A melodious violin sound came from a temple in Hong'an County, Hubei Province. In the auditorium of the
temple, more than 20 monks were performing on the stage, playing the classic "Canon" by Johann Bacharbel .
It is hard to imagine that such elegant and secular music would be played in a Buddhist holy place.
What is even more unexpected is that the vocal director of this band is a little girl who has been a monk for 14 years.
Shi Zheng Xiaotong, 33 years old, graduated from a prestigious 985 school. She has outstanding appearance and elegant temperament. Many pilgrims are deeply impressed by her.
Many people don’t understand why such an outstanding girl would choose to become a monk if she doesn’t do a lot of good work.
What kind of bizarre story happened to her that finally made her convert to our Buddha and accompany her with the Ancient Qingdeng Buddha from now on?
All of this started from a dream more than ten years ago.
The reason why Shi Zheng Xiaotong chose to become a monk is closely related to her mother.
My mother is a devout Buddhist believer and eats fast and chants Buddha's name at home every day. Under the influence of his eyes and ears, Shi Zheng Xiaotong developed a strong curiosity about Buddhism.
It is said that parents are the best teachers of their children. Having a mother who believes in Buddhism will inevitably have an impact on the child's character.
Buddhism emphasizes "being at peace with the situation, not fighting, and being kind." Under the guidance of his mother, Shi Zhengxiaotong developed a gentle and gentle character.
Since childhood, Shi Zheng Xiaotong has shown a side that is different from ordinary children.
When other children were running around outside, Shi Zheng Xiaotong always sat by the window alone, thinking quietly and enjoying his own tranquility.
Perhaps it was her inner restraint that allowed Shi Zhengxiaotong to calm down and study. From elementary school to high school, her academic performance never worried her parents.
During the high school entrance examination, Shi Zhengxiaotong was admitted to Anyang Experimental Middle School, a key local high school, with the first grade in his grade.
After that, it was out of control. During the college entrance examination, I was admitted to Shandong University with excellent results, a nationally famous 985 university.
The opportunity for change occurred during the summer vacation. In order to relax Shi Zhengxiaotong, her parents specially took her to Tiantai Temple in Tiantai Mountain.
In the temple, the fragrance of flowers came, the sound of insects, birds, and wooden fish made Shi Zhengxiao feel like a spring breeze, and he was immersed in it and couldn't extricate himself.
She has a quiet personality. Looking at the monks worshiping Buddha devoutly in the temple, isn't this the life she longs for most?
After leaving Tiantai Temple, Shi Zhengxiaotong was a little distracted. At night, he had a strange dream.
In the dream, the Buddha sent down bursts of Sanskrit sounds, and he sat in front of the Buddha and became his disciple. He was sent to the human world to enlighten the world and save all sentient beings.
After waking up from the dream, Shi Zhengxiaotong felt that this dream was not simple, it was so real.
She made up her mind and decided to follow her heart and live the life she wanted.
The next day, Shi Zheng Xiaotong found his parents and expressed his inner thoughts.
"I have decided. I want to become a nun and stay with the Ancient Buddha of Green Lantern all the time!"
My parents were stunned by Shi Zheng Xiaotong's decision: "My daughter, what's wrong with you? What stimulated you?"
My mother believes in Buddhism. , of course I know what becoming a monk means to a girl.
Therefore, she did not agree with her daughter's idea, and even invited relatives, teachers, and classmates to persuade her to turn back.
"Is there something you can't think about? You can tell me, there is no need to gamble with your future!"
"You are a top student with a 985 score. After graduation, there are a lot of good jobs waiting for you, why should you become a Where is the nun? "
"You can't ruin yourself like this. You will regret it when you calm down now!"
But no matter how her relatives tried to persuade her, Shi Zhengxiao was determined. She made up her mind to go to Qingdeng Ancient Buddha. will be your final destination.
In the end, Shi Zheng Xiaotong’s mother also figured out that she believed in Buddhism, so why should she stop her daughter from pursuing the path of Buddhism?
Love, career, money, nothing is as important as your daughter's happiness.
In order to become a monk, she has already suffered too much glare. If her parents still accuse her, her daughter will be very sad.
In the end, the parents decided to support their daughter and sent her to Tiantai Temple with their own hands.
"Don't worry, I will go home to see you!"
Shi Zheng Xiaotong smiled and waved to his parents, turned around and stepped into the temple. Unexpectedly, he would stay there for 14 years.
Life in the temple is very hard, but Shi Zhengxiao enjoys it.
I have to get up before dawn every day, clean, work, and do morning exercises. After that, the temple opens to welcome the pilgrims.
Although Tiantai Temple is a big temple, it is a temple after all, and its food is very simple.
Steamed buns, vegetarian porridge, and vegetables, not everyone can accept such a light diet, let alone eat it every day or every day.
ate simply and lived in a very simple place with a wooden bed, which was so hard that I felt sore all over when I woke up the next day.
When a monk's robe is torn, he sews and mends it until it can no longer be mended, then he reluctantly throws it away.
The hard work of the temple is not only reflected in food, clothing, housing and transportation, but also in the boring life day after day, year after year.
TV viewing is not allowed in the temple. In addition, the regulations on the use of mobile phones, computers, and the Internet are also very strict.
Monks are not allowed to use the Internet except for necessary work, so as not to be exposed to the right and wrong on the Internet and affect their practice.
I would like to ask, in today's society, how many people can leave the Internet? I'm afraid I won't be able to stay for an hour or a day.
Shi Zhengxiao lived this ascetic life for fourteen years and enjoyed it.
Not only that, in addition to the monks' rules and precepts, Shi Zhengxiaotong will use stricter standards to demand himself.
I only wear one monk's robe for a season. If it gets dirty, I will clean it that night, hang it on the air outlet, dry it in the sun and wear it again the next day.
Her socks are always patched one after another. It's not that there are no new ones, but she thinks they can still be worn and there is no need to waste them.
When eating, she always eats her bowl clean, leaving not a grain of rice left.
Even if there is soup, she will dip it in steamed buns or water and eat it. If there are other monks who can't finish it, she will help them eat it.
When the temple was being cleaned, she always volunteered and chose the dirtiest and most tiring job - cleaning the toilets.
and kept the toilet spotless. When Shi Zheng Xiaotong was mentioned in the temple, no one gave a thumbs up.
Such a life is too hard for ordinary people, but Shi Zhengxiaotong doesn't think so. She regards all this as a kind of practice.
hone her Buddha nature in suffering. For Shi Zheng Xiaotong, suffering is a kind of blessing, and she enjoys it like sweetmeat.
The most important thing is that she found a new kind of pleasure in this kind of practice: Zen music.
Tiantai Temple attaches great importance to absorbing fresh blood, so a considerable number of monks practicing here are young people.
They are generally around 25 years old. Compared with traditional meditation, they are more willing to accept some new things.
Therefore, in 2008, Guangxuan Art Troupe was established, a special Zen music team composed entirely of young people.
Each of them holds a violin and wears monk's robes, playing melodious vocal music on the stage, as if an artist is intoxicated.
Many people don't understand that if a monk doesn't enter meditation properly, but plays Western music, isn't this not doing his job properly?
But Shi Zhengxiaotong didn’t think so. She believed that Western music was a way of practice for the monks and a way of spreading the Dharma.
Rather than saying that the monks are intoxicated in the music, it is better to say that they have entered a state of meditation.
Many pilgrims will nod thoughtfully after listening to the music of the monks.
"From music, we feel a unique kind of tranquility and elegance."
In the practice of Zen music, time passes day by day. By 2015, Guangxuan Art Troupe has grown to a size of 60 people. 's orchestra.
And Shi Zhengxiaotong also became the vocal director, responsible for teaching students songs, bel canto, etc.
Shi Zhengxiaotong is very serious about teaching. Once, when he was teaching an Italian song, one member couldn't learn it because the lyrics were too convoluted, so he planned to quit the Guangxuan Art Troupe.
Finally, under the persuasion of Shi Zhengxiaotong, the members chose to stay. She transliterated the songs into Chinese characters and taught the members how to read and sing word by word. In the end, the members completed the task brilliantly and became a blockbuster during the performance.
Thanks to the efforts of everyone, Guangxuan Art Troupe grew faster and faster. Later, it was photographed by a netizen and posted on the Internet, which caused a lot of heated discussion.
Many netizens could not understand the behavior of Tiantai Temple and began to denounce it online.
"Do they have artistic bacteria?"
"You have become a monk, do you still know what precepts are?"
"Monks and nuns are also crazy and forget their identity!"
"Stay away from entertainment to cultivate a pure heart. This can Are you clean?"
Faced with doubts on the Internet, Shi Zhengxiaotong never defended himself, just smiled and continued to do his own thing.
"Zen music is the performance of Zen practitioners. It is very inclusive and does not distinguish between national boundaries and religions. As long as it is good and beautiful, we will praise it. "
It has been 14 years since Shi Zheng Xiaotong became a nun. , at the age of 33, she still has no plans to return to secular life.
"As the only girl in the family, isn't it inappropriate to not have children?"
Whenever this topic was brought up, Shi Zheng Xiaotong would lower his head and remain silent for a long while, then he would raise his head and say with guilt.
"The ones I feel most sorry for are my parents. I always feel a little sad when I talk about it."
"But I know that my parents love me, and they must hope that I can live a happy life.
"In fact, our life is nothing more than the pursuit of happiness. Happiness, here you can breathe fresh air, learn Zen music, and cultivate your character. This kind of life is simple and natural. This is my happy life. "
Shi Zheng Xiaotong has made up her mind that no matter what others say in the future, she will continue on the path she insists on.
Sometimes, we will use the achievements of others to morally kidnap others.
For example: " Why do top students from 985 University want to become nuns? What a waste of such a high degree of education! "
In the eyes of some people, it seems that once your academic qualifications reach a certain level, you have no right to choose.
As everyone knows, getting admitted to college is the result of other people's efforts, and becoming a nun is also someone else's choice. It is our turn to dictate.
Shi Zheng Xiaotong is happy. She found her dream in her youth and is willing to work hard for it.
One hundred years is so short. Some people spend their whole lives doing nothing, and in the end they don't know what they want. They can only die in depression.
Although some people have no money, they have found something they are willing to fight for their whole life. Such a life may not be meaningless.
Sometimes, happiness and fun are far more valuable than money and career. More meaningful.
They can turn decay into magic, make flowers bloom all over the earth, and add green shade to the desert.
I hope everyone can find the meaning of their own life.
