Faithful to Buddha, Faithful to You

Chapter 5 Ideal and Parallel Lines

The camel is relaxed and walks slowly on the infinite sand dunes. Unconsciously, we've been walking in the desert for eight days. I looked back in the headscarf and drew the view with my four fingers compared to the frame of the camera. A beautiful picture appears in the finger frame: the oblique sunlight, the footprints of a row of camels on a golden sand tao that stretches all the way to the far reaches of the sky. The wind swept through it like a fine wave, blurring these footprints a little bit.

“Knock!” Rated as an eternal collection of photos in my heart.

“What are you doing? ”

“Oh, nothing. ”

Take your hand back. Of course you can't tell him I'm sorry I didn't bring the camera. And I was like, "Look at these footprints, they're going to disappear, just like people live in the world. ”

I strangled the reins and jumped off the back of the camel. Left three laps, right three laps, neck twist, waist twist, move my sour muscles. He looked up at the camel and laughed: "But even if the footprints disappear sooner or later, I have to take every step of my way and smile to the end. ”

Pulling on the reins, I walked on the sand with a camel, leaving a series of footprints for me in the desert of this millennium. He gradually burst into laughter between his eyebrows and descended on the camel, learning to look like me. Someone took the rope in our hands and walked away with the two camels.

We went a long way, and we looked back, two lines of footprints side-by-side, two parallel lines stretching. And suddenly I had an idea, and I said to him, "Come on, you go ahead. ”

He was somewhat confused, but he walked forward obediently. I stepped on his footprints and followed him. He stopped for a while and turned around. I almost ran into him. I held my body steady and walked over to him.

“We were supposed to have two parallel lines of footprints that would not intersect in any way. But because of the opportunity, it overlaps. ”

I looked at the two lines of footprints, and I thought, but eight days ago, I was in another space and space a thousand years away, and I couldn't help but shake my head and sigh: "So it's really weird to be fated for this thing. ”

“I think it's Buddha's intention to get to know you. ”

Turning to look into his eyes, a clear spring crystal bright, he was the purest person I had ever seen in 23 years of my life. I was about to answer, and suddenly I saw a figure coming towards us. Approaching, he was a tourist monk, skinny and dusty, carrying a horse as skinny as he was. Chumorogippo hurried forward, and the beautiful nun got off the camel and told the army to stop. The two men respectfully greeted him with their hands together.

They poured water bags and food to the old monks, who took it, put it in the bag behind their backs, and whispered to them. The old monk carefully surveyed Chumorogippo and spoke to him a few more words, and the color grew more and more concentrated. He turned around and said a few more words to Gibbon, looking at Chumoro Gibbon as he spoke, even Gibbon's deity was as heavy as that of an old monk.

The old monk said goodbye soon and walked in the opposite direction. Both mothers and children seem to have a lot to do.

And we got back on the camel, and I rode silently to Chumorogippo: "Well, what did the old monk tell you? ”

He looked at me and thought about it before answering: “He said," My mother must protect me. I will be happy with Buddha Law in the future, super numerous people, no different from UPAGUPTA. ”

“Who's Upagupta?” I asked weakly.

“He is a famous monk of geranium, famous for sitting first in meditation and making the world famous. ”

“Wow, this old monk is so powerful, he can see your future accomplishments.” I wholeheartedly agree, "I believe he said," you must be a great monk of virtue! ”

I'm definitely not a dog leg. He has demonstrated extraordinary wisdom now and will never be nameless again. It's just that with my knowledge of the West, I can't really guess who he is. However, he listened to my praise and was somewhat worried.

I had a hunch that the old monk wasn't just bragging about him. “What's the matter? What else did he say? ”

He drifted his eyes away into a series of red willows, his eyes slightly scattered and his face heavy. It took me a while to think down the elegant neck: “The magician also said that if the restraint is incomplete, there is nothing I can do, I can only be a brilliant and handsome magician. ”

“Incomplete? How can you be so insufficiently restrained? ”

Grip the fingers of the reins tightly and the knuckles are white. Head lower and words lighter. “He said, if I had been 35 years old...”

He paused and flew over a slight blush on Soleil's calm face, but there was a hidden fear in his eyes. Just for a little while, I quickly returned to the calm of the past.

“How was it before I was 35?” Looking at his face, it feels like a serious thing.

He silenced and relaxed the reins and said with a faint face: “I don't know what the Chinese say. ”

This... I'm depressed, isn't it hanging my appetite?

He suddenly threw the rope, clamped the camel, walked a few steps and pulled a distance from me. With a thin body, the monk's coat was raised by the wind, and the oblique sunlight cut out a lonely dark red back. I wonder: Did I offend him?

There was a small forest not far away, and the camels came forward with the news that they were camping in the woods. The attack had stopped and looked back at the far brown red. Until I walked by him and drove at my speed.

The colour of the splendor is a little apologetic. Mmm-hmm. Turn around and ask me, "By the way, Ai Qing, why do you call me that old Bhikkhu monk? ”

I know he wants to change the subject, but I don't understand Sanskrit. What is Bhikkhu? And when I can't remember his hard name, I always call him Little Monk. Is that weird?

I asked him, “Is there a Sanskrit name for a monk, a pronunciation like 'monk’? ”

He thought, shaking his head: "There shouldn't be one in Sanskrit. But Yu Kuo called the preacher Khosha, which sounded like you said 'monk’. ”

Oh, I see. The word "monk” that we are familiar with is translated from the Chinese language.

“However, a preacher is only qualified to shave and teach a man a lesson if he has been under the Great Commandment for more than 10 years and is familiar with the Law. How can you call me a monk if I'm too far away? I'm not in the ring yet, you should call me Sramanera. ”

Sanskrit again! I glanced at him and he immediately understood, without waiting for me to speak, that Sramanera was a monk between the ages of 7 and 20 who had received 10 commandments but had not yet been commanded. Bhikkhu, known as Bhikkhu at the age of twenty, means beggar - to go to the Buddha's Law and beg to eat and drink. ”

No wonder the pronunciation is so familiar. Sramanera is Sami, and Bhikkhu is both Bichu and translator. It turns out the name of the monks is also very polite. In China, however, the old monk is an old monk, the little monk is a small monk, and even Mao's dog may not grow up to be named a monk. I didn't expect “monk” to be such a high standard honorable name, you can't just scream.

I couldn't help laughing, this steady genius teenager really helped me make up for a lot of Buddhist knowledge. So, even though I was much older than him, I felt like I was communicating with my peers because he was very young. Fortunately for him, the hardship of the journey adds more and more pleasure to the growing harmony.

After class at night, I routinely took notes by the campfire, and the oil lights in the tent were quite bright, but I liked the open air. Watching the lonely desert beneath the stars, every time I was intoxicated by this distant past. Tonight's wind suddenly turned its temper, gently passing, and the firewood snapped. Close your eyes and take a deep breath of dry air in the desert and feel as peaceful and tranquil as this evening.

“I see you writing every night. What exactly are you writing? ”

Slightly hard Chinese, Chumorogipo. His eyes were like stars above his head. The monks' robes were curled up by the breeze and rolled down again. Over the past eight days, I've been with him in the morning and evening, and his Chinese has progressed dramatically, and he's already been able to speak many words.

“Oh, nothing, it's a letter.” Instinctively trying to block it, I immediately remembered that he couldn't understand it and didn't have to.

“I can't read what you're writing. ”

Still a teenager, he raised his mouth and raised excitement and anticipation: “I'm learning too little words now, when I'm done, I'll understand. ”

Oh, that's not necessarily true. I hit him in the heart. I wrote a simplified version. By the finger: “Want to sit down? ”

He hesitated and finally sat down, carefully pulling a distance from me, stretching out his slender hands to warm up on the fire.

I held my head together and asked him, "Why do you want to learn Chinese? ”

He turned to me and his eyes were clear as a spring: “The Hans have many strengths, medicines, legal records and skills better than the Turtles. I have a lot of Chinese books at home, I want to read them. ”

He's been such a good learner. It's rare. He hesitated and asked: "Why are you so young to go home? ”

Thought the question was offensive, but saw a glimmer of confusion in his eyes, staring at the fire heap: “I was seven years old and had been away for six years, and it was only a few days before I started thinking about why I had left home...”

“Wait!” I interrupted him with a gesture, seriously asking, "How old are you? ”

“Thirteen. ”

God, I open my mouth invisibly. I always thought he was fifteen or six years old. So tall, yet another calm face that doesn't match the age. Remember when he said he learned Chinese five years ago, when he was eight? At least talk to me in five years. How many brain cells does he have?

“Axel, I'm tall, a lot of people think I'm sixteen.” He grinned, hurried, and put his hands on the fire to warm up. “Don't deny that I am young, I will learn Chinese from you well. ”

“Oh, how could you dislike it? You're my savior. ”

I answered in a dry manner. I'm actually a little concerned, I'm 10 years older than him. No, right, he's 2,000 years older than me. Alas, this relative age with absolute age makes people more confused. Now slap him in the head and ask him, "Are you ready? Why did you leave? ”

He opened his mouth and shook his head again. There is still a slight confusion in my eyes: “It is still difficult to explain it in Chinese. I will tell you when I have learned Chinese to understand this. ”

I can see he's getting tangled up in some sort of confusion. I don't dare make any comments about Buddhism, but I wish I could teach him. Looking up at the night filled with diamonds, he was told the thoughts of a thousand years later in silence.

“Where I came from, there was a tall man who divided people's needs from low to high into five categories. The most basic is physiological needs, food, drink, and laser. Once the physiological needs are met, people will have safety needs. Requiring security of one's life and property. When this need is also relatively met, people have emotional needs: affection, love, friendship. Then there is the need for respect: self-esteem and respect for oneself. ”

I think back to Maslow's five hierarchical theories of needs, turning to stare at his glittering stars, slowing down the speech, and saying clearly: "But none of this is what is needed at the highest level. A person feels the happiest moment is when they achieve their ideals, maximize their abilities, and complete everything commensurate with their abilities. ”

The star's eyes held together slightly, casting a vibrating light, chewing out two very heavy words: “Ideal? ”

I nodded hard and repeated: “Ideally, the goal that you want to pursue all your life and that you can strive for all your life. ”

For a moment of silence, the burning eyes looked at me and said, "Ai Qing, do you have an ideal? ”

“Of course there is!” I hum, clear my voice, "wonder what my ideals are? ”

He was curious, and the inquiry encouraged me to continue. I jumped up and shouted out loud at the heavenly dome: "I want to go through history, restore the truth, and write a history book that can circulate to future generations like Sima Qian's History! ”

Speak loudly of your desires that you never dare say. In the 21st century, if I were to say so, someone would surely laugh. But in the face of this gentle young monk, I have no concern. Look at him staring at me in silence and smiling, “Oh, that's too much, huh? ”

He also stood up and nodded at me for sure. The voice, though not high, is full of comfort: “You can do it. ”

I looked back at his clear eyes, and the tide poured over my heart, and I was delighted to be recognized by a teenager. Feeling at ease, open your arms and imagine yourself as an eagle, fanning your wings around the campfire. Turning back to him, he grinned happily, “You have to think about what your ideals are. A lifetime of striving for your ideals will make you truly happy and not live your life for nothing. ”

“Axel, I don't know what you're talking about. But it makes sense to see you happy because you have an ideal. ”

His eyes sparkled and he sparkled. Raise your tone and look up at the stars: "So, I'm going to be like you, standing up for a lifetime of struggle. ”

The beating flame lined his sculptural side face with a breeze that swept past him and lit up a spin of Mars. The star dots, the bonfire is half bright, the warm smiling teenager, the time is settled, another soul portrait worth collecting.

When I got back to the tent, I rolled back and forth on the pillow, and I still couldn't sleep with some excitement. I can't believe how little encouragement I get back into the corner every night. Think of his “you can do it” and be warm. Say to yourself softly, "Axel, you can do it."

When I fell asleep in confusion, I suddenly thought that Shimaqian's "History" was only available in the Han Dynasty. I leaked Tai Shigang's giant book early. God woke up at once. Oops, that was careless. If only he'd heard of it, he wouldn't look everywhere for it.