Travel Notes of Bailin Temple in Zhao County

The cypress tree in front of the court

Berlin Zen Temple is named after the dense cypress trees in the temple cover the sky. And let the world know that "cypress tree in front of the court" is the famous Zhao Zhou Zen master.

Berlin Zen Temple is located in the southeast of Zhao County, opposite Yaoyao. During the Jian 'an period of Emperor Xiandi of Han Dynasty, Berlin Zen Temple stood here, 1800 years ago. During this period, natural and man-made disasters, wind, frost, rain and snow, dynasty changes, damage and repair, Berlin Zen Temple remained untouched. What power is supporting it? I'm not sure. I must have a look.

On Dragon Boat Festival, I stepped into the gate of Berlin Zen Temple. The mountain gate, also known as the "Three Gates", is the three gates of emptiness, nothingness and inaction, and it is dedicated to Wei Tuo Bodhisattva. There is a thousand-year-old cypress on both sides of the mountain gate, which is said to be Tang Bai. This should be what Zen master Zhao Zhou called "cypress trees in front of the court"-

The monk asked, "Why did my father come to the West?" Zen master Zhao looked up at Cooper swaying in the wind and replied; "The cypress tree in front of the courtyard."

Zhao Zhou Jackson, that is, Chen Cong Jackson. In the 11th year of Tang Dazhong (AD 857), he came to Berlin Zen Temple at the age of 80. The suffering master didn't know whether he was attracted by the cypress trees in front of this courtyard, so he lived here safely and meditated for 40 years, from which came the "Zhaozhou Gate".

After crossing the mountain gate, on the left side of Wei Tuo Hall, there is a cypress tree, which is the Zhaozhou Zen Master Tower built in the Yuan Dynasty. This tower is 33 meters high and has seven octagonal floors. It is richly decorated, exquisite in workmanship and towering into the sky, just like a silent ancient Buddha watching tourists come and go quietly.

Are there any relics of Zen master Zhao Zhou in this tower? Zen master Zhao Zhou said, "Nothing is better than a good thing."

Zhaozhou Tower is the ideological tree of Zen master Zhaozhou, with or without Buddhist relics. Believers don't ask, just believe. Under the tower, about a dozen believers walked around the tower clockwise with their heads down, without looking around or talking, and their voices were as low as nature-I hurried lightly and didn't dare to disturb my faith.

Walking through the winding path of bamboo shadow, looking at Puguang Hall, Bell and Drum Tower, Guanyin Hall, Wumen and Wanfo Building, there are painted cornices everywhere, which are extraordinary and magnificent. There are even pilgrims holding perfume lilies to worship Guanyin Bodhisattva. One by one, the sage-like-minded monks floated by wearing gray Buddhist clothes, which made people think that they had strayed into fairyland and left the secular world.

2

Chan tearoom

Zen master Zhao Zhou asked a monk; "Have you been here before?" The monk said, "Yes." Zen master Zhao Zhou said, "Go and have tea." He asked another monk the same question, and the monk said, "I have never been here." Zen master Zhao Zhou said, "Go and have tea." After listening, the hospital owner asked, "Why do you want to drink tea when you have been here? Why do you want to drink tea when you have never been here?" Zen master Zhao Zhou shouted, "Master!" , the owner agreed, Zhao Zhou Jackson went on to say; "Go for tea."

Sitting quietly in the long corridor in front of the Ten Thousand Buddha Hall, it was dusk when the sun set, and the branches of cypress trees were swaying, but I saw sparrows on the tree, looking up and down with the wind, making a cheerful "singing" sound.

Suddenly I feel how "fixed" the sparrows on the branches of cypress trees are!

"Fixed" means balance and settlement. That is, no matter how the external environment fluctuates, you can focus on "stability", just like that little sparrow singing happily on the cypress branches swaying in the wind.

How I envy those monks who walk in the Zen temple with their clothes fluttering. They have a Buddhist temple sheltered from the wind, and their hearts naturally "settle". But I can only walk in the secular world, the wind is blowing and the cypress branches are swaying. How can we "settle down"?

"tea!"

It seems that I heard Zen master Zhao Zhou give up drinking and saw the "determination" of the little sparrow. No matter how strong the wind is and the cypress branches sway, how small I am. My heart is settled, and everything is settled. Cheerful songs are chirping in the forest. Self-cultivation is only in life, work and small things-

From this moment on, this person starts from here.

three

pinnacle

I lingered for a long time before leaving the temple, but I saw a white marble classic building standing on the street at a crossroads not far away. The driver told me that this is the former site of Kaiyuan Temple in Tang Dynasty, and the building is the building of Kaiyuan Temple. Later, Kaiyuan Temple disappeared, leaving only this building. Because the building is engraved with Dalagni scriptures, it is called "the classic building of Dalagni".

I wonder what Kaiyuan Temple in its heyday would say when it learned that the last one was actually a stone pagoda.

The rise and fall of honor and disgrace, the vicissitudes of life, the prosperity of the last days, destruction and repair-it is the tree of wisdom that holds up the Berlin Zen Temple that has stood for thousands of years. Even if the temple doesn't exist, the scriptures don't exist-"Go for tea-""cypress trees in front of the court." "Good things are better than nothing." Still pointing people.