Chapter 16 Master Jiu Huiming's Enlightenment

There are many buildings in the backyard of Dinghui Temple, including the Sutra Library, the Buddhist Hall, the Gaotang, the Daliao, and the Abbot’s Room, etc.The two of them came to the abbot's room with the Zhike monk, and saw an extremely old monk sitting cross-legged on the Zen bed. children.Zeng Guofan suddenly thought of Qian Qi's poem: "I only doubt the cloud and fog cave, but there are still monks from the Six Dynasties." He also remembered the legendary Fa Hai who saw through the white snake spirit.When he was thinking wildly, Master Jiehang opened his eyes, pointed to the two chairs facing him blankly, and said clearly, "Two laymen, please sit down."

As soon as he sat down, a young novice monk came over to offer tea, and then brought some dishes of fresh fruit. There are not many tourists on Jiaoshan, especially Chinese tourists who come by small steamer have never been there.Not long after Zeng and Peng went up the mountain, the Zhike monk reported the situation to Venerable Jie Hang.Master Jie Hang has not left his meditation bed for many years. This time he asked several young monks to carry him to the third floor of the Sutra Library.This is the highest point on Mount Jiao, and everything that happens on the mountain is under the surveillance of this house.Jie Hang watched for a long time, and then saw them coming to the Daxiong Palace, and now he saw them clearly.He told the abbots to invite them to the abbot's room to talk after they finished worshiping Buddha.

"The two laymen came from afar and came here. They have brought a lot of glory to the Han Temple on the deserted island. They also made good friends and donated five hundred taels of silver. On behalf of the monks in the temple, I thank the two laymen for their kindness. I don't know why the two laymen Give this huge sum of money?" Peng Yulin told the story of fulfilling this wish. "Excellent, excellent!" Jie Hang stretched out his left palm and pinched the rosary beads on his chest with his right hand.The rosary beads are brown and black, bright and appreciative, smaller than the rosary beads of ordinary monks. "Dare to ask the two laymen's surnames, where did they come from?"

"My surname is Jiang. He is my cousin. His surname is Wang. He is from Jiangning City." Zeng Guofan rushed to answer, he didn't want to reveal his real identity, so as not to cause more trouble. "From Layman Jiang's accent, do you seem to be from Hunan?" Master Jiehang smiled slightly on his grapefruit peel-like face. "Master Mingjian, I am from Hunan. Why is the master so familiar with the Hunan accent?" Zeng Guofan lived in Beijing for 14 years and learned some Beijing dialect. With a little northern accent, in order to make others understand. "The laymen don't know that the old monk's custom is also from Hunan."

"I didn't expect that we and the master are fellow villagers?" Peng Yulin happily said in Hengyang, "May I ask which county in Hunan the master is from, and why he came here again?" "That happened a long time ago." Jie Hang's left hand was hanging down, his right hand was still counting the rosary beads, "I was born at the foot of Jiuyi Mountain. Not long after he was born, my father went out to seek food. When he was eleven years old, my father came home and took the old monk's mother to Yangzhou. It turned out that my father was a small official in the Yangzhou Salt Transport Envoy.When the boat arrived in Zhenjiang, it was already late.My father said that after dawn, I would cross the river and go ashore to enter Yangzhou.Unexpectedly, in the middle of the night that day, a group of robbers boarded the boat, hacked and killed the old monk's parents, and robbed the boat of money.Fortunately, the old man escaped from death by jumping off the Yangtze River with a plank in his arms.The river drifted the old monk to the edge of Mount Jiao, and the abbot of Dinghui Temple, Zhizhong, saw that the old monk was pitiful, so he took him in.Years passed, and eighty years passed. "

Zeng Guofan was startled. In this way, the mage is already ninety-one years old.He was born in the era of Emperor Qianlong, and he happened to match well with Liuchao cypress, Southern Song pine, and Yongle ginkgo, and they are collectively called the Four Elders of Jiaoshan.Zeng Guofan took another careful look at the old mage.He has already seen that the antique in front of him is not only an old monk who has been away from the world for eighty years and watched the waves come and go, but also a wise man with profound Buddhist studies and worldly knowledge. "The mage has been here for eighty years, and it's not easy to still distinguish the local accent so clearly." Zeng Guofan sighed.

"My old man has become indifferent to everything in the world, except for the hometown where I was born and raised me. In recent years, this heart has become more and more serious. This may be what the world says about returning to one's roots. The old monk has cultivated his body and mind for eighty years, and it seems that he is still not out of the ordinary. Jie Hang showed another faint smile. At this time, it was getting dark, and the master ordered a table to be set up in the abbot's room, and he said to Zeng and Peng, "I haven't eaten with others for more than 20 years. Today, I met my fellow villagers here. I made an exception to have a meal with the two lay monks." Supper."

Zeng and Peng Lian said thanks.After a while, a table of vegetarian banquets was set up. Although there were no fish, meat, chicken or duck, the vegetarian dishes cooked with soy products and various vegetables were more fragrant and delicious, and the vegetarian wine brewed with mountain spring water was also very refreshing and sweet.Master Mustard Hang ate a few slices of green vegetables, and stopped moving his chopsticks. The oil lamp in the abbot's room was on and off, and the river outside the window was beating against the rocks, making a surging sound.The wind blows the pines and bamboos all over the mountain, singing together with Jiang Tao.Everything is the sound of nature, without any hustle and bustle of the world.Facing this silver-bearded eminent monk, Peng Yulin seemed to be on the Penglai fairy island.He couldn't help but said to Jiehang: "I don't understand something, please ask the master to enlighten me."

"What puzzles the layman?" Jie Hang asked kindly. "I have long wanted to take refuge in my Buddha, but I can't let go of my dust. May I ask Master, should I put aside my dust and then take refuge in my Buddha, or should I abandon my dust and take refuge in my Buddha?" "The worldly affairs are not done, and if the mind is not pure, even if you take refuge, it will be difficult to achieve a righteous fruit. In my opinion, it is better for a layman to convert to Buddhism after finishing the dusty affairs. In the future, you will surely achieve a righteous fruit." Jie Hang replied calmly.

Peng Yulin nodded, seeming to realize something.Zeng Guofan thought: the old master's words are reasonable and fit his own heart; if he is persuaded to convert to Buddhism immediately, who can I rely on to rectify the navy?He suddenly felt grateful to this eminent monk from his hometown, so he also asked: "My disciple is naturally aggressive and cannot tolerate the slightest evil. He likes to expose the sky and the earth all his life. Although he has some small successes, most of them don't go his way. .May I ask, Master, what Dharma should a disciple follow to uphold his body?"

"Amitabha Buddha!" ​​Jie Hang said seriously, "A layman is jealous of evil, which is the manifestation of Buddha nature. To eliminate evil is to do good, and to eliminate violence can be peaceful. Buddhism talks about great kindness and compassion, and does not tolerate demons who kill sentient beings. However, I think The heyday of a layman’s life has passed, and the masculinity between the brows has declined, and it is difficult to make great achievements in his lifetime. Therefore, the old monk advised the layman to bluntly say: From now on, we should always settle down in a place where the waves are calm and the waves are calm. it is good." Zeng Guofan listened and remained silent. Jiehang also said: "The morale of the old man Guanju has the ambition of my Buddha to save all living beings, but my Buddha's great wish cannot be achieved overnight. It depends on generations of monks and nuns to promote Buddhism and teach it to all living beings, so that the world can be freed. The sea of ​​bitterness is the same as the land of paradise. Now the evil spirits are rampant in the world, and the righteousness is weak. In this muddy water, it is not easy for laymen to be successful. How can I do all the things in the world? May the laymen understand the heart of the old monk , so as not to be annoyed by the blunt words just now." Zeng Guofan heard these words made a lot of sense, so he turned his worries into joy, put his palms together and thanked: "The words of the mage open the mind of the disciples, and the disciples should never forget them." Peng Yulin saw that the master was indeed wise and profound, and asked for advice: "Master, will there be peace in this world in a few years?" Jiehang shook his head, and said: "Daoguang was created at the end, Chiyou made chaos, heaven sent Yinglong, subjugate demons and subdue demons. Although Chiyou is extinct today, there is great chaos, the world is in chaos, and people's hearts are changing. This is definitely not the result of Yiyinglong. It’s okay. The world is peaceful, and we won’t be able to see each other again in a short time, at least I won’t be able to see it.” Although Zeng Guofan felt sad, he couldn't help admiring the master's extraordinary vision.he thinks. Such a calm and wise old monk who is nearly a hundred years old, has experienced five dynasties, and understands Buddhist principles, probably can solve all the problems in the world.He is currently troubled by the navy. Although the imperial decree forbears, the Yangtze River Navy has been temporarily retained, but in the future, if the fighting decreases a little, it may be ordered to be withdrawn.It would be nice to have a proper way to keep it for a long time.In that way, it can not only become a "protective vest" for one's life, but also survive in the world as a representative of the Hunan Army.In this regard, he is quite similar to those emperors who started a business in history, and wanted to pass on the achievements he created by himself for generations to come.How to ask a question?It's not appropriate to say it clearly, but I'm afraid I won't be able to explain it clearly.After thinking about it for a long time, I couldn't think of a good solution, so I might as well just say in the native language: "I have a difficult problem, I beg the master not to be too vulgar, and help the disciple solve the problem." "If you have any difficulties, you might as well talk to this old monk." Jie Hang stopped counting the beads and listened attentively to Zeng Guofan's question. "The place where the disciple's hometown is located is very bad. There are many robberies during the day and midnight. So the disciple raised thirty dogs at home to guard the house. It is much quieter now, and the guard dogs have nothing to do. , so he bullied the neighbor’s chickens and ducks, making the neighbors uneasy. May I ask Master, how should disciples deal with these dogs?” After Jie Hang heard this, a faint sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth, and said: "A layman can kill two of three." Zeng Guofan nodded, and asked again: "The disciple intends to kill them all, is that okay?" "No!" Jie Hang replied decisively, two rays of light shot out of his eyes that were extremely disproportionate to Long Zhong's senility, "It's bad to have a lot of dogs, and it's bad to have no dogs. Laymen should be cautious about this." Zeng Guofan nodded his head twice, agreeing very much with the master's remarks.He sighed and said, "But my disciple also feels embarrassed. Isn't it too many for a family to raise ten watchdogs?" Jie Hang smiled but did not answer, and ordered the little novice to add candles and lamps, and said to the intellectual: "Take the treasure from the town temple, and please appreciate it." When Zeng and Peng heard that Dinghui Temple still had the treasure of Zhensi, they were very surprised. They thought: this may be the golden and jade Bodhisattva bestowed by the previous emperors, or it may be something like the Bayeux Scriptures taken from Tianzhu. . After a while, Zhike monk came in holding a strip-shaped object wrapped in green cloth.Jie Hang opened the green cloth with his own hands, revealing the black lacquered wooden box.He took out a small brass key from his body and unlocked the brass lock on the wooden box. Inside were two rolls of yellowed paper. Jie Hang took out one and handed it to Zeng Guofan, and another to Peng Yulin, saying, "You two laymen, please unfold it and have a look." With a solemn mood, Zeng and Peng carefully unfolded the paper, not feeling startled.This paper is neither written Buddhist scriptures nor painted Buddha statues. One volume is Yang Jisheng's opposition to the opening of the horse market in Alda in the Ming Dynasty, and the other volume is also Yang Jisheng's memorabilia-Jian Yansong.Almost all scholars in the Qing Dynasty did not respect Yang Jisheng, and no one had not read his two solemn memorials.But everyone reads second-hand materials from history books, and no one is lucky enough to see the originals of these two famous performances. When Zeng Guofan was ordered by the Imperial Academy to investigate the old archives of the Ming Dynasty, he paid great attention to these two memorials, but unfortunately he did not see them.Seeing it in this desolate Taoshan temple tonight is worthy of an old saying: There is no place to find it when you step through iron shoes, and it takes no effort to get it.He felt very strange, and asked Jie Hang: "Dare to ask the master, are these two memorials by Yang Zhongmin the authentic works?" "It's not an authentic work, how can it be called the treasure of the temple?" Jie Hang smiled. Peng Yulin was also amazed, and said: "When I was young, I had better read Zhongmin Gongguanquan and traitor Yan Songshu." Gai Song is fond of profit, and everyone in the world is greedy; Song is fond of flattery, and everyone in the world is still flattery. Cheng? It is a custom in the world, and it is a major crime.' Every time I read this, I often sigh. However, everyone in the world says that the two dredgings of Mr. Zhongmin have long since ceased to exist in the world, so how can they exist in Baocha?" "Don't be surprised, you two laymen. Let me speak slowly." Master Jie Hang's eyes full of crow's feet radiated light again, and Zeng Guofan suddenly realized that this eminent monk was not extraordinary and refined, and his chest was full of love and joy. The emotions of good, good, and evil are the same as those in the world, but this emotion has been deeply buried by his eighty years of practice. Master Jiehang recalled affectionately: "After Yang Zhongmin went to the court to impeach Yan Songshu, he was wronged and sent to prison. Knowing that he would not be released from prison this time, he secretly sent someone to tell his only son Boyuan to leave home as soon as possible. Boyuan When Yuangong fled to Yangzhou, he heard that his father was killed by Yan Song at Caishikou. He was filled with grief and indignation and determined to take revenge. He knew that Yan Song had a vicious heart and would never let him go. It was impossible to escape. That night, Mr. Boyuan hired a small boat to paddle across from Jiangbei to the edge of Jiaoshan, and landed quietly. He went straight to Dinghui Temple, which was called Jiaoshan Temple at that time, and found The abbot, Master Hongji, expressed his willingness to convert to Buddhism. Master Hongji saw that Mr. Boyuan was a good-looking man, and he knew that he was an extraordinary person, so he took him in and gave him the Dharma name Xinyi. In this way, Mr. Boyuan escaped from the net of heaven and earth. Ten years later, Emperor Jiajing punished Yan Song and his son, the treacherous Prime Minister, and the whole world applauded. Only then did Bo Yuan reveal his identity to Master Hongji. Karma, to do something beneficial for the common people in the world. Mr. Boyuan refused at first. Elder Hongji said sternly: "The highest purpose of Buddhism is to free all living beings from the sea of ​​suffering, not to focus on one body's practice. The so-called detachment of all living beings and my detachment mean This is what it means. Ordinary people are unable to do things for all living beings, so they voted for my Buddhism. My Buddha is merciful, and one person is taken away. After you are a loyal minister, all people admire you. When this monarch is wise, why don’t you inherit your father’s will to help the people of the world? , and to do a whole body of practice here, is it worthy of being loyal to my father? It is not in line with my Buddha's original intention.' Mr. Boyuan was persuaded, and left Jiaoshan Temple with tears in his eyes. After returning to Beijing, Emperor Jiajing handed over the He was rewarded with the position of Wai Lang, a member of the Ministry of War, and two famous memorials, Hushi and Huanyan. On the one hand, Mr. Bo Yuan reported the life-saving grace of Jiaoshan Temple, and on the other hand, he feared that the two memorials written by his father would be annihilated in the future, so he sent them It was packed in a wooden box and given to Elder Hongji, who asked Jiaoshan Temple to keep it on his behalf. Master Hongji designated it as the treasure of the town temple. Since then, it has been passed down from generation to generation, and has been passed down to the old monk.” Mustard Air stopped here.Zeng Guofan thought as he listened: Just now we said that Master Jiehang is not out of the ordinary, but in fact, Dinghui Temple, a famous temple in the south of the Yangtze River and a holy place of Buddhism, is not out of the world either.It regards Yang Jisheng's memorials as the treasure of protecting the temple, which contains much respect for loyal ministers and righteous men!How strong right and wrong are there for justice and evil in the world!The venerable Master Jiehang, the venerable Dinghui Temple.Zeng Guofan said silently in his heart. Peng Yulin asked: "Master, the authentic works of Lord Yang Zhongmin have been preserved in the pagoda for three hundred years. Have you ever shown them to outsiders?" Jiehang replied: "Over the past three hundred years, this treasure of the town temple has only been opened to three people. One is that Shi Kefa, the former Ming Shige Department guarding Yangzhou, visited Jiaoshan once, and the abbot Master Yuanjian asked him to see it. The second is that Emperor Kangxi visited Jiaoshan in the south and personally bestowed the three characters of Dinghui Temple for the imperial pen of Han Temple. In order to repay the holy favor, Master Huiming, the abbot, invited the emperor to watch it. , I was a monk in Dinghui Temple that year, and I saw Elder Zhizhong open the wooden box with my own eyes, and asked Qianlong Lord to look at it. Tonight, it is the fourth time for the two laymen to open the wooden box." Master Jiehang gave them the same courtesy as Shi Kefa, Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Qianlong, which moved Peng Yulin and Zeng Guofan very much.In addition to being moved, Zeng Guofan felt strange that Peng Yulin's five hundred taels of silver could never get this kind of courtesy.Could it be that his identity was peeped out by this Bodhisattva-like old mage?He asked: "Master, since people have read Yang Zhongmin's memorials, they will definitely spread. Isn't Baocha afraid that it will be stolen?" "The layman's question is very good." Jiehang counted the rosary again, and said, "Master Kangxi's southern tour was full of people, and Master Huiming was worried that the bad guys would find out, so he hired ten martial arts masters to protect the temple. Guards, just in case. After a few days, Master Huiming had another problem. The temple is quiet and inactive, how can a martial artist be accommodated? And if you hire a martial artist so blatantly, don’t you tell others that there are treasures in the temple? Huiming The mage thought for a long time, and finally came up with a solution." Master Jiehang stopped, glanced at Zeng Guofan, and then continued to count the beads and said, "Master Huiming shaved off all the ten martial artists to become monks, filled out the degree certificate, and became official monks of Dinghui Temple. Since then Dinghui Temple imitated Shaolin Temple and practiced boxing and martial arts in the temple. If there are those with outstanding martial arts skills, they will be employed as bodyguards of the temple; if not, they will be hired from outside, and all the hired people will be dressed as monks. Don’t fill out the degree certificate anymore, if you want to stay, you can stay, if you don’t want to stay, you can leave the temple and return to vulgarity at any time. In this way, the power of protecting the temple is preserved, and the treasure of the temple is not lost.” After all, Jie Hang glanced at them again.Zeng Guofan realized that what the old mage said was specifically for him.He felt a little inspiration, but he couldn't get in touch for a while.So I picked up Yang Jisheng's memorabilia and admired it, and the tragic scene of the loyal minister in the late Ming Dynasty when he died calmly appeared in his mind: dragging his feet and wearing long hair, he generously walked towards the entrance of the vegetable market, chanting: "The heroic spirit is still alive." Taixu, the loyal heart shines through the ages. If you don’t repay your kindness in your life, you will keep it as a loyal soul." "Layman!" Master Jiehang recalled Zeng Guofan's thoughts from the cloud of history. "Mr. Yang Zhongmin's memorial works have been kept in the Han Temple for three hundred years, and today is only the fourth time it has been opened. Can the layman leave an inscription as a souvenir for the Han Temple?" Zeng Guofan said with a smile: "We are both grateful and ashamed that the old master gave such a high courtesy to his disciples. It's just a matter of urgency, what should I ask?" Jie Hang said: "Laymen don't have to be too cautious, just write a few words casually!" Zeng Guofan said to Peng Yulin: "Either you write first." Peng Yulin hurriedly waved his hands to give way.Zeng Guofan thought for a while and said: "Twenty years ago, when my disciple read "History of Ming Dynasty", he was deeply moved by Zhong Mingong's two books. He thought it was the most affectionate text between heaven and earth. The mage is not too mean, so the disciple should copy this old work again!" Mustard Air said: "The best!" The little novice sent a pen and paper, turned on the wick, and Zeng Guofan wrote with a brush: "In ancient times, there is no death, and there is no way to change. The light ones are feathers, and the heavy ones are Mount Tai. Yang Gong's spirit fills the two rooms. The posthumous writings are wonderful and deeply spread. Human life. The horse market is sparse, and the sound vibrates the thin sea; attacking thieves and ministers, the five traitors and ten crimes. The heart pursues each other, and the body is willing to die. Take righteousness for a moment, and return to benevolence for thousands of years. There are still manuscripts in ancient times. Bo Nakong, seems to be dry and beautiful. Yu this heroic style, supplemented by Wen Zao. There is a white rainbow, and the candle is a treasure." He just changed the "manuscripts to be seen" of the original work to "manuscripts still in existence", and everything else remains the same.After writing, he said with a smile: "The graffiti works when I was young are really unsightly!" Jiehang said: "The layman's poems can be immortalized together with Yang Gong's. Please sign the layman's poems!" This stumped Zeng Guofan.Just hide it to the end!He thought to himself, so he took up a pen and wrote: "In the middle of the fourth year of Tongzhi, Jiang Zicheng, a common man of Dongting Lake, inscribed it after Yang Zhongmin's handwriting." "Hahaha!" Jiehang laughed suddenly, his voice was hearty and his spirit was unrestrained, like a strong general in his 50s or 60s, Zeng Guofan and Peng Yulin turned pale when they looked at each other. "Master Zeng, you don't need to restrain yourself in front of this old monk any more. Let's really get your name down! This old monk said just now that poetry and sparseness are both immortal, but it depends on Master Zeng's prestige, not on the basis of 'Jiangzicheng'. 'Three words! . Zeng Guofan asked in amazement: "How does the old master know that I am not Jiang Zicheng but Zeng Guofan?" Jie Hang laughed and said, "Before the two laymen came to the abbot's room, I have been observing for a long time. Although I am dressed in a commoner hat, my manner is full of pride. I know in my heart that the two are not ordinary people. Although I have never seen an adult in my life. But I have also heard pilgrims talking about the appearance of adults. As soon as we met, we matched the image in Su Ri's mind. During the conversation, I also knew that I was from Jiangning, a native of Hunan, and the question I asked was also It's not normal, I already understood it in my heart. It's just that I can't guess this layman for a while." Zeng Guofan saw that the master told the truth, so he stopped hiding it, pointed to Peng Yulin and said, "This is Mr. Peng Xueqin from Hengyang!" "Ah, you are the commander of the navy who is good at painting plum blossoms! I have admired you for a long time." Peng Yulin hurriedly got up to pay his respects. "My lord has guessed three points about what your lord asked just now, so let's explain it clearly now!" Jie Hang no longer counted the beads, sat on the Zen bed, and said to Zeng and Peng, "Although I sit in Dinghui Temple withered, It has been thirty years since I left Jiaoshan, but I have heard about what happened in the Jiangnan area. I eat the rice grown by the farmers and wear the cassocks woven by the village women. If I say that I have completely escaped the world of mortals, I am not deluding myself. Therefore, the old monk taught the monks in the monastery not only to worship the Buddha, but also to care about the affairs of the world, but not to interfere. Since Jiang Ningke was restored, the several important things that the Lord has done are in line with the wishes of the world. The old monk has already learned from the discussion of the pilgrims I heard. As for disarmament, as the saying goes, 30% of the guard dogs have been removed, and the remaining 10% is preserved, why not follow Master Huiming's established method?" Zeng Guofan understood that Jiehang was pointing him to follow Master Huiming's example.In this way, the Yangtze River Navy can also change their outfits, take off their regiment training uniforms and put on green camp uniforms?In other words, the Yangtze River Navy will be changed from a temporarily recruited regiment to a national economic division.It's not that Zeng Guofan hasn't thought about this level, but he thinks the possibility is too small.Let's listen to the opinion of this living Bodhisattva. "Old mage, do you think this method of learning from Elder Huiming can make the Hunan army change their clothes?" "It works!" Jie Hang said firmly, "Looking at it with a cold eye, today's owner still has to rely on adults, and there are legitimate reasons for the modification of the Hunan Army's navy. These reasons, adults can say whatever they want A few. Adults may wish to get rid of their concerns and give it a try. "Thank you Master for your instruction!" Zeng Guofan suddenly increased his confidence. "You don't need to say thank you." Master Jiehang counted the rosary beads again, regaining his previous calm and peaceful demeanor, "I have carefully looked at the bones of the two adults, and I know that Lord Peng is full of masculinity and energy, which cannot be invaded by evil spirits. Enjoy a long life, and make great achievements in the rare years. Mr. Zeng is too overworked and worried, and his blood is depleted. In the future, he will think less about the strange and dangerous places, and focus more on the easy places. However, he is good at managing the family, and he will continue to celebrate. The descendants, grandchildren, generations have beautiful talents, enough to make the world envy and praise." Zeng and Peng bowed together again. The night was getting deeper, and it was pitch black outside the window. It seemed that there were only the sound of the river and pines in the universe and the lights in the abbot's room of Dinghui Temple.Zeng Guofan and Peng Yulin seem to think that this is a bright light of wisdom, which can illuminate the doubts in the world and understand the secular deceptions.Tonight, the souls of these two vulgar people who were unfortunately involved in the dispute over the snail horn felt its light shine unknowingly!