The idiom story of adding filth to Buddha's head comes from Volume 7 of "Jingde Chuan Lanlu" by Shi Daoyuan of the Song Dynasty: "Gong Gong Cui entered the temple and saw birds putting dung on the Buddha's head. He asked the master, "The birds still have Buddha nature, but they h

The idiom story of the Buddha's head adding filth comes from Volume 7 of "Jingde Chuan Lanlu" by Shi Daoyuan of the Song Dynasty: "King Xianggong Cui entered the temple and saw birds put dung on the Buddha's head, so he asked the master, 'The birds still have Buddha nature, but they have no Buddha nature?' The master said, 'Why did you put dung on the Buddha's head?' The master said, 'Why didn't you put dung on the Buddha's head?'"

The Buddha's head adding filth is a metaphor for putting bad things on good things and defiling good things.

"Jingde Chuan Lantern Record" is a history of Zen lanterns written by Shi Daoyuan during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of Song Dynasty. "Jingde Chuan Denglu" is very popular in the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties, especially it had a great influence on the Buddhist community in the Song Dynasty.

"Jingde Chuan Lamp Record"

Lamp Record is a style between monk's biography and quotations, and was the first in Zen Buddhism. Compared with monks' biography, it briefly records the lines and details the words; compared with quotes, it extracts the essence of quotes and compiles them according to the lineages that teach and inherit, which is equivalent to the catalogue in historical books. It is actually a history of Zen thought.

One day, the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty Cui Qun visited Dong Temple in Hunan. When he saw birds pooping on the head of a Buddha statue, he said to the abbot: "Birds do not have Buddha nature and are very disrespectful to the Buddha." The abbot said: "Donor! Birds have Buddha nature. They choose to poop on the head of a Buddha because of Buddha nature, tolerating sentient beings, and never caring about external things. Birds also understand this. Why don't they poop on the head of a hawk?"

Learn an idiom story every day, read history wisely, and gain knowledge.

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