Master Ren Shan - Story of Half a Bowl of Congee for Barefoot Master 雲居山, 赤腳禪師, 半碗稀飯的故事

(English subtitles) Master Ren Shan 仁山法師, born in 1980, is a remarkable Buddhist master in China.
Subtitles:
All the students, whether you are away from home or at home, need to plant a field of blessing. If those students left home and have insufficient good fortune, they can't even find a temple to stay. Don't blame the temple, because you have insufficient good fortune. Many students visited many places and said that the temples were not satisfying or I'm not welcome. Why do you complain? It's you have insufficient good fortune. The venerable Monk Xu Yun mentioned a story several times while making revelations. The Cloud Living Mt in Jiangxi, a thousand years old temple, was renovated by Monk Xu Yun in his later years.
1:00
This temple was built in the Song Dynasty. There was a Chán Master, everybody called him Barefoot Chán Master who didn't wear shoes. As for his real name, everyone has forgotten it and only remembers this trait of not wearing shoes. The former abbot of Cloud Living Mt. passed away due to old age. There was no candidate. It's not that there were no people. They could not find a highly respected monk to be the abbot because it was handed down from the patriarchs. The ordinary people dare not accept that job. It takes a convincing practitioner to be accepted.
2:00
So, they looked around for talented persons. The local official of Jiangxi, equivalent to the current provincial secretary, helped to inquire and said: I can recommend a great Chan master to you. He is my fellow countryman from Sichuan. Both the official and Barefoot Chan Master come from Sichuan. He said: You maybe heard this master before. He was well-known in the Buddhist monastic community. Everyone nodded when they heard his name. Back then, if you heard somebody, he is very influential. It's different from we heard now. Today everybody in the world conducts propaganda, it's not strange that you heard someone. At that time, publicity was just word of mouth. Who are willing to propagate for you? They would propagate only for those who are admirable.
3:00
So, if you heard somebody in the monastic community, that is already remarkable. They discussed it and agreed to invite him. The official said: This master has some causal connection with your Cloud Living Mt. When he was young and came to study, he once lived in the Cloud Living Mt for half a night. Everybody didn't remember such a thing, but what is it about half a night? It turns out that this master traveled around to study when he was young. One day he reached the Cloud Living Mt, where he longed for, to study. It was dusk when he came to the foot of the mountain. It's a long road to go up the mountain.
4:00
So, he lodged in a hotel in the town and prepared to go up the mountain the next day. He had a dream at that night: The dharma patron told him: Tomorrow at the Cloud Living Mt, You can only have half a bowl of congee at most. You can't stay one night. You'd better not going. After he woke up, he felt strange, I came here to study, but the dharma patron prohibited me from going up. After going up, I could only have half a bowl of congee, that's ridiculous. I am so sincere. How can this be?
5:00
Regardless, he went up the mountain the next morning. It's a long road. It was already afternoon when he arrived at the temple. Everyone has just had lunch. It’s different now, everyone will be served whenever he comes. No such things back then. At the temple, if you come during meal times, you can dine. If you miss the lunch time, just wait for the next. When is the next one? Tomorrow. Nothing to eat in the evening. Knowing he was an outlander, the guest receiver felt he was pitiful and asked if there were any leftovers in the kitchen. The insider came out and said nothing left, but only half a bowl of congee. You can eat if you want, just a little. He could not resist the hunger, so he ate the congee. He was placed in the dormitory and thought:
6:00
You are terrific as a dharma patron. At least I stay, and I will eat a lot tomorrow. On that midnight, some monk violated the rule. The Senior Monk advised that somebody could take the initiative to admit his mistake, and he wouldn't pursue the matter. As a result, there were so many people in the dormitory, but no one came out to confess. The person involved did not come out, and neither did the bystanders. The involved was hiding as much as possible. The bystander said it ain't
me, why would I come out? The Senior Monk saw that situation and signed the sheet of moving out overall.
7:00
What's that? All move out. You are not qualified to practice here. He who commit such acts is not qualified. Are those who didn't commit the acts not qualified either? They did not want to be punished on behalf of others. This is not suitable for practicing. All move out. All move out, then nobody is here. Don't worry. The temple is not afraid of being deserted. One group left, and another group come. Very common.