Chapter 4 Hundred Days of Foundation Building

A clear stream flows out of the forest, circling in front of Meng Qi's eyes before flowing down to the foot of the mountain.

The nearby green trees shade the mist between the forests, and the air is extremely fresh, making Meng Qi feel relaxed and happy.

Before dawn, the morning bell rang, waking Meng Qi up. After learning the Sanskrit mantra in the morning class, he and Zhenhui were arranged by Xuanxin to fetch water here. There were Zhenying, Zhenguan and others around, as well as the monks of the martial arts academy who used to carry water for tempering.

Looking at the stream, Meng Qi inadvertently saw his current appearance from the slowly flowing water.

This is a child with eyes like ink, eyebrows like distant mountains, and jade carvings. He is about twelve or thirteen years old, just a little older than Zhenhui.

"He looks really good. It seems that he was pampered before." Meng Qi "self-" praised, but then lamented, what's the use of this for a monk? I must return to secular life!

He sank the barrel to the bottom of the water, intending to test his strength. At the same time, he reminded Zhenhui beside him: "Little brother, it's enough for you to just pick up half of it. Don't be so stubborn."

"Yeah." Zhenhui licked her lips as she watched the fish swimming in the stream.

Just as Meng Qi was about to lift the barrel, he suddenly felt someone looking at him, so he turned his head and looked in the direction of his gaze. He happened to see a group of familiar martial monks. They were the young monks who were ordained by Xuan Ku together with him. Meng Qi could still remember the names of few of them, and Zhende, who was looking at him now, was one of them.

Zhende's eyebrows were quite messy and his cheeks were long and thin. When he saw Meng Qi looking back, he raised his head slightly, seeming a little arrogant and proud.

Seeing this, the other young monks around him all changed from a bitter look to a happy smile. It seemed that after seeing their "companions" who were worse off than themselves, the hardships of life in the martial monks' academy disappeared.

Yes, we entered the martial monks' academy, while Zhending and Zhenhui could only be menial monks. This was something to be happy and proud of.

Zhende opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but after looking at the monk next to him, he closed his mouth and lifted the wooden barrels from the stream, two full barrels.

Meng Qi curled his lips and decided not to argue with the child. One day he would enter the martial arts academy and learn the Shaolin secrets!

He put aside his messy thoughts and lifted the two wooden barrels with force.

As soon as the wooden barrels left the water, Meng Qi was shocked. How could they be so light?

He felt that he didn't use much strength, and the wooden barrels were lifted up.

"Is it heavy?" Meng Qi asked Zhenhui in confusion.

Zhenhui came over honestly, lifted the two full buckets of water in front of Meng Qi, his veins bulged, his face twisted, and then nodded: "Heavy."

"It's not the water?" Meng Qi took a breath and thought to himself, "Could this body be born with great strength? Well, judging from the skin, clothes, accessories, and the marquis mentioned by the horse-faced uncle, this body is probably from a noble family. Maybe he has practiced martial arts before, and has laid a good foundation. His strength is much greater than that of a normal child."

Whatever the reason, Meng Qi was no longer afraid of carrying water. He bent down, carried two buckets of water, and followed the team of warrior monks in front of him to climb the stone steps.

The team quickly stretched out and separated. The warrior monks who had been tempered for many years could also walk briskly with iron buckets and water, and soon disappeared in the mountains and forests.

In order not to attract attention, Meng Qi and Zhenhui and several other menial monks dragged to the end, and Zhende and other new monks in the martial arts academy had just entered the temple for one day and had not made any progress, so they were the same as them.

Feeling the gazes of Meng Qi and others, Zhende and other young monks in the Martial Monk Academy blushed, bent their waists, got into position, and marched forward, not wanting to fall behind this group of menial monks.

Seeing them speed up, Meng Qi's heart moved, and he also learned to bend his waist and get into position. Suddenly, he felt that the wooden barrel filled with water was lighter.

"This posture is very simple..." Meng Qi fumbled for a technique to make it easier for himself to exert force, and his pace gradually accelerated. Unknowingly, he left Zhenhui behind and surpassed Zhende.

"Humph, you have to be steady at the beginning, otherwise you won't be able to move later!" Zhende said angrily behind Meng Qi.

Meng Qi snorted and felt that he needed to change to a large wooden barrel tomorrow, otherwise there would be no effect of exercise.

However, the mountain road was difficult to walk on, and it was going up again. Meng Qi was still sweating and panting when he got there.

"Pay attention to controlling your breathing." Suddenly, a serious voice sounded in his ears.

Meng Qi looked sideways and found that the patrolling monk had stood beside him at some point, demonstrating the rhythm of breathing. He was surprised and happy, and learned to adjust his breathing. Soon, he was no longer out of breath and exhausted, and returned to the temple.

"Tomorrow, change to a big bucket to carry water." The monk ordered, and went down to meet other young monks.

Meng Qi's mouth twitched. Although he had this idea in his mind, he was still worried that he didn't have enough strength.

After a while, Zhenhui Zhende and other young monks also carried water up the mountain and saw Meng Qi breathing "Morning Light" there.

"It's just that I have more strength." Zhende panted and muttered. Like other young monks in the martial arts academy, he felt embarrassed in front of Zhending, who was obviously not as good as himself and others!

Then, they left here in a hurry without stopping.

"Junior brother, take a breath, are you okay?" Meng Qi didn't pay any attention to them at all, and asked Zhenhui who was breathing heavily.

Zhenhui nodded: "Very, very good, good, good, good breakfast!"

…………

After breakfast, the sky was just getting light, and the east was red.

Meng Qi, however, did not feel sore and weak after strenuous physical labor. Instead, he felt more awake and full of energy.

"This body is really good..." Meng Qi looked at the exhausted monks in the hall, feeling happy. No matter what, a good body is what he can rely on in the future.

"Come with me, the newcomer, come to the monastery for lectures." Xuanxin stood at the door of the dining hall with a smile, holding a chicken leg. Seeing Meng Qi looking over, he nodded lightly and said, "You did a good job, don't give it to the monks monastery." You guys are so shameless. Come back in the evening and your uncle will give you a reward."

"Reward?" Meng Qi was delighted. Although he hated Xuan Xin a little, who wouldn't love a reward?

Before Xuan Xin could answer, Zhen Hui said dumbly: "Uncle Xuan Xin, you are not allowed to eat meat after enlightenment. You have violated the commandments."

Meng Qi's head buzzed, and he wanted to turn around and cover Zhen Hui's mouth, but was a little slow.

Sure enough, Xuan Xin's smile suddenly froze on her face.

He twitched the corner of his mouth and said with a smile, "Uncle, I never violate the commandments."

After saying that, he never mentioned the reward again and walked out of the dining hall with an ugly face.

It was only then that low laughter sounded in the dining hall.

Zhenhui looked at Meng Qi with confusion: "Brother, what are they laughing at?"

Laughing at you for being so stupid and stupid... Meng Qi replied in his heart.

But Zhenhui was not concerned about this issue, and immediately changed his attention: "Senior brother, why does Uncle Xuanxin say he didn't violate the precepts, but he was clearly eating chicken legs!"

"Because he has not yet reached the state of awakening..." Meng Qi replied in an ethereal voice, feeling that it was necessary to teach Zhenhui some principles of life, so as to prevent him from always being stupid and offending others, thus implicating himself.

"Oh! Uncle Xuanxin hasn't figured it out yet." Zhenhui suddenly realized it, with a face full of joy, as if he had unlocked some crucial secret.

Meng Qi saw that Xuan Xin didn't stop outside and didn't care to tell Zhen Hui about the world's understanding of world affairs and the cultivation of human feelings, so he called him to follow him.

All the way around the courtyards of various Buddhist temples, Meng Qi heard only the sound of chanting sutras, which was ethereal and distant, and was particularly refreshing for people's hearts.

"Drums in the evening and bells in the morning wake up the rich and famous in the world; the sound of the Buddha's name brings back the charming dreams of the sea of ​​suffering..." Somehow, Meng Qi thought of this couplet. This situation and scene are so appropriate.

"Hey, nephew Zhending, have you heard of this couplet at the entrance of Shuiyue Temple?" Xuanxin asked with a smile.

Meng Qi's hair stood on end as he pretended to be calm and said, "I heard my father mentioned it."

We can only blame it on the inexplicable Lord Marquis.

Xuan Xin was not surprised either, and said with a sigh: "Uncle Master, I once went to Shuiyue Nunnery and saw the couplet at the door, so I was deeply impressed. At that time, the leader of the nunnery, with the strength that had ranked first in the earth rankings for many years, forcibly attacked the Dharmakaya realm. I hope to achieve the 'Golden Body of the Great Compassionate and Compassionate Bodhisattva', but unfortunately I failed to achieve it."

"The golden body of the Great Merciful and Great Compassionate Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva?" Meng Qi said in astonishment, his heart inexplicably burning.

Xuan Xin put away his sigh and said with a smile: "The foundation of Shuiyue'an sect is the Heart Sutra of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. If you achieve the right result, you can obtain the 'Golden Body of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, the Great Merciful and Great Compassion', which belongs to the golden body of the great Bodhisattva and the great Arhat." First, it is far higher than the ordinary Bodhisattva's golden body and the Arhat's golden body, second only to the Tathagata's golden body, Amitabha's golden body and Bodhi's golden body. But throughout the ages, only the master of Shuiyue Temple has achieved it. "

"That's it..." Meng Qi felt that his face was hot and his heart was beating wildly. There were actually golden bodies of Bodhisattvas and Buddhas in this world. It was really exciting and fascinating.

At this time, after everyone entered the "lecture hall", Xuan Xin restrained his playful smile, stopped talking, and led Meng Qi and others into a side hall in a serious manner.

"Senior Brother Xuan En, this is the new novice monk in the Miscellaneous Service Courtyard." Xuan Xin whispered the Buddha's name and pointed at Meng Qi and the others.

Sitting high in front of the chanting hall is a skinny old monk with snow-white eyebrows, also wearing yellow monk robes. There are books and wooden fish in front of him, and he holds a ruler in his hand.

"You guys sit down separately." He pointed to the half-empty futons below, and there was a small table in front of each futon.

Meng Qi, Zhenhui and others did not dare to speak, so they each found a seat and knelt down. After waiting for another half-quarter of an hour, young novice monks arrived one after another, including Zhende and other "companions" who had entered the temple together.

They looked at Meng Qi and others in surprise, obviously not expecting that the handyman monk could also study at the Lecture School.

Xuan En knocked on the wooden fish in front of him to make the young monks quiet down, and then said in a moderate voice: "In the next three years, as long as you don't violate the temple rules, you can come here to learn Chinese at this time every day, except In addition to ordinary writing, one must also practice Sanskrit in order to study ancient scriptures.”

He paused and said, "But before I teach you writing today, I must first guide you into martial arts."

After hearing what he said, Meng Qi's spirit perked up and his back straightened subconsciously. Can the handyman monk also be guided?

Such doubts also made Zhende and others widen their eyes. What is the difference between the House of Monks and the House of Monks?

"Whether it is Taoist static skills or secular methods, the first step in martial arts practice is similar but slightly different. It is for the initial opening of Qi meridians, strengthening the mind and body." Xuan En ignored the doubts of Zhende and others. He talked to himself.

Meng Qi listened intently, for fear of missing a word.

"This step is called 'hundred days of foundation building' in Taoism, which means laying the foundation for martial arts practice. The so-called 'hundred days' means that normally, within a hundred days, Ren Du and other meridians will be full of energy and will open up. In Buddhism, we call it It is called 'cultivating one's body in concentration', because only when the mind is calm and calm, without being scattered or chaotic, can the true energy be naturally transformed, fill the acupoints, and open the Qi meridians, which is called 'opening the meridians' in the world."

Xuan En gave a general introduction to the key points of "Cultivation of the Body" (100-day foundation building): "There are 365 major orifices in the human body. Every time a breath of true energy is generated, it must be filled into the acupoints, and every acupoint must be filled in. The big orifice requires nine mouthfuls of true energy to be sufficient..."

"Every time you enter concentration for a quarter of an hour, you can only generate one breath of true energy. Therefore, depending on the daily practice time of each person, it can take roughly a hundred days to a year to complete this step."

"When entering concentration, the six roots are pure, without delusional thoughts or eagerness. After a quarter of an hour, the true energy will be born. Half of it will go up from the Du Meridian to the Baihui point on the top of the head, and then go down to the upper jaw, forming a mouthful of 'Jinjin'. The other half, Then it goes up from the Ren channel and reaches the lower jaw, turning into a mouthful of 'jade liquid'."

"When the 'golden jade liquid' meets, it will form a mouthful of clear and sweet saliva. This is called 'nectar' in Buddhism. Then we swallow the 'nectar' and fill it into the corresponding orifices..."

Xuan En repeated the key points several times and then said: "When the 'Concentration and Self-cultivation' is completed, the energy, energy and spirit will be sufficient, the Qi meridians will begin to open, and the body will be strong. Only in this way can we enter the next step of 'meditating and accumulating Qi'. I am a Buddhist." It’s called ‘the long-lasting holy fetus’.”

After speaking, he asked each young novice monk to try to enter concentration.

This is not meditation. It only requires a calm mind. It is not difficult. It is relatively simple for children with few thoughts.

But as an adult, Meng Qi had many distracting thoughts and was unable to calm down for a long time, which made him impatient. But the more impatient he was, the less able he was to enter concentration.

When he was so anxious that he was sweating profusely, he suddenly felt a cool feeling in his chest, and his mind became clear.

"That little jade Buddha?" Meng Qi was delighted, and without thinking too much, he slowly calmed down and entered concentration.