Old man Weishan once said, "The old monk can eliminate ten thousand taels of gold by meditating." Although Prime Minister Pei Xiu of the Tang Dynasty knew that it was good to become a monk, he could not become a monk as a prime minister, so he built a large The temple can accommodate more than 2,000 monks conducting Taoism at the same time. At that time, many monks heard that a new monastery had been built in Weishan, Hunan, and they came to study and get close to the old man in Weishan. They sat in meditation every day and lectured on the precepts.
Pei Xiu saw that he had no merit in becoming a monk, so he sent his son to a temple to become a monk. This son is a Hanlin bachelor, that is, a graduate of the highest national college. When Old Man Weishan saw this Hanlin monk, he named him Fahai and asked him to fetch water. There were thousands of people living there, so the job was not easy. There was no running water at that time, so you had to fetch water from the well, and you had no time to spare from morning to night. Fahai got up at three o'clock in the morning, and he had already started fetching water while everyone was doing morning classes. I have carried water and carried water like this for several years without doing any other work or even participating in chanting or meditating. As a Hanlin official, carrying water for the public seemed to be wronged, but Fahai did not complain and did his best.
One day, he happened to have a little free time. He never knew what monks did, so he took the opportunity to sneak into the meditation hall and peek inside secretly. At first glance, in the meditation hall, some monks were sitting upright; some were sleeping and snoring with their heads lowered; others were looking around with their eyes open. Fahai thought to himself, "I am very tired from carrying water every day. You used to sit and sleep, or look everywhere with your eyes wide open. How can you monks be worthy of my support!" So he complained in his heart.
Fahai thought this. Although he didn't say it out loud, Old Man Weishan already knew it. He called him into the abbot's room and said, "You have lived in this temple for several years, and now you are complaining that you are not qualified to be a monk." I will accept your donation. You are not allowed to live on the mountain now. You have to pack your bags and move to the temple.”
Fa Hai was expelled from the temple and asked for leave from his master, Zen Master Lingyou. "Master, I don't have any money either. Where should I go?" Zen Master Lingyou gave him eight and a half coins and told him, "You can go wherever you want. In short, stop after you have used up the eight and a half coins." "If you haven't used it up, don't stop." At that time, eight and a half yuan was equivalent to eighty-five yuan today, which was not a lot.
Fahai did not dare to use money along the way. He begged for alms along the way from Hunan to Jiangsu. Later, when he passed Zhenjiang, he saw a small island on the Yangtze River with mountains on it. Fahai wanted to go to see the mountains, so he called the boatman over and asked him how much he wanted. The boatman doesn’t need more or less, but it costs eight and a half cents! When Fahai arrived at the mountain, he found that it was not high and very quiet, so he stayed there. Later, he found a cave in the mountain with several pots of gold in it, so he changed the name of the mountain to "Golden Mountain", took the gold to build a temple, and continued to concentrate on Zen Buddhism.
From that time to now, Jinshan’s Taoism has been particularly good, with numerous ancestors emerging from past dynasties. The famous Chinese Legend of the White Snake records the story of Abbot Fahai, who was this person. He had not yet received full ordination and was still a novice monk, but he was already a founder.
The famous saying of the old man Weishan, "The old monk can eliminate ten thousand taels of gold by meditating", which was said to Fa Hai. Fahai imagined that being a monk was not qualified to be supported by him, but that was not the case. Why?
Because if a person can sit still, he will be enlightened. It is also said that "if a person sits quietly for a moment, it is better than building the Seven Treasures Pagoda on the Hengsha Sands." Therefore, ten thousand taels of gold will disappear. Therefore, we Zen meditators should not take the practice of Zen lightly. If a Buddhist wants to become a Buddha, he must meditate; he must work hard and not be afraid of leg pain and backache, so that he can achieve success. Therefore, the ancients said, "How can you enjoy the fragrance of plum blossoms without being chilled to the bone?"