Seeing a lot of costume scripts, or some novels, the most common bridge section should be the monk.
The frequency is so high that it almost runs through various plots, for example, the love road is not smooth, the discouraged and cold clamor to become a monk, and then for example, if you don't want to live a life of conspiracy, become a monk, and then you are too poor to eat, you can eat a mixed meal, and if the villain who is defeated by the decent does not want to receive a box lunch, then you can put down the butcher knife and become a Buddha, and it is not bad to be a monk.
But in ancient times, could anyone really be a monk?
So what do you need to do to become a true monk after becoming a monk?
After successfully becoming a monk, the first thing you need to do is to familiarize yourself with the temple environment and understand the general layout of the temple.
So, what exactly did the temple structure of the Tang Dynasty look like?
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In the Tang Dynasty, the layout of most temples was similar. When officially entering the temple, the first door you will pass through should be the "Three Gate Hall", commonly known as the "Mountain Gate", and the two Vajra protectors of the Mountain Gate are painted on both sides of the mountain gate.
After entering the mountain gate, you are usually greeted by the "Hall of the Heavenly King", which enshrines Maitreya Buddha, behind the Maitreya Buddha is the famous "Wei Dao" statue, and on both sides of the courtyard are the statues of the four heavenly kings.
Further inside the Hall of the Heavenly King, it is the most important place of the temple, and it is also the central main hall of the whole temple, the Daxiong Treasure Hall, the center of the main hall is dedicated to shakyamuni that we are familiar with, and next to it are some arhats, Guanyin, and so on. The most important religious activities in the whole temple are held here, such as shaving ceremonies, preaching and other activities.
Of course, if you are lucky and enter a large temple like the Great Ci'en Temple and the Great Tang Xingguo Zen Temple, this temple not only covers a vast area, but also has a tibetan scripture cabinet, a lecture hall, a Guanyin hall, a ancestral hall, etc. in the temple, which is very rich in content, and you can secretly enjoy the scenery when the chanting is boring.
On the east side of the temple, canteens, tea halls, warehouses, dormitories, toilets, etc. are generally set up.
In particular, in ancient temples, in addition to the abbot can have a separate dormitory, the general monks live together, the big bunk, the furniture inside is also pitiful, in addition to the bed, may only put some wooden boxes, or futons.
Of course, the general monks of this kind of large temple cannot enter, and most of them enter the more ordinary temples.
But the general temple is not much different, and the only difference may be that the building is dilapidated, the area is smaller, the geographical location is remote, the incense is not so exuberant, and the life is more difficult.
In fact, if you want to open some, there is nothing that cannot be overcome, right?
Having said that, we also need to understand the problem of eating.
When Buddhism first came to the Central Plains, there were not so many requirements for food, and you could even eat meat. However, this good life did not last long, and since Emperor Wu of Liang, the Buddhist precept of "abstaining from killing and abstaining from eating meat" has been fixed.
Therefore, as a monk in the Tang Dynasty, it is basically impossible for you to eat a little meat, most of the time you eat porridge, and if you are in good condition, you may have a little pickle or the like, at that time you can eat a bite of green vegetables and tofu is a very luxurious thing.
Therefore, in view of the situation that after becoming a monk, it was boring and difficult to eat, many small Shami who could not stand the rules would choose to sneak away, resulting in many temples at that time having to conduct regular censuses to see if there were monks who had sneaked away.
Next, let's take a look at the daily life of the monks.
In the Tang Dynasty, the daily life of monks was generally divided into six parts, namely "zazen, chanting, busa, anju, self-indulgence, and universal invitation", which basically took up most of your day, except for meal time, you should no longer think about any entertainment activities.
Zazen, that is, a fixed time every day, everyone should gather together, the place will generally be chosen in the Daxiong Treasure Hall, do not speak, just sit on the futon, meditate on the path, of course, if you are an ideal and aspiring monk, in addition to a fixed time, you can also choose a relatively quiet place for yourself, continue to enlighten yourself.
Lesson recitation, to put it bluntly, is "chanting the sutra", which we often see, that is, a group of monks chanting the sutra while knocking on the wooden fish. Every day at the appointed time, all the monks gathered in the main hall, led by the abbot, and rhythmically chanted while tapping the wooden fish, for the "lesson recitation".
It should be noted here that before the Tang Dynasty, Buddhism's requirement for recitation was to recite six times a night, but in the Tang Dynasty, the number of lessons was reduced, from the original six times to three times a day or once in the morning and once in the evening, called "morning class" and "evening class", and the scriptures recited in the morning and evening were different.
Bussa, equivalent to the current regular meeting, the general content is to talk about the rules and precepts that monks need to abide by, and after the lecture, they will ask everyone whether they have violated the precepts, at this time, everyone must answer in a loud voice, which is self-reflection.
Settling down, equivalent to intensive training, is taught by highly respected monks, and during this time, monks are not allowed to go out to travel and make friends.
Settlement is held twice a year, usually in winter in March and summer in March.
The main purpose is to improve one's self-cultivation and understanding of the Dharma.
Self-indulgence, similar to the "spit conference", held once a year, the specific time is probably after the annual "Xia Anju", organize everyone to sit together, criticize each other or self-criticism, see each other is not pleasing, you can also report to the abbot, and finally by the special person in charge to judge whether this person has made a mistake. If something is really wrong, it is punished.
Pu please, this is the one thing that Tang Monk likes to say to his disciples the most, to change his fate.
When Buddhism was first introduced to the mainland, it basically retained the original customs and characteristics, and the monks' main living materials were obtained by their fate, and they basically did not work, and their lifestyles were relatively monotonous. However, with the development of time, after Buddhism gradually integrated into the mainland, great changes have taken place, and the monks' source of life, in addition to having to change their fate, also has to grow some grains and vegetables, do some manual work, and rely on themselves. Based on this, there is a special activity in the temple, the general invitation, the content of which is first notified by the temple, stipulating a specific time, when all the monks, including the abbot and abbot, go to the field to work together, which is for the "general invitation".
In addition to the above six points, the ordinary monks in the temple also undertake the task of receiving yunyou monks and foreign guests.
In short, after becoming a monk, you basically have no extra time to do other things, and most of the time you are either chanting or on the way to chanting.