The thickest incense stick is thicker than an arm, and the thickest one is thicker than the mouth of a bowl. It is about 1.2 meters long. At first glance, it seems that it is not burning incense, but money. Burning incense in Buddhism is just a etiquette and rule. , there are some requirements for whether the fragrance is mellow or light, good or bad, but it is not thicker, the better, and longer, the better. In the past, Buddhism did not have bowl-sized incense to burn, and it was impossible to make it even if you wanted to. Even though I knew that the Buddhist world here was covered with a copper stench, I couldn't help but get closer, thinking that I could buy a pillar of Buddhist incense for a hundred or ten yuan. I didn't know it, but I was shocked when I saw it. Next to the incense niche in front of the Main Hall of Shaolin Temple, three monks in cassocks are sitting, inviting guests to come over. They don't tell you the price and rules, but ask you to sign your name in the signature book. Tourists don't know that the signature book is a trap. Some people may mistakenly think that it is the Shaolin Temple's respect for the pilgrims, and sign their names in a daze. With this sign, you have fallen into the trap. After signing your name, the monk will tell you that for all pilgrims who sign your name, Master Shi Yongxin will personally chant sutras and recite Buddha's name to ward off disasters for you, and so on. Then he points to the incense sticks of different thicknesses and gorgeousness, but all are golden, and asks you: Donor, which stick of incense do you want? Because Master Shi Yongxin will recite sutras for you to ward off misfortunes, respectable tourists will usually choose thick and gorgeous incense sticks. When they hand the incense to you, they will tell you that this stick of incense is six Thousand dollars. At that time, it's too late for you to regret it. Your name has already been signed, the incense is in your hand, you are surrounded by onlookers, and there is a giant Buddha in front of you. At this time, people usually swallow their bitterness and take out the money. Fortunately, there was a person offering incense in front of me who made me understand the process, so I didn't fall for this trick. Among the high-quality incense in the incense niche, the cheapest one is 600 yuan, and the most expensive one is 6,000 yuan. The tourist chose the thickest stick of incense. When he heard the price of 6,000 yuan, his face turned pale and he stiffened. There. His wife followed behind, her face hanging even longer, and she pulled the man's cuff to leave. The monk said, Donor, you have already signed. The man cried and begged his wife, saying, forget it, just six thousand, as sincerity will help you, and you will lose money and eliminate misfortune.

After watching this scene, I turned around and walked away. A stick of incense costs six thousand yuan. Don’t say I can’t afford it. I can’t burn it even if I can. Where is the burning of incense? You're cheating people to make money in front of you. I think there are all kinds of people in this society. There may be some people who come just for the incense worth 6,000 yuan, and there are people who don’t care about burning money. If Shaolin Temple does not engage in fraud, you can place a sign in front of the incense niche with a clear price, and those who wish will take the bait. But they didn't. The three monks sat there, doing nothing but deception.

But still did not escape this disaster. When I turned to the last hall, I saw that the door of the hall was open, and there were people kowtowing and burning incense there. I thought there might be no charge for burning incense here, just put some money into the offering box. So Qian lit a stick of incense, climbed down and kowtowed three times. Before he could get up, a monk in gray cloth came over, put his palms together and recited Amitabha. He said, this is the place where people kowtow and make wishes, and he asked me to go over and sign a sachet. Only then did I realize that I had been fooled, but I had already knocked my head off, so I couldn’t run away, right? So he followed the monk to his wooden fish. He took out a sachet with six lines of poems. Each line of the poem started with a number. He said, "Let me choose a number. Each number represents one hundred days. They will be in the Buddha's palace." Here, chant sutras for those who have signed, and ask Bodhisattva to bless the pilgrims to fulfill their wishes.

I am quite a smart person and knew that there must be a trap behind those numbers, so I chose the smallest number "six". Sure enough, after I finished drawing the tick, the monk recited Amitabha again, saying "Sing the Sutra" It costs one yuan a day. I chose 600 days and had to pay 600 yuan. I didn't say anything. I was clearly fooled. What could I say? He took out 600 yuan and put it on the table, turned around and left.

There is such a detail: When we were visiting the temple, a tour guide was explaining to the tour group. I heard her talking about Master Shi Yongxin. She said: Master Shi Yongxin has a genius business acumen. , with the intelligence and wisdom of a great man, if he does not become a monk and practice, he will either be a business giant like Li Ka-shing, or he may be a high-level leader of the Central Committee... I was speechless next to him, indeed, This tour guide, who was obviously not highly educated, was originally called a "highest-level leader of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China."

On the one hand, there is fraud and vengeance like deception, and on the other hand, there is personality worship like singing praises.

Shaolin Temple, is this still the pure land of Buddhism?