mind: "If I want to gamble again, I will die!" But the good times didn't last long. Two months later, he really couldn't bear to steal money and went to the casino.After losing light, he returned to the Taoist temple gate, kowtowed three times towards the Taoist gate, then turned to the back mountain, bumped into a boulder with his head, blood flowed out, and passed out. When he woke up, he was already lying in the master's meditation room. In fact, when he ran out in the afternoon, the Taoist boy at the door reported to the master, and Mei Fuzu asked the eldest disciple Xuankong to keep an eye on him. Xuankong followed him all the way to the casino, thinking that this kid is really a dog who can't change his eating shit, but the master told him to just keep an eye on him, and just sit in the tea shop not far away and wait.Soon the kid came out, Xuankong followed immediately, and later saw him worshiping the mountain gate three times, thinking that this bastard still had a bit of conscience, and then he ran to the back mountain again, Xuankong was puzzled, thinking that he wanted to After leaving the Taoist temple, he stopped in front of a boulder, Xuankong smiled heartily: This is to face the wall and think about the past.Seeing that it was getting late, just as he was about to greet him to go back, he unexpectedly bumped into the boulder! "Don't be afraid of death, is it so difficult to quit gambling?" Mei Fuzu looked at him and said. "Master—" Mei Xuanzi's nose soured, tears streaming down his face...