很多人都說，聰明不過帝王，智慧不過衲子。滿清康熙年間，傳說五台山有一位很有修行的老比丘。有一天，康熙皇帝忽然想起，父親自從去了五台山出家，一直無音訊，這位老比丘會不會是父親順治皇帝呢？康熙脫下龍袍，化裝成一般百姓的樣子，文武大臣一個也不帶，就去五台山找他的父親。到了五台山的廟裡，見到了老比丘，可就不能有把握認出這位比丘，就是他的父親順治皇帝。因為這位老比丘不洗臉，也不刮鬍子、不理髮，穿一身髒衣服，簡直像個瘋和尚 。
過了一段時間，康熙又一次去了五台山。到了山上，康熙又見到了「瘋和尚」－－這次見到的老比丘，在禪房裡打坐入定。康熙馬上回去下了一道聖旨，派人去妓院買來一名叫金花的煙花女子，並帶去見康熙；康熙對金花說：「妳去陪一下五台山的老比丘，如果妳能叫老比丘睜開眼睛，我就給妳一萬兩黃金。從此以後，妳就可以享受富貴，再不用當煙花女了。」金花不敢違抗聖旨，就去了五台山。找到了老修行，金花以無限的風流手段來挑逗這一位出家人，可是這位老修行很有定力，身臨女色，卻一塵不染。兩天兩夜後，老比丘睜開了眼睛，和這位女子說：「妳陪我坐了兩天兩夜，這兩串銅錢就送給妳吧。」金花一看老修行睜開眼睛說話了，就帶著老修行給她的兩串銅錢，去康熙那裡領賞金去了。
康熙得知老比丘出定了，就穿著皇帝的衣服，帶著文武百官，去五台山見他的父親。在去五台山的路上，有幾千位老比丘出來迎接當朝皇帝。康熙找到老比丘打坐的地方，一看沒有人，不一會兒，來了一位不到十歲的小沙彌，手裡拿著一頂破帽子，放在香爐下面，之後小沙彌就走了。康熙覺得很奇怪，拎起香爐一看，帽子沒有了，卻有一張字條，上面寫著：「前生欠她兩吊錢，金花該我兩宿眠；康熙佛爺為媒證，我卻少修五百年。」老比丘和小沙彌找不到了，順治皇帝出家，提前五百年證果了。
康熙在回去的路上，迎接他的幾千位老比丘也不見了，路邊的每一棵草葉上都掛著一塊銅錢。 |
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Many people say,“There’s no one smarter than an emperor; there’s no one wiser than a Sanghan.” During the Kangxi reign of the Qing dynasty, it was rumored that there lived an old Bhikshu (monk) of great cultivation at Wutai Mountain. One day Emperor Kangxi suddenly thought that there had been no news of his father ever since he went to Wutai Mountain and left the home-life. He wondered if the old Bhikshu might be his father, Emperor Shunzhi. Kangxi took off his imperial robes and dressed as a commoner. Unaccompanied by a single minister or official, he went to Wutai Mountain to search for his father. Upon entering a temple, he saw the old monk, but could not be sure it was his father, since the monk was dressed in dishevelled rags, with face unwashed, beard unshaven, and hair uncut--truly a rustic monk.
Afterwards, Kangxi paid another visit to Wutai Mountain and saw the rustic monk again, this time meditating in the Chan hall. Kangxi immediately went back and ordered someone to buy a prostitute named Golden Flower at the brothel and bring her back to him. Kangxi said to Golden Flower, "Go and keep the old monk company at Wutai Mountain. If you can make the old monk open his eyes, I'll give you ten thousand ounces of gold. Then you'll be rich and you won't have to be a prostitute anymore."
Golden Flower could not refuse the emperor's orders, so she went to Wutai Mountain. When she found the old cultivator, she put on her most winsome and captivating manner, but the monk had sufficient samadhi and remained unmoved by her. After two days and nights, the monk opened his eyes and said to her, "Since you've sat with me for two days and nights, you can have these two bronze dollars." Seeing that the monk had opened his eyes and spoken, Golden Flower took the bronze coins and returned to Kangxi to collect her reward.
When Kangxi heard that the monk had come out of samadhi, he put on his imperial robes and, accompanied by his retinue of ministers, he went to Wutai Mountain to see his father. On the way there, he was met by several thousand Bhikshus who came out to greet him. When Kangxi finally reached the place where the old monk had meditated before, there was no one there. After a little while a young novice less than ten years old appeared carrying a worn hat. He left the hat under the incense burner and then left. Thinking it strange, Kangxi moved the incense burner aside and saw that it was not a hat, but a slip of paper with a message:
I owed her two dollars from last life. Golden Flower was supposed to spend two nights with me. Because Emperor Kangxi served as match-maker, I have had to cultivate five hundred years less.
The Bhikshu and the novice were both gone. Since Emperor Shunzhi had left the home-life, he attained to the fruition five hundred years earlier.
On his way home, Kangxi did not see any of the Bhikshus who had welcomed him on his way there. Yet every blade of grass by the roadside had a bronze coin on it. |
