Chapter 72 How Long Is One Life?
This is a diary, or a notebook.
Records some major and minor events in the life of a monk who called himself Mirage Monk
"Let's find a safe place to watch." Gao Xu stood up and looked around. This place was very close to Jueshan's residence and some monks' quarters. If someone got up at night, it would be easy to find the two.
The two of them walked towards the back mountain in tacit understanding. No matter when, the back mountain was a place that other monks avoided.
Hiking in the mountains late at night is a scary thing. There are no street lights or city lights like in modern times.
If there is no stone mountain road, the back mountain is completely worthy of the four words "deep mountains and old forests".
Fortunately, the two monks they transformed into did not have night blindness, so they were not very scared when they traveled together.
The two did not reach the top of the mountain. After all, climbing a mountain is a physical activity, and the wind on the top of the mountain is so strong that the lights cannot be lit.
After finding a sheltered spot, Gao Xu took out a candle he had found on the road and lit it. Zhao Yushu opened the book and they began to read together.
Four hundred and twenty years ago, a wandering monk came to Longmen by chance. At that time, although Longmen had already shown signs of flourishing Buddhism, it was still far from the current scale.
The monk's cultivation level was neither high nor low, and he had always been stuck at the small threshold of the sixth level of the outer scene. Therefore, several temples invited him to stay or even live there permanently.
But the monk didn't like it, so he walked around Longmen and visited various famous and unknown mountains and rivers.
Someone asked him: Monk, which temple are you looking for?
The monk smiled and shook his head
Someone asked him: Monk, which mountain are you looking for?
The monk still smiled and shook his head
No one knows what he is looking for, maybe he himself doesn't know what he is looking for
Until a year later
One day, the monk climbed up a mountain. It was not his first time to this mountain. He liked the sunset here.
The monk sat on the cliff and watched the sunset slowly fall. The monk had seen this scene many times and the shock he felt when he first saw it was long gone, but he still thought it was beautiful.
Ordinary hills, ordinary sunsets
Then at this moment, under the clouds in the west, a magnificent temple suddenly appeared. In the afterglow of the setting sun, the temple was shining brightly, the main hall was shining with golden light, and there were endless monks in the temple, and it seemed that there was the sound of evening drums coming.
He saw a mirage
He didn't know which temple this was in the mirage, and even with his knowledge and experience, he didn't know whether this temple really existed.
But this scene gave him a deep shock
He believed that this was a revelation from the Buddha.
The monk settled down in this wild mountain that no one had paid attention to yet. He borrowed a shovel from a farmer at the foot of the mountain and leveled the land bit by bit.
He borrowed a hoe and dug the canal bit by bit.
He also borrowed a stone pickaxe to break the huge rock and lay the steps bit by bit.
Year after year, the monk had all his skills but did not make any progress, just wielding his tools like an ordinary monk.
When he was hungry, he picked some wild fruits; when he was thirsty, he drank some mountain spring water.
Spring goes and autumn comes
There were monks from other temples who wanted to help, and the monk did not refuse. He silently led everyone to work together.
The believers from the mountain brought food to the monks. The monks did not refuse. They smiled, folded their hands in thanks, and continued to work.
Seven years later, a magnificent temple was built on this mountain.
There are already hundreds of believers around the monk. The long-term hard work has made the monk look old and haggard in his middle age.
"There are still some things missing." The monk looked at the completion of the hall with a look of satisfaction in his eyes, but still a little regretful.
"Master, what's missing?"
"A golden body"
“There are kind people willing to donate”
The monk shook his head and picked up the pickaxe again.
The sound of knocking was heard in the mountains, and a huge rock was carved into shape. A Buddha with a big belly, curved eyebrows and smiling eyes gradually appeared.
Another year passed, and a stone statue of Maitreya Buddha was finally completed. The monk was not a pedantic monk, and accepted the believers' request to paint it with gold lacquer. This stone golden Buddha statue was placed in the main hall.
The disciples and believers were overjoyed, and the monks also smiled.
But he still felt that something was missing
So the monk sat in his hut and thought for a long time but got no result.
So the monk sat on the edge of the cliff in the back mountain and thought for a long time but got no result.
The disciple asked him what he was thinking about, the monk smiled and shook his head. The disciple sighed and went down the mountain to preside over more and more rituals.
No one knows what he is thinking.
Maybe he doesn't know either.
He picked up a hatchet, cut some bamboo, and built a simple bamboo house on the mountain.
On weekdays, I sit in the bamboo house or in the courtyard.
From time to time, I would pick up a pen and write down some of my thoughts or the joys of my past life in a thin booklet.
Until one day, the monk suddenly came down the mountain and walked into the magnificent Mahavira Hall.
Three years have passed
Some new disciples did not even recognize the master, but did not drive him out because of his clean but simple monk robe.
The old monk looked up at the Maitreya in the center of the hall and felt that he looked a little unfamiliar.
The abbot who came upon hearing the news hurriedly explained that the great benefactor had taken a fancy to the Buddha statue carved by the master, and exchanged it for a golden Buddha statue of the same size. The new golden statue was cast from the finest brass, and was coated with a layer of gold powder.
It's old and valuable.
The old monk laughed. He finally realized what was missing.
The abbot wiped his sweat. He was afraid that the master would be angry, but now it seems that the master is not a pedantic person after all. Who wouldn't be happy to make money?
An ordinary golden body can be exchanged for ten thousand taels of silver, who can refuse?
"How can the Buddha be without his attendants?" the old monk said with a smile.
The disciple suddenly realized that the master was complaining that the amount was too little, so he respectfully replied: "I will spread the word tomorrow, and I think many benefactors will be willing to donate."
"A bit slow," the old monk shook his head and walked out
The monk walked up the mountain alone, sat cross-legged on the cliff, and watched the sunset quietly.
Suddenly, all the practitioners in Longmen felt a palpitation and subconsciously looked towards the top of a mountain. Even several big figures in Dongdu could not help but open their eyes.
On the top of the mountain, under the setting sun, a picture suddenly appeared. In the picture, a middle-aged monk was silently leveling the land, silently moving stones, and silently folding his hands to thank the monks and farmers who helped him.
The seven years are like fast forward, with spring buds and autumn leaves alternating, summer rain and winter snow continuing.
On a barren mountain, a dream temple slowly rises, like a beautiful dream
Dreams always have a time to wake up
The monk smiled and looked at the sunset, then slowly closed his eyes
Monk Mirage passed away here. In the last moment of his life, he crossed the thresholds of all sizes in one breath, broke through the three heavens, and entered the inner world silently but magnificently.
The last rays of light shone on his skinny body, making it look magnificent.
There is no body more suitable to be the Buddha's assistant than this one
There is no body more Buddha-like than this one.
His body was carried into the hall and placed on the left side of the Buddha, with the right side empty.
How can any mortal being sit opposite to the golden statue in the inner scene?
The sun has set