Text/Ye Xingao
A long time ago, there was a small river at the foot of the mountain, and there was a temple by the river, and the temple was dedicated to many wood-carved bodhisattvas of different sizes.
One day, Yama said to the bodhisattva in charge of the temple: Tomorrow there will be a man who should live a long life, passing in front of your temple, and you have to see for yourself, who should die, tell me.
The next day, it was a coincidence. The bodhisattva in charge received an invitation from another bodhisattva to visit the mysterious wonderland. Before the gods left, they instructed the little bodhisattvas in the temple to explain Yama's praise clearly, and then they went to the meeting.
At noon, the weather suddenly changed. A torrential downpour, a torrential flash, brought a small river to its banks, and the bridge was destroyed. At this time, there was a fierce and courageous general figure, probably defeated and deserted and fled, followed by countless pursuing soldiers, waving the flag and shouting to pursue and kill them. Only to see him quickly enter the temple, looking back and forth, there was no hiding place. Thinking again, even if you hide in the temple, so many pursuing soldiers, you still don't turn to the sky. In a hurry, in a hurry, he saw that the tallest wood carved bodhisattva, who had enough to do so, did not care about three or seven twenty-one, pulled it down, carried it to the river, erected it, and pushed it violently. Just right, on both sides of the creek. Try it first, hurriedly lift your right foot, hit a tiptoe, jump, rub, cross the rapid torrent, and run into the dense forest.
Those pursuing soldiers poured into the temple, and the search was fruitless, only to look at the river and sigh. remove.
Three volts of heavy rain, say down, stop when you stop, mountains and rivers flood, easy to rise and easy to retreat. In the afternoon, the sun was shining like fire. At this time, an old man and a young man rushed to the temple at the intersection, and it turned out that the old man was an old Xiucai who had entered Beijing to take the exam, and the young man was a waiter and a book boy. As soon as the two men reached the riverside, the old man looked at it and was shocked to see a wood-carved bodhisattva lying in the river, busy prostrating himself on the ground, prostrating himself three times and prostrating his head nine times.
So, the two masters and servants, "Hi Ya Ha, Hi Ya Ha", hurriedly dragged the wood carving "Bodhisattva" up, wiped it clean, and moved it back to the temple. Lift up and return to your place. Burn incense and bow down. In my mouth, there are words, "Wow, bodhisattva of great mercy and compassion, I have scrubbed the bodhisattva clean and returned to my original position." Burn incense and pray, please bodhisattva bless me with this exam, to be at the top of the list, to become famous in one fell swoop, to be a high-ranking official, to enjoy all the glory and wealth. On the day of my ascension to the throne, I will rebuild the temple and change the golden clothes of the bodhisattva. "Three prayers and nine knocks, tossing and turning before leaving."
As the sun sets on the western mountains, the sky darkens, and the great bodhisattva returns from a trip to the meeting.
As soon as he entered the temple, he asked the bodhisattvas, how could the explanation be done? The bodhisattvas in the temple all said that today there was a reckless soldier who, just to escape for his life, ignored the gods, and dared to use the great bodhisattva as a wooden bridge to cross the river, and this person deserved to die.
The bodhisattva in charge listened carefully and said that this man should not die. The bodhisattvas were astonished, why? The great bodhisattva is slow and rational, saying: The ants will steal their lives, not to mention people, in times of life and death crisis, who does not survive. The soldier who conquered the battlefield, who did not believe in gods, Buddhas, and bodhisattvas, was not under my jurisdiction, and I had no right or responsibility to blame him. Since he did not believe in God and worship the Buddha, in his eyes, the wood carving was originally a piece of wood, and it was wrong to build a bridge with wood. So don't die.
He asked, but who else passed by?
The bodhisattvas again elaborated on the old Xiucai who had entered Beijing to take the exam.
Thus, the Great Bodhisattva said: It seems that Yang Shou has been exhausted. The bodhisattvas were even more astonished! ......？
The great bodhisattva said: When the examinee is full of poetry and books, and understands the worldly principles, will he not know that "he will take the squat cylinder board, carve the bodhisattva, and ruin the gods." "This folk saying. He actually moved the trampled wooden bridge to the temple as a bodhisattva, which is not a great disrespect to the bodhisattva. Moreover, he believed in Buddhism and worshipped gods and bodhisattvas, purely for the sake of his own promotion and wealth. If such figures do as they wish, and become officials only for the sake of making money, how can they benefit the world, and where do I and other "universal beings" begin? This man's sins are deeply rooted and cannot remain in the world for long.
When the bodhisattvas heard this, they all nodded their heads and said yes.
Legend has it that afterwards, I don't know when anyone made a joint in front of the temple gate: "Right and wrong, clearly understand the daytime." ”
Later, another good thing continued: "Who is right and who is wrong, in the end, it is not clear." ”