Budai Monk: Taking a step back is actually moving forward

For thousands of years, the legend of Budai Monk, the incarnation of Maitreya Buddha, has been telling the vastness and beauty of the world in this vast universe, passing through the long bells of the thousand-year-old monasteries, and continuing to interpret the ancient heritage as always.

According to Buddhist scriptures, Maitreya is the future Buddha who will be born after Sakyamuni. He symbolizes the brightness and happiness of the future world. When Maitreya Buddha is born in the future, the land will be flat, filled with the seven treasures, the flowers will be fragrant, the fruits will be sweet, the country will be prosperous, the people will be kind, and people will be able to live longer. Maitreya Buddha was born into a noble family. After he was born, he attained enlightenment while meditating under the Dragon Flower Tree.

In Buddhism, Maitreya came from India and evolved into Qieci, the "Buddha Bag Monk" in Fenghua in the late Tang Dynasty after arriving in China.

It is said that one morning in the late Tang Dynasty, the river in front of Changting Village in Fenghua roared with waves. The rolling river water was like a giant dragon with bared fangs and claws, roaring and rushing away, with an unstoppable momentum.

Villager Zhang Chongtian was working in the fields. He had lived by the river for half his life and was accustomed to the flood peaks and turbid waves of spring. However, what surprised him was that amid the sound of waves that was as low as a bull's roar and as loud as thunder, there seemed to be a wisp of ethereal music coming from the depths of the universe, echoing among the waves... What surprised Zhang Tianzhong even more was that in the deep and turbid river water there was actually a lotus flower that he had never seen before! It was huge, golden in color, and seemed to radiate a mysterious light and emit a faint fragrance. It was not flowing downstream, but drifting slowly upstream against the current...

Zhang Chongtian couldn't believe his eyes. He closed them tightly and then opened them again. Although the golden lotus was gone, he saw a bundle of firewood where the golden lotus disappeared, and on the firewood lay a naked boy!

Facing a catastrophe, the little boy was completely unaware of it, and was soundly sleeping as if he was comfortably lying in a cradle, intoxicated with a sweet dream. Zhang Chongtian didn't think much about it, and quickly used the long-handled hoe to plow the ground to pull the bundle of firewood to his side, and picked up the little boy. Incredibly, as soon as he picked up the child, the bundle of firewood scattered and disappeared, and the child in his arms, as if he had known that he would be rescued from the flood, smiled at him.

Zhang Chongtian couldn't help but love the child because of his round head, big ears and dignified appearance. After bringing the child home, he discussed with his wife, Dou, and decided to adopt him, believing that the child would have good fortune in the future after surviving a great disaster. Later, he was named "Qieci" by Zen Master Xiankuang of Yuelin Temple, which was across the river from Changting Village.

Little Qici is not only plump, but also a lucky star. He is innocent, lively, playful and active, bringing endless joy to Zhang Chongtian and his wife. What is even more miraculous is that since adopting Qici, Dou, who had not been pregnant for many years, now gave birth to a girl and a boy. Of course, this is also the result of Zhang Dou and his wife's good deeds.

Since childhood, Qieci often went to Yuelin Temple with his parents to worship Buddha, and he also treated the statues of Arhats in the temple as his brothers. When he grew up, he and his friends in the village often went to the temple to play. Qieci seemed to be strongly attracted by the tall buildings, magnificent Buddhist temples, and towering Buddha statues of Yuelin Temple. He was also influenced by his parents' worship of Buddha, which made him have a strong interest in Buddhism.

After Qieci became a monk at Yuelin Temple, perhaps because of his great enlightenment after experiencing spiritual suffering, or perhaps because of his great wisdom and awakening after transcending the mundane world, he often did things that people found interesting. The most special thing was that no matter where he went, he always carried a large cloth bag. When someone asked him his Dharma name, he would answer with a stanza:

I have a cloth bag, empty and free from all worries;

Spread out to all directions, and enter into the state of Avalokitesvara.

From then on, he was named after the cloth bag and was called "Budai Monk".

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