Great Song Dynasty Writer

Chapter 72 Do Not Leave the Entanglement, Do Not Seek Buddha's Favor [Seeking Monthly Tickets!]

"Grandmaster."

Lu Beigu bowed respectfully.

Master Baoyue also put his palms together, the sandalwood prayer beads on his wrist jingling softly. He then spoke, "Young benefactor, I wish to have this poem engraved on stone beside the cypress tree on the cliff. Is that permissible?"

"of course can."

Lu Beigu said, "It is my greatest honor to have the favor of a master like you."

Master Baoyue nodded slightly, then suddenly changed the subject: "I wonder if you have studied Buddhist scriptures in your daily life?"

Lu Beigu simply said, "I've heard some of it since I was a child."

"You seem to have a Zen-like mind."

Master Baoyue asked, "Would you like to become a monk with me?"

Clouds churned at the edge of the cliff, shrouding the two figures in a hazy mist.

Lu Beigu looked at the cypress roots that were twisted and knotted in the cracks of the rock, and calmly replied, "Young man, your worldly ties are not yet severed. For example, this cliff cypress, if separated from the rock face, will never be its original form."

"Wonderful!"

Master Baoyue was not annoyed at all, but laughed instead: "You do resemble one of my fellow disciples in Meishan, but you should be more reserved than him. If you have time, you can come to Daci Temple in Chengdu, and I can introduce you to each other then."

Lu Beigu's heart stirred, and he replied, "That day will surely come."

Then, Lu Beigu tentatively asked, "May I ask, who is the monk guarding the mountain peak? How could he be above Master Baoyue?"

The reason he asked this question was because he noticed that Master Baoyue was different from the monks guarding the first three gates; he did not strictly adhere to the rules of the Zen gathering.

Or rather, given his status, the fact that he could even attend this Zen gathering was already a great honor for Fawang Temple, and he could indeed do things according to his own wishes.

As expected, Master Baoyue didn't hide anything and directly told Lu Beigu the answer.

“When Zen Master Zuyin returned to Zhulin Temple, he passed through this place and was invited to come here.”

Upon hearing this name, Lu Beigu was momentarily at a loss for words.

Zen Master Zuyin, whose Dharma name was June, was a native of Zizhou. He became a monk at the age of eleven at Zhulin Temple in Sichuan. Later, he traveled down the Yangtze River and lived in various temples on Mount Lu. He was later bestowed the title "Zen Master Zuyin" by Emperor Renzong.

He was a man of profound Zen Buddhist knowledge, and he also integrated Confucian classics. In the fifth year of the Qingli era, Ouyang Xiu was demoted to Chuzhou. When he went to Mount Lu, he discussed the Dao with Zen Master Zuyin. Ouyang Xiu was deeply convinced and listened attentively until late at night.

It should be noted that Ouyang Xiu was a staunch anti-Buddhist before this, but after discussing the Dao with Zen Master Zuyin, he formed the "Green Pine Society" with him, promoting the Chan teachings. His disciples numbered as many as three thousand, and Zen Master Zuyin's name resounded throughout the Song Dynasty.

"No wonder, only someone like him could make Master Baoyue willingly submit to him."

Lu Beigu thought to himself.

The sound of the jay's knocking came from not far away again, and the brown-robed monk said to the crowd, "Esteemed patrons, you have rested."

The final showdown is about to begin.
Lu Beigu bowed to Master Baoyue in farewell.

A mountain breeze swept through the cypress branches, causing a verdant cypress seed to fall. Master Baoyue, draped in a purple kasaya, bent down to pick it up, examined it closely, and then suddenly spoke out of the blue.

"Do not sever ties with the shackles, do not seek Buddha. Jiang Yan's dream pen, the heavenly dragon appears as a tiger."

Lu Beigu was taken aback, then bowed solemnly again.

But then they saw that Master Baoyue had turned to face the sea of ​​clouds, his purple kasaya fluttering in the wind, like a purple cloud swaying on a cliff.

Back with the rest of the group, Han Ziyu was definitely not going to move. His ankle was swollen like a pancake, but he refused to go down the mountain. He said, "You guys go up first. I'll rest here and return with you when we have the results."

Han San Niang glanced at the sky; it was still far from dusk, and staying a little longer wouldn't affect her descent. Besides, there were monks looking after her here, so she didn't object.

Han Ziyu looked at Lu Beigu, reached out, and patted the back of his hand hard.

"The rest will depend entirely on Brother Lu." Lu Beigu nodded, and then continued climbing the mountain with the others.

Their team already had injured members, and Han San Niang was exhausted from climbing the mountain, so it was definitely impossible for them to compete with the climbing speed of the team of five young men from Xianzhen.

So the four of them simply stayed at the back, slowly climbing towards the summit.

The section leading to the summit is quite different from the previous sections.

Previously, there was a proper stone-paved mountain path that could accommodate two or three people walking side by side, but here it can no longer be called a mountain path, but rather a narrow path that can barely accommodate one person.

The path is flanked by steep cliffs on one side and a bottomless valley on the other. The Anle River, like a silver ribbon, meanders through the valley floor, shimmering in the sunlight.

Although there are stone stakes and chains for protection in dangerous areas, to be honest, climbing them is still quite terrifying.

"Take a break."

We came to a slightly wider bend, where several old pine trees grew diagonally on the verdant cliff. Their branches were twisted like dragons, and only sparse spots of light peeked through their needles, providing them with some shade.

The mountain breeze grew stronger, dispelling the summer heat and bringing a touch of coolness.

Han San Niang's forehead was covered in fine sweat. She leaned against the mountain wall to catch her breath for a moment, took a sip of water from her water bag, and said with a smile, "The scenery on the mountaintop is well worth our hard climb."

Looking from this direction, the group saw that in the distance, the fields surrounding Hejiang County were crisscrossed with paths, villages were scattered like stars, and wisps of smoke rose from chimneys, meeting the floating clouds on the horizon.

“Beautiful scenery can truly make one forget one’s worries,” Ji Yun said.

"By the way, I wonder what the final test will be like?"

Lu Guangyu pondered, "We've already compared tea, chess, poetry, and prose; what else can we compare?"

"Gatha".

With no one around, Lu Beigu simply spoke.

The word "gatha" originally referred to chants in Buddhist scriptures, but now it generally refers to "poetic gathas," which are poems similar to Buddhist gathas. They are a unique literary form in Chinese Buddhist culture, usually consisting of four lines, with each line containing either four or five characters, and emphasizing philosophical expression.

This literary form originated in the Wei, Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties. With the localization of Buddhism in China, monks began to create poems and verses using Chinese characters. With the rise of Zen Buddhism in the early Tang Dynasty, poems and verses also became an important tool for practice and propagation. Wang Wei, Bai Juyi and others participated in their creation. In the Song Dynasty, poems and verses can be said to have reached their peak. Not only monks liked to use them, but also scholars and officials.

Of course, besides the flourishing of literature in the Song Dynasty, another important reason is that the Chan (Zen) school of Buddhism in the Northern Song Dynasty gradually shifted from not relying on written words to teachings that used written words as a medium, which is the so-called "textual Chan".

This view has now become the mainstream of Zen Buddhism, which believes that although language is not the carrier of ultimate truth, it can serve as a "pointing finger to the moon," that is, guiding enlightenment through words, thus breaking through the early Zen denial of language.

This can be considered an inevitable development in history. After all, Buddhism also needs to be promoted and its practice needs to be systematized. It is really too difficult to always expect a sudden enlightenment teaching like the Sixth Patriarch Huineng, which "directly points to the mind and realizes one's true nature to become a Buddha".

As for why Lu Beigu knew that the fifth test was a verse contest, it was because Master Baoyue revealed it to him during their parting.

The verse that Master Baoyue recited was one he had written himself.

"Is it a verse?"

Han San Niang was also taken aback upon hearing this. She didn't ask Lu Beigu how he knew, but instead asked, "Young Master Lu, can you compose a poem?"

"Composing a verse is not difficult; what is difficult is not composing a verse."

Lu Beigu didn't play the riddle-maker and frankly said, "Anyone who can write poetry can write a verse. A verse can be written by anyone. It's just that if it tests one's Zen thinking and wit, then it's difficult."

After resting for a while, the group continued on their way.

Finally, after climbing along the path for a while, the view suddenly opened up before us.

On the flat, open mountaintop, ancient pines stand tall, their needles forming a canopy that casts a cool shade.

The brown-robed monk was already waiting there. Upon their arrival, he put his palms together in a gesture of respect and said, "Esteemed benefactors, please wait here for a moment. The final test will begin soon."

(End of this chapter)