Travel notes of Xixin Temple
It was past nine o'clock when I arrived at Xixin Temple. I got off the bus with four middle-aged women, all of whom were holding a bag. They must have gone to the temple to burn incense and worship Buddha. In front of the gate of Xixin Temple, there were several middle-aged women standing, carrying bags in one hand and incense in the other. Every time they see someone coming, they will rush over and say, "buy some incense to worship the bodhisattva!" ? "Every time I see such a scene, I am always embarrassed to wave my hand.
I really don't like this scene, just around this temple. How different is this way of selling incense sticks from those who are obsessed with buying and selling flowers in downtown areas? Not to mention that in rural areas, people are simpler than those in downtown areas, not to mention being so entangled with people in places like Buddhism. And for those who come here, how to answer? Did she ask you to buy some incense to worship the Buddha? You shook your head? So you're not here to worship the bodhisattva? No problem for me. I figured it out. I came here to find a kind of peace. I am in awe of the bodhisattva, but I don't kneel down and worship a few times. Light a few incense sticks to show that the Bodhisattva will bless you. That's just superficial respect, not inner respect. Speaking of it, no one who worships Bodhisattva prays for something secular. However, from some books I have read, I know that the true love of Buddhism is to let people put aside worldly things and ask for nothing else. So asking this question can only have some psychological effects on those secular beliefs. Of course, I'm not saying that people don't believe in Buddhism. On the contrary, if a person can really have Buddhism and faith in his heart, then his life is much better than that of ordinary people. For people like me who like to think more and think more, I feel that I lack that kind of Buddha's edge. As for religion and Buddhism, I would rather describe it as Rousseau described it in Emile: there are two things we must abide by in this world, one is the law of society, and the other is the law of nature. However, for the makers of natural law, for the nature of natural law (such as life and death. What we can understand is superficial, so why don't I believe in God? Indeed, I also believe in God, but unlike most people: they believe that God can bring them wealth, prosperity, prosperity and so on.
As usual, I am still watching fish on the bridge in front of the temple. I watch fish with my father and grandson. The old man sat on the stone railing with his little guy in his arms. The little guy held a small bag of fish food in his hand and threw it into the "moat" in all directions. Every time you throw fish food, it will cause the river to swell, because there are too many fish below, too dense, and they are all competing for fish food. There is a peddler by the bridge. In addition to selling some antiques, the vendor also put a fish tank and a box by the bridge. There are many fish in the fish tank and many turtles in the box. I can roughly understand that it should be prepared for those who wish to pray for good luck by releasing it. But I thought, what's the point of such a release? Do people who wish to pray for good luck through release really think that such release is meaningful? To throw a fish or a turtle into this river is to throw them into a crowded water where food is hard to supply. This is not a release, this is a disaster. I don't believe you. Look at the crowded school of fish after the children throw fish food into the water. Needless to say, I even saw several turtles. Those guys who used to be slow to move now have to swim to the surface with fish food to grab fish food. This is really not releasing people, but committing iniquity!
One-inch poured out the fish food and followed the old man to the temple. I walked inside bored. Passing by the first hall, I heard a hall singing scriptures next to it. I think this may be their morning classics! After entering the temple, a natural sense of awe arises spontaneously. As I said, I am not a devout believer, because there are too many contradictions in religion. However, when I saw the bodhisattva in the hall, I couldn't help but feel awe. Those fierce expressions, those merciful expressions, went beyond the law of life and death and gained insight into all the inner good and evil in the world. I didn't go in like those pilgrims, then I picked up three incense sticks and lit them. Then I knelt before the Bodhisattva respectfully and kowtowed three times. I just walked quietly inside, thinking about my inner peace. It's a little quiet, but it can only be found in such a place.
I looked at the faces of those bodhisattvas and thought. Think about it, for thousands of years, people just entrusted their own life and death and the fate of the afterlife to their whereabouts after death, giving them those unknown and unclear hopes. People sincerely believe in them and believe that they can influence people's life and death and fate, but through the ages, no one can escape the natural law of life and death. And I, I prefer to believe that they are governed by the laws of nature, but I can never change these laws. They may be more willing to let people learn to abide by those natural laws, abide by one's morality, and abide by one's own responsibilities. We should conform to it and fear it. As for why I believe it, because there are too many things in this world that our current science can't explain, what can we know about the universe in the whole universe? There are so many mysterious things in this world that we can't explain them by science now. Since there are so many mysterious things that cannot be explained, why don't we believe that the world is really making these natural laws? Maybe like these bodhisattvas in front of me, they all have super powers and can be regarded as gods, but their appearance is different and their essence is the same. This is the God I believe in. Therefore, when I look at the faces of those bodhisattvas, my heart is in awe: I fear life, I fear nature, and I fear the existence of my thinking soul.
Go further, cross another Little Square, and there is another hall. As for those exquisite people, I don't know, but they are also set by people according to some daily and secular things. However, I didn't enter the Hall of the Great Hero, but sat down in the shade before it. It is also a pleasant feeling to sit under a tree and rest, catering to the cool mountain breeze and listening to the birds singing around the temple. The birds here are really happy. The quiet temple seems to be surrounded by elves. When I closed my eyes, I felt as if there were hundreds of birds in the Woods around the temple. There are dozens of birds on the yellow roof alone. It suddenly occurred to me that if there really is a creature closest to God, or an angel of God, it must be a bird.
When I was sitting in the shade, I saw another family coming from the square below. Middle-aged women should look like mothers with two children. Older children are about seven or eight years old, and younger children should be three or four years old. The three or four-year-old child is as cute as the one who fed fish food on the bridge before, but this child is obviously not as quiet as before. When he saw the small stone carvings in the temple square, he shouted excitedly, "Little monk! Little monk! " When I looked at the other one, I cried excitedly, "Here comes another one." Then, I just twittered around the adults and asked some strange questions.
I was a little bored after a rest, and then I went in again. Further inside is the Sutra Pavilion, but this time you can't enter the Sutra Pavilion through the Hall of Fame. You can only enter the Sutra Pavilion along the aisles on both sides of the Hall of Fame. There are two rows of lotus flowers planted here in the hall of the Great Hero. Now is the season when lotus flowers are in full bloom. But I was lucky enough to see a beautiful lotus banquet. Although not spectacular, a few simple flowers are enough to show their beauty. In fact, this is in line with the lightness of Buddhism and Taoism If we introduce that kind of secular splendor, we will lose its authenticity. Walking around the sutra, lotus flowers were placed in front of and everywhere in the sutra depository. When standing in the Sutra Pavilion and looking down, I saw a quiet little bamboo forest behind the Mahayana Hall, where many amulets were hung, and a man and a woman were taking pictures as a souvenir. I walked around, got down from the other side of Ursa Major and stood in the shade for a while. Seeing that the family had just come out of Daxiongbao's room, although his mother had been screaming around, the younger child was as noisy as ever. Obviously, he doesn't know how to keep quiet here.
I stood in the shade and looked at them quietly. It suddenly occurred to me that the real meaning that the Buddha might want us to understand is to let us know how to respect life and nature and protect the inheritance of life while obeying the rules. Perhaps this is the most meaningful existence of God Buddha for human beings, instead of wishing us promotion and wealth. Those are just the responsibilities that people impose on those gods.