yun monk
Today's article will talk about this phenomenon that everyone does not understand.
According to statistics in previous years, there are currently about 222,000 Buddhist clergy in my country, including about 148,000 Tibetan Buddhism, about 72,000 Chinese Buddhism, and about 2,000 Theravada Buddhism.
What is the average income of ordinary grassroots monks in ordinary temples? According to the "China Religious Survey Report (2015)" released by Renmin University of China in 2015, the average monthly income of ordinary grassroots Buddhist teachers is only 397 yuan.
There are more than 220,000 Buddhist monks in my country, which is a bit small compared to the population of 1.4 billion. Therefore, few people will pay special attention to the survival of the old monks among the 220,000 monks.
There is an old Chinese saying that goes, "There is no filial son in front of the bed for a long time." His biological son, as his father, after he was sick for a long time, he was unwilling to play the role of a filial son again. What's more, an old monk who has no children at all, and he is not the abbot in the temple, but just an ordinary grassroots old monk. It is indeed not easy for other monks to take care of him before taking care of him after a long bed.
In reality, I have seen temples. When old monks are unable to take care of themselves, other young monks do not have the energy to take care of them, and of course they do not want to take care of them. A slightly better temple found a nanny. I have heard that they sent the old monk to a nursing home without these conditions. When he was about to die, he took him back to the temple and asked a few lay Buddhists to help him chant. It was over when the person passed away.
Old monks in temples
Some temples stipulate that after the age, they will no longer accept monks from outside to live forever. This is called "stop". Just like I heard, there is a very famous temple. However, this large temple made regulations that monks were over 40 years old, and they would not accept it when they wanted to live in their temple. Because this large temple also promotes the precepts, I was quite surprised when I heard this situation. Why do you have to make such a regulation? I also called the living room of this temple, but the reply was that their temple really did not accept it. Foreign monks over 40 years old came to their temple to live forever. Because they believe that monks over 40 are not energetic in all aspects and cannot keep up with the rhythm.
It can be seen from here that if a monk is over 40 years old, once you leave the temple where you used to live, you want to find a temple outside to live for a long time, unless you have any connections. You have friendship with people in other temples. If you don’t have this relationship, if you want to live in other temples for a long time, I’m afraid others won’t want you.
Therefore, many young monks try every means to take on a small temple as their own legal representative when they are young. Why? I just fear that I will not have a place to live when I get older.
After becoming a monk, find another home quickly, otherwise there will be no place to live. Do you think this is so awkward?
Zhimao Old Monk
In reality, I heard of an old monk whose name is Zhimao Old Monk. According to the information, the old monk Zhimao has a Dharma name Weijing and is commonly known as Fei Ronglin. Born on the sixth day of the third lunar month in 1920 in Liuxiangtou, Guangyi Township, Wuxi. He believed in Buddhism at the age of 17 and converted to Master Yin Guang, one of the four great monks of the Republic of China at the age of 20, shaved his hair and became a monk at the age of 25, and received the full precepts in Baohua Mountain at the age of 26. In his thirties, he walked to worship famous ancient temples such as Wutai and Putuo. He has visited the contemporary honorable monk Xuyun, Master Nenghai, Master Xingci , Master Jingquan and other contemporary honorable patriarchs. He lived in a certain temple in Wuxi for more than fifty years and served as the first one. He passed away on Christmas Day on the 13th day of the leap lunar month of the lunar calendar in 2006. He was 87 years old and had been a monk for 62 years.
When everyone saw this introduction, they thought that this old monk must have good conditions. But there are some situations that may be quite surprised after listening to them.
This old monk got cancer while in the temple, so the temple arranged for him to be treated in the hospital. After a period of treatment, his health became worse and worse. Before he was about to die, the old monk proposed to return to the temple to die. As a result, the temple where he was, he didn't want him anymore and no longer accepted him going back to the temple, so he wanted him to die in the hospital.
When the old monk was dying, he had a monk and several lay Buddhists around him, wanting to help him with hospice care, but there were other patients living in the hospital ward, which was not convenient. So before he passed away, they pulled him to the morgue, which was relatively quiet, and helped him chant at the end of his life. But they couldn't make too loud noises. They turned on the Buddha's chanting machine and placed the earplugs on the old monk's ear to help chant. In the end, the old monk was exhausted in such an environment. When I heard this, I felt quite shocked. Why did the old monk want to return to the temple and die after he became ill? The temple doesn’t want him anymore and doesn’t accept it anymore. From a human perspective, the death of an elderly man in his place of residence will indeed make others feel a little scared. But doing this in the temple seems to have less Buddhist warmth. Who did I hear about this? I heard the monk who chanted to Master Zhimao at that time and said to me personally. Sick monks go to the hospital
Where should the monks go to the elderly, especially after the old monks get sick?
First of all, as a monk, you should figure out one point. Never superstitiously think that as long as you practice well, you will not get sick. Our human body is the body, and it is normal for the body to have birth, old age, sickness and death. Ancient masters who practice well will also get sick, let alone ordinary ordinary people today. Therefore, it is necessary to have a certain amount of savings in this day and age. You must not be a moonlight clan. When you are really sick, if you can't pay the medical expenses yourself, it may not be so easy to ask someone from the side to help you, or ask your temple to help you.
An old man once said that when she was sick, if she asked her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law to come to help take care of her, the daughter-in-law would not be happy at first because she thought it was hard to help take care of her. Some even said that I had to go to work and I also wanted to make money outside. If I come to take care of you, I would have no money to make money. So the old man was quite smart. She asked her daughter and daughter-in-law to come and take care of her and paid her wages.
The old man said, I would have to spend this money when I invite the nanny to come over. The nanny may not be caring. It is better to invite the daughter and daughter-in-law to come over and take care of you, and I will give you the money too. My daughter and daughter-in-law also pushed it at the beginning, but then accepted it. After receiving it, she was quite happy and took care of it diligently. Everyone was happy, after all, the money was very real!
The old monk sews clothes by himself
At the same time, the monk chooses to live in a permanent temple and must choose a temple that can take care of the elderly. This requires careful observation and never choose the temple you are planning to settle in for a long time.
In fact, in ancient times, monks were not very familiar with each other, and because they were not close to each other, and there were so many monks in the temple, they might not be able to care about each other particularly. This point can be learned from the story of Master Lianchi in the Ming Dynasty. After Master Lianchi became a monk, he once walked to Waguan Temple in Nanjing and suffered a serious illness. He lay on the bed with almost no breath. The monk there thought he was dead, so he carried him to the cremation place and prepared to carry the fire to cremate. Fortunately, Master Lianchi said with all his strength: "I still have a breath." When everyone heard this, they carried him back, and survived to death.
It can be seen from this that the sick monk needs more careful care from other monks, rather than taking him to cremate before he died.
Old monk repairs his own clothes
Monks are also individuals, and monks will also get sick, and they will also feel pain after they get sick.In this regard, Master Lianchi, one of the four great monks in the Ming Dynasty, said that he usually talked about how to do it while he was sick, and he also knew the state of selflessness of learning Biling Gabacha's so-called "pure consciousness and body"; he also knew the transcendental skill of learning Master Ma's so-called "those who are not sick"; he also knew the calm attitude of learning Yongjia Master "always be calm even when encountering wind swords, and he was leisurely even if he was free from poisons." He also knew the spirit of learning Zhaogong's so-called "four major elements are empty, and the five aggregates are not there" to treat death as if he was home. But when Master Lianchi failed to stand firm and was scalded by boiling water, he used the above methods one by one, but all of them were ineffective.
The pain is clearly on the body, who can forget this body? He is suffering from illness, who can think that he is not sick? The burned area hurts like a knife that is cut by a knife. Who can pretend to be a casual person? At this time, the four elements and five aggregates are actually one's own body, and oneself is actually dragged down by this body. Who can say that it is emptiness but not existence?
Master Lianchi then realized that all the empty theories he talked about in his daily life were useless when he was suffering from illness. If there is no profound concentration, you can only surrender to the coming of death. It can be seen that those verbal samadhis can only be used to deceive themselves. Thinking of this, Master Lianchi, one of the four great monks, sighed, how could he not work hard to work in the real world!
The original text of the old monk in the temple
is from "Tang E (III)": "When I talk about the work of my illness, I also know the so-called "pure enlightenment of the body" of Biling Gabacha; I also know the so-called "there is no illness" of Master Ma; I also know the so-called "Even if I encounter Fengdao , I always remain calm, and if I have poison, I can be leisurely." I also know the so-called "The four elements are empty, and the five aggregates of are not there". When you get into the boiling soup, start from scratch, and feel pain in and , who is the "body"? I am sick now, who is the one who is not sick? Who is the 'flattering and leisurely' person who cuts the poison into the skin? The four elements and five aggregates are actually my body and my burden. Who is the one who is "original and not possessed"? I know that it is not helpful to the general public. If there is no concentration, you will be willing to hide in the dead gate. He verbally samadhi , but only hides himself from his own ears. Alas! Can you not try to persuade me? "
So, normal people will get sick, birth, old age, sickness and death are the norm for people. Some practitioners should not think that they will not be sick at any time. Being able to truly not get sick in their later years and then die without illness is extremely rare!
Moreover, for ordinary mortals, not getting sick for a long time is not necessarily a good thing. Often, they become arrogant if they don’t get sick for a long time. Some practitioners will be proud and arrogant. People are quite funny. They think that illness is an evil behavior. They always like to say that some sick people have heavy karma. When they get sick, they often have no sense of Taoism when they get sick, because what he calls people who have practiced well will not get sick is actually a superstition.
Master Lianchi also pointed out in his article "The Good Medicine for Sick and Sentient beings": "People in the world regard illness as suffering, and the first virtue says: 'The Good Medicine for Sick and Sentient beings. ’How can a medicine be used as a medicine if the disease is reversed? A tangible body cannot be free from diseases, which is inevitable. When you are not sick, you are flirting and carefree, who will realize it? Only when one suffers from illness and suffering can one realize that the four elements are not real and that human life is impermanent, then one will be a chance to repent and aid to practice. Since I became a monk, I have been dying from a serious illness. I have repented and improved my cultivation. Therefore, I believe in the words of good medicine. What is the true saying! ”
By writing this article, I only hope that when monks become monks, they should also consider the issue of retirement in their later years and how to treat them after they get sick. Without long-term plans, they will have immediate worries. Birth, old age, sickness and death are the norm of life. We should consider and deal with it actively.
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