Journey to the West: Beginning with the Apprenticeship of Bodhi Patriarch

Chapter 52 Collecting Medicine
Jiang Tong'er received the order from the master, took the plate of red dates from the quiet room, and returned to the tower.

The Patriarch said he would hold a "Dharma Assembly" to discuss the Dao with Zhen Yuanzi. Jiang Yuan and the two Taoist boys then moved the tables and chairs, spread out the alchemy plates, and set up two seats on the left and right. The Patriarch led the boys to sit on the right seat, while Zhen Yuanzi led the two Taoist boys to sit on the left seat.

Zhen Yuanzi looked at the red dates on the alchemy plate, pointed at the Patriarch, and said with a smile: "Bodhi, you are willing to take so many dates."

The master smiled and said, "How can I be reluctant to leave since you have come to congratulate me?"

Zhen Yuanzi said, "Come on, come on, come on! Since you are willing to give it up, I will give you a little extra."

After saying this, the immortal waved his sleeves, and four fruits fell into the alchemy plate. The immortal got one, the ancestor got one, Jiang Tong'er got one, and the two Taoist boys got one.

Jiang Yuan looked down and saw that this was truly an immortal fruit. It looked like a baby less than three days old, with all four limbs and five senses intact. When he smelled the fragrance of the fruit, his mind was shaken, and he felt refreshed and healthy, and his spirit was clear. It must be a treasure.

When he saw the fruit, he knew in his heart that it was the 'Ginseng Fruit'.

The ancestor said, "Zhen Yuanzi, could it be that your spiritual root has borne fruit?"

Zhen Yuanzi nodded, stroked his beard and said with a smile: "That's right, thirty fruits!"

The master turned to look at the boy and said with a smile, "Boy, you have to thank Zhen Yuanzi. This fruit is rare. It is produced by immortal roots. It is called 'Ginseng Fruit', also known as 'Grass Returning Pill', and it is an immortal treasure. This fruit blooms once every three thousand years, bears fruit once every three thousand years, and takes another three thousand years to ripen. It will fall when it encounters gold, wither when it encounters wood, melt when it encounters water, burn when it encounters fire, and dies when it encounters soil. It needs to be collected with magical powers, or knocked down with golden tools. It is the easiest to do so. The fruit has magical effects. If you smell it, you will live for three hundred and sixty years. If you eat one, you will live for forty-seven thousand years."

Jiang Yuan heard this and stood up and bowed, saying, "Thank you, Immortal!"

Zhen Yuanzi said: "How do you worship me? This is a ritual to teach you how to taste it."

The master smiled and motioned Jiang Yuan to sit down.

Jiang Yuan had just sat down when he looked at the 'ginseng fruit' on the plate. He knew that if he ate this fruit, he would gain immortality for 47,000 years. The immortality that he had not been able to obtain in the past was now within his reach.

How could he not be moved? However, he was about to succeed in the right path and was close to immortality, so this achievement was of no importance to him.

He was in no hurry to eat. He sat upright on the cushion, waiting for the master and the immortal to discuss Taoism and listen to the general idea.

This fruit takes 47,000 years to form. When the elixir is completed, one will live as long as heaven and enjoy immortality.

The master saw the boy's character and nodded secretly.

The immortal also admired the boy's behavior. When he saw the two Taoist boys again, they ate the grass elixir like swallowing a whole date. However, they were so hungry that they didn't even taste the flavor before they finished eating. He shook his head helplessly and thought to himself, "I really need to go to Jambudvīpa to see if there is anyone like Bodhi boy in Jambudvīpa. My Wanshou Mountain Wuzhuang Temple is not far from Jambudvīpa."

Think about it.

The immortal and the ancestor then began to discuss the Dao and preach.

When Jiang Yuan heard the Dharma, he called upon his original spirit to help him and listened to the wonders of the Tao.

Daxianguo is a wonderful Taoist who passed down the Taiyi Xuanmen method and was called the world's equal. His Taoist method was profound and his Xuan method was boundless. The ancestors were no less impressive. The two schools cooperated like this, talking about Taoism for a while and Buddhism for a while. How could the word "Xuan" be praised?

……

Time really flies. The Dharma Assembly cannot be over in a day or a night, and before I knew it, twenty years have passed.

Zhen Yuanzi and the Patriarch discussed the Dao without stopping. At the beginning, Jiang Yuan was able to understand it, but when he had said half of it, he became tired and could not find the key to the Dharma. When he spoke later, most of the children could not understand and could not comprehend it.

Looking at the two Taoist children of Zhen Yuanzi again, they are drowsy, their minds are restless and their spirits are not evident. How can they hear the wonderful music?

Twenty years later, Zhen Yuanzi and the Patriarch stopped lecturing and dispersed the Dharma Assembly.

Zhen Yuanzi said, "When I discussed the Dao with you in the past, you only got two methods, which were Dao and Buddha. How can there be four methods when I discuss the Dao with you this time?" The Patriarch laughed and said, "The remaining two methods are Confucianism and Zen. Confucianism was learned from this child and combined with the theories of Jambudvīpa. Confucianism is about etiquette, morality and governance. Zen was also created by this child. It is Buddhism. Zen is about enlightenment."

Zhen Yuanzi was surprised and dumbfounded, and said, "Your disciple really has inherited your true teachings!"

The master smiled but said nothing.

Jiang Yuan bowed and called it "Master's teachings".

Zhen Yuanzi pointed at Jiang Yuan and said, "Bodhi, you have such a disciple. If you can teach me, I will envy you. I will envy you!"

The ancestor said: "It is the law of fate."

Zhen Yuanzi was envious, but he knew that as Bodhi's beloved disciple, there would be no chance of him changing his sect, so he had to give up and left with the two Taoist boys. When he left, he asked the master to visit him often at Wuzhuang Temple.

The master nodded in agreement.

After the master saw Zhen Yuanzi off, he returned to the tower with the boy and sat on the cushion.

The master said, "Zhen Yuanzi is quite capable and is known as the ancestor of earthly immortals. When he is free, you can visit him more often on my behalf. Don't be unfamiliar with him."

Jiang Yuan nodded and said, "I understand."

The master pointed to the Herbal Elixir on the table and said, "Here are two Herbal Elixirs. I will teach you to eat both."

The reason is that the master did not eat the ginseng fruit, so he left it for the child.

Jiang Yuan shook his head and said, "Master, why do you say that? I treat you like my father, but I have never been filial to you. You have taken so much trouble for me, how can you eat the Herbal Pills? You should give these two pills to me."

The master said, "This fruit is useless to me."

Jiang Yuan said: "Master, why do you say that? I will soon master the art of alchemy and achieve immortality. This fruit will help you quench your thirst."

The master said, "Boy, do you know what the Herbal Elixir tastes like?"

Jiang Yuan smiled and said, "Master, if you want to satisfy your appetite, I have all the skills. Why do I lack the Herbal Pill?"

The master pointed at the boy and said with a smile: "You are really hard to teach! Well, if you don't want to eat, then don't eat. Your elixir is about to be completed. It is also a good thing to focus on refining the elixir."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuan knelt down before the master and said, "Master, please be merciful and teach me the second step of the Taoist secret, 'Gathering Herbs'!"

The master personally helped the boy and said, "It is easy to collect herbs as you said. This medicine is not that medicine. It is useless to collect it from outside. Even if you are a master of the art of kicking the sky and digging the well, and travel from the North Sea to Cangwu in the evening, you cannot get this medicine. This is because the medicine is in your body!"

Jiang Yuan asked: "Master, is this path related to these five people?"

The master nodded and smiled, "That's right! You are not the one who collects the herbs. You teach five people to collect them. If the five people are not together, it will be difficult to collect them. If you teach your mind to collect the herbs, every step will be difficult. Five people will disturb you, and two gods will block your way."

Jiang Yuan suddenly realized and asked again: "Master, my disciple has completed his merits, how should I collect herbs?"

The master said, "There are four kinds of herbs in total. One is called 'black essence', one is called 'rabbit marrow', one is called 'wood liquid', and one is called 'gold essence'. Then you can teach Huang Po to mix them. Only then can you complete the task of collecting herbs. The weight of herbs here must be enough, not more or less. If you add or reduce it by one centimeter, it will be difficult for you to complete the alchemy and your merits will be ruined. But you have five people to help you, so it's easy. You just need to weigh them by the weight."

Jiang Yuan pondered for a long time. The four herbs should be composed of fire, water, wood and gold. How come there are five people collecting them? He doesn't need to worry about it. But how to calculate the weight?

This medicine is used as a traditional Chinese medicine, how can it be calculated? Where can he get a scale? He didn't know, so he asked the master...

(End of this chapter)