Chapter 146: Farming and Martial Arts Combined to Use the Hoe
"Chen Jue?"
"It turns out that the benefactor Chen, who has defeated all the masters in the world and is the best among the millions of soldiers, has arrived!"
"Donor Chen is well versed in martial arts, no wonder he could recognize the posture of Xin Yi Ba at a glance."
“It is only natural that Junior Brother Yan Tong was defeated by Donor Chen. After all, Donor Chen is already a master who has attained enlightenment. Like my Buddha, his body is sacred.” Master Jiande must have heard of Chen Jue’s name. He bowed slightly and invited Chen Jue to sit on some stone benches beside the stone temple, continuing to overlook the young monks harvesting the wheat fields below.
And out of curiosity, Chen Jue used his divine sense to observe Master Jiande. He found that Master Jiande also had a strong spiritual imprint.
It was the same "sincerity" of devout worship of Buddha as that of Monk Yan Tong, but the "sincerity" of the eminent monk in front of him was even stronger.
Apart from this, the opponent's kung fu has obviously reached an extremely high level. Although he does not have the Dan-holding and Sitting-hip technique, his blood and energy are restrained, and it is obvious that he has stepped half a foot into the "colorless and formless" realm of Buddhist relics.
This eminent monk's spiritual practice is so profound that he is probably at least better than Li Wei, who has subdued half of the White Tiger.
“I didn’t expect there was such a great monk hidden in the Shaolin Temple!”
"Living in austere and detached from worldly affairs, is this the path to integrating Zen and martial arts?" Chen determined and looked around the stone temple with curiosity.
Chen Jue discovered that there was nothing else in the stone temple except a few clay Buddha statues, and there was not even any electrical wires.
Compared with the endless stream of incense and the magnificent environment in the Shaolin Temple scenic area below, this stone temple on the top of the mountain is a poor place that only ascetic monks can endure.
After harvesting the wheat fields, the young monks below slowly collected the grain. After storing it in the stone barn cellar , they came up with sickles, changed to hoes, and began to dig the flat earth in front of the stone temple.
The four young monks took hold of their hoes and began to plow the land inch by inch. Smoke, dust and dirt flew all over the platform. Chen Jue recognized that this was the "hoe" training frame in his mind.
"Cut the wheat racks and use the hoe!"
"Master Jiande, your disciples have integrated martial arts into farming. They combine farming and martial arts, and practice martial arts to cultivate their character. This is truly a high level of skill!" Chen Jue recognized the trick after watching for a while.
Just like the folk martial artists who practiced martial arts in the countryside in ancient times, they only practiced martial arts temporarily. Most of them had to engage in farming to fill their stomachs. While farming, they integrated martial arts into their daily farm work. When they harvested wheat and hoeed, every move was a practice. When they had achieved success in their practice and went out to defeat various masters, they would then modestly mention it to their peers: " They are all just farmers."
The "Mind and Intention" of the Shaolin Temple's unique martial arts contains a similar concept of combining farming and martial arts.
After all, monks in ancient times could not accept offerings from so many tourists and pilgrims like they do today. Most of them had to rely on growing vegetables and farming to support themselves, and their lives were quite hard.
They were even on the verge of catastrophic disasters, and only by hiding in the mountains, cultivating crops, and secretly meditating and worshipping Buddha could they escape.
"Thank you for your praise, Benefactor Chen. These are just ordinary daily chores."
"The mind is too vicious in this skill, and the hostility within it must be eliminated with Buddhism. These disciples work during the day to wear off the excess energy, and then recite and copy scriptures, meditate and worship Buddha at night, repeating this every day, maintaining the unity of knowledge and action. Only in this way can one day achieve the state of enlightenment of the mind and realization of the Buddha's nature." Master Jiande put his palms together and chanted the Buddha's name.
The "knowing one's mind and seeing one's nature" he mentioned is the highest level of practice in Buddhism, and it is also the sentence mentioned in the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch: "If one knows one's mind, one will see one's nature; and if one sees one's nature, one will become a Buddha."
Sakyamuni is the Tathagata Buddha, and "becoming a Buddha" means to reach the level of Sakyamuni.
Although Chen Jue has formed a golden elixir and his body has forty teeth as flat as snow, just like the legendary Buddha, his heart of Taoism has not been established and he is still in the process of refining his mind in the mortal world. He can only be regarded as having the body of "Tathagata" but does not have the great wisdom and intelligence that can be compared with "Tathagata".
…
After sitting and watching the practice of several of Master Jiande's disciples, Master Jiande stood up and invited Chen Jue to walk to a huge rock protruding from the cliff behind the stone temple.
Chen Jue took a look at the environment of the cliffs and flying rocks. He took a few steps and there was an abyss of several hundred meters below. If he fell down, he would be smashed to pieces. If he practiced martial arts frequently in this place, he should be able to "steal the secrets of heaven", which would greatly enhance his willpower and martial arts.
"Donor Chen, this is where I practice my martial arts every day."
"I have never met you before. I just heard about you from nephew Yan Tong and others. I thought you were a martial artist with great martial arts skills. I didn't expect that today I would find that you are actually a Taoist master who has seen the Buddha!"
"Since ancient times, there has been a debate about whether Buddha is originally Taoism. The Taoist master Sanfeng also mentioned that the three religions were originally one family. Since I entered the temple, I have been practicing for more than forty years, and I have never seen a sacred body like yours, Mr. Chen. Today I am amazed to see you! I hope you will give me some advice and discuss with me to resolve the obstacles in my mind." Master Jiande said as he bowed deeply to Chen Jue.
Logically speaking, a monk of his age should no longer have any competitive thoughts in martial arts.
It is estimated that after seeing Chen Jue's physical realm, doubts arose in his heart for a moment, just like the "knowledge and view obstacles" he mentioned. He knew and saw Chen Jue's physical realm comparable to that of "Tathagata", but his own cultivation had not reached that level. He still had doubts and obstacles in his mind. At this time, he had to experience it personally.
"Master, you are too polite. Cultivation is not something that can be done alone. I have also gained experience, made many friends, and exchanged and discussed martial arts along the way to achieve what I have today."
"Since Master wants to see the realm of Tathagata, you might as well come and experience it yourself. I hope it will be helpful to your future practice." Chen Jue returned a salute. He saw sincerity in Master Jiande, who was not as competitive and angry as the monk Yantong before. Therefore, he agreed to the other party's request to test martial arts and discuss Taoism.
"Amitabha!"
"Thank you, Mr. Chen, for giving me this opportunity!" After saying that, Master Jiande took off his cassock and hung it on a low bush nearby. He then stood with his feet apart, his hands loosely clenched at both sides of his body, gritted his teeth, and looked at Chen Jue.
At this moment, Chen Jue discovered that this gentle Buddhist monk seemed to have turned into a furious Vajra guarding the entrance of the temple!
A violent temperament comes to you!
Chen Jue smiled slightly when he saw this, knowing that this was the starting position of the Xinyi Ba, so he took the backpack and placed it at his feet, then stood up loosely, posing like the lazy clothes posture in Tai Chi, and said: "Master Jiande, please!"
