..续本文上一页hould come to the mountain in the land of Thuc, go up the mountain, and when he saw the two pine trees, then he would meet Kaniska. The monk asked, "What is the way to Thuc

　　"

　　He went over the bridge, and saw that somebody had left a bamboo stick behind. He threw away the old stick that the monks had given him, to take the new bamboo cane he had found, and the old stick was swept out to the sea. He came to a place where people were selling food, rice and sweet potatoes, and somebody made an offering to him of some sweet rice, but he said he wouldn”t eat it because he said it was not good for abscesses. Then the old lady offered him sweet potato, but he said that was no good either. Finally the old lady offered him some banana, and he ate that, and he had enough strength to stand up and walk. He took his cane and went in search of the land called Thuc.

　　He walked, day after day, month after month, because this land was very far away. Many nights he had to sleep under a tree. Sometimes he went across the land of a temple, and he stopped in the temple and asked to be able to sleep in the temple, and the monks and nuns invited him into the temple to sleep in the monks” quarters, but he wouldn”t allow it, he said he would just sleep outside in the courtyard. That went on for many months, until he found the mountain call Cuu Lung. He was so tired and so hungry, and his robes smelled very bad, not only because he had not washed them for five or six months, but also because the pus from the abscess had run into the robes. It must have been many bowls full of pus that had come out of the abscess, and he didn”t have any cotton to wipe it clean, so it just stuck to his robes, and they had turned a horrible color, not brown anymore. Nobody who looked at him could believe that he had been a National Teacher. So he had had a great accident; it was also a psychological accident, because he had seen that he was no longer worthy of anybody”s trust.

　　That afternoon he came to the mountain and looked up, and he saw two pine trees imprinted in the mist, very high, surrounded by clouds and mist. He put all his effort into climbing that mountain, every drop of strength that he had left. When he had gone a third of the way up the mountain, behind the two pines he saw the roof of a very beautiful temple. He was very happy, and he made a little more effort. He climbed for another half an hour, and he came to the temple. A very kind novice monk came out, and he asked, "Is this the place where the Venerable Kaniska lives

　　" and the novice said "Yes. Please come in," and the novice led him.

　　He sat in the guest room waiting in order to present his greetings to the abbot Kaniska. He waited five minutes, and then Master Kaniska opened the door and came in. he tried to stand up and bow to the Indian monk, because the Indian monk looked beautiful, like a bodhisattva. He didn”t look as he used to look. His face was lit up by light, and he was wearing a robe, looking like a bodhisattva, very mindful, very serene. The monk wanted to touch the earth in front of him, but Master Kaniska wouldn”t let him. He said, "You are my brother, you need not touch the earth in front of me. Sit down and tell me about what has happened during the last year." Then the novice brought both of them a cup of tea. I don”t know what kind of tea it was, but when the monk drank the tea, he felt so well, extraordinarily well. It wasn”t lotus tea, it wasn”t jasmine tea, but when he drank it he felt so well. During the last six months he hadn”t felt that well. He had suffered, had met so many difficulties, had been hungry and thirsty, and after all those difficulties he drank a cup of tea and he felt so well, as if he was drinking the nectar of compassion of the Bodhisattva.

　　The Master Ka…

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