..續本文上一頁lf cents and said, "Dwell right where you happen to be when you have spent the last of this eight and half cents. As long as you have even a half a cent left, you should keep moving." Carrying that eight and half cents, Fa Hai went down the mountain. He begged for food as he traveled, because he dared not spend the eight and half cents. He went straight through Hunan to Nanjing. As he crossed the river at Zhenjiang, intending to climb the mountain on the other side, the ferryman didn”t ask for more and didn”t ask for less--he wanted exactly eight and half cents for the fare. Since all the money was spent for the fare, once he reached that mountain, he didn”t leave. He stayed on Gold Mountain. That mountain was named Gold Mountain. Actually, originally it was not called Gold Mountain. What was its name
There is no way to trace it. Well, how did it come to be called Gold Mountain
When Fa Hai first arrived on the mountain he found a cave and lived in it. One night the cave radiated light. He went further into the cave to trace the source of the light and discovered two crocks full of gold there. He then used the gold to build Jiangtian Monastery. And so in China that mountain is named Gold Mountain because two full crocks of gold were discovered there by him.
He established a Way-place there and to this day, it is one of China”s most famous Way-places when it comes to Chan meditation. The saying goes:Gold Mountain legs.Gaomin incense.
At Gaomin Monastery, the sitting periods are measured by the length of time it takes a stick of incense to burn, and they are never off by a second. At Gold Mountain, those who lived there got their legs well-trained for meditation--to the point that no matter how long they sat they didn”t fear the pain. They had veteran legs! Several days ago someone couldn”t stand the pain and cried. I”ve told you before that you can stand up for a while if your legs hurt. Someone suggested, "Stretch out your legs for a second while still sitting there in order to get rid of the pain." Basically that method is all right, but if you allow people to stretch out their legs in front of the Chan bench, they won”t do it for just a second or just a minute. At the least they will stretch their legs out for ten minutes or even twenty minutes. Once you stretch out your legs, you can”t work at your meditation. And so why do I suggest that people stand up
When you stand up, everyone can see you. If you sit there with your legs stretched out, some people are not going to notice it. And you can be thick-skinned and rationalize with yourself: "It doesn”t matter--others are probably doing the same thing." In general, you won”t feel so embarrassed. But what happens if you stand up
"Gee! Everyone else is sitting. It”s embarrassing to be standing here. I”m going to hurry up and sit down." That”s why I want you to stand up instead. If you really can”t stand it or if you feel like going to sleep, you can stand up. That”s the first reason I want you to stand: you can shift your energy and bring up your spirits. The second reason is that you won”t do it for long.
Someone complained today that there is too much noise in the Chan hall. One person was coughing; somebody else was snoring; and another person wiggling, which caused the bench to squeak. The noise was intolerable! That can happen anywhere. You may try to avoid this noise, but another noise shows up. If you get rid of that noise, you”ll become aware of another one. If you are someone who knows how to apply your effort, then whether it”s noisy or quiet, you will not be turned by movement or stillness. Don”t follow the noise and quiet--don”t listen to the movement and stillness. If you follow the movement and stillness, then you will say: "He is really irritating! She …
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