Text/Lin Jia
Published in the 124th issue of "Buddhist Culture"
Re-walking the road to the west in the way of a monk
In 2006, Master Mingxian was busy supervising the temple project at Donglin Temple in Lushan Mountain. Suddenly, he received a call from the staff of the organizing committee of "Re-walking Tang Monk Westward Journey" inviting him to participate in this event.
Master Mingxian became the only representative from the mainland among the two Buddhist monks who "re-walked the journey of Monk Tang to the West".
Soon, Master Mingxian entered the public eye. I went to Guangzhou to attend a meeting arranged by the organizing committee. As soon as I got off the plane, I was surrounded by many reporters. All kinds of questions came flooding in. Reporters chased him all the way to the hotel where he was staying, asking questions until two or three in the morning, until he couldn't keep his eyes open.
For an ordinary monk, how could he have ever seen such a scene? If asked, answer honestly. Among them, a reporter asked how you feel about participating in this journey to the west. He only responded with one sentence, "I will travel westward like a monk."
The interview was published in the newspaper the next day. Public opinion commented: This monk is not vulgar, sticks to his duty, and has not been dazzled by the heat of modern activities.
html At 6 o'clock in the morning on July 30, 33-year-old Master Mingxian and Master Huizai from Taiwan set out from the Xuanzang Memorial Square in front of the Daci'en Temple in Xi'an and embarked on "Re-walking the Westward Journey of Monk Tang".
This was a hiking trip that lasted nearly five months and totaled more than 25,000 kilometers. Following the footsteps of master Xuanzang more than 1,300 years ago, they set out from Xi'an, passed through Shaanxi and Gansu, left Xinjiang, set foot on the Russian border, and passed through Kyrgyzstan (for security reasons, they never set foot in Pakistan and Afghanistan), and finally arrived at Nalanda University in India.
▲ Master Mingxian is in Nalanda Temple .
In order to coordinate with the foreign affairs activities scheduled in November, Master Mingxian and others must arrive at the location designated by the organizing committee every day no matter how late they are.
Although fully prepared in advance, he encountered trouble on the first day of walking. It was already three or four o'clock in the afternoon when we reached the west gate of Xi'an City, and we had walked nearly thirty kilometers. Master Mingxian had blisters on the soles of his feet, and he felt excruciating pain as soon as his feet landed. There is still quite a distance from the designated Xiaowangcun that day. Sitting under the city gate, Master Mingxian took out the military leggings given by the layman and tied them up. After drinking water and finding food, we started on the road again.
▲ When the land route was blocked, the two masters asked the locals for help and borrowed the waterway to travel westward.
It started pouring rain not even two kilometers out of the city. When we first left the city, many media reporters followed us. Master Mingxian and others walked quickly, and the reporter shouted from behind, "Master, wait a minute." When the heavy rain came, a large number of reporters dispersed. Braving the wind and rain, Master Mingxian and the others finally arrived at Xiaowang Village. The first day of the journey westward ended.
Since then, we have been moving forward day by day. The walking speed also gradually increased, roughly around 100 kilometers per day. Every day, I still receive a small note from the organizing committee, which contains the route I walked that day and where to stay for accommodation and meals. Many times we set off before dawn and arrive at our residence at 11 or 12 pm. I also stayed in hotels in cities, and was taken to a certain room in the hotel in the dark. Some conditions are better, others are dark and damp. Sometimes I have to camp in the wild.
▲ Master Mingxian and Hui camped in the Master’s wilderness.
The first thing he had to do when he arrived at his residence was to untie his leg wraps. The soles of his feet were already bloody and bloody, and he used a needle to pop the blisters. Let your feet hang out while sleeping. Wait until the next day when the soles of and are dry and the blisters are gone, then re-tie the leg wraps. This pair of leggings followed Master Mingxian throughout his journey to the west.Due to limited conditions, it had not been cleaned along the way, and it had been soaked with pus and blood, and it had gained a certain hardness after being used for a long time. Every time I wrap it, I can hear a popping sound. Later, after the event, Master Mingxian took it to the pool to clean it. The water after soaking was dyed red. It took five changes of water to wash it out, but the original yellow color was already mixed with blood red.
The furthest time, Master Mingxian and others walked for 16 hours. After leaving Bancheng County, we entered the Qiongda Ban, a large wind outlet formed by the Turpan Basin and the Tianshan Mountains. On one side is the scorching heat with an altitude as low as 70 to 80 meters below sea level, and on the other side is the severe cold with an altitude of nearly 5,000 meters and a blanket of snow. The wind outlet is an uninhabited land with constant strong winds all year round. It is also one of the top ten adventure routes in the country. Many professional expedition members never came out after entering.
looked at the endless snow-capped mountains, desolate and without any green vegetation. I had been walking for several days and my body felt exhausted. But the reality is cruel. If you can't climb over the wind as planned, you will be frozen into a big popsicle. The naan has been eaten, and the water in the kettle has frozen into ice. Master Mingxian hooked his waist and dug at the rocks as he moved forward with difficulty. The mountain road was rugged, and my feet were sprained more than ten times while walking among the rocks. A gust of wind blew, and the outside of the clothes was frozen with ice, and the sweat had already condensed. The wind force reached level 12 or above. As soon as Master Mingxian stood up straight, the monk's robe he was wearing was blown up by the wind and wrapped tightly around his body like a rope.
Master Mingxian felt desperate and worried that his spiritual practice would be ruined here and that he would be in trouble for his lay parents, brothers and sisters. This is a test of willpower. When faced with a desperate situation, the only option is to fight hard. When Master Xuanzang traveled westward more than 1,300 years ago, the conditions were naturally more difficult and harsh than today. When the karma arrives, it is natural to experience something. The worries that briefly arose in Master Mingxian's heart were quickly overcome.
Influence along the way and diary of the journey to the west
Master Mingxian has always carried as little equipment as possible, leaving as much space as possible to carry books along the way. It includes Master Xuanzhuang's "Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty", books related to the Zhenwei Shijian and Shishi Sect, "Sunshine Song of Zen", the teachings of Master Hanshan and Master Xuyun, modern Chinese and Western philosophy, and rong Books on the psychology of format. They are all used for daily practice, deepening the understanding of the scenery and Buddhist historical sites along the way, and solving psychological and social problems encountered along the way.
Master Mingxian had an intuitive and real feeling about the customs, customs and current situation of Buddhism in the places he visited. Once, while walking to a valley called Luban Valley in Gansu, I saw collapsed ancient grottoes and Buddhist murals in the caves. It is a place far away from people and few believers visit it all year round. A fat bhikshuni in his seventies has been stationed here for many years. The old bhikshuni did not have a temple in Xi, so he built a bed in an open-air cave and covered it with a mosquito net with plastic sheeting. Seeing the arrival of the masters, the old bhikshuni couldn't help but burst into tears. She cried and complained that many people came to the cave to drive her away and wanted to develop the place into a tourist destination. He lamented that after he left, no one came to guard the grotto for Buddha and Bodhisattvas. While Master Mingxian encouraged the old bhikshuni to restore the temple and find successors, he silently gave her as much supplies and money as possible.
▲ is waiting for the train on the train platform going to Kushinagar.
▲ Meeting the Chinese pilgrim group at the Sakyamuni Buddha lecture platform in Lingjiu Mountain.
▲ Master Mingxian attended the Xuanzang Memorial Hall of Nalanda University in India.
When they first entered Yanqi County, Xinjiang, they did not see any traces of Buddhism along the road. Stay in a hotel in the county town that night. At two or three in the morning, there was a knock on the door. After opening the door, there were six or seven old people who bowed to Master Mingxian and cried. I learned from the elders that Yanqi County has never established a Buddhist association, no temple, and no Buddhist grove. I was very happy to see the Master re-walking on the westward journey on TV. I am glad that the Master of Buddhism has finally arrived.They want to apply to the local government to hold a welcome ceremony, and also want to take this opportunity to apply for a Buddhist chanting hall. I didn't want to, but I was asked to talk to the local authorities. The old people were trembling with fear.
Master Mingxian advised the elderly not to worry. From now on, everyone will start working hard to draft a charter for establishing a Buddhist association and then apply to the government. Before leaving, he wrote the words "Xuan Zang Chanting Hall" as a gift to the elderly. It was not until the end of 2012 that the lay Buddhist who took the lead approached Master Mingxian and told him the good news that the local Buddhist association had been approved by superiors to be established. These things were recorded in the blog by Master Mingxian. An hour or two before going to bed every day, he would pick up the phone and call a lay practitioner in Nanchang . He would dictate the day's itinerary, which would be compiled by the lay practitioner and simultaneously published on a blog to share with Dharma friends. In the past five months, except for more than 20 days when the environment was particularly harsh, the oral blogging work has continued. The content includes the places visited in one day, the historical features along the way, Buddhist historical sites and the current living conditions of Buddhism, etc.
Master Chang Mingxian fell asleep half way through his dictation. The layman on the other end shouted desperately on the phone: "Master, Master, can you hear me?" "Oh, yes, where did I say it?" Following the layman's reminder, the oral blog continued.
Until now, Master Mingxian is still supplementing and improving this precious diary of Journey to the West, hoping to publish it in the future. Through this, more people can have a rich and comprehensive understanding of Master Xuanzang and the history and current situation of the Westward Journey, and open a window for the world to re-understand Buddhism and monasticism.
▲ took a group photo with the principal of Nalanda Temple and the school master.
▲ Madam Maya in Lovastu City exchanges Dharma with Hindu monks in front of the temple.
▲ On the road in front of the dilapidated grotto in Luban Valley, Gansu, I met an elderly bhikshuni who was guarding the grotto alone.
▲ Master Mingxian exchanged ideas with Western Buddhist scholars in the Ananda practice cave in Lingjiu Mountain .
On November 26, 2006, Master Mingxian finally arrived at Nalanda University in India as planned. He was warmly welcomed by the school principal and fellow monks. In his welcome speech, Principal Pant said that they have been looking forward to the arrival of the monks from the West. But there are also worries, fearing that the event will be manipulated and turned into a show. Sure enough, today the Chinese monks came as promised and used a purely religious communication method, showing that the monks arrived in India after traveling through thousands of mountains and rivers, which was similar to the experience of Master Xuanzang.
Master Mingxian and Master Mingxian used the water from the Hukou Falls of the Yellow River, the soil from the Yellow Emperor's Mausoleum, and the soil from the Alishan Mountains in Taiwan, and the "Six Groups of Altar Sutras" in calligraphy that they carried along the way. Riyue Mountain The statue of Master Xuanzhuang, created by the combination of water and , was given to Nalanda Temple.
For Master Mingxian personally, "re-traveling the path of Monk Tang to the West" is an unforgettable mark on his personal path of practicing Buddhism. Although he does not have the extraordinary wisdom and ability of Master Xuanzhuang, he has also developed a kind of perseverance and courage to uphold justice. (The pictures in this article are provided by Master Mingxian.)
