Zen discourses often contain rich life wisdom, such as the story of Master Ikkyu carrying a woman across the river, which contains many revelations worthy of our deep thinking.

When Zen Master Ikkyu and his disciples were preparing to cross the river, a young lady was very anxious on the bank.

After Zen Master Ikkyu asked for advice, although the lady was a bit shy about matters between men and women, seeing that Ikkyu was a monk, she agreed to let him help carry her across the river.

Later, they successfully crossed the river and arrived at their destination on time to talk.

The thing happened suddenly, but it was quite ordinary. It happened by that river. The participants included a Zen master named Ikkyu, his apprentice, and a young lady.

This is what happened. It seems ordinary, but in fact there is a profound meaning behind it.

Zen Master Ikkyu actually did this out of his Buddha nature and mind.

Under the circumstances, he helped someone when he saw them in trouble, which was a kind of mercy.

He faced this matter with compassion and a helpful attitude, without being completely limited by worldly opinions.

The apprentice became suspicious because he saw his master carrying a young lady across the river.

Disciples grow up in an environment where they respect their teachers and abide by the precepts. This place is their daily practice place.

He observed the master's behavior and felt that the master usually taught us to stay away from temptation, but now he did the opposite.

His heart was full of doubts, which troubled him for a long time. Finally one day in the Dharma hall, he poured out his feelings to his master.

The apprentice looked at the matter from a personal standpoint. He was confused by what he saw and failed to understand the master's actions from a deeper level.

This dissatisfaction reflects that the disciple's practice is not deep enough.

His vision was constrained by external behavioral norms, and he failed to realize that the so-called letting go in Buddhism is actually a more profound state.

He only saw the master carrying the woman on his back, but did not realize that the master had actually let go of the woman. However, he still had this question in his heart.

After listening to his disciple's complaints, Zen Master Ikkyu slammed the table, and then uttered a word of wisdom.

He mentioned that he stopped thinking about it after helping the woman cross the river, but his apprentice never forgot about it.

These words pointed out the difference between the two people's realms.

The location is the Dharma Hall, and the characters are the master and the disciple.

He wanted his disciples to know that true cultivation does not lie in being bound by superficial rules, but in the awakening of the soul.

Zen Master Ikkyu's answer shows that for practitioners, it is extremely important to abandon distracting thoughts in the mind.

If we don’t differentiate between right and wrong, choose between love and hate, and don’t weigh merit and demerit, these numerous and distracting thoughts will be like a heavy burden, oppressing people’s souls.

Only by letting go of these can the mind be freed.

In fact, we are also burdened with many similar burdens in life.

Reluctance to let go of feelings, calculations of fame and wealth, no matter how the location changes or how different the characters are, they will always bring all kinds of pressure over a long period of time.

Some people are keen on chasing wealth and keep every increase or decrease in their minds, making it difficult to let go of it for a long time.

In interpersonal relationships, the right and wrong of some quarrels will be entangled in the heart for a long time.

Just like the apprentice thought over and over in his mind about the master carrying the girl across the river.

We are overwhelmed by these burdens but don’t know how to let them go.

We ignore that inner peace is more important than external fame and fortune.

Often by pursuing some external things, we lose our inner peace and destroy good relationships with others. Such results are really not worth it.

The Avatamsaka Sutra describes the Buddha's world as characterized by abandonment of heavy burdens, freedom from delusion, tranquility, and steady conduct.

The letting go of heavy burdens mentioned here is just like what Zen Master Yixiu said about letting go of distracting thoughts in the mind.

If you want to achieve a transcendent state in life, you must avoid things that can easily disorient you.

For example, let go of excessive pursuit of material things.

When we truly let go of these things, we can achieve peace of mind and body.

In the quiet mountain temples, the monks stay away from the noise of the world and concentrate on their practice, which brings them peace of mind.

And when our hearts are calm, we can see the truth of the world clearly.

If we can let go of the burden of delusions in our hearts as described in the Avatamsaka Sutra, our souls can be freed from the troubles of infatuation.

It's as calm as the sea without wind and waves.

In such peace, you can live a stable and worry-free life and see through the illusions of the world.

Practice is not limited to monks in temples, it actually runs through the daily lives of ordinary people.

Whether at work or at home.

If you have conflicting interests with your colleagues at work, if you can put aside the dispute, give in a little, and think from others' perspective, it will be like cultivating your mind.

When there is a dispute at home, if you can stop worrying about who is right and who is wrong and learn to let go of the anger in your heart, this is also a kind of practice.

We don’t need to pray to the Buddha for wisdom, we just need to pay attention to our own hearts at all times.

The disciples of Zen Master Ikkyu were misled by the world because of what they saw and heard. We are likely to encounter similar situations in our daily lives.

As long as you are alert at all times, a single thought of awakening is like a single thought of becoming a Buddha.