Old Monk Xuyun 05

Old Monk Xuyun 05

The porridge and vegetables that the old monk ate were all brought by us from the kitchen,

and they were the same as those eaten by other masters.

If there are no guests, he never adds an extra dish.

His frugal and simple life is still fresh in our minds when we think of it now.

Yunju Mountain has a very high terrain, with an altitude of more than 1,100 meters.

The climate is very cold in winter, with temperatures as low as minus 17 or 8 degrees Celsius.

The sweet potatoes stored in the cellar could not withstand the cold air, their skins turned black, and they tasted bitter after being cooked.

Once, Master Qi Xian and I were eating porridge at the old monk's place.

We ate the bitter and astringent sweet potato skin, so we picked it out and put it on the edge of the table.

The old monk was silent when he saw it.

After eating the porridge, he silently picked up the sweet potato skins and ate them all.

When we both witnessed that scene, we felt very ashamed and sad.

From now on, I never dare not eat sweet potato skins again.

Afterwards, we asked the old monk, "You are so old, but those sweet potato skins are so bitter! How can you still eat them?"

The old monk sighed and said to us, "This is food. ! You can only eat it, don’t waste it."

老和尚吃的稀飯和菜，都是由我們從大寮(廚房)裡打的，跟大眾師父們吃的一樣。

如果沒有客人的話，他從不多加一道菜。

他老人家那種節儉簡樸的生活，我們現在想起，還記憶猶新。

雲居山地勢很高，海拔一千一百多米。

冬天氣候很冷，低至零下十七、八度。收藏在地窖裡的紅薯，經不起寒冷的空氣，皮都發黑了，煮熟後吃起來很苦的。

有一次，我和齊賢師一起在老和尚那裡吃稀飯，吃到了那種又苦又澀的紅薯皮，便揀出來放在桌邊上。老和尚看到時默不作聲，待吃過稀飯後，他老人家卻一聲不響地把那些紅薯皮撿起來都吃掉了。當時我們倆目睹那情景，心裡感到很慚愧、很難過。從此以後，再也不敢不吃紅薯皮了。