Chapter 10 Monk Huiming

Chapter 10 Monk Huiming

Chapter 10 Monk Huiming
I vaguely remember that in that life, the abbot of Jinshan Temple, Elder Faming, had four favorite disciples, and Monk Huiming was the youngest among them. Being regarded as a favorite disciple by the elder, he naturally had some wisdom. Huiming followed the elder to study various scriptures, and soon he realized the Samadhi of Emptiness. He knew the taste of the nectar of liberation, and realized that all dharmas are only the manifestation of one's own mind. However, his concentration was insufficient and he failed to achieve the fruit. Therefore, he was also the one who least abided by the temple's rules and regulations, and was greedy for fun and food. He often sneaked out of the temple to drink, eat meat, and travel around. Elder Faming was very strict in enforcing the precepts. If anyone in the temple dared to violate the precepts, drink alcohol and eat meat, they would definitely be punished with a cane, but Huiming was the only exception. Although Huiming broke the precepts repeatedly, the elder only scolded him. Over time, those monks who had been punished with canes were naturally dissatisfied, saying that Elder Faming was biased, and that they had violated the precepts in the same way, but the punishments were different.

One day, the elder was giving a lecture in the hall, and he said, "Recently, I heard that some people think that I enforce the law unfairly. They think that the punishments for breaking the precepts are different, but they are heavy or light. I am dissatisfied with this. Is that right or not?"

Everyone was silent and no one dared to respond.

The elder shouted at the crowd, "Even though Huiming is indulgent, greedy and playful, it is just his nature. However, he has a pure heart. Have you ever seen him do anything that harms others and benefits himself, or annoys sentient beings? He is naturally free and easy, and sees life as a dream, never caring about gains and losses. Just this point, he will not fall into the three evil ways. But some of you only see the faults of others, not your own faults, and only think of yourself and cannot see others' good. As monks, the greed, anger, ignorance, and arrogance in your hearts are even worse than those of lay people. This is not his nature, but the evil of his heart! If I don't discipline you strictly and indulge you, it will be too late to regret when you lose your human body under the cassock!"

When these words were spoken, some people looked ashamed, some were indifferent, and some were indignant.

But I still did what I wanted. While everyone was meditating, I sneaked to the river to watch the fish and sat cross-legged in the sun. When my elder brother Huiwu saw me sneaking away again, he followed me out and said jokingly, "Monks are so free!"

Huiming said, "Big Brother, come and lie down for a while? It's really comfortable here!"

Huiwu laughed and said, "How dare you let me lie down with you! Everyone is meditating, but you come here. If you are so lazy, when will you be able to attain Bodhi?"

Huiming said: "Meditation is really boring. I have eliminated all my delusions and attachments. I can no longer feel pain or happiness. I don't even know if I am still alive. I am afraid that if I take one more step forward, I will no longer be myself. There are so many fun and delicious things in this world, why should I rush to give them up?"

Hui Wu said: "The happiness of the world is short-lived and fleeting. If you indulge yourself too much, I am afraid that when suffering comes, you will not have enough concentration and your mind will follow the situation. Then you will sink into the sea of ​​suffering. Who can save you?"

Huiming sighed, "It is so difficult to attain Bodhi. Not to mention you and me, even the great monks of the past have practiced for countless lifetimes and still could not achieve it. It is better to follow your heart and be free."

Hui Wu said: "Since you have left home, you should take seeking Buddha's wisdom as your main job. How can you indulge in pleasure and not do your main job?"

Huiming laughed and said, "Those in the court consider promotion as their proper job. Those doing business consider making money as their proper job. Scholars consider fame as their proper job. Thieves consider stealing as their proper job. Fishermen consider fishing as their proper job. Monks consider enlightenment as their proper job. Executioners consider beheading as their proper job. Huiming considers dreaming as his proper job. Some people's proper job, in the eyes of others, is exactly what they consider to be not doing their proper job. How can there be so many proper jobs?"

Huiwu was also amused by his words and laughed. He also knew that the opportunity had not yet arrived, so he stopped forcing it.

The second elder brother Huizhen usually kept the precepts very strictly. If he saw a monk who did not follow the precepts, he would never approach him within ten steps. But when Huiming drank, he not only did not despise him, but also replaced the wine with tea and sat at the same table to drink with him.

Huizhen said, "Alcohol is the first taboo for monks. You drink a little every two days and a big drink every three days. How can you be so unruly?"

Huiming said, "I don't drink a lot, I only drink a little. Brother, you know that the way of drinking is very similar to the way of Zen. That's why the Second Patriarch Huike once said, 'I regulate my mind, what does it have to do with you?'"

Huizhen said, "I really don't know how this way of drinking can be consistent with Zen."

Huiming said: "The way of Zen is to think without thinking, to be bright without feeling. The nature is the same, and the mind and state are one. It is like a person who drinks, feeling tipsy, drunk and sober. For everything in the world, just taste it briefly and stop, never be too greedy. See and don't see, know and don't know, without the two extremes of birth and death, calmly follow the middle way."

Huizhen laughed and said, "Don't go out and tell others about these crooked ideas of yours. If you are a heavy drinker, just say so directly, but you have to find such a high-sounding excuse. Hey, in addition to the abstinence from alcohol, you have also added the sin of lying!"

Huiming also smiled and said, "After hearing what you said, my sins are gone! Amitabha, thank you for helping me to eliminate my sins!" Huizhen advised, "You still have to be more self-disciplined sooner or later. I'm afraid that impermanence is swift and you may not be able to cross the sea of ​​suffering of life and death."

Huiming nodded and stopped drinking.

The third brother Huisi, in addition to Buddhism, is also proficient in martial arts. He is the only one in the temple who can make Huiming run away when he sees him. If he sees Huiming neglecting his lessons and sneaking away, or going out to drink and eat meat, as long as he is caught, the two sides will inevitably have a fight. The result is predictable, every time Huiming begs for mercy.

Huisi asked, "Why, don't you always say that life is a dream? How can you feel pain in a dream?"

Huiming said, "Brother, you are a monk, but you are so cruel. You have woken me up from my sweet dream. You have violated the precept of anger!"

Huisi said, "Alas, there is nothing I can do. If I don't go to hell, who will? I made such a great sacrifice for you, my junior brother. You should work hard to live up to your hard work!"

Huiming had no way to deal with this senior brother Huisi. He could only ask his senior brothers Huiwu and Huizhen to plead for him. The four brothers often got together to talk about Mahayana Buddhism and discuss the past and present. Huiming would occasionally become the target of their teasing because he often teased other brothers.

For example, the eldest brother Huiwu once said: "Huiming's personality is like a child who will never grow up. If one day he is no longer greedy and playful, I am afraid there are only two possibilities."

The three of them asked in unison: "What are the two possibilities?"

Hui Wudao: "The first is to become a Buddha."

The three asked again: "What about the second one?"

"Passed away"

As soon as these words were spoken, the four brothers all burst into laughter!
However, as spring passed and autumn came, time passed and things changed. Elder Faming, Huiwu, Huizhen, and Huisi all passed away before Huiming. The temple changed its abbot and could no longer tolerate such an unruly monk. The monks who had been punished for breaking the precepts beat him with 20 sticks and drove him out of the temple. Huiming begged for alms on the streets to get by, and soon passed away.

After who knows how many reincarnations he went through, his character really hasn't changed at all until this life. But he can't meet those close friends anymore...

Alas, Huiming, oh Huiming, you cannot advance to attain Bodhi and the fruit of enlightenment, and you cannot retreat to blend in with the secular world and blend in with the dust. You are neither like a monk nor like a layman. Isn't this very painful?

Whenever this happened, he would think of what his fellow practitioners had said: "The happiness of the world is very short-lived. When happiness ends, pain will follow. If you indulge too much in worldly happiness, when pain comes, you will eventually be immersed in pain."

However, he sometimes wondered, what's the harm in this? All living beings move forward in pain, grow in pain, and attain enlightenment in pain.

(End of this chapter)