one
After a bumpy night, the train arrived at Wutaishan station at 4: 30 in the morning. Rubbing my sleepy eyes and walking off the platform, I immediately felt the chill, which was really cool! The bus to Wutai Mountain Scenic Area has been waiting outside the station, and soon it is full of passengers. It's dark and I can't see clearly outside. There is still more than an hour's drive from Wutai Mountain. I looked down and closed my eyes.
When I opened my eyes, the bus drove into Jiuqu Panshan Road and the speed slowed down. Against the backdrop of the night, I can see the mountains and cliffs outside the window, and the vast coniferous forest can't cover up the exposed loess. Go further and you will see rocks. What kind of landform is it? Layers of rocks spread out densely along the hillside on the flat ground, but they are arranged in an extremely abrupt way, forming turbid waves, like flash floods, and time solidifies in coolness. The crustal movement that lasted for several times turned the slightest pulsation into the power of moving mountains and filling the sea, leaving the natural relics in front of us as evidence, and the rough scenery gradually faded away, with the echo of ancient roars.
The light shone on the snow on the road. It just snowed yesterday, and now it's late March. Wutai Mountain ignores the outside spring and still covers a cool situation with cold sky light. Silvery white is the beard and hair of the old man, and it is also the clothes of teenagers. It loves the four seasons and has changed several times. In an instant, it is clear at a glance that Qingshan is old after all, and Snow White's dream is still young.
I couldn't sleep last night, but I still couldn't sleep well.
I am waiting for the sunrise here.
two
The first stop is Wanfo Pavilion, also known as Wu Ye Temple, which is the temple with the strongest incense and the most spiritual desire in Wutai Mountain. It's six o'clock sharp now, and the front of the temple and the courtyard are already bustling, crowded with believers and pilgrims, and the air is full of strong burning fragrance. Today is the fifteenth day of the second lunar month. According to the Buddhist calendar, it is the nirvana day of Sakyamuni Buddha. Opposite the main hall of the temple is a stage. Gong has sounded, bamboo, silk and orchestral instruments are playing in unison, singing a big drama to celebrate this extraordinary day. The troupe is of a high standard, but few people in the courtyard seem willing to stop and enjoy the play. The actors on the stage are singing, reading, doing and playing seriously. The believers and pilgrims under the stage are busy burning incense and worshipping Buddha. Fu Lushou loves money and wants everything. The stage is very lively, full of ugliness, laughing and cursing, a ten-fold play, a picture of all beings; The audience is also lively, the crowd is moving, and slowly advances to the door of the main hall. Everyone is eagerly waiting for their turn, and all the ready wishes will be made at the same time. It's cool and humid in the morning, so it's not noisy to have such a lively party in Wu Ye Temple. Wutai Mountain is the Dojo of Manjusri Bodhisattva, and "Five Lords" is also a kind of honorific title for Manjusri Bodhisattva. I used to be puzzled by this appellation with strong local flavor, just as I was puzzled by the lively scene in front of me. This scene is not close to the real scene, decorated with terraced fields and ancient Buddha lanterns, and danced with music and fireworks, from which I can appreciate a unique romantic feeling of China people. Here, the world and Buddhism, secularism and religion, reality and imagination. Bodhisattva, did you hear the prayers of all beings?
At this time, there are small snowflakes floating in the sky.
three
When I was in the courtyard of Wu Ye Temple, I noticed the huge white tower located in the northwest of Tayuan Temple. This giant tower is 75 meters high and 83 meters in circumference. Instead, it makes him look less towering. The base of the giant tower seems to be wedged deeper and deeper into the mountain, supported by the essence of mountains and rivers, growing higher with boundless will, holding its neck high and looking at the sky. This is not a display of immortal specimens, but
The gray mottled tower, like the robe of Buddha, the snowy peak in the vast sky, like the white hair of Laozi and the face of Confucius, is similar in color, but never confused. The result of blending may be more firm, not stubborn, but conscious after profound disproof. Between moonlight and moonlight, the white lotus in the dream floats beautifully, and at this time, moonlight understands that it is moonlight; The pool water knows better that it is the pool water; White lotus knows better that she is white lotus.
This is the most important symbol of Wutaishan temple complex. As long as you look at the extraordinary momentum of the giant tower, you will know that the identity of the owner is extraordinary. The stupa enshrines the relics of Sakyamuni Buddha. Under the bodhi tree, the Buddha, together with hundreds of Greek sages, began to think at the same time. He created the "axis era" in the history of world civilization with the striking similarity of time and latitude, and completed the mysterious and great foundation of human intelligence. Monks and caravans bypassed the snowy plateau and set foot on the Silk Road. Stop at the end of the desert, brush away the dust and sand, look up, but see the lonely smoke and sunset, Qin Guan John, looking at the Yellow River and the Yangtze River forever. In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, with the wild brute force of Xianbei people in the Northern Wei Dynasty, the Buddhist culture with Greek sculpture art was forcibly moved to the central part of China. With the direction of the iron hoof, Dunhuang, Mogao Grottoes and Yungang have become a major landscape in northern China, and ancient Indian culture, ancient Greek and Roman culture and ancient Persian culture have been integrated into the context of China. Since then, China culture has been full of vitality and won its former glory.
Speaking of Buddha relics, I naturally think of the amazing excavation in the underground palace of Famen Temple. The Buddha refers to the excavation in Saarija. Therefore, Yu Xiansheng wrote "Praying for Practice".
Buddha refers to this, refers to the boundless, thinking back to the beginning, but hidden.
Middle-earth heroes, such as frost Millennium, goodbye to the sky.
People are surprised and happy, the world has been smooth, and the awakened one has an epiphany, and the rise and fall are huge.
Practice in Sri Lanka, learn from infinity, rectify Wei and Jin dynasties, and prosper in Tang dynasty.
The cassock is falling, the camel shadow is mighty, Brahma is like a cloud, and poetry is like a wave.
Pray that this door will never wither, enlighten the world and extradite ten thousand people.
I have always regarded this inscription as a classic.
four
Wu Ye Temple is located in the center of Wutai Mountain. From here to the north, the terrain expands rapidly at altitude, climbs along the hillside, passes through Tayuan Temple and Xiantong Temple, and reaches Bodhisattva Peak. Taking this as the center, it surrounds the four main peaks in all directions, showing the trend of five peaks standing side by side. The peak is as flat as a platform, and the famous temple is located in it. Wutai Mountain is named after this unusual weather.
The next days in Wutai Mountain were mostly spent climbing stairs. The most important temples are often built at the top of the main peak. There are more than 1,000 stone steps from the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain, with a vertical elevation of more than 2,000 meters. If you are sincere, you should climb to the top step by step. Climbing stairs tests one's physical strength and endurance, and also tests one's heart. When you climb the stairs, most of the time you see the stone steps in front of you. On the way to the small platform, I looked up and saw the endless stone steps. My physical strength and endurance are consumed invisibly. I don't know how far ahead, and I can't see any good scenery if I stop in the same place. It would be a shame to give up. From time to time, I will see some monks and believers kowtowing, knocking at every step, measuring the road with their own bodies, regardless of the wind, frost and dust. Then continue to climb until the end of the stone steps. In the end, even the destination became unimportant, just competing with my own will and my original choice.
Think about it. In ancient times when transportation was underdeveloped, ancestors still built temples on hillsides or hilltops. In addition to being far away from the outside world, they seem to want to see if future generations have this kind of physique and perseverance. With sincerity and awe, they walked up the mountain road and heart paved by their ancestors, traced back in climbing and passed on in tracing. When you cross the last step, stand on the peak, calm your heart, relax your breath, and say a word in front of your eyes.
I'm here to report for duty, ancestor.
five
When you come to Wutai Mountain, you must appreciate the calligraphy works here.
At the first stop, Wu Ye Temple, calligraphy attracted my attention. During the subsequent tour, I was deeply shocked by the high level, rich types, large quantity and long history of Wutaishan calligraphy works. Walking in any temple in Wutai Mountain, you can see the place within your reach.
Plaques, couplets, inscriptions, inscriptions;
Qi, Xing, Cao and Li were sealed together;
Poetry, poetry, fu, duality, preface, topic;
Bold, atmospheric, handsome, beautiful, vigorous, majestic and chic;
Monks, laymen, emperors, literati, ancient and modern, modern and contemporary, in this aesthetic carnival that spans time and space, all the labels of history and society have been dissolved, and they have returned to the simplest artistic creation and devoted themselves to the pursuit of beauty. The inky lines extend, change and combine endlessly, forming a perfect composition that never repeats. Symbols expressing sound and meaning include sound, rhythm and prosody, which are music, richer than music and art, more abstract than art and literature, and more stereoscopic than literature. This is an eternal aesthetic totem of a nation, the pinnacle of human art and aesthetics, and a miracle in the history of world culture.
If China's calligraphy art is a miracle, then the all-round combination of Buddhist culture and China's language, literature and calligraphy art is a miracle among miracles.
The tedium and pedantry of doctrines and theories is one of the important reasons for the decline of Buddhism in mainland India. However, in China, since ancient times, there have been a group of masters who have both religious philosophy, are good at mastering language and can also create art, so that Buddhist Sanskrit, which is difficult to understand in Buddhist scriptures, is finally fully compatible with China culture after being nourished by literature and art, and has entered the Dragon House in Fengge, ordinary alleys and Jas Pouch Lee in the study. The spiritual world full of compassion and wisdom can communicate with the earth, feel the pulse of mountains and rivers, and experience the joys and sorrows of all beings.
That dark Zen made me linger for a long time.
six
Look at Wutai Mountain again. The combination of "you" and "see" is "view". Visualization is an important category of Buddhism. "avalokitesvara bodhisattva, after a long journey, is deeply prajnaparamita, and when she sees that the five aggregates are empty, she will come through all the hardships." At the beginning of the Great Heart Sutra, people are taught to think about themselves freely, realize the wisdom of prajnaparamita, get rid of all meaningless fetters, let the ethereal heart shine through the blind of the world and pursue the freedom and leap of life. This is the ultimate process of understanding the universe and the true meaning of life.
Tantric Buddhism, located in the snowy plateau, is accompanied by ancient spells and exciting long tunes. It is a brave epic of life, and the charm of Wutai Mountain is dignified and clear, light and solemn, just like a deep pool where a mountain stream and waterfall run down. When you come to Wutai Mountain, you will find that the environment here is too suitable for the spread and self-improvement of Buddhism, because there is a unique visual realm-coolness.
Cool is the most striking feature of Wutai Mountain's climate. The lowest annual temperature in mountainous areas reaches MINUS 37 degrees Celsius, and even in midsummer, the highest temperature is only 8 or 9 degrees Celsius. The breeze in the mountains is cool, the moon is cool, the trees are cool, the springs are cool, and the stone steps are cool. The wisdom sword held by Manjusri Bodhisattva breaks the shackles of chaos, and its blade light is also cool. In fact, isn't the whole universe cold, or extremely cold? What a hot celestial body, after millions of robberies, will eventually be extinguished. A civilization with temperature, starting from a blazing flame, may also be a violation of the laws of the universe in a sense. The reason why Buddhism is different from ordinary logical speculation lies in its thorough thinking about the universe and life, and it is always full of great philosophical atmosphere. Looking at the time, space, matter, energy and life of the universe, tracing back to the origin, process and destination of life, if the law of the universe is to start from the singularity of the Big Bang and keep it cold, then is the cool scenery of Wutai Mountain also a small universe? In this case, it is better to let go of everything, let your greed, resentment, infatuation and even your whole life be like a drop of fire, and let it go out in the vast. The so-called "emptiness" may not lead to nothingness and disillusionment, but is another form of existence and rebirth. Thousands of lotus petals hold the brilliance of Mani Baozhu, and the top-level thinking of Buddhism and Zen is full of incomparable care and pity for life everywhere.
In the distance came the bell of Liangqing Temple. Looking back suddenly, I saw the vague outline of Wutai Mountain.