Yang Jiaofeng on the Journey to the West series of articles:
In "Journey to the West", there are many powerful mortals, some can go it alone, called Taibao in the mountains, some can deploy troops to line up, bravely capture the little prince of the monster, and some can rule the country and the country, and dream of slaying the evil dragon as the prime minister...
But there was a mortal who was different from them, not only going up to guanyin bodhisattva, but also managing the zen temple for the bodhisattva. You can also go down to the Yin Cao Di Mansion, change your life against the sky, and increase your life expectancy to 270 years.
He was the head of the Guanyin Zen Temple, Elder Jinchi, who was contrived and covetous, greedy and murderous, and even burned down his own courtyard for the sake of a robe. However, as the only Zen temple of Guanyin Bodhisattva on the way to the west, how did Elder Jinchi achieve the position of dean and be appreciated by the bodhisattva?
Yang Jiaofeng on Journey to the West Series Article No. 287: Elder Jinchi is greedy and cruel, why was he chosen by Guanyin Bodhisattva and became the dean for more than 200 years?
One
Guanyin Zen Temple, on the entire journey to the west, belongs to a temple of considerable grandeur, quite majestic, and quite grand:
"Layers of pavilions, stacked corridors. Outside the three mountains, the majestic ten thousand clouds covered; In front of the Wufu Hall, a thousand red mists surrounded the bright colors. ”
Not only does the building cover a large area, but the entire temple is shrouded in auspicious clouds, and looking at the past, it is known that it is a Buddhist shrine, and the Xiaoleiyin Temple can be comparable to it.
Moreover, this Guanyin Zen Temple is still quite hospitable, and after seeing the arrival of the Tang monks and disciples, the monk who opened the door hurriedly invited everyone to enter the door and drink tea:
"Where did it come from?" Please join the abbot to offer tea. ”
After the disciples first offered tea, it didn't take long to alarm the old master of the Guanyin Zen Temple, that is, Elder Jinchi, who walked out trembling with the support of the two children. Subsequently, he offered tea to the Tang monks and disciples once, and the specification of this tea offering was that the master of the courtyard personally offered tea.
The whole process of offering tea is also recorded in detail, first a small lucky boy brought out a plate of mutton fat jade. Inside were three tea bells with blue and gold, one elder of the Golden Pond, one for The Tang Monk, and one for Sun Wukong. Then another little lucky boy came out, lifted a white copper pot, poured it into the tea clock, and three cups of fragrant tea were brewed.
It can be seen that Elder Jinchi's hospitality to Tang Monk's disciples is still quite in place, because Tang Monk is from the Eastern Tang Dynasty, so he is so entertained?
Both and no, Elder Jinchi did not do this because of respect for distant guests, but for the sake of showing, in order to arouse the vanity of Tang Monk, so as to take out the treasure:
"The old master has come from Shangbang, but what treasure can he borrow from his disciples?"
Two
Tang Monk has lived in the human world for more than thirty years, and naturally knows that sometimes it is better to keep a low profile, and moreover, it is on people's turf, how can he show off his treasure?
"You have not paid any attention to it, for the ancients had clouds, and treasures and good things, and they should not be seen by greedy and treacherous people." If it comes into sight, it will touch its heart; If he moves his heart, he will give birth to his plan. ”
From this, it can be seen that in the eyes of Tang Monk, his own brocade robes are also treasures, otherwise he would not have been reluctant to wear them on the entire way of taking the scriptures. But Sun Wukong didn't think so, after all, when Tang Monk tricked him into wearing a tight hoop two days ago, he found that there was a treasure hidden in the bag.
In fact, not only did the Tang monks educate Sun Wukong in this way, but when he was learning the art in the Lingtai Fangzhi Mountain and the Three-Star Cave of the Oblique Moon, The Bodhi Ancestor also taught him:
"If you see someone else having one, don't ask him?" When others see you, they will beg you. If you fear evil but preach to him, if you do not preach to him, you will do harm, and your life will not be safe. ”
Sure enough, after Elder Jinchi saw Tang Monk's robe, the seven or eight hundred pieces of robes in various forms that he treasured in an instant lost their brilliance. Not only is it so simple to see, but I also ask to get it to my room and see it overnight.
It was not enough to see it overnight, and he cried and cried that he would rather be a Tang monk than waste his life. Even the disciples advised him, you are so old, you have already enjoyed the things you should enjoy, and Tang Monk is just a foot monk, why should you learn from him?
Elder Jinchi then revealed his purpose, he wanted to possess this robe for a long time, even if he died tomorrow. Needless to say, this old monk was worthy of being a high-ranking monk, and he actually fulfilled this wish, and the next day he really went to Huangquan.
Three
The way elder JinChi thought of being able to occupy the robes for a long time was to kill the Tang monks and disciples, so that not only the robes, but even the white dragon horse were their own.
It was just that he never expected that Sun Wukong, a monkey who did not play his cards according to the routine, actually ran to the South Heavenly Gate to borrow a fire cover and came back, only covering the house where he lived with his master. Not only that, he also deliberately blew the wind, originally Elder Jinchi planned to burn down the three houses, but unexpectedly, the entire Guanyin Zen Temple was destroyed.
Many people feel that this is the consequence of Sun Wukong's ignorance and deliberate display. But in other words, Sun Wukong no longer understands things, Bodhi Grandmaster taught him, and Tang Monk told him again, why did he still commit crimes?
Most likely, it was to avenge the fact that he had been put on a tight hoop, and also made Guanyin Bodhisattva dumbfounded, after all, it was Elder Jinchi who sought wealth and killed his life first, and my grandson protected himself later. Who knows, if you are not careful, you will destroy this Zen monastery of the bodhisattva, sin, sin.
After this fire, except for the three rooms where the Tang monks and disciples lived, the rest were burned down, about how many?
"It turned out that in his temple, there were seventy or eighty rooms, and there were more than two hundred people in size."
The fire took advantage of the wind, and in an instant, dozens of houses caught fire at the same time, and the scale was quite impressive, in the words of the book, that is:
"Burned that buddha elephant on the spot can not escape, the East Courtyard Garan has nowhere to hide." Victorious as chibi night soldiers, raced through the fire inside the Afang Palace! ”
Even the Buddha statue had no place to escape, Garland had nowhere to hide, and the fire in the Battle of Chibi was no more than that, even after the fire that Xiang Yu burned the Afang Palace that year.
Four
Of course, Sun Wukong couldn't kill, so in addition to the Zen Hall where Master lived, he also protected the place where Elder Jinchi lived, after all, Yuanfu was still there:
"Sun Xingshi protected the abbot behind him, and the fire shield covered the front meditation hall."
However, even so, Elder Jinchi did not survive, and after he learned that the robes were lost and that the Guanyin Zen Temple had been burned, he felt that it was difficult to survive, so he committed suicide:
"Because of the lack of thought, there was no way to retreat, dragging away the steps, bending over, and really bumping into the wall, the poor only hit the brain and blood, and the throat was broken and stained with red sand!"
Because he was ashamed to see Tang Monks and disciples, he would not seek short-sightedness, after all, Elder Jinchi's face was not generally thick. The reason that really made him short-sighted was the destruction of the Guanyin Zen Temple, and he could not explain it to Guanyin Bodhisattva, so he had to die to apologize.
So, back to our topic, Elder Jinchi is greedy and fierce, why did Guanyin Bodhisattva let him be the head of the temple?
Indeed, according to a young disciple of the Zen Temple, elder Jinchi, his master, had been in this Zen Temple for more than two hundred years:
"If my master and ancestor have been monks here for 2560 years, there are 700 or 800!"
To be the head of the monastery is to collect folk incense and offer them to the bodhisattvas. The requirements for this position are still very high, and if the management is not good and the incense is not strong, it is difficult to account to the bodhisattva.
Judging from the layout of the entire Guanyin Zen Temple, the number of people, and the eating and wearing reception of Elder Jinchi, the incense of this Zen Temple is still quite exuberant. Moreover, Elder Jinchi was greedy, but it was easier to be used, after all, people who wanted nothing were more difficult to control. As the saying goes, people rely on clothing, Buddhas rely on gold, and only when people put on clothes first can Buddhas be gilded.
Five
In fact, the more crucial factor for Elder Jinchi to be the dean for so many years was not this, but a secret hidden in him!
At the beginning of the article, I also mentioned that Elder Jinchi lived for 270 years, which can be described as the world's first long-lived mortal in "Journey to the West". Although it is a bit incredible, it is not a rare thing in the journey to the west world full of gods and demons.
For example, at the Bujin Zen Monastery, an old monk asked Tang Monk how old he was, and Tang Monk replied that he was already forty-five years old.
The old monk replied:
"It's a little longer than the teacher."
A flower armor is sixty years, and the Tang monk is forty-five years old, so this old monk is already one hundred and five years old, which is also a high lifespan.
Of course, there are older than him, for example, after Sun Wukong just came out of the Five Elements Mountain, he met an old man, and when the old man was asked by Tang Monk, he also said his age:
"I'm one hundred and thirty years old."
In fact, this old man is the prototype of the child who sent peaches to Sun Wukong under the Five Elements Mountain in the CCTV version of "Journey to the West". In the book, Sun Wukong asked the old man if he still knew himself, and the old man said that he had forgotten for a while, so Sun Wukong said this:
"You haven't picked wood in front of me or picked vegetables in my face when you were young?"
This old man suddenly realized, Oh, it turned out to be the god monkey that my grandfather said, I did go there when I was a child. So he was very happy and hurriedly beckoned his wife and children to come out to meet the monkeys, but the old man's life expectancy had not yet exceeded the limit of human life.
However, Elder Jinchi was also a mortal, how could he surpass the limit of human life expectancy and live to the age of 270?
Six
According to the book, the reason why Elder Jinchi was able to live such a long time was that Sun Wukong deduced that it was the Black Bear Cult:
"I think it was the goblin who passed on some kind of obedience to him, so he had this birthday."
Therefore, Sun Wukong suspected that this Elder Jinchi was a goblin, and the monks in the temple defended him:
"It was only because the Black King cultivated the Human Path and often came to the temple to preach the scriptures with my master, and he passed on some of my master's techniques of nourishing the spirit and obeying the qi."
However, we also know that there is a dark line in the whole Journey to the West that is talking about immortality. Since the black bear essence has mastered the secret of longevity, is there still a peach, ginseng fruit, Tang monk meat or anything, is it not good to cultivate directly?
The answer to this question, the gold and silver boy next to Taishang Laojun, can tell us. When he was at Pingding Mountain, the King of the Golden Horn said that the Tang monk he caught was a treasure, and that eating a piece of his flesh would make him immortal, and at that time the King of the Golden Horn did not believe it:
"If we eat his flesh, we can prolong our life and live forever, what kind of meditation, what kind of merit, what dragons and tigers, what females and males?"
In fact, not only the Silver Horn King was very unconvinced, but even the life stars in the Three Immortals of FuShoulu on Penglai Immortal Island were also very unconvinced. At that time, Sun Wukong asked them for help in the way to save the ginseng fruit tree, and the birthday star said that he was also envious of Zhen Yuan Daxian's ginseng fruit to eat:
"He can live with heaven if he has it very easily." We also need to cultivate refining, refining qi, storing spirits, reconciling dragons and tigers, and catching obstacles and filling in the gaps, without knowing how much work it takes. ”
However, even if Elder Jinchi understood these truths, without a certain amount of Dao practice, he would not be able to control this cultivation method. Moreover, as a righteous and kind youkai, why would the Black Bear Spirit teach a greedy and murderous Elder Jinchi?
Seven
Moreover, even if the Black Bear Spirit mastered this technique and Elder Jinchi also learned it, how long could this method prolong its life?
When the Black Bear Spirit was fighting against Sun Wukong, he coldly said that you were the Bow Ma Wen who was making trouble in the Heavenly Palace. It can be seen that this black bear essence has lived for at least five hundred years, and when his good friend came to celebrate the birthday of the black bear essence, he also specifically mentioned:
"Every year with the great king, is there any reason why he will not come this year?"
According to folk saying, there are three kinds of life that can be called shou, living to 100 years old is called shangshou, living to 90 years old is called middle life, and 80 years old is called lower shou. Obviously, the black bear spirit is more than a hundred years old, and this explanation does not make sense.
Then, the meaning of shangshou can only be understood as "upper life", "prolonged life", "increased life", which is the key factor for the long life of black bear essence. Moreover, later, Sun Wukong and Guanyin Bodhisattva turned into monsters and went to offer the elixir to the Black Bear Jingjin, saying:
"Xiao Dao offers a elixir and dares to call it a thousand lives."
It is the meaning of prolonging life for a thousand years, and the black bear spirit is glad to accept it, so it can be seen that this product has lived for at least a thousand years.
Moreover, in his invitation to Elder Jinchi, he also specifically mentioned:
"Kai Shang Jinchi Old Master Dan Room."
It can be seen that Elder Jinchi also has the opportunity to achieve life extension, but we also mentioned it in a previous article. At this time, Elder Jinchi was dead, and the Black Bear Spirit would not be unclear, and the reason why it was still sent was to attract the attention of Guanyin Bodhisattva.
Moreover, Elder Jinchi was walking unsteadily, and when he first appeared, it was two children who came out with support, could he still go to the black bear essence alone to eat the elixir?
Eight
In fact, the reason why Elder Jinchi lived so long was indeed related to a secret experiment, which was not familiar with reading the original book hundreds of times and could not be discovered at all.
As mentioned just now, Elder Jinchi carries a few children everywhere he goes, and these children also have a title, called "Little Lucky Boy". It can be understood as elder Jinchi's personal child, and it can also be understood as his favorite child, who usually sleeps together.
"There was a little lucky boy who took out a plate of mutton fat jade..."
"Little Lucky Boy didn't know why, but he went to report to the monks..."
Under normal circumstances, serving the elderly, children who are too young naturally have no experience as adults. Otherwise, the little lucky children would not have seen Elder Jinchi crying incessantly, but would have run to find his disciples Sun Guangmou and Guangzhi:
"The father-in-law cried until the second time, and he did not stop."
Therefore, the little lucky children were not simply waiting for Elder Jinchi to eat, drink, and sleep with Lazarus, but to help him cultivate.
We also explained in the previous issue that the black bear essence came here with a task, but this monster has pursuits and ideals. He did not refine the elixir of immortality according to the requirements of Guanyin Bodhisattva, but took his own method, finding the snake essence and the wolf essence, and refining dan to prolong life.
Elder Jinchi was experimenting with another method, and the initial results had been achieved, and the life extension effect had been achieved. Because of his greed, he led to his own death, but the experiment did not stop, it continued.
If you turn over the original book a few times, you will find that after Guanyin Bodhisattva took back the black bear essence as the god of the mountain, soon, the carp essence went to the Tongtian River. The Tang monks and disciples left the Guanyin Zen Temple and walked for another seven or eight years before they reached the Tongtian River Chen Jiazhuang, and the carp essence appeared exactly seven years ago.
Nine
If this is just a coincidence, then when Guanyin Bodhisattva learned that Sun Wukong wanted to remove the carp essence, why did he not do anything to dress up and go in a panic?
Not only did they go, but they also wiped out the entire beings in Tongtian Hanoi, and there was no proof of death.
Similarly, Sun Wukong arrived in the bhikkhu kingdom three years after leaving the Tongtian River, and the state of the bhikkhu kingdom, Lu Jing, appeared exactly three years ago.
The reason is very simple, since the Jade Emperor used Sun Wukong to sabotage the Peach Assembly, the supply of life-sustaining medicine in the Three Realms has been greatly reduced. Even the Lingshan Buddhist realm was affected, so he specially called Zhen Yuanzi over to hold a obon meeting to discuss countermeasures.
As mentioned earlier, the two boys of gold and silver, including shou xing, felt that their cultivation of immortality was too troublesome. And peach or ginseng fruit, are all unattainable, is there no third way to prolong life?
In fact, whether everyone watches ghost stories or ghost movies, those ghosts often rely on sucking human blood to prolong their lives. In fact, it is equivalent to transferring the life span of people to themselves, after all, in the eyes of the gods, the flesh is only the carrier of life span. There is also the demon in the meat group, the reason why it can be so strong is not to get a group of children, by sucking their Yuanyang to enhance themselves.
Elder Jinchi only tried a little, and achieved the effect of prolonging life, but if he wanted to live a long life and even resist a natural disaster once every 500 years, this alone would not work. Only then did the carp essence run to the vicinity of Chen Jiazhuang to find virgin boys and girls born on a specific date to test the effect of life extension. There were also deer spirits who ran to the bhikkhu country and found the results of a large-scale experiment with one thousand and one children.
Don't forget, Guanyin Bodhisattva and Shou xing have both visited Wuzhuang Temple, ate ginseng fruit, visited fruit trees, and had in-depth exchanges with Zhen Yuanzi. Combined with the secret that I (Yang Jiaofeng) mentioned before that ginseng fruit can prolong life, it is nothing more than absorbing more living beings.
In this way, elder Jinchi's longevity, and the secret of why he can be the dean, will be solved!
My name is Yang Jiaofeng, look at the journey to the west from a different perspective, you will find different fun, like please pay attention to it!