"The mountains and rivers are exotic, and the moon and the sky are the same" comes from 732 volumes of the whole Tang poetry, and the poem is entitled: Embroidered robe edge. There are four lines in the poem: "The mountains and rivers are exotic, the moon and the wind are the same, the buddhas send them, and the * * * is bound." The author Hasega, a Japanese, died in 729 AD with an unknown date of birth. He is the grandson of Emperor Tianwu of Japan (the 40th emperor) and served as the Prime Minister of Japan (the highest position among courtiers). When he was in office, he presented thousands of cassocks to China Buddhist Dade, and this poem was embroidered on the edge of the cassock.
"The mountains and rivers are different, and the moon is the same as the sky" means that the mountains and rivers of China and Japan are different, but the people of the two countries wear them once a day, and the breeze is bright and the moon is bright; The last two sentences, "seeing a Buddhist off is closely related to * * *", mean that we hope that the Buddhists of the two countries will have a good relationship in the future.
According to Travel Notes to the East of the Tang River, in the first year of Tang Tianbao (742), Master Jian Zhen explained the precepts to monks in daming temple, Yangzhou. At that time, Rong Rui, a Japanese shaman, and Pu Zhao, a master, came to Datang to seek discipline to make up for the lack of Japanese discipline. After paying homage to Master, the Japanese mage said, "Our country is in the middle of the sea, tens of millions of miles away from China. Although there is Buddhism, no one can preach it. It's like looking for something in a lonely room in the long night. How can you see without candlelight? I wonder if the mage would like to go to Haidong to be our mentor? "
Master Jian Zhen saw his sincerity and said, "I once heard that Master Huisi of Nanyue was reincarnated as the Japanese king, which prospered Buddhism. I also heard that Japanese Prince Nagaya once made thousands of cassocks for China Dade, embroidered with his son's "Mountains and rivers are exotic, the moon is the same; Send Buddha, * * * become attached'. From this point of view, Japan is of course related to Buddhism! "
After Rong Rui, Master Pu Zhao and others persuaded him, Master Jian Zhen asked his disciples, "Who would like to be invited to preach the law?" All the disciples were silent. Monk Xiang Yan stood up and said, "Japan is too far away to live here, and the sea is too vast for a hundred people to reach one." Outstanding people, China stumped and didn't study enough. The Taoist fruit has not been proved, so all the monks are indifferent. "
Master Jian Zhen said, "Why sacrifice your life for the ceremony? No one is going, I will go! " So there is the story of Master Jian Zhen's eastward crossing to Japan. During the ten years from the second year to the twelfth year of Tianbao (743-753), the master made six trips to the east and finally arrived in Japan. He founded the Dazhaoti Temple in the Tang Dynasty in Heichengjing (now Nara), the capital city, to promote Buddhism and become the founder of Nanshan School of Japanese Buddhism. The Japanese call Master Jian Zhen "a masterpiece of balance", which means the cultural roof of the era of balance.
The first biography I read after becoming a monk was Master Jian Zhen. Having been a monk for nearly 40 years, I often think of the famous saying of the master, "If you don't go because of the law, who will go?" I admire the master's great compassion for his neighbor and his heroic spirit of forgetting himself for the law!
At present, the people of China are suffering from the harm of novel coronavirus. The Japanese people, separated only by a strip of water, sent precious relief materials, and carved the eight characters "Mountains and rivers in a foreign country, the moon and the sky are the same" on the box. This not only reminds people of the ancient Sino-Japanese friendship linked by Buddhism, but also inspires Buddhists all over the world to follow the example of Jian Zhen and other sages, love without borders, overcome difficulties and overcome the epidemic with one heart and one mind!