The Monkey King

Chapter 15:

When the first ray of sunlight illuminated the Taoist temple, the wind chimes pushed open the door of the monkey’s room with the food, and saw that the monkey was already dressed neatly and sitting on the couch.

“Did you get up quite early and didn’t take a good rest?” Said, Feng Chi put the vegetables, fruits and water on the low table.

“I can’t sleep.” The monkey replied casually, looked at the fruit, and asked, “Do you eat these in the morning?”

“Of course not, today’s breakfast is steamed buns and buns.” Said, the wind chimes poured some water from the small jar into the cup, and then pushed the tray containing the fruit in front of the monkey: “You are a monkey, eating is natural and I’m waiting for a difference.”

“I’ll still eat the same as you guys in the future, to save you the trouble.” After speaking, the monkey started eating and asked, “How do I arrange it today?”

The wind chime looked at the monkey with his cheeks on his back, and said, “After eating, we will go to the master early to invite him, and then go to the back mountain to meditate.”

After thinking about it, he added: “This is what the master explained last night. He said that you are too hostile. If you practice the Dao directly, you may fall into the devil’s block. Therefore, unlike other disciples, you need to meditate and meditate.”

“Meditation…” The monkey thought while holding the apple, “Then when can I start cultivating the seventy-two transformations and somersaulting clouds? Could it be that I have to wait for seven years… Anyway, I haven’t done anything like cultivating the Dao, so I just listen to it. The old man’s.”

After gobbling it down, the two went out the door.

Along the way, the wind chimes led the monkeys to continuously introduce: “The place where you live is called Lingyanli, and the kitchen there is responsible for eating all the food in this temple. Then along the corridor up is the unicorn horn, which is the place where this temple grows spiritual medicine. At the same time, it also collects all kinds of medicine refining materials. Going back is Feiyun Pavilion, which is the residence of Uncle Qingyun.”

“Uncle Qingyun?”

The attic that the    wind chimes refers to is the attic where the middle-aged Taoist priest was this morning.

“Senior Uncle Qingyun is your fifth senior brother. Master has ten disciples in total, and you are the tenth. The only people who are still in the temple are you and Uncle Qingyun. he.”

Monkey nodded: “Then your master is…”

“The master of Feng Chi is Qing Fengzi, Shizun’s first apprentice. He had reached the realm of transforming spirits into emptiness and attained immortality, but he had not yet entered the heavenly court to become an immortal. He is also the one with the highest cultivation level under the master’s sect. Now I am traveling in Beizhou, and I am not in the view.”

“Um.”

The other disciples of Subhuti seem to have never mentioned it in “Journey to the West”, but if you have a chance, you should get to know them well.

With the wind chimes, the monkeys visited the Taoist temple all the way.

This slanting moon and three-star cave, Taoist temple is built on the mountain, corridors are all over, layer upon layer, it is not an exaggeration to say that the scale of the palace group is not an exaggeration.

Looking down from the inside of the view, the buildings are looming, surrounded by mountains, the scenery is picturesque, it can be called a fairyland on earth.

It is no wonder that Subhuti, an ancient immortal who was not born, chose to establish a sect here.

“Huh? Which one is that?”

In the mist, the monkey vaguely saw a towering tower building.

“The important place of this view is the Tibetan Sutra Pavilion. There are people guarding it day and night. If there is no master’s warrant, no one is allowed to enter except my master Qing Fengzi.”

“Oh? It seems that the old man has hidden quite a few handle styles.” The monkey touched his chin and began to wonder if there were other advanced methods besides the seventy-two transformations and somersault clouds.

If there is, if you learn it together, there will be a mistake in the future, and it will not be so miserable.

But the wind chimes said: “How can you say it’s Tibetan? The gatekeepers are just a few ordinary disciples, and even I can easily pass the test. To know that Dao and Dharma are boundless, we need to proceed step by step. No guarantee. Master is just for our good. The reason why my master Qing Fengzi can come and go at will is because there are no books he can’t read in the Sutra Collection Pavilion.”

“Oh?”

Not long after, there were bursts of chanting sounds in the distance.

“This is a compulsory reading of scriptures in the morning. It is presided over by Uncle Qingyun every day. Most of the disciples who observe the inner and outer appearances can be regarded as half of his apprentices regardless of their grades. Before Uncle Qingyun was practicing Taoism, he was a government deacon, and he attached great importance to it. The rules of ethics and the order of elders and children. If you see him, you can show more respect.”

When walking through the magnificent dojo, through the gaps in the doors and windows, the monkeys could clearly see dozens of disciples sitting cross-legged in neat rows, with a book of scriptures placed in front of them, reciting in unison.

And on the steps, a middle-aged Taoist also meditated and recited sutras with them.

Qing Yunzi seemed to have noticed the monkey from a distance, but he just glanced at it and then closed his eyes and pretended to be invisible.

followed the wind chimes seven times and eight times before arriving at Subhuti’s Hall of Concentration.

“Starting today, you will go to the back mountain to meditate and practice.” This is the first sentence Subhuti said when he saw the monkey.

“Then, Master, how long does the disciple have to meditate?” the monkey asked.

“Meditation is about the mind. Cultivating immortals and Taoism first cultivates the mind. If the mind is not cultivated, then cultivate the immortal. In the end, it will only be a disaster. When the mind is cultivated, the teacher will teach you what you want to learn.” After that, Subhuti waved his hand. He motioned the monkey to step back, and continued to lie on the couch, pondering the scriptures in his hands.

“Remember the teacher’s teaching.” The monkey bowed his head and thanked him.

After exiting the Hall of Concentration, the monkey asked the wind chime carefully: “Master said that you meditate to cultivate the mind, what kind of cultivation is it?”

“This…I don’t know about this either. Master only told me to take you to the back mountain introspection stone and let you meditate there, and the rest has never been explained.”

“Have you never cultivated your mind?”

“Well… To be exact, I have never heard of any disciple in this view who needs to cultivate the mind.”

After saying this, the monkey’s heart suddenly throbbed.

“Then…is it because my situation is really special, or is the old man trying to figure something out?” The monkey glanced back slightly, and the monkey saw through the crack of the door that Subhuti was still half-recumbent, studying the books and scriptures with relish, there was no expression between his brows. Change, it seems that the mental activity of the monkey was not read using mind reading.

Forget it, let’s try it.

After walking around with the wind chimes for a long time, we arrived at the back mountain and saw the so-called “introspection stone”.

It is a boulder placed on the edge of a low cliff. It is three feet high, wide and wide, with a narrow top and a wide bottom. Sitting on it, you don’t have to worry about the boulder rolling down the mountain.

The edge of the cliff is a deep pool, and the waterfall pours down from the top of the mountain, and the roar is deafening.

In addition to the natural landscape of birds and flowers, this is a place where it is difficult to speak, and it is somewhat similar to the Water Curtain Cave.

pointed to himself and then to the stone, the monkey looked at the wind chimes.

“Well, let’s go.” Feng Chi nodded.

When    climbed up the introspection stone, the monkey was actually holding the idea of “this stone is some kind of artifact”. However, until Feng Chi turned around and left him alone, there was nothing but question marks in his mind.

“Just sitting like this?” The monkey suddenly felt that the chrysanthemum was tight.

Kneeled outside the door for a year, during that year the monkey fantasized about entering the door all the time. However, the current situation is that when they are outside the door, they are kneeling on the stone slab, and when they enter the door, they are sitting on the stone.

“It seems that the difference is not big. No! There must be a mystery inside.” Monkey thought.

Closing his eyes, he began to feel it carefully.

The first thing to try is to have nothing in the mind, and of course, for a normal person…or a normal monkey, this situation can’t last long.

It really didn’t work, the monkey started trying to stare at something…

But unfortunately, he didn’t feel anything until his stomach growled.

There is no lunch in Xieyue Sanxingdong, and natural wind chimes will not deliver food, so he took time to go down to pick a few wild fruits to eat, and then climbed back to the stone to continue “meditating”.

When the sunset was on the west mountain, the wind chimes finally carried a basket and walked slowly along the mountain road.

“How is it? Today.”

“Uh… just sit.” The monkey turned his head to look at the self-examination stone while eating, and suddenly said, “Do you think the master will play me?”

“Impossible! How could Shizun do such a thing!” The wind chimes rolled up the dust and knocked on the monkey’s head: “I make you think about it!”

“Then you say, why am I not feeling anything? Cultivation of the mind? How to practice the Fa?”

“It must be that you are not meditative enough! If you say you are cultivating your mind, you must be thinking wildly.” Feng Chi said with confidence.

returned to the residence, the monkey lay on the mat and thought about it.

“I’m not meditating enough? This… seems to be right. I have nothing to do there, and I always unconsciously think about it. Do I want to keep my mind blank? Give me some hints…”

Thinking about it, the monkey jumped up from the bed, put on his clothes and socks, and went out to the back mountain in the dark at Xingye.

This way happens to pass by Feiyun Pavilion in Qingyunzi.

If it were someone else, I’m afraid it would be difficult to see a sneaky monkey on the steps in this night when you can’t see your fingers, but Qingyunzi is a disciple of Subhuti, and his perception is like a child.

I saw him standing in the attic turning back silently, and whispering to the young Taoist behind him, “Wait, go and see what that monkey head is sneaking up to do.”