HCB Chapter 426 Ye Chanxin
Chapter 426 Ye Chanxin
Lin Feng stood aside, watching the two try, seemingly lost in thought.
He suddenly remembered an essay he had read a long time ago, about Zen—
Someone asked Zen Master Dazhu Huihai, "Does a monk still need to work hard in his spiritual practice?"
The Zen master replied, "Practice diligently."
Question: "How can I study diligently?"
Answer: "Eat when hungry, sleep when tired."
Question: "Isn't everyone like that?"
[Answer: "It's different. Ordinary people don't truly eat when they eat, they're preoccupied with countless calculations; they don't truly sleep when they sleep, they're lost in thought. I simply eat when I eat, and I simply sleep when I sleep."]
Lin Feng's heart stirred.
Zen is about living in the present moment.
The so-called inner clarity is not about forcibly clearing your mind, but about living in the present, focusing on everything in front of you, not being distracted by distractions, not being entangled by the past, and not being anxious about the future.
He immediately turned around and whispered his insights to Evelyn and Vassim.
As the two pondered Lin Feng's words, the anxiety on their faces gradually faded, replaced by a sense of relief and enlightenment.
Lin Feng lowered his head and picked up two fallen leaves from his feet.
The leaves are ordinary sycamore leaves, half yellow and half green, with slightly curled edges, and veins extending from the central stem to both sides, like a fine net.
He handed the leaves to Evelyn and Vassim respectively.
"Don't think about 'going in,' just look at this leaf. Look at its veins, from thick to thin, from one end to the other, look at each one."
Evelyn took the leaf and looked down at it.
The veins of the leaves branch out from the main stem, like tributaries branching off from a river, and the tributaries branching off into even smaller streams.
The finest veins are almost invisible, and they shimmer slightly in the light, as if another world is hidden inside the leaf.
Wasim held the leaf up to his eyes, looked at it for a few seconds, then stopped.
The veins on the back of the leaf are shallower, like faint pencil marks; you can feel the slightly raised texture when you touch it with your fingertips.
He closed his eyes and touched it for a while, then opened them again to compare.
Both of them slowed their breathing.
Lin Feng remained silent.
He watched as their expressions changed from "effort" to "immersion," like the surface of water gradually calming down from ripples until it could reflect the sky.
Then Evelyn took a step.
It wasn't intentional; her eyes were still fixed on the leaves, but her feet naturally took half a step forward.
Wasim followed closely behind, as if being pulled by an invisible thread.
The two walked one after the other, heads bowed, gazing at the fallen leaves in their palms, like two children discovering leaves for the first time, step by step, into the threshold of the Silent Heart Palace.
The light inside was soft. The two of them stood still and then looked up in surprise—they had already entered.
Outside the hall, all was deathly silent.
A moment later, someone let out a low gasp, and the crowd stirred, their faces filled with disbelief.
"Is it that simple?" someone blurted out.
"Master Lin Feng, please teach us too!"
"Yeah, what did you just say to them? Just looking at the leaves?"
A cacophony of voices erupted from the crowd.
Lin Feng stood still, a thought flashing through his mind—
If these people can't get into the Silent Heart Hall, this round will inevitably see a large-scale reduction in personnel.
At that time, he, Wasim, and Evelyn will stand out even more.
In a place like this, being conspicuous is not necessarily a good thing.
Anyway, it's just a matter of saying it, it doesn't take much effort.
"It's not about looking at the leaves, it's about focusing!"
"Don't think about 'entering the Silent Heart Palace' in your minds; the more you think about it, the less likely you are to get in."
Find something right in front of you, do it seriously and wholeheartedly, keep your mind focused, and your feet will naturally follow.
Everyone fell silent, their faces showing thoughtful expressions.
From the crowd, the monk Amirka from the Kingdom of Nibo slowly walked up to Lin Feng and clasped his hands together.
"Sage Lin Feng," his voice was somewhat hoarse, as if he had hesitated for a long time before speaking, "I have been a monk since childhood, chanting scriptures for more than twenty years and meditating without interruption."
"I never imagined that I could borrow a leaf to get in today."
"All I could think about was, 'I am a monk, so I should be able to get in more easily than others.'"
He paused, lowered his eyes for a moment, and when he looked up again, his gaze held a hint of self-reflection.
"As a monk, I am not as insightful as you, virtuous one. I am truly ashamed."
Lin Feng looked into his eyes and gently shook his head.
"You're exaggerating. Spiritual practice is simply a process of letting go of attachments, so there's no need to blame yourself too much."
Amirka nodded emphatically, clasped his hands together again, and looked on with admiration.
Following Lin Feng's example, everyone picked up fallen leaves and pebbles at their feet, or stared at their fingertips.
At first, some people were frequently distracted and preoccupied with other thoughts, and were bounced back as soon as they approached the temple gate.
But gradually, more and more people calmed down, slowed their breathing, became calm, and unconsciously took steps, actually stepping into the Silent Heart Palace one after another.
Lin Feng watched the last figure disappear through the door before slowly taking his first steps.
His mind was hardly affected.
For him, the "threshold" of that Silent Heart Palace was like a thin veil, which he could easily lift and pass through.
The light inside the hall was a white light without a source, flowing in from all directions and evenly scattering across every corner.
A thin mist floated in the air, drifting and ethereal, almost imperceptible.
In the center of the hall stands a white stone statue, surrounded by hundreds of prayer cushions.
But no one sat down on the prayer mat. The scene of Ruan Wenming getting lost in the fog was still vivid in their minds, and no one dared to go deeper.
The fog was thinnest at the entrance, which made me feel a little more at ease.
After all, they had only one purpose in entering the Silent Heart Hall—to memorize the scriptures.
Whether you sit or not is not important.
The sound of low recitation gradually rose in the hall. At first, it was sparse, but later it became more and more unified, rising and falling, just like the morning reading class in middle school.
Lin Feng was also memorizing it.
After memorizing it for about twenty minutes, I had it memorized perfectly.
He yawned, took out a sleeping bag from his personal storage space, spread it on the ground, unzipped it, crawled in, adjusted his position, and closed his eyes.
In just a moment, his breathing became even and long, and he had clearly fallen into a deep sleep.
........................
Studio:
"Hey Feng, is this really polite of you? Everyone else is struggling to memorize scriptures, and he's sound asleep right next to them???"
"Hilarious! While others are taking the college entrance exam, he's already been admitted to university through a special program."
"Seriously, buddy, you can actually sleep in this place?? You're incredibly carefree!!"
"I understand, this is the true meaning of 'tranquility of mind'—when there's nothing on your mind, you can just fall asleep."
"That 'paying the grain tax' just now was indeed exhausting, I understand, after all, there's another big battle tonight (doge)"
........................
Lin Feng didn't know how long he had slept before he was gently woken up.
He slowly opened his eyes, and what came into view were Evelyn's icy blue eyes. She was leaning slightly forward, her voice soft:
"Lin Feng, wake up, it's already 5:40, it's time to go to the second-floor platform to gather."