RI QIN

2016.10

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The old man had become the monk for Buddhism for several decades. He meditated in front of the figure of the Buddha, believing one day he would know the sense of his life. He climbed toward the peak of the mountains and sat under the rip current to meditate, because he believed that if he was close to the nature, he might get something. Ironically, he did not get anything, but his behaviors attracted abound of people who also wanted to know the true sense. They marveled at his persistence. They invited him to become the master in a small temple, to which the old monk agreed. It is the first time that he met the young monk in that temple. On that day the little monk was sleeping in the bedroom. What an amazing face that he had! “That was the face of Buddha, so he could do something”, that was what the old monk thought when he first saw the little boy. Because it was the face of the Buddha, the old monk decided to do something. He started to teach the little monk about meditation and penance. They meditated, chanted sutras, cooked, washed clothes and did everything together. However, the little monk barely changed, which disappointed the old monk. When the old monk talked about Buddhism and how great the ancestors were to the little monk, he could not see anything in the eyes of the little monk. The old monk had expected sparkles in little monk’s eyes that indicated admiration. After several years, the old monk thought the little monk did not have any improvement. He was angry, so he told the little monk that he should concentrate on self-improvement because he had a face so similar to the Buddha’s. The little monk stared at him for a while, then picked up the candle on the desk, and burned his face. The old monk was shocked and stopped him as quickly as he could. The little monk signed, “Why don’t you get it?!” Then he walked out of the door. The old monk did not understand what had happened. He suddenly understood it. Then he cried, with the biggest smile on his face. Everyone rushed into the room to see what was wrong, but the only thing that they saw was the crazy old monk. “I got it! I got it!” The old monk ran to the room, and hurried out. When he got out, the little monk had already gone. There were only the yellow cassock, a pair of shoes and the Buddha beads on the clothes.