...
"Master's wife! Don't go!" A lean young man dressed in tattered clothes grabbed the arm of the woman beside him tightly.
The woman was very thin, with high cheekbones, deep-set eyes, and her disheveled hair was barely held back by a wooden hairpin.
She held a gleaming silver hairpin in her thin, withered hand.
"Yan-ge'er, let go." The woman's voice was hoarse and weak, but she was very stubborn.
"Master's wife! This is what Master left for you..." Chen Yan said urgently, but he seemed unable to continue, his throat bobbing up and down. "Master suffered such a misfortune... even his remains could only be hastily buried in the wild... and what this monk said is not credible..."
The woman swayed, and tears welled up without warning.
“I know… Yan-ge’er, I know everything…” Her voice trembled violently, “Your master… he died tragically… without even a coffin… It’s my fault as his wife, I’m useless…”
She took a deep breath, the breath feeling like a knife cutting into her body, causing her excruciating pain. "The monk said... there is an afterlife... I believe! I'll believe this just this once! This hairpin is neither food nor drink, and it can't be exchanged for food or water on the road, so it's useless to keep it... I only hope he ascends to the Pure Land soon... I hope he will be free from illness and disaster in his next life..."
The silver hairpin trembled in her hand, reflecting a faint light.
...
The monk's voice was like a cold machine, repeating over and over again, "XX donates XX, may the merit be dedicated to the soul of XX who has passed away, and may he ascend to the Pure Land soon!"
Each name uttered was accompanied by a sigh or cry of relief and hope from a disaster victim.
Those cries of "May you ascend to paradise soon" were like the most effective placebo, temporarily numbing the pain of reality.
The people of Liushutun were also moved by the scene, and they all became short of breath.
Aunt Zhao subconsciously touched the small silver lilac earring hidden in her bosom.
She looked at the book of merit, then at the compassionate old monk on the high platform, her lips trembling as if she were struggling.
Registration and roll call are like adding fuel to the fire.
Wang Caishi, who initially donated only half a bowl of rice, suddenly felt uneasy when she heard that someone else had donated a whole bowl of rice and that the "merit dedication" was being chanted so loudly.
"Half a bowl...is half a bowl a bit too little? Will the old man be able to ascend to paradise?"
She squeezed back to the long table, her hands trembling as she untied her last bag of food. "Master! Master! This old woman... this old woman will donate another half bowl! A whole bowl! The merit is still for my old man! Please chant louder! So he can hear!"
The monk didn't even lift his eyelids, and added a line: "Wang Caishi, add half a bowl of millet, to make a total of one bowl."
She recited aloud: "Wang Caishi donated a bowl of millet, may the merit be dedicated to her deceased husband Wang Youtian! May the departed soul of Wang Youtian, receiving this great merit, swiftly ascend to the Pure Land! May his blessings be boundless!"
"Great merit!" "Swift ascension to paradise!" "Boundless blessings!" These words, like honey, poured into Wang Cai's ears. Satisfied, she stepped back, a slight smile even appearing on her face.
The power of role models has become an abyss of comparison!
"I'll add some too! I'll add another handful of rice! To dedicate this merit to my mother!" Li Shuanzhu gritted his teeth, poured some more rice into the donation box, and registered it again.
A woman who had only donated a few copper coins saw others add rice and heard about "great merit," so she gritted her teeth and stuffed a piece of coarse cloth she had hidden into the donation box. "I'm donating a foot of coarse cloth! I dedicate the merit to my poor child! Please, Master, also recite 'great merit' for me!"
The monks registered and called out names as usual.
"Great merit!" "Swiftly ascend to paradise!" "Boundless blessings!" These words, like a spell, hovered in the air above the square.
Each time she sang it, it spurred those who had donated to take out what little they had left.
Can donating once eliminate negative karma from speech? Then wouldn't donating again eliminate even more negative karma?!
If donating once can help your loved ones "go to paradise sooner", then donating two or three times, will it make them live even better in paradise?
The queue in front of the donation book was even longer.
It's no longer just a simple registration, but a competition to increase offerings!
The sorrow on the faces of the disaster victims was replaced by a strange expression that mixed with fanaticism and numbness.
Just as the atmosphere of competition reached its peak, the old monk on the high platform, who had been resting with his eyes closed, slowly opened them.
He raised his hand, and the square fell silent instantly, with only heavy breathing and the chanting of names by the monks in front of the donation book remaining.
"Amitabha!" The old monk's voice, filled with boundless compassion, clearly reached everyone's ears. "The sincerity of all benefactors is evident, and their merits are immeasurable! The Buddhist path is vast, and it spares no one. Those who today donate their entire fortune to have their names recorded in this merit book and to make offerings to the Three Jewels..."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over the expectant yet weary faces below. "You are all people destined for our Buddhist community! From this day forward, you are disciples of Ciyun Temple! Half a bowl of porridge in the temple belongs to you! Half a drop of water in the temple belongs to you! We will eat and live together, and you only need to focus on worshipping Buddha, repenting your sins, and accumulating merit! As long as famine persists, our offerings will continue! Until your karmic obstacles are exhausted and your blessings are fulfilled!"
boom!
These words were like a thunderclap from a clear sky! They completely shattered the last dam in the hearts of the desperate crowd!
"Permanent support?!"
"Eating and living together?!"
"Really?!"
After a brief silence, there was an overwhelming surge of excitement!
"Me! Master! I'll donate! I'll donate it all!" A man rushed to his dilapidated cart and shoved the last small bag of grains, a broken earthenware pot, and even a tattered quilt onto the monk beside him. "I've donated it all! I've donated it all to the Bodhisattva! Please register it! I am a Buddhist now!"
He rushed to the donation book and roared, "My name is Wang Qingtong! I've donated it all! Please, Master, take me in!"
The monk picked up his pen and wrote in a loud voice: "Wang Qingtong, donate everything in your family! Sincerely take refuge in Buddhism and be registered in the Buddhist register! From this day forward, you are a Buddhist disciple of Ciyun Temple. Even if there is famine, your offerings will never cease!"
“I’ll donate too! I’ll donate it all! I’m a Buddhist too!” Another woman took out the last half of her dry food and a polished wooden comb that she had hidden in her bosom, threw them into the donation box, and rushed to the table to register.
"Count me in! Me too!"
The crowd went completely wild! Those who had been hesitant about making additional offerings now unhesitatingly pulled out the last bit of everything they had!
Food, water bags, the few clothes they had, scraps of copper coins... they stuffed everything that could prove they "had" into the hands of the monks next to them, and then rushed to the merit book to register and sign their names!
"Wang Sanwang donated everything he had! He was registered in the Buddhist canon!"
"Cai Chunhua's merits have been fulfilled! She has been included in the Buddhist register!"
The chanting of monks' names became a declaration of their inclusion in the Buddhist register!
Each name that appears signifies that a person has donated all their resources in exchange for a promise of "permanent support".
A deathly silence fell over Liushutun, filled with shock.
The crowd watched the frenzied mob, the donation box constantly being filled with all sorts of junk, and the figures collapsing to the ground with a sense of relief after leaving their names...
The surprise on everyone's faces vanished, leaving only boundless bewilderment.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
