Is He Really The Protagonist?

Lianyun Temple was built not long ago. The temple was funded by local wealthy businessmen after the fall of the feudal dynasty a hundred years ago, but its history can be traced back to more than 300 years ago.

At that time, it was the time when dynasties were changing. There were wars everywhere and the people were in dire straits. At that time, there was a monk in a large temple in the Jiangcheng area who couldn't stand it.

The people outside were hungry and fled to various places to avoid war, famine, military service, and plague.

However, life in the temple remained the same as before. In order not to attract officers and soldiers, the abbot closed the door of the temple and no longer accepted the refugees who came to escape in the name of offering incense.

The monk argued with the abbot about this and finally left.

In order to prevent the dreams in his heart from being ruined by the troubled times, he came here, like ordinary people, working at sunrise and resting at sunset, and reciting Buddhist scriptures in his free time.

Only by experiencing the suffering of all living beings can we save all living beings.

Gradually, there were more and more people here, including monks who had the same pursuit as him, ordinary people who he helped, and refugees who had fled.

They identify with the monks, they join the monks.

They built a village out of tree branches on the mountain, and they made a Buddha statue out of clay. That was the original appearance of Lianyun Temple.

As time passed and the new dynasty was established, the people who gathered gradually dispersed, leaving only a few people who followed the original monks and began to practice their spiritual path.

Except for eating fast and chanting Buddha's name, these people are not much different from ordinary farmers at other times.

During the harvest season every year, the extra food would be given to families with insufficient labor, and abandoned babies would be brought back to their homes to be raised.

A hundred years later, at the end of the last feudal dynasty, the country was suffering from internal and external troubles. In that place that could not be regarded as a temple, the monks relied on their blood and sophistry to protect a large number of people under the encirclement of the dynasty and foreign enemies.

Later, the dynasty fell and the monks suffered heavy losses, but their deeds were spread. Some of the people they had blessed became prosperous and found the remaining monks to help them build temples.

The monks refused and built the current Lianyun Temple. In order to win people's support, the government at that time allocated this entire hilltop to the monks of Lianyun Temple for farming.

Later, when the Hua Kingdom was established, the monks of Lianyun Temple did not change their original intentions, practiced the original path, and became a member of all sentient beings in an attempt to save all sentient beings.

Thirty years ago, a huge flood occurred in Jiangcheng. The transportation at that time was not as developed as it is now. The flood destroyed many of the main roads connecting Jiangcheng with the outside world, and cut off the connection between this city, which is surrounded by mountains on two sides and water on the other. Contact with the outside world.

Under the leadership of the First Bureau, a large number of helicopters were dispatched to deliver soldiers and supplies. When the relief workers rushed to Jiangcheng, what they saw was not a scene of wails everywhere.

Under the organization of Jiangcheng's local public security bureau, people established a temporary shelter in what is now Banshan Park. The monks of Lianyun Temple traveled between the temple and the gathering point many times, bringing the food stored in the temple for emergency use.

The monks and security guards were grouped together and led the survivors to carry out an orderly rescue. The monks relied on their excellent physical fitness to greatly speed up the rescue.

Have you ever seen a tall, bald man with a ring scar pushing a small boat full of people in the rapid water? After reaching a safe place, he turned back. After a while, he pulled an adult with his left hand and tied it around his neck. The sight of a child riding through water?

I haven't seen it, but people in Jiangcheng at that time have.

The remaining monks did not chant useless sutras. They visited various injured areas caused by the disaster. At a time when medical resources were extremely scarce, they relied on their excellent medical skills to prevent the vast majority of the injured from suffering any sequelae.

At that time, except for the ring scars on their heads and the plain clothes on their bodies, no one could connect them with the monks who could only chant sutras.

Although these monks claim to be Buddhists, they have proved with their actual actions that they are not the kind of monks who can only provide comfort in peacetime and are of no use in times of trouble.

After that, Lianyun Temple underwent some changes, and it became a special place in the hearts of Jiangcheng people.

People in Jiangcheng voluntarily raised funds to establish a fund called Lianyun. Poor parents would not worry about fostering their children here. Some people also came to study because of the abilities displayed by the monks. Lianyun Temple welcomes all comers, and some monks are invited down the mountain to give lectures.

But nothing seems to have changed in Lianyun Temple.

They still do not accept any form of financial donations. The monks are still self-reliant and still help others within their ability.

The only thing he accepted was the Lianyun Fund's help in repairing the temple and the water supply pipeline.

The temple was built on a high mountain, initially to reduce the impact of the war, and later to prevent people from wasting time here as much as possible. After all, for those who have their own lives, they can only provide a place to pray. There are too many such places in this era.

But the hearts of these people in the temple have always been among the living beings at the foot of the mountain.

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"The history of Lianyun Temple is like this. The most valuable thing is the persistence that has not changed from the original intention for more than three hundred years. The temple's abbot has changed seven times, pilgrims have come and gone, and the monks have also changed one after another. Nothing remains the same. , is the inner persistence of these people.”

In the neat guest room, Xiao Posheng opened a lychee-flavored lollipop and put it in his mouth. He stopped talking. The two people sitting opposite him could not recover for a long time.

"With respect, but you don't have to treat this place as a traditional Buddhist temple, let's go."

He led the two of them out of the guest house and returned to the Sanmen Hall. In the small room next to them, the young monk who had just opened the door for them was reading a book. With Xiao Bosheng's eyesight, he could see the title of the book clearly: "Pathology and the Human Body" .

Although the monks here don't look like monks, the temple is not much different from most temples in China.

In front of the Sanmen Hall is a small life-release pond with several lotus plants planted in it. Although it is already October, the lotus leaves are still lush and green, the water is clear, and a few unknown fish are flying up and down in the water, playing and playing.

Seeing the two women standing by the pond looking at the fish inside, Xiao Posheng pointed to the small table beside him: "There is fish feed there, you can feed it."

"Hey, is that okay?" Tang Yubing also saw the cloth bag on the small stone platform, but didn't move it.

Only then did Du Xue see it, and she opened the bag without any surprise and grabbed a handful of fish feed: "Don't worry, since it's just put aside, it must be okay."

Tang Yubing also grabbed a handful, and the two of them squatted aside and slowly sprinkled it in the water. Xiao Bosheng stood aside and did not join them. He looked at the fish in the pool and didn't know what he was thinking.

The snow gun had long come out of his hat, and he was lying on the other side of the pool reaching out to catch the fish, but his hands were too short to reach it.

A few minutes later, the feed in their hands was all gone. They clapped their hands and Tang Yubing said, "Let's go."

The three of them walked across the small wooden bridge over the Free Life Pond and entered the Heavenly King's Palace. Snow Gun followed Xiao Bosheng step by step.

The Hall of Heavenly Kings is named after the four heavenly kings. However, facing the door of the hall is Wei Tuo Bodhisattva. The statues of the four heavenly kings sit on both sides of the hall. Behind Wei Tuo Bodhisattva, he always smiles and has a big belly. of Maitreya Buddha.

There was a middle-aged monk sitting at the altar of Skanda Bodhisattva, chanting sutras. Even when the three of them walked in, they did not raise their heads.

Xiao Bosheng stepped over the futon, took a handful of incense from the altar table, glanced at it, put back a few sticks, and then lit it on the incense candle next to it.

He turned around and handed it to Tang Yubing and the other two, eighteen sticks each. Then he also took eighteen sticks and lit them.

Hold the incense in both hands, put your hands on your forehead, bend down and bow before Skanda Bodhisattva, then divide the incense in your hand into three sticks and insert them into the incense burner on the altar table. In front of the four heavenly kings and Maitreya Buddha, it is like cooking in the same way, but the hands are empty.

Tang Yubing and Du Xue were still there with the Four Heavenly Kings. Xiao Bosheng crossed the threshold in front of Maitreya Buddha and walked out of the Palace of Heavenly Kings. In front of him was the small square in the center of Lianyun Temple.

There is a large ginkgo tree planted in the square. It is said that it was planted by the monk who was the first to come here. The temple was also planned and constructed around this commemorative tree.

Three hundred years have passed in a blink of an eye, and time has not left many traces on this tree with a crown diameter of more than 20 meters.

The lush branches and leaves stretched in the air, and the leaves dyed yellow by the solar terms rustled in the wind. Xiao Bosheng closed his eyes and listened to the sound of autumn.

"Meow⁓"