Chapter 956 Thank Me Before Today
Chapter 956 Thank Me Before Today
The height is not cold.
The eaves of the Hanging Temple are covered with snow all year round, except for the annual fire day. However, the Bodhi trees in the temple are still lush and green, with a few leaves occasionally covered with white frost.
The old monk, wearing a patchwork robe and holding Buddhist beads, was chanting scriptures among the crowd that was lined up on both sides like a tide.
The sleeves of her clothes fluttered.
Everyone stood up silently and greeted him politely.
Whether you are a Buddhist or not, since you have come to listen to the sutra today, you should all have basic respect for the strong.
The old monk put his hands together, faced left and right, returned the greetings one by one, walked through the crowd, and went straight to the Bodhi tree. He lifted up the hem of his skirt on the gnarled roots, sat cross-legged, and picked up the scriptures on the table.
At this moment, young monks wrapped in cotton robes were holding a pile of albums and walking among the crowd, distributing one to each person, as if they were handing out textbooks to the waiting students.
"Diamond Sutra".
Liang Qu touched the large characters on the album page.
The first sutra to be explained at today’s Dharma talk session has a long history and can be considered a Buddhist classic that must be read.
When you open it, you can smell the strong scent of ink, and in some places you can even rub out the shadows of words if you touch them.
Newly printed.
The cold wind blows and the leaves sway.
The old monk held up the Diamond Sutra in his hand and showed it to all directions. The sound was clear and powerful throughout Bodhi Island, not from loud to small, but resounding in everyone's ears with exactly the same volume.
"Before I start my lecture today, I would like to thank one person."
Taoist Priest Ge, who was sitting slightly below him, waved his whisk and asked, "Who does the Ming Wang want to thank?"
"Donor Liang." The old monk pointed to the golden brocade cushion five steps away from the table.
Countless gazes converged from a distance.
This……
Thank me?
Liang Qu was totally confused, but he just felt an unbearable itch on his back due to the Eye Consciousness Method and wanted to reach out and scratch it.
"Two hundred years ago, movable type printing was invented. In terms of form, it was much better than woodblock printing, but it did not replace woodblock printing. There are many reasons for this. I am not an expert in this field, so I cannot explain it clearly.
The printing may be unclear, or the clay and lead characters may be easily damaged, and the copper characters are too expensive and easy to be stolen, which is not as good as the cheap and good quality wood carvings. However, all of the above are minor issues. There is a main reason: the printing craftsmen are illiterate. "
Could a printing craftsman be illiterate?
Everyone was stunned.
Everyone in the venue is a distinguished person. The lacquer toilet bucket is only used with a white buttock and never carried by hand. How could they know such details? Only those who are in charge of all matters big and small in the sect understand it.
"It takes years to learn to read, and one needs to go to a school. With such a family background, one would never become a printer."
"I see……"
"If this is true, then in our sect..."
"Master, our secret manuals are all handwritten, not printed, so how can they be passed through the hands of others? Under the guise of endorsement, it is enough to let the disciples copy ten copies."
Liang Qu flipped through the album in his hand and vaguely guessed what the old monk was going to say.
A few years ago, when he went to the imperial capital, he seemed to have heard someone mention something about teaching phonetics, training literate craftsmen, and learning movable type printing in the east of the city?
"For woodblock printing, craftsmen only need to know how to carve 'drawings', but for movable type, craftsmen need to be able to recognize characters and arrange them. With the emergence of the phonetic method, craftsmen can learn by themselves in half a year and become proficient in it in a year.
The Diamond Sutra distributed to you today totals 63,800 copies, all printed with movable type in Datong Prefecture, and can be said to be a collection of classics, histories, and collections that have spread throughout the world."
Everyone was stunned.
I never thought it was for this reason.
There were so many events that happened to Liang Qu that people forgot about this "little thing" at that time, which caused such a stir several years later.
"In that case, I, Louguantai, do accept this favor. In the past two or three years, many books have been printed with movable type. Louguantai would like to thank Earl Xingyi here." Taoist Priest Ge bowed and thanked him.
All sects in the world respect the Zhentong School, and Buddhism and Taoism are the leading schools in the Zhentong School.
Hula la.
The crowds are coming again.
The five great sects, in addition to Yunhe Valley, Beiling Sword Sect, Canghai Sect...
"Everyone is so polite, everyone is so polite. This is a joint creation of the academy's teachers and the headmaster. I dare not take credit for it."
Liang Qu grinned and bowed in return.
Regardless of whether they were sincere or not, everyone praised the sedan chair.
Popularizing classics and encouraging people to read is a matter of public order and the moral high ground. If there are people who disagree, they will definitely be dragged out and humiliated.
After that, the opening interlude begins.
The old monk opened the Diamond Sutra.
Everyone calmed down and listened attentively.
“Looking through the Diamond Sutra, there are numerous truths, but one thing that cannot be overlooked is this: The one who preaches the Dharma has nothing to say.
That is, the true Dharma cannot be fully expressed in words. You need to break your attachment to the words in the sutras, just like "abandoning the boat after crossing the river." The Dharma is only a tool for enlightenment, not its goal.
I have chosen this as the opening statement, and I hope that all donors will keep it in mind. Today and even in the Dharma Assembly of more than 20 days, all of these are the words of this old monk. If you feel that they are right, you can savor them carefully. If you feel that they are wrong, do not cling to them. "
"Amitabha."
The audience responded with Buddhist chants.
"Today's first chapter, I have heard that the Buddha had thousands of people, after eating, washed their feet, and sat down on the seats... Please open the book, it says..." The pages of the book rustled.
Monks such as Huaikong took notes.
The old monk selects pages and words to explain in a simple and easy-to-understand manner.
The shadows on the ground are getting shorter.
Half an hour passed in a flash, and the lecture had gone from eight o'clock to nine o'clock. The little monk shuttled between the cushions, carrying the teapot and pouring tea for people.
"Ha~"
A yawn was interrupted rudely in the middle of its yawn, as if the nose was pinched.
The old monk stopped turning the pages.
"The third level is complete, you can take a break."
Wow!
Liberated all of a sudden.
The Buddhist scriptures were spread out, and the pages were fluttering in the wind.
People started to talk quietly in the room. Xu Zishuai looked back, but didn't see who had yawned. Confused, he flipped through the scriptures in his hand, poked Liang Qu's back, and shook the album in his hand.
"Junior brother, why... are you really preaching?"
"How fresh." Liang Qu curled his lips. "A sutra lecture, a sutra lecture, what else is there to do if not to lecture on the sutras? Are you going to lecture on the 72 unique Buddhist skills?"
"I thought..." Xu Zishuai looked around.
Xiang Changsong continued the conversation: "We thought he was talking about his experience in spiritual practice."
Not only the people around him, but also the young people behind him all thought so.
The Martial Saint preaches.
I was so excited that I couldn't sleep last night, and I fell into a daze at dawn. As a result, I had to get up again after just a few quarters of an hour. Today, I sat on the cushion and listened for two quarters of an hour, and found that it was completely different from what I imagined, and I couldn't help feeling sleepy.
Datong prefect Bian Youning laughed.
"Preaching is preaching. It is about the principle, not the law or technique. If the principle is correct, it can be applied to other cases and will be beneficial to practice. If the principle is not correct, then these twenty days will just be to understand more about a Buddhist scripture.
However, it is difficult to reason with it. Although it is a bit vulgar, today's event is mostly for publicity. If you really want to look forward to it, you may as well wait for the "questioning" by Taoist Master Ge later. "
"Aba Aba..."
Disillusionment.
"Donor, be careful with the hot tea."
"Thank you, little chef." Liang Qu took the tea and distributed it to everyone. He pointed to the table not far away and said, "Are there snacks on it?"
"It's oil-fried rice cakes, still hot." The little monk turned his head and asked, "Would you like some, donor?"
"Come some."
The porcelain plate fell.
Everyone eats fresh oil cakes.
Bian Youning took the opportunity to ask, "Do you know why this oil-fried glutinous rice cake is served at this Dharma Assembly?"
"Is there a story behind this? Please tell me about it, Governor Bian."
"According to legend, the Buddhist monk Deshan Xuanjian, whose surname was Zhou, was known as Zhou Jingang because he loved the Diamond Sutra. He heard that the Zen Buddhism in the south was flourishing and that one could become a Buddha through sudden enlightenment without practicing hard, so he was very dissatisfied and wanted to go to the south to debate with others.
When he arrived in Lizhou, he saw an old woman selling oil cakes and wanted to buy some. But the old woman saw that he was reciting the Diamond Sutra and said, "I'll ask you a question. If you can answer it, I'll give you some snacks for free."
Deshan was full of confidence. So the old woman asked: The Diamond Sutra says, 'The past mind is unattainable, the present mind is unattainable, and the future mind is unattainable.' You want a snack, which mind do you want?
Deshan was sweating profusely and could not answer. "
"Is this a difficult question? I know!"
Everyone looked sideways.
"What do you know?" Yang Dongxiong asked curiously.
Xu Zishuai was not afraid of getting oil on his hands. He picked up a hot oil cake and put it in his mouth. He bit it and the aroma of sesame wafted out. He spoke vaguely.
"It's what I call glutinous rice and sesame oil rice cake snack! Mmm, it's quite fragrant."
"Hahaha!"
The monks under the Bodhi tree laughed.
Take a short break.
Some went to the toilet, and Bodhi Island gradually returned to silence. The old monk looked at the people outside the tree.
"After this section, if you have any questions, you can ask them today. You don't have to limit your questions to the Diamond Sutra. You can ask questions about Buddhist scriptures and life principles."
No one answered.
Some people worry about being the first to stick out.
Some people worry about being laughed at.
The whisk is waving.
"Since no one has asked, I will just throw out some ideas to inspire others." Taoist Priest Ge took on his role. "Master, you are now a Buddhist arhat, and everyone in the world knows it. I want to know, did you, a great arhat, come here to fulfill your wish or because of your karma?"
"!"
Liang Qu's face turned stern.
(End of this chapter)