Volume 2 Chapter 19: Burning Incense to Calm the Heart
As soon as Lin Jianlan said "He fainted", a monk came forward hurriedly, took the old monk from his hands, and carefully helped him to the side hall. It seemed that the old monk had a very extraordinary status in the temple. All the monks in the temple and Tanzong and others were attracted by him, and most of them looked very concerned.
Lin Jianlan followed them into the inner room in a daze. The old monk had been laid flat on the bed. Tanzong took his wrist and gently placed his finger on his pulse. After a moment, his face relaxed a little and he said thoughtfully, "The pulse is a little short, but it's nothing serious. It seems that the blood and qi surged for a while, causing fainting. He will wake up naturally after lying quietly for a while."
The abbot of Ci'en Temple frowned and said, "Brother Dazhi has already reached a very high level of cultivation. His mind is as calm as water and is not easily disturbed. Why is it that today his blood and qi are suddenly surging? His pulse is short and it is obvious that he has been frightened." After saying this, he turned around and said to the novice monk, "Wuchang, come here."
The novice monk trembled as he squeezed in, lowered his head and said, "Abbot."
The abbot said, "How did you take care of Elder Dazhi? It took almost a year for him to have what happened today. If anything happens to him in Ci'en Temple, we can't bear it. Go and get the forty Zen sticks yourself!"
The novice monk almost cried, sniffed, and walked out dejectedly. Lin Jianlan said anxiously, "Abbot, this has nothing to do with this young master. It was the junior who was reckless!" He described what had just happened, but skipped the word mentioned by the old monk.
Actually, when the monks saw that Dazhi was caused by him, most of them thought that Dazhi's fainting must be related to him, but they couldn't ask him face to face due to Tanzong's favor. Now when they saw him tell them what happened, they all remained silent. After a while, the abbot said, "Everyone is gathering here and making noise, which is not conducive to our rest. Please move to the main hall. Wuchang, you wait here for Elder Dazhi. If he wakes up, go to the main hall and report it." Xiang Xiang said, "Young Master Lin, there are vegetarian meals in the dining hall. If you don't mind the crudeness of this small temple, you can help yourself." After that, he and the other monks left cleanly at the same time.
Lin Jianlan saw that the old monk was still lying on the bed with his eyes closed, but Wu Chang was slightly happy because he had not been beaten. Seeing that Lin Jianlan was still lost in thought, he walked up to him and said softly, "Donor, the curtain..."
Lin Jianlan was startled. He had completely forgotten about Wanxiu in the west wing because of this incident. He felt guilty and rushed out of the house. When he reached the door of the lower room, he quickly picked up the scattered curtains and rushed back to Wanxiu. He saw her hiding in the shadow of the corner of the bed, leaning on it, reading a book carefully, and reciting softly. When she saw Lin Jianlan, she hurriedly put down the book, watched him hurriedly close the curtains, and then took off the black veil on her face, looked at Lin Jianlan and said, "Mr. Lin, why do you suddenly look uneasy? Is there something wrong?"
Lin Jianlan was stunned, not knowing whether he should mention the matter of the old monk and his father to Wan Xiu. He lit the oil lamp on the corner of the desk and said, "A Xiu must be hungry. I'll go get some vegetarian food. It's good to be at home for one day, but it's hard to be away from home for a thousand days. I'm afraid we'll have to make do with this meal." After that, he turned and left.
The two of them ate some vegetarian food in silence. They didn't eat much because they were worried. Lin Jianlan occasionally raised his head and saw Ah Xiu looking at him, but he immediately lowered his head and said nothing. He knew that Wan Xiu was sensitive and worried about him secretly, but the old monk's mention of his father's name really made him feel confused. They were at a loss for words when they heard a few knocks on the door outside. Someone said, "Donor Lin, Abbot Tanzong wants you to go to his meditation room to talk."
Lin Jianlan and Wan Xiu looked at each other and said softly, "Ah Xiu, there are indeed some things I need to ask clearly. I am not telling you now because I am afraid you will worry. You can rest here for a while. I will be back soon."
Lin Jianlan followed the monk to where Tanzong was resting. He saw that the room was very simple and clean. Tanzong was sitting on a cushion in meditation with his eyes closed. Three incense sticks were burning beside him. The monk let him into the room and quietly closed the door and left. Lin Jianlan did not dare to disturb him and just stood quietly at the door.
A ray of light came in from the window, casting the shadows of the three incense sticks on the ground, as if hazy smoke was floating on the ground. The three tiny black pillars became shorter and shorter, and finally all went out. Lin Jianlan saw the last piece of ash suddenly fall down, and heard Tanzong cough lightly. He looked back and saw that he was smiling, very kind and amiable. He said, "Young man, have you calmed down?"
Lin Jianlan finally understood why Tanzong sent someone to find him to talk, but he was sitting here meditating without saying a word. It turned out that he wanted to give himself some time to calm his mind. At this moment, an incense stick of time passed quietly, and the fragrance filled the room. It was not as tangled in his heart as before. He also smiled, walked to Tanzong's side, sat cross-legged and said, "Much better."
Tanzong nodded and said, "Then I will tell you straight away. The elder who fainted today is called Dazhi. After you left, I and the other abbots were actually a little confused. We knew that he would never be frightened by a meal. Therefore, the abbots asked me to come and ask you if there is any hidden reason."
Lin Jianlan thought, "Sure enough, if he fainted because of a broken bowl, no one would believe it. But when the old monk saw my face change drastically, he called out my father's name, how could I know why?" Thinking of this, he said, "Abbot, there is indeed some hidden story, but I don't know the whole story myself . Can you please ask me the origin of this wise elder?"
Tan Zong pondered for a moment, then said, "Young man, there are some things that I don't know, and even if I know some, I can't tell you clearly. I can only tell you some unimportant things. Have you noticed that my generation is all named 'Tan', most of them have passed away, or other eminent monks have retired to wild mountains and temples, and rarely come and go. My disciples use the word 'Dao' as their name, and the abbot of Ci'en Temple is named 'Dao Zheng', while my disciples' generation is named 'Wu'."
Lin Jianlan asked curiously, "Then which generation does this great wise elder belong to?"
Tan Zong said: "Yes, his Dharma name is different from others. Although Dao Zheng calls him Senior Brother, he cannot be considered as one of my disciples."
Lin Jianlan was really confused when he heard him go around in circles about seniority, and asked, "Then he must have a master. Who is his master?"
Tanzong frowned and said, "This elder Dazhi came to the White Horse Temple in Luoyang to become a monk more than ten years ago. Although monks are free from the four elements, some of their situations are no different from those in the secular world. He did not worship any master, and he called himself 'Dazhi'. Naturally, he was regarded as arrogant by the monks in the White Horse Temple and was ostracized."
Lin Jianlan was surprised and said, "So monks also have the idea of sect."
Tanzong said: "This situation lasted for about a year. Suddenly, the abbot of the White Horse Temple treated him with great courtesy and personally sent him to the Shizhen Temple. The elder who preached the Dharma in the temple was very dissatisfied. When he was about to leave, it happened to be drizzling. Dazhi suddenly said: "The wind blows in the pond, and the duckweed sways." Speaking of this, Tanzong said: "The elder who preached the Dharma wanted to humiliate him, so he seized on this sentence to ridicule him, saying that when a monk sees the duckweed swaying, his heart is actually moved."
Lin Jianlan nodded and said, "I don't quite understand these Zen wits, but what this Dharma elder said is not bad."
Tan Zong stroked his beard and laughed, "This is the way of Dazhi. He said this intentionally. After listening to the words of the Dharma Master, he continued, 'The wind does not rise because of me, and the duckweed does not sway because of me. The wind and rain blow the duckweed away, and I just watch and laugh. There is no object and no self. It is both the object and the self, and it is neither the object nor the self. Why should we force the distinction? Obsession with separation and reunion, huh! Is this the Tao? Not the Tao?' After saying this, he laughed and left."
Lin Jianlan sighed, "This answer is even more clever. He first said that there was a flaw, and only responded after seeing the answer from the Dharma Elder, saying that this elder was determined to unite the human mind with the material mind, and instead fell into the devil's way. The Great Wisdom Elder has actually reached the state of seeing mountains as mountains and water as water, and facing it calmly. I wonder what happened to him later?"
Tan Zong said: "The abbot of the White Horse Temple must have known this person's identity, but he didn't say much. He kept a close watch on him all the way to the Shizhen Temple, and another year passed."
Lin Jianlan said, "I guess after the battle at the White Horse Temple, no one would look down on him anymore, but why did he only live in the Shizhen Temple for a year?"
Tan Zong said: "This is the strange thing. He only stayed in each temple for one year, and then went to another temple. When he arrived at the Shaolin Temple where I practiced, he had already been to nine temples. The people who escorted him to this temple were the abbots of the nine temples before him."
Seeing Lin Jianlan's surprised expression, Tanzong continued, "When he arrived at Shaolin Temple, his cultivation was already quite advanced, but he no longer argued with others. He was much more reserved and spoke very little on weekdays. However, if we could get his guidance, it would definitely be helpful. When he came here, several abbots of the monastery personally escorted him here. For a person like this, who wouldn't want him to stay in the temple for a long time?"
Lin Jianlan asked: "Then why don't you keep him?"
Tanzong smiled bitterly and said, "I can't explain the reason. After Dazhi stayed in Shaolin Temple for a year, I and the other nine abbots sent him off. This continued, and every other year, we gathered at his temple to send him off to another place. Over time, his status was much higher than that of the abbots of other temples. So when he fainted, I and the others were very nervous."
Lin Jianlan whispered, "It turns out that the people traveling with you on the road are all abbots of various temples. I thought they were disciples of your temple. This is really weird. In my opinion, this doesn't look like an escort, but more like a detention."
Tanzong's eyes flickered, and he said with a complicated expression: "No matter what, tomorrow will be another full year, and I and others will work with Abbot Daozheng of Ci'en Temple to send him to another place. He fainted today, which really worried us. If we can't leave , I'm afraid there will be some trouble. Therefore, although we don't care much about the reason for his fainting, if it's convenient for you, please tell us a little bit."
When Lin Jianlan heard Tanzong talking about the matter related to this Dazhi Elder, although he had concealed something, his words were very polite and he did not mean to press the issue. Instead, he felt that it was difficult to answer. After thinking for a long time, he felt that he knew very little and had nothing to hide, so he said, "Abbot, it's not that I don't want to tell you, but I am also very ignorant." After that, he told the story of disturbing the little monk just now, saying, "When Dazhi Elder heard the sound of broken dishes, he turned around, but his expression changed drastically. I thought he was an ordinary old monk who was so strange because his lunch was disturbed. So I apologized and planned to leave, but I didn't expect that Dazhi Elder actually said a few words." At this point, Lin Jianlan sighed and said, "These words are the name of my biological father. I was shocked when I heard it. I don't know how this old monk knew my father's name."
Tanzong was amazed and said, "This is a strange thing."
Lin Jianlan's eyes turned red, and he said, "My father went to Beijing to take the imperial examination as agreed before I was born, but he disappeared without a trace. My mother also ran away from home not long after I was born, and there has been no news of either of them since then. To be honest, I stayed in Chang'an to see if there were any clues. However, who would remember something that happened more than ten years ago? Fortunately, I heard my father's name from Elder Dazhi, and I believe he must have a close connection with my father. His expression was also very strange when he saw me, and I'm afraid he had a convulsion because of this."
Tan Zong twirled his beard and pondered, "I didn't expect that Elder Dazhi was related to your life experience. However, as a monk, all the four elements are empty, and all past memories have vanished into thin air. He no longer has any concerns about the past, let alone someone like him who has practiced deeply. According to my guess, you must look very similar to your father, so he was very frightened when he saw you. Your father must have a very deep connection with him."
Lin Jianlan kowtowed and said, "I think so too. I have explained the whole story and pray that I can meet with Elder Dazhi alone. This is a matter concerning my father's life and death. I hope the abbot will understand and help me."
Tan Zong said with difficulty: "I have to go to the abbots to ask for your respect once again, but Elder Dazhi may not be willing to see you again. Well, please come with me."
The two returned to the main hall. The other elders were all there, probably waiting for the result of Tanzong's question. When they saw Tanzong stepping in, they asked, "Uncle Tanzong, what happened?"
Tanzong looked a little solemn. He closed the door and saw Lin Jianlan pacing back and forth in the corridor outside the door through the window pane. Since this matter concerned his biological father whom he had never met, he was naturally very anxious. He turned around and repeated what Lin Jianlan had just said, "What do you think?"
Among these people, Tanzong had the highest status and seniority, so when he finished speaking, there was silence and no one answered. Tanzong smiled and said, "I am an old acquaintance of this donor Lin. Seeing that he brought a sick person with him, I insisted on asking this young man to go with me to give him a favor. I didn't expect that this incident would cause such a commotion. You don't have to be embarrassed by my feelings. If you think it's not appropriate to cause more trouble, I will go out and ask him to leave the temple and continue on his way."
