Yang Hua roared with laughter as he ran out. Soon, he came out with a huge bag.
And at that moment, Fangzheng had already received quite a number of paper money and incense. Monkey had also carried two bags. He kept scratching his head the entire way. He could not figure out why the abbot would want such things since they were not edible.
Dog Song and company were chatting with Fangzheng when they suddenly heard Yang Hua shout, "Make way! Venerable Fangzheng, I'll take whatever you lack on the mountain!"
Dog Song immediately whistled and said with a smile, "Aiyah, Tycoon Yang is here. Venerable Fangzheng, as the saying goes, eat from the rich. This guy is now the rich among the rich. It would be a waste not to eat from him."
Fangzheng chuckled, "This Penniless Monk wishes to as well. However, my master's rules state that a family cannot take too much. This rich person probably won't be able to eat from him."
Yang Hua stuffed a bag of incense and paper money into Fangzheng's hands, "Taking more is relative. In the past, we were poor, so we gave you less. But now, hehe …" Yang Hua turned embarrassed when he said that.
The surrounding villagers cheered collectively. Tycoon Yang and Landlord Yang were all here. Yang Hua's face flushed red as he scolded jokingly, "About that, Venerable Fangzheng, I'm still stewing chicken soup in my pot. I have to return quickly. Go busy yourself. Ha … "
With that said, Yang Hua ran off. The crowd cheered once again, "He's indeed a landlord. Eating chicken soup for breakfast and stewing a phoenix for dinner?"
"Haha …"
…
Fangzheng was already accustomed to the villagers' mockery. They were just spouting nonsense, so no one minded it.
Yang Hua did not only give him paper money and incense. The bottom of the bag was rather heavy. When he flipped it over, he saw a few red apples, kiwis, bananas, and other fruits.
When Fangzheng saw this, he smiled and gave a Buddhist proclamation at Yang Hua's back.
At that moment, Wang Yougui came as well. He too was carrying a huge bag. When Fangzheng saw this, he hurriedly shook his head, "Amitabha. Patron, there's no need. These are enough. More would be a waste. "
"I told you to take it, so just take it. What's with all the nonsense? I'm telling you, I'm not giving you these for nothing. " He stuffed the bags into Fangzheng's hands. Fangzheng basically hung a bag with one finger. It was the same for Monkey. He was just short of hanging two bags around his neck.
Fangzheng would rather die than accept the gifts from others. With so much paper money, Fangzheng smiled bitterly in his heart. "Old Dad One Finger, you are one step ahead of me in escaping poverty. As expected, you're the luckiest … "
Wang Yougui said, "Venerable Fangzheng, take the items well. About that, if you have time tomorrow, come down the mountain. Tomorrow, when everyone pays respects to the ancestors, you have to recite a few lines of scripture. "
Fangzheng thought about it and felt that it wasn't difficult, so he agreed. However, in previous years, the village had invited monks from Hongyan Monastery to help recite the scriptures. After all, Zen Master One Finger was old and it was not easy for him to ascend and descend the mountain. Chanting sutras sounded simple, but if they really went to every household in the village, it would basically be from dawn to dusk without much rest in between. After a day, even a strong monk would have a sore back and a hoarse throat. Zen Master One Finger obviously couldn't take it.
After agreeing to the villagers' request, Fangzheng returned to the mountain with Monkey.
On the way, Monkey finally could not help but ask, "Abbot, why are we taking so much paper money back?"
"This is a human custom. It's also a way for the living to pay their respects to the departed. Humans need to spend money to buy all sorts of items to live. People believe that after a person leaves this world, they will go to another world. Our ancestors also need to spend money to live in the other world. And the paper money we carry is the money of the other world. By burning the money in the other world, it's equivalent to showing our filial piety to them. By doing so, it's a form of respect and filial piety to our ancestors. Secondly, it's a form of remembrance, "explained Fangzheng patiently.
"But I saw many people give you beautiful paper money. Why don't you want it?" Monkey was very puzzled. The money, the gold ingots, the small cars, the clothes, and so on were clearly more beautiful.
Fangzheng smiled and shook his head. "Since ancient times, paper money has been the true currency of the netherworld. As for the beautiful paper money you speak of, it can't be said to be the currency of the netherworld. It should be called fake money. It's just a means used by modern merchants to amass wealth. It only comes once a year, and the money given to the ancestors to show filial piety is fake. No ancestor would be happy. Burning such money might not bring good luck. Instead, it might attract bad luck. Of course, that's what people say. From This Penniless Monk's point of view, burning money is just a means to remember our ancestors. Sincerity is efficacious. Our ancestors can sense it, but you have to let them see it. And the way to express sincerity is to follow the rules. "
"Is that so? Then why don't you tell them?" asked Monkey, perplexed.
Fangzheng shook his head. "They all understand. Therefore, when they really burn it, the paper money is the main thing. Those are just supplementary items. It can be considered a small gift, a small toy. "
Monkey looked at the incense in his hand. "What about this?"
"Incense is a cell phone used by mortals to communicate with their ancestors. By lighting an incense here, the ancestors on the other side will know that we are here. Therefore, this is a necessity. Otherwise, wouldn't it be a waste of effort if our ancestors don't know about our offerings? "explained Fangzheng.
Monkey scratched his head. "That sure is complicated …"
"It's indeed complicated, but this is a rule that has been passed down since ancient times. Some people say that this is feudal superstition, but they do not know that it's not superstition. Instead, the ancients used a form of ritual to infuse the filial piety culture into daily life and into rituals. Over the years, it has been passed down from generation to generation.
And the importance of such offerings is expressed in filial piety to the ancestors. But the true meaning is for the living descendants to see. As the saying goes, what kind of parents are like children. When a child sees his parents being filial, he will naturally be filial. This is also a form of education. Of course, just being filial to the ancestors isn't enough. Being filial to the living parents is more effective. "What Fangzheng said was what Zen Master One Finger had told him years ago. However, Fangzheng had always been puzzled. Zen Master One Finger was clearly a monk, but he did not seem to advocate the Dao of the supernatural. Instead, he linked many things to the culture of life.
In the past, Fangzheng was lacking in knowledge, and his thoughts were simple. He naturally did not think too much about it, but now, he could not help but recall Zen Master One Finger's past. Was he really an ordinary mountain monk? What was his past like?
However, these questions were destined to remain unanswered.
"If there's a chance, I should investigate," mumbled Fangzheng inwardly.
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