[5000 Hermits' Peach Blossom Garden Life] Hidden Peach Blossom Garden

It's true. In Zhong Nanshan, an hour's drive from Xi, at least 5,000 practitioners from all over the country live in seclusion in the valley and live the same life as they did a thousand years ago. In the past three years, Zhang Jianfeng has frequently visited the Qinling Mountains, from Huashan to Zhong Nanshan to Longmen Cave in Baoji, and from one valley to another, spanning 400 kilometers, in order to find the yogi who lives in it. Now, he has visited more than 600 hermits in the mountains, and he has changed from a young literary editor obsessed with love to a semi-hermit. He admitted that he had read the American bill.

Porter's book A Lonely Valley gave birth to the idea of visiting a hermit.

More than twenty years ago, Bill Porter, an American sinologist and Buddhist scripture translator, came to China to look for the legendary hermit who practiced in Zhongnanshan. Many people in Xi know that there is a tradition of seclusion in Zhongnanshan, which is an hour's drive from the city, because of the publication of "The Orchid in the Empty Valley". More than 5000 practitioners from all over the country live in seclusion in the valley and live the same life as they did a thousand years ago.

Many hermits are highly educated.

Deep in Dayu Valley, there is a gathering area of hermit huts-Zhongnan Caotang, which was built by more than ten people including Zhang Jianfeng and Zhang Defen in 20 10. There are more than a dozen huts for practitioners to live in. Except for this relatively large gathering area, other hermits' huts are scattered in various valleys, and they often walk dozens of miles on Zhongshan Road, but they can't see them.

Zhang Jianfeng, a hermit seeker, said that millions of hermits have lived in Zhong Nanshan for thousands of years. 1989, Bill and Porter visited Beijing, Shaanxi and other places, only to know that there may be a hermit tradition in Zhong Nanshan, south of xi 'an. When Bill and Porter visited Zhong Nanshan, they found that about 5,000 hermits lived in seclusion, the oldest of whom was over 90 years old. Some hermits even lived in the mountains for decades and never came down until their death.

This data has certainly changed over the years, but those scattered huts are the best evidence that hermits still exist today. The building materials for many hermits to build huts are carried from the mountains to the mountains. Some practitioners directly rent the old houses left by the relocated villagers, and some hermits live in caves. Hermits need to reclaim wasteland and grow some crops by themselves. If they can't chop wood and farm, they can't live in the mountains. Most of their food depends on their own cultivation, which is not a simple matter.

Huang Daochang lives in central and southern Tang Qiao all the year round and rarely goes down the mountain. Although compared with other huts, the facilities here are relatively complete, but it takes an hour to go down the mountain. There are few facilities in the hut, only a table, a stool and a bookshelf. He said, "What are you going to do down the mountain? After we went down the mountain, we were like fools and didn't know what to do. "

Most people think that monks are too poor to climb mountains, but most practitioners in the mountains are quite literate. There is a yogi in the mountain. He has a large collection of books, long hair, maverick, proficient in electrical appliances and so on, and made a lot of exquisite furniture for himself in the cabin. He mainly studies astronomy, and compares the achievements of astronomical research with Buddhist scriptures and Taoist scriptures. Moreover, he feels that others don't understand his things and can only carve the research results on stones. There are many folk academic researchers like him among the practitioners.

You can only enter the door if you have a signal.

Zhong Nanshan has always been the most concentrated place for practitioners, but some practitioners live in Huashan Houshan and Baoji Longmen Cave. They live in the Qinling Mountains at will, and it is difficult for outsiders to find them. "Leave a note for the absent ecluse" is the experience of many people. Many readers who have read The Lonely Valley have had the experience of looking for a hermit in Zhong Nanshan in the past. Teacher Guo of Northwest University went to Datun in the summer of 2009, and neither saw the hermit nor the hut where the hermit lived.

Of course, not all hermits do not welcome visitors. Some practitioners are preparing to go out of the mountain, perhaps because they want to make friends with visitors. Some practitioners don't want to be disturbed by outsiders when they study hard. The biggest threat to these hermits is not those who are looking for visitors, but curious donkey friends. They often sing with loudspeakers while walking, leaving wine and meat behind, and then turn around and leave. Every time they meet such guests, the hermits can only close the door and thank them.

"Ordinary tourists knock on the door, and practitioners will open the door, but some will not accept strangers." Zhang Jianfeng said, "After interviewing hundreds of hermits, I realized that knocking at the door requires reading some code words."

It turned out that in order to cultivate one's morality and cultivate one's sexuality, they came up with a secret code to stop a group of uninvited guests. "Amitabha", "compassion" and "infinite longevity" are the most commonly used code words for knocking at the door. If you are a Buddhist practitioner, you should recite "Amitabha" when knocking at the door, and Taoist practitioners should recite "infinite longevity". There are signs on the huts of Buddhist practitioners and Taoist practitioners to distinguish them.

Zhang Jianfeng told such a story. He heard that two monks and disciples lived in a cave for nine years, but when they found the cave where they lived, no one knocked at the door. At that time, he didn't know how to read the code, but he insisted on knocking at the door. After knocking on the door several times, the master and apprentice finally opened the door. In the cave where they live, there are only classic and simple daily necessities. Master and apprentice have lived in the cave for 9 years, and have never even been to a nearby hut or received visitors from outside.

Only those who have no distractions can practice.

In addition to real life, hermits practice solitude more. For this kind of loneliness of hermits, Bill Porter wrote in "The Empty Valley and the Orchid": Hermits in the mountains are very much like graduate students. They are studying for their doctorate in spiritual awakening. Many people get their own "bachelor's degree" of spiritual awakening in Buddhist temples, Taoist temples, academies, universities and even at home, and then go to the mountains to study for "doctors".

In Buddhism and Taoism, practicing in the mountains requires strict procedures. Taoism takes three to ten years to climb the mountain with master. There is a saying in Buddhism that "you can't climb a mountain if you don't stop rooting." Nowadays, urbanites live in seclusion in pastoral mountains. This is a rare case.

The mountain is not very comfortable. I need to go to the toilet at night and endure the cold. Some people even have psychological problems after living in the mountains. A few days later, they began to talk to themselves and developed symptoms of schizophrenia, because no one communicated with him. "Only practitioners with no distractions can live in the mountains, and they can deal with all kinds of problems harmoniously. The purpose of living in the mountains is to see the scenery inside you. If you can see your inner scenery in the city, why live in the mountains? " Zhang Jianfeng said.

After visiting hundreds of hermits, Zhang Jianfeng slowly changed from a Taoist to a practitioner: "At first, I was just a bystander. Later, I saw the effect with my own eyes, and slowly I began to meditate."

"A few years ago, I contacted the literary circle and made a periodical. There are too many vulgar things and too many sensual pleasures. Everyone is thinking about how to make money and how to spend money. These things are all good, but people's vision of life is too small and limited. I want to see another life. The life of a yogi is like I suddenly discovered a clear water source, and the previously turbid water quality can no longer be drunk. " Zhang Jianfeng described this change.

Zhang Jianfeng has two children, his wife is a graphic designer, and his parents started their internship under his influence. "My father used to hate people who burn incense and worship Buddha. He thought it was superstition, but now his parents meditate and are vegetarian. Now he understands that spiritual cultivation is the core. Now he knows that practitioners are very knowledgeable. "

Zhang Jianfeng's wife has always supported him. In summer, she took her daughter to live in a small house. Before eating, she thanked the cook, so she couldn't talk while eating. My daughter used to be picky about food, but in the mountains, she would eat very clean.