In the northern suburbs of Yangzhou, Shugang Mountain is winding like a dragon. The mountain is not a high mountain, but it is a famous mountain. Because of the gathering of spiritual energy, there are countless ancient temples and temples.
However, there is only one temple standing on the middle peak of Shugang, and that is the Daming Temple.
This ancient temple was built in the reign of Emperor Xiaowu of the Southern Dynasty. After hundreds of years of wind and rain, it was damaged and rebuilt several times. It still stands on the top of the mountain. The Song Dynasty has been in peace for a long time, and it is full of incense and prosperous.
Su Jin didn't know how famous the Daming Temple was, but if someone told him that Jianzhen, a famous monk in the Tang Dynasty, was the abbot of the Daming Temple before he went to Japan, Su Jin would suddenly realize and understand the reason why this temple is so popular.
.
Just like everyone likes green grass, flowery hillsides, and lush trees, most people are not interested in planting flowers, grass, and trees. In the Song Dynasty, when Buddhism was prevalent, many people worshiped Buddha.
, but very little investment has been made in the care and repair of Daming Temple. Even though the temple is famous and popular, once a large sum of money is needed to repair and expand it, the government will cover its pockets.
What can people do with their sesame oil money? It is already very good to provide food and clothing for the temple. Temples often need to be self-sufficient and open vegetable beds in the backyard in order to reduce purchases and ensure the normal operation of the temple.
Because of this, the master of the temple, Master Shanxiang, had to put aside his reputation as an enlightened monk and deal with secular people. For example, he accepted a disciple named "Puji" just because he paid a large sum of money for repairs.
The temple built several side halls. The hero was stumped by the lack of money, and the Buddha could not help him. He could only put down his dignity and give up his aloofness.
Su Jin led Wang Chao and Mahan up the stairs, walking between the temples and observing the layout of the temple; there were very few people in the temple today, and tomorrow was the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, which was the birthplace of the Buddha Sakyamuni.
On the day of enlightenment, all the people who wanted to burn incense deliberately postponed the day to that day, so the days from the second to the seventh day of the lunar month were actually purer than usual.
Coming to the archway is the Tianwang Hall. After a decent worship ceremony, Su Jin and others came to the Main Hall. Due to the scarcity of pilgrims, dozens of birds flew up and down in the courtyard in front of the Main Hall.
, hopping on its little feet and looking around for food.
Su Jin straightened his clothes, stepped into the main hall, looked up at the solemn and huge Buddha statue, knelt down on the futon and worshiped three times, but did not hear the sound of the bell ringing, the wooden fish, and when he knelt down in Su Jin's impression
When a monk rang the bell and proclaimed the Buddha in response, the two young monks sitting on both sides of the incense table showed no response.
Su Jin took a closer look and found this time that these two young monks were closing their eyes and meditating, as if they were eminent monks. Su Jin secretly admired that at such a young age, he could be calm and calm.
It is not something that ordinary people can achieve; the so-called Buddhism is a melting pot. People who can endure the blandness of green vegetables, radish and tofu, can endure the loneliness of the ancient Buddha's blue lantern, and can endure restless psychological impulses. Although such people can be said to be perverted,
I have to say that he does have some skills.
While Su Jin was sighing, he suddenly heard two sounds of "snoring, snoring". Su Jin was startled and hurriedly followed the sound carefully. He saw the young monk on the right snorting and snoring twice from time to time. Su Jin's eyes were dancing on the ground.
, the two masters fell asleep while sitting on the Buddha statue in the cold weather. This did not make Su Jin depressed to death. It turned out that there are some monks who are so unprofessional, guarding the Buddha statue and snoring in front of the pilgrims.
I don’t know if I couldn’t sleep for how long last night. I’m afraid it’s because the tiger in my heart disturbed my Buddha mind.
Su Jin signaled Wang Chao to deliver the package, reached out and grabbed a lot of copper coins from the package and threw them one by one into the merit incense. The beautiful collision sound of the copper coins immediately woke up the two monks.
He quickly wiped the havoc from his mouth, glanced around, and started working. Immediately, the Buddha bells and Buddha chants flew together, startling the little birds looking for food in the courtyard to hurl themselves into the sky.
Su Jin was so happy in his heart that he kept stuffing the coins into the merit box one by one, deliberately prolonging the time. The two monks chanted until their mouths were dry, and their hands were sore from ringing the bells, but the sound of the falling coins could not be heard.
Still not over.
The two monks were surprised and happy. They had met a big pilgrim. Looking at his posture, it looked like he was going to give a lot of alms. They saw the richly dressed young man grabbing coins one after another from the package.
He threw it into the merit box and looked at the two of them with a smile. The two monks quickly exchanged glances. One of them put their palms together and saluted, but turned back and went to the backyard meditation room to invite the host.
Master Shanxiang has already told him that whenever he encounters a generous donor, he should report it to him as soon as possible so that he can personally thank him. There is nothing that can be done about it. Who said that the temple is so poor? We need to use these.
A way to thank these generous pilgrims and give them face.
This is like going to a restaurant to eat, ordering the most expensive dishes, and the customers who spend the most money. Generally speaking, the charming proprietress will come out to say hello and accompany you with a few glasses of wine. Otherwise, big customers need to be maintained.
When Master Shanxiang, a white-browed old monk with immortal demeanor, walked to the treasure hall with small steps, Su Jinwu threw the copper coins in his hand into the merit box. The three large packages containing money were carried by Mahan of the Dynasty.
Two are already empty, and the merit box, which is two feet long, wide and high, is almost full.
Master Shanxiang held the Buddha's name high above his head and said: "Amitabha, my little benefactor has paid homage to the Buddha for his generosity and many gifts. I would like to express my gratitude to you."
Su Jin threw down the copper coins in his hand, clapped his hands and returned the greeting: "A few common things are of no importance, but this merit box is too small, and there are two packets of copper coins that cannot be accommodated."
Master Shanxiang asked hurriedly: "Will the donor give all these to this temple?"
Su Jin said: "That's natural, otherwise why would I carry so much money and go up the mountain?"
Master Shanxiang was happy in his heart and said with a smile: "Amitabha, it seems that the donor is a person who is devout to the Buddha and has a predestined relationship with my Buddhist sect. He must have fulfilled his wish and came to fulfill it."
Su Jin chuckled and said: "You can also say that I am here to give alms on behalf of my mother. My mother is a Buddhist and everything has been going well at home in the past few years. It seems a little ungrateful to make my vows in the small Buddhist hall at home. I have been specially ordered to come to Guibao Temple to formally make alms and fulfill my vows.
.”
Shanxiang smiled and said: "The meaning of paying homage to the Buddha is more important than sincerity. Why should you care about where you can repay your vows?"
Su Jinxin said: If I take action, I will leave, but you will jump in haste, saying so high-sounding.
"What the master said is that it is just my mother's wish. In this way, the rest will not be put in the box. I want to meet the master Shanxiang, the master of your temple, and hand it over to him personally. This can be regarded as fulfilling my mother's long-cherished wish."
Shanxiang folded his hands and said: "We don't know each other in person, but we are destined to be friends. I am the host of Shanxiang in this temple. I am so polite to the little benefactor."
Su Jin was startled and hurriedly bowed and saluted: "You can't see Mount Tai even if you have eyesight. Master, please forgive me for being rude."
He turned to Wang Chao Mahan and said: "Give the money and silver to the master, and go outside the temple to see if the porters have arrived?"
Dynasty Mahan stepped forward and threw the heavy package on his shoulder into the arms of the two young monks. The two young monks must have eaten too much green vegetables and tofu and were a little malnourished. They almost sat on the ground under the weight of the two bags of money.
Shanxiang made a rough estimate and found that the young benefactor had given away seventy or eighty guan of money alone, which could cover the expenses of the temple for one month. He was grateful in his heart and thanked him repeatedly.
Su Jin smiled and said: "Master presiding, there will be three porters later picking up two jars of lamp oil, more than a hundred pairs of incense candles, plus vegetables and fruit snacks, etc. I also ask the master to check and collect them."
Shan Xiang was so happy that he unexpectedly met a great God of Wealth on such a lonely day. He was worried about the difficulty of this new year, so he planned to have two disciples of the Su family, 'Pu Ji' and 'Ji Nan', come to offer incense and listen to scriptures on the eighth day of the lunar month.
At that time, he was trying to make peace between them with a shy face, but he didn't expect that a big cake fell from the sky and hit him on the head.
"Hui Neng Hui Qian, give the little benefactor's donation to Master Shangen to put it away, and go to the tea room of Houchanyuan to clean it up. I want to invite the little benefactor to have tea in the Zen room and rest."
Su Jin hurriedly said: "How can I disturb the master's Qingxiu? I will leave right now."
Of course, Shanxiang couldn't let go of this rich man. He was such a generous benefactor, but he still didn't know his name and where he lived. There weren't many such big customers in the temple, so he had to entertain him well no matter what, so that he could come to donate again in the future.
"Where did the donor come from? Although Buddhism is a pure land, it also pays attention to worldly etiquette. The little donor donated so much to worship the Buddha without even drinking a cup of tea. Wouldn't the Buddha blame me for not treating guests well? Please, please.
"
Su Jin was playing into his ambitions, and he had just pretended to refuse. His purpose was to enter the inner meditation room and meet kindly, so there was no reason to refuse.
"In this case, I'm bothering the master." Su Jin smiled and held up his hands, and winked at Wang Chao Mahan. The two of them stopped waiting for the porters outside and directed the young monk to greet him outside the temple gate. They followed Su Jin through the main hall.
The round door on the east side leads to the Zen room hidden by trees.dd