01
Guangzhou has a saying that "there is no yangcheng, first there is light filial piety". On Guangxiao Road in Guangzhou's Yuexiu District, there is a famous ancient temple with a long history. Built more than 1,700 years ago during the Three Kingdoms period, this famous temple is located in the downtown area and is deep and quiet, and the temple is majestic.
There are many cultural relics and historical sites here: the Daxiong Treasure Hall, which was built in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Wash Bowl Spring excavated by Dharma during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Stone Scripture Building of the Tang Dynasty, the Thousand Buddha Iron Pagoda of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and many inscriptions and Buddha statues. This famous temple that left the footprints of famous Buddhist figures naturally also left behind classic Buddhist stories.
Since the beginning of the Common Era, Buddhism was introduced to the Central Plains of China during the Eastern Han Dynasty, and after long-term dissemination and development, it was combined with the national conditions to form Chinese Buddhism with Chinese characteristics.
Subsequently, later generations of Buddhists were divided into eight sects, namely: Tendai Buddhism, Three Treatises, Dharma Sect, Huayan Sect, Zen Buddhism, Vinaya, Tantra, and Pure Land Buddhism, because of the different Buddhist scriptures and methods of study, as well as different places and lineages.
Among them, Zen Buddhism is considered to be the sect with the most Chinese characteristics that is closely integrated with traditional Chinese culture. Zen Buddhism was introduced to China from the time of Emperor Wu of Liang in the Southern and Northern Dynasties by the first ancestor of Zen Buddhism, Dharma Zushi, and has since produced many legends.
So what kind of religious school is Zen Buddhism?
02
Dharma, the first ancestor of Zen Buddhism in China, was originally a prince of a small country in South India, and after he converted to Buddhism, he changed his name to Bodhidharma. Sixty-seven years after teaching the Dharma in his own country, he followed his master's last words and traveled far and wide to China to spread the Dharma.
Dharma first arrived in the South China Sea of Guangdong, and the Guangzhou Assassins immediately sent the news of the arrival of the Western monks to The Liangwu Emperor Xiao Yan. This Liangwu Emperor advocated Buddhism and led the people of the whole country to learn Buddhism, when the Capital of the Liang Dynasty, Jinling, was lined with temples, known as the "Four Hundred and Eighty Temples of the Southern Dynasty".
In order to raise money for the Buddhist temple, Emperor Wu of Liang even became a monk twice and lived in the Tongtai Temple in the north of the capital. He refused to come out of the temple to preside over the government, forcing the courtiers to use money to redeem the emperor who had taken off his imperial robe and changed into a monk's robe from the temple.
Emperor Wu of Liang welcomed Dharma into the palace and asked, "Since he ascended the throne, he has raised monasteries, written scriptures, made monks, and created countless statues. Who knew that Dharma did not give face at all, and replied, "There is no merit." ”
Emperor Wu of Liang was puzzled and asked again, "Why is there no merit?" ”。 Dharma replied, "If you do good deeds and expect something in return, it is not a real merit." Emperor Wu was greatly displeased after hearing this, and the two did not speculate and dispersed without joy.
Dharma saw Emperor Liangwu's greed for blessings and wondered that this was not a place of chance, so he secretly left the inn and came to the Yangtze River. He casually folded a reed and threw it into the river, and the reed leaves floated on the surface of the water. Dharma leapt over and gently landed on the reed leaves, like a flat leaf boat heading north of the river, and in a moment it reached the north bank of the Yangtze River.
This is the story of "a reed crossing the river", and now in the north of Nanjing, on the side of the Mufu Mountain River, you can still find the place where Dharma crossed the river.
Dharma came to Luoyang, Henan Province, to travel, he saw the monks in Luoyang City talking about fickleness and competition for glitz, felt that it was contrary to Buddhist teachings, and did not like it here. Then I came to the Shaolin Temple of Songshan Mountain, and practiced in the next stone cave under the Five Milk Peaks, waiting for the opportunity.
Because he sat facing the wall for a long time, the sun shone on his shadow, leaving a mark on the stone wall. Today, the footprints of the human figure can still be seen in the Shaolin Temple. This is the story of the "Ten Years of Facing the Wall". The Shaolin Temple is also the birthplace of Chinese Zen Buddhism.
Later, a monk named Hui Ke waited outside Dharma's cave for a long time in order to learn the Dharma from Dharma. So much so that one night the snow flew, burying his knees, and then buried him in the waist, still insisting on not leaving.
Dharma was finally impressed and spoke to him. Dharma said that only by eating the most suffering in the world, enduring the most unbearable in the world, and doing the most difficult deeds in the world can we appreciate the supreme path of the Buddhas. How can XiaoDe Xiaozhi understand the Buddha's Tao?
In order to show his determination to dedicate himself to the Dharma, Hui Ke actually slashed his left arm with a sword and presented it to Dharma. Dharma was touched by his devout behavior and accepted him as a disciple. This is the story of "Li Xue Qi Waist" and "Broken Arm Seeking Law".
Nine years after Dharma Faced, he passed on the ancestral robes and the teachings to Hui Ke, one of the four disciples. He went to Dinglin Monastery under Bears Ears Mountain to teach the Dharma for 5 years, and he died at the age of 150. When buried in Dinglin Temple, Emperor Xiao Yan of Liangwu personally wrote an inscription entitled "Ode and Preface to Master Bodhidharma of the Southern Dynasty" to commemorate the contribution of Master Dharma to the founding of Zen Buddhism.
As a result, Hui Ke became the second ancestor of Chinese Zen Buddhism. Hui Ke's residence and stone platform when he was recuperating on the mountain southwest of the Shaolin Temple, later became the Erzu Nunnery.
03
Zen Buddhism has been passed down by generations of senior monks such as the Three Ancestral Monks (Sanzu Temple is located in Tianzhu Mountain, Anhui), the Four Ancestral Daoxin (the Four Ancestral Temples are located in Shuangfeng Mountain, Huangmei County, Hubei Province), and the Five Ancestors Hongnin (Wuzu Temple is located in Huangmei County, Hubei Province), and has come to the era of The Six Ancestors Huineng. This Huineng is also a character with a story.
Huineng's surname is Lu, and he has been poor since childhood, but he is intelligent by nature. From Guangdong, he came to The Gate of the Five Patriarchs of huangmei Dongshan Temple in Puzhou, Hubei Province, to ask for a teacher, and Hongren tempted him: "People in lingnan who are not civilized also want to become Buddhas? Hui Neng replied, "Although there is a distinction between north and south, buddha-nature has a distinction between north and south." Hiroshi couldn't help but look at him with amazement.
In order to hone Huineng, Hirotoshi asked him to do the work of scooping rice. Hui Neng was thin and light, in order to improve the efficiency of the rice, he actually tied a stone to his waist to increase the weight, and then stood on the rice utensils and stepped on the body. This has also become a Buddhist story.
Hirohito began to choose his successor, and he gathered the seven hundred disciples under his disciples and asked them to each write a mantra based on their personal experience of cultivation, and whoeverse thoughts were in line with the Fa-rectification would pass on the mantle to whomever they wanted.
Hirohito's eldest disciple, Shinhide, was knowledgeable and knowledgeable inside and outside Buddhism, and had always been admired by other disciples, and everyone thought that The successor of Zen Buddhism was none other than Shinshō.
After careful consideration, Shen Xiu wrote a poem: "The body is a Bodhi tree, and the heart is like a mirror platform." Always wipe diligently, do not cause dust. When the crowd saw this, they applauded. Hirohito also said to the disciples, "If you practice according to this, you will definitely achieve something." But he said to Shen Xiu privately, your song is not thorough enough.
At this time, Huineng, who was scooping rice, heard about Master Hongnin's decision to let his disciples act as a servant and select a successor. He read Shen Xiu's words and commented: "Although the writing is good, it is a pity that it has not been able to see sex." When the monks heard this, they all said that he was a young monk who was doing miscellaneous work in his room, and he did not know the height of the sky and spoke wildly.
So Huineng also thought of a poem and asked others to write it on the wall: "Bodhi has no tree, and The mirror is not a platform." Originally there is nothing, where to stir up dust? When the crowd saw it, they couldn't help but praise it.
Master Hirohito saw the words, knew that it was Huineng's doing, took off his straw shoes and wiped them away, and was silent. That night, however, Huineng was summoned to the abbot's room, where he was first taught the essence of the Diamond Sutra, and then taught him the Buddha bowl and robes. And let Hui Neng leave immediately and go to the south to live in seclusion. He also instructed Hui Neng to teach only the Dharma from now on, and not to teach the robes again, so as not to cause unnecessary disputes.
To avoid accidents. Hongren personally sent Huineng across the Yangtze River overnight and took the Jiujiang River directly back to Lingnan. On the way to escape, Huineng was chased by other disciples in an attempt to snatch the ancestral mantle.
One of them, a monk named Hui Ming, had served as a general of Sipin and was brave. He caught up with Hui at Dayuling, on the border between Jiangxi and Guangdong, and made him hand over his mantle. In desperation, Hui Neng remembered that Master had said that the robe was just an external relic, so he took out the mantle and put it on the stone, so that Hui Ming could take it.
Hui Ming saw the golden shining Buddha bowl and robes, and leaned down to get them, but he couldn't lift them. Only then did he realize that this mantle was not something that an ordinary man could bear, and he immediately knelt down on the ground, converted to Huineng, and then led the pursuing cadres back.
Shenxiu, the eldest disciple of Gozu Hiroshi, later became a descendant of Northern Zen Buddhism.
04
After returning to the south, Huineng retreated to Caoxi Baolin Temple in Shaozhou, Guangdong, which is now the Nanhua Zen Temple.
More than ten years later, he came to Guangzhou's Fasheng Temple, which later became Guangxiao Temple. This day coincided with the teachings of the Indochina Master. A gust of wind blew, and the flag on the flagpole in the courtyard moved. The two monks who were sitting below listening to the lecture began to argue, one saying that the flag was moving, and the other saying that the wind was moving.
Hui Neng, who was sitting next to him, interjected, "It's not the wind, it's not the flag, it's your heart that moves." The two monks were shocked to hear this high-minded remark, and hurried to report to the master. The mage knew that the visitor was not a mortal, so he asked Huineng to take the seat and say it, and he was shocked to hear it.
When Master Injong learned that Huineng was a Zen descendant of Master Hongnin, he fell to the ground on the spot. He immediately shaved Huineng's hair, completed the ordination ceremony, and respectfully invited the 30-year-old Huineng to officially ascend the throne as the sixth ancestor of Zen Buddhism.
Since then, the six ancestors of Zen Buddhism have been able to vigorously advocate the method of enlightenment, advocating that Buddha-nature is available to everyone, and that enlightenment can become a Buddha. He also advocated the non-establishment of writing and advocated an easy-to-use method of practice, which brought a breath of fresh air to Lingnan Buddhism. As a result, the long-established Southern Zen Buddhism was formed and became the mainstream of Zen Buddhism in China, and Caoxi is also regarded as the "ancestral court of Zen Buddhism".
Huineng combined Dharma's theory with traditional Chinese Confucian and Taoist theories, and creatively formed his own Zen theory, making Zen more in line with traditional Chinese culture, attracting many people from ancient times to the present. At the age of 75, the six ancestors of Zen Buddhism died at Nanhua Temple, and now his real figure has become the treasure of The Town Mountain of Nanhua Zen Temple.
05
Zen Buddhism has been the longest among the various schools of Chinese Buddhism, and it has also had an important influence on Chinese philosophical thought, and the Song Dynasty scholar Zhu Xi and the Ming Dynasty philosopher Wang Yangming have deep roots in Zen thought.
The philosophy of life, reflected in Zen thought, has a mysterious style of thought and wonderful rhetorical characteristics, and is often subtle and reasonable, and can enlighten the wisdom of life. Zen became a unique philosophy, full of simple dialectics.
Modern people learn a little Zen, from Zen thought to understand some philosophy of life, you can see the world's things more clearly, more open-minded in dealing with the world. For example:
Heaven treats all things equally, does not help anyone in particular, and can only help oneself, which is the so-called heavenly helper.
Whether you are rich or not is not how much money you have, but whether you are content.
Ordinary people only pursue fame and fortune, in fact, there are many things you have between heaven and earth, stars, sun and moon, landscapes, flowers and plants are all for you.
If you take a closer look, does this make sense?