In modern society, have you ever seen a monk who doesn't want money?
In a remote corner of Haicheng, Liaoning, there is such an isolated temple that does not care about fame and fortune - Dabei Temple.
This place is known as the last pure land of Buddhism.
It is also regarded as the last dignity of Buddhism.
In a small mountain village in 2009, several monks were begging from their uncle on the side of the road.
But looking at the banknote in the uncle's hand, the monk refused, saying that he only needed some food without meat oil.
When the villagers heard them say that they didn't want money, just leftovers, they all had surprised expressions on their faces.
After hearing this, the uncle who handed the monk the money stuffed the money back into his pocket and got up to get some food for the monk.
At this time, an elderly man sitting next to him couldn't help but sighI have lived for decades, and for the first time I have seen a monk who doesn't need money and just food.
After a while, the uncle from before came out with a bowl of steamed buns, and he put them into the pockets of several monks in front of him one by one.
Perhaps because of the satisfaction in his heart, a smile appeared on the uncle's face.
Just as the monks thanked them and were about to leave, another man on crutches stopped them and asked them to come to his house to get some food.
As soon as he opened the door of the courtyard, the old man called the wife in the house and asked her to bring food to the monk.
Maybe it was a monk who had seen him say he wanted food before, but actually wanted money, but the aunt didn't show up, but shouted through the door that there was no money.
After the uncle entered the house and explained to the aunt, the two took a bag of steamed buns out, and they distributed the steamed buns to the monk, and kept apologizing for taking good care of them.
The monks thanked them, turned around and left the village, meeting up with the rest of their fellow monks and setting out on the road.
This group of monks is a walking monk from the Dabei Temple in Haicheng, Liaoning, also known as ascetics.
So what is an ascetic?
These monks believed that there was a certain amount of suffering suffered by sentient beings, and that if they could replace all these sufferings for people, then people would no longer suffer and only be left with happiness.
And these ascetics in the Great Compassion Temple are also different from the monks in the ordinary temples nowThey follow the ancient law, and there are many rules and precepts.
The most important one is not to accept money, and the monastery requires every monk not to touch money for the rest of his life.
There is also a sign outside the temple prohibiting money, which is larger than the temple's plaque, and there is also a sign prohibiting money on the altar in the temple.
Not only that, but there is not even a merit box in the Great Compassion Temple, just to prevent the pilgrims who come to worship the Buddha from giving money, and other belongings are not accepted.
On the fifteenth day of August every year, the monks of Dabei Temple will be led by the master master and begin to go out on foot to practice.
This practice began in 1995, when these ascetics spent two months a year outside, covering more than 3,000 miles.
Now, they can't go that far every time they practice, but they also do at least 600 miles of trekking every yearFor them, this is not only to improve their personal cultivation, but also to purify sentient beings.
Each of these monks carried more than 50 catties of luggage, and whether it was windy and rainy or difficult mountain or dirt roads along the way, these monks would not avoid it, but continued to move forward in the original way.
In addition to not collecting money and practicing on foot, the monks of Dabei Temple have many other precepts to follow.
Even ascetics who have a heart for the world are just ordinary people, and they need to eat and drink.
However, according to the precepts, the monks of the Great Compassion Temple are not allowed to light a fire to cook during the trek, but can only beg.
And this begging time is also strictly required.
It can only start at nine o'clock in the morning and end at noon every day.
And the food that came from the begging had to be eaten before noon.
One reason for this is to avoidIf you eat too early, you will become greedy, and then you will beg for more food
The other is because the monks only eat one meal a day, and there isThe Xi of not eating at noonIf you eat too late, you are violating this commandment.
Therefore, these monks of the Great Compassion Temple stopped eating anything after lunch, and could no longer accept the food given by the donor, but could only drink water.
After begging for food, these monks could not eat it directly, but mixed all the food that everyone had begged for, crushed and stirred, and finally distributed it to everyone.
This means that all beings are equal and that they do not discriminate against each other.
At the end of the meal, the monks leave a small amount of food in place in the hope of helping others in need.
The monks were not allowed to choose a family when they were begging, they had to go to each house in order to beg for food, and no more than seven households could beg every day.
Even when they go to other people's homes, these monks need to keep their distance from the owner of the house before explaining their intentions, and they should not beg too much food from each house, and at most they can only fill three bowls.
For those who are not willing to give food to them, these monks will not be dissatisfied, and they will be indifferent to all the actions of sentient beings.
If they receive alms, the monks will not reply with words of thanks, but will wish the donor good luck.
If the door is not opened, the monks need to shake the tin staff in their hands and chant the Buddha's name and inform them of the intention.
If no one opens the door, the monk needs to quickly leave to beg for food.
In the process of begging, it is inevitable to run into some women, and when these monks receive alms from women, they cannot have any physical contact with each other, and they cannot even raise their heads, but can only bow slightly to avoid them.
Sometimes they don't meet a single benefactor in a day, and without begging for food, these monks have to drink water.
Then why do these monks not cook for themselves, but beg for food to make a living?
Because for the dervishes, whether or not they can eat is not the main purpose of their begging.
They do this, first and foremost, to sow good fortune.
When the donor gives food, he thinks that he will be blessed if he has done a good deed, and at the same time, he will be satisfied in his heart.
Another point, because there are time and quantity limitationsThe food that these monks begged for was basically not enough, so that they could also temper their will and increase their cultivation.
Because of the perennial hiking, they often come across a lot of people who stuff money and stuff things to worship.
But these monks believe that the real offering is not about money and treasure.
The monks of the Great Compassion Temple do not focus on fame and fortune, but on morality and principles.
After a begging, the monks left the village to continue on foot, when a female devotee chased after them, holding several hundred-dollar bills and offering them everything.
But the monks kept avoiding it, and they didn't accept the money anyway, and the anxious female believer was about to cry, because she only had money to give.
No matter how the female believers persuaded her, the monks still refused to accept her money, and finally gave her a CD explaining the Buddhist scriptures.
And the strange people and strange things that the monks of the Great Compassion Temple encountered on the road were not only such overly devout believers, but also encountered many strange things and people, butThey still face it with a calm and indifferent attitude, not sad or happy.
For example, this woman, she brought a basket of flower rolls to the monks, and after receiving the blessing, she smiled embarrassedly, indicating that her whole family did not believe in Buddhism, but believed in Catholicism.
But this is nothing in the eyes of the monks of the Great Compassion Temple.
In the nearly 30 years of hiking penance in the Great Compassion Temple, they were beaten and insulted.
There are also some people who are more vigilant, only open a little crack in the door to throw out the food, and the steamed buns roll to the groundThese monks also calmly picked it up and sent blessings to each other through the door.
Some people think that they are **, and they don't even let them take the road at their own doorstep, all of which the monks of Dabei Temple have all seen.
But what these ordinary people think of as beatings and insults is a test for the monks, just like their concept of asceticism, the more they suffer, the happier the world.
Every night, the monks would refuse to stay with the well-wishers, because according to the preceptsThey can only live in natural places, such as under a tree or in the mountains.
Whether it's windy, rainy, or in the mountains and forests, these monks never care about the harsh environment.
In the process of trekking, the monks will meet countless ordinary people, who are very admiring of their behavior of not wanting money and not living in houses, but only leftovers, many of whom speak bluntlyThis is the real monastic.
Do not accept money and do not seek fame and fortune, just to purify sentient beings and save the world.
They have all beings in mind, keep strict precepts, and purify people's hearts.
This documentary about the Dabei Temple in Haicheng, Liaoning Province is called "The Cool of the Ancient Road", which was launched on the Internet in 2014, with a Douban score of 9.4, and everyone who has seen it is moved by the will of these monks.
And unlike other documentaries, the filming content in it is completely filmed by some laymen on the road who spontaneously picked up their mobile phones and camerasThere is no script and shooting in the whole process, which restores what the real Buddhism is like for the world.
Today's monks of Dabei Temple have traveled through Liaoning, Hebei, Tianjin, Sichuan and other provinces and cities, and continue to move forwardThey beg for fireworks in the world and send sincere blessings to tens of thousands of families, they are the real "Buddhas" in this world.