Chapter 153 The Spoiled Conference 【Subscription】
Looking at Fangzheng's back, the little monk was taken aback for a moment, and then a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
Fangzheng took his seat, and the rest has nothing to do with him. Following the abbot of Baiyun Temple, Zen Master Baiyun, came to the stage, and after speaking the opening remarks, the grand Spring Festival Blessing Ceremony officially began!
Sprinkle flower petals, sprinkle holy water, recite scriptures...
After a set of tossing, it was already noon, and then the temple broke the fast and entertained the Quartet...
Looking at the table placed outside the temple, there was an endless stream of pilgrims coming and going to eat, and the entrances of the Daxiong Hall, Guanyin Hall, and Arhat Hall were even more incense-filled! From far away, you can see a column of green smoke entering the sky! Seeing the exuberant incense and the grand scene, Fangzheng couldn't stop talking, and secretly made up his mind: "In the future, One Finger Temple must hold such a big puja... No, it should be a bigger puja!"
At around three o'clock in the afternoon, the grand Spring Festival blessing ceremony ended, and the pilgrims were tired and dispersed one after another.
At four o'clock, Baiyun Temple closed the gate on its own initiative. But all the monks stayed.
Fangzheng still didn't understand what was going on. He planned to ask about the situation, but found that the eyes of many monks were shining with excitement. At the same time, the seriousness of each of them was not weaker than that of the blessing ceremony just now.
"Is there another program?" Fangzheng muttered in his heart.
At this moment, Zen Master Hongyan came to Fangzheng's side, sat down cross-legged, and said with a smile, "Abbot Fangzheng, what doubts do you have?"
Zen Master Hongyan came just in time, Fangzheng was full of doubts, and hurriedly asked: "Abbot Hongyan, look at everyone, is there any activity? Also, why is Baiyun Temple closed before dark?"
Zen Master Hongyan said with a smile: "The Spring Blessing Ceremony has been held for many years. Prayer is one, and it is also a grand exchange event for many monasteries. After praying for the world, it is time for us to communicate with each other, so we closed the mountain gate. .From the moment the mountain gate is closed, there are only monks and no one else in the whole monastery."
Fangzheng suddenly realized that this was the case, and asked curiously: "Then how did this exchange meeting take place? Is it a casual exchange, or is there another way?"
Zen Master Hongyan said: "This is a debate on Buddhism. Everyone expresses their opinions, brings out their own understanding of Buddhism, and communicates with each other. In this way, a hundred schools of thought contend, a hundred flowers bloom, and after the collision of ideas, there will be many insights. This is what Zen Master Baiyun said. I hope to see it, but... this also brought about some negative effects. Many temples think that it is a way to gain fame and promote their own temples by presenting new insights in this exchange meeting and overpowering everyone. Therefore, the exchange meeting in the past two years has also begun to change, and some people have started to rank the major monasteries. And every year, everyone’s debate is not purely a debate on Buddhism, but a ranking battle. Hey... this point, Zen Master Baiyun It was also unexpected. Now, it has become a habit, and it is impossible to stop it.”
Fangzheng looked at Zen Master Hongyan in astonishment. He never expected that this kind of secular dispute would occur in a place outside Buddhism. But Fangzheng is not disgusted. People, where there are people, there are fights, and people give up fighting. It is like war. Everyone knows that war is a bad thing, but it has to be admitted that war is the propeller of human progress! When many civilian technologies are created, they serve the war. The same is true for Buddhism. If everyone does not compete, but only comprehends their own, without the collision of thoughts, without the motivation to support themselves under the comparison, most people may not be able to practice Zen with peace of mind.
Of course, this is Fang Zheng's opinion, not necessarily right, but he at least thinks it is right. He will not tell Zen Master Hongyan, because if he speaks out, he will be refuted. Fangzheng doesn't want to debate this kind of thing with Zen Master Hongyan...
Seeing that Fangzheng did not speak, Zen Master Hongyan thought that Fangzheng agreed with his statement, shook his head slightly, and said: "Let's not talk about this, let's continue to talk about the next thing. The last part of the exchange meeting is the Buddhist scriptures and methods." Every year, Zen Master Baiyun selects one of the most outstanding disciples who are not over 20 years old from among the young talents in various monasteries. , However, those who can go up now have become the rookie kings. Once they go up, the reputation of the representative monastery will also increase, which is beyond everyone's expectation."
Fangzheng shook his head slightly. There is no doubt that Zen Master Baiyun and Zen Master Hongyan are true eminent monks. They don't compete for fame and fortune. What they want to do is to carry forward the Dharma. Unfortunately, they still don't understand the current society and popular. This kind of debate conference is a competition in itself, and competition must have a winner or loser, and if there is a win or loss, there will be a competition for ranking. So it is inevitable to finally come to what it is today.
Similarly, Fangzheng just thought about it and didn't say anything.
Zen Master Baiyun went up to speak again, and then went straight to the topic, the debate!
Then, the abbots of the major monasteries came to the stage to talk about the Dharma they had comprehended, but soon someone refuted it, so a large group of abbots of the monasteries started a war of words...
Fangzheng hadn't read many volumes of scriptures, and he couldn't understand nine out of ten sentences spoken by these abbots. Coupled with the large number of people, Fangzheng listened for a while, and finally couldn't listen anymore, and started to slip away.
Finally, two hours later, the abbot's debate was over, and a fat monk with a kind face won the first place, and went down happily.
At this time, Zen Master Baiyun took the stage again, and after saying a few words on the scene, he went straight to the topic: "Everyone, it's time for Buddhist disciples to give lectures again. This year, there is only one applicant, and that is Master Yixing from Jinzhu Temple. Master Yixing's Dharma The poor monk has heard about the cultivation base, and you must be familiar with it."
As soon as these words came out, everyone collectively looked at Xing Xing. Xing Xing looked meek, clasped their hands together, and returned the salute from all directions.
Fangzheng followed everyone's gaze and was stunned. Isn't this the little monk who asked him a question just now? A young monk who can't even tell the difference between a temple and a nunnery is a buddhist rookie who is proficient in Buddhism?
Fangzheng suddenly realized that things seemed a little off. Did he really not know, or was he deliberately asking to find out? But why test him? He's just here to make soy sauce, okay? It's enough to see it for a while, and the Lord will go home when it's done.
Just when Fangzheng was distracted and didn't know what everyone said, Master Baiyun suddenly called Fangzheng's name: "Abbot Fangzheng?"
Fangzheng was stunned, looked up, and subconsciously asked, "What?"