Climb the 1,080 steps to the top of Mount Wutai and experience the otherworldly time and space.

Pictures and Texts/Liu Xintian

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Dailuoding is a small peak on the east side of Taihuai Town, Wutai Mountain, with a vertical height of only 400 meters, but standing at the bottom of the mountain and looking up, the height of 130 floors is still high enough.

It is said that from the air, Dailuoding Mountain looks like a snail, with lush trees and green as Dailuo. When we arrived here last Saturday, it was raining lightly and the mountains looked increasingly green.

The stone steps to the top are called "Dazhi Road". They are built along the mountain, with a maximum of 10 steps and 1080 steps. It symbolizes the ten realms from mortal to Buddha, and each realm has its own "one hundred and eight" troubles.

Climbing to the top of Dailuo Peak is to practice. Walking on the road of great wisdom, step by step, and stepping on the 1080 steps, you can eliminate all worries, add wisdom, turn bad luck into good luck, and have a smooth life.

I was excited for the first time and didn’t bring any rain gear. Although I was soaked by the cold rain, I still walked briskly. However, I was moved by the many devout worshipers around me and my steps couldn’t help but slow down.

Their climb to the top is not like me walking up the steps, but taking three steps and one kowtow, that is, going up three steps, kneeling down and bowing with five body parts, and bowing down from 1080 steps to 360 bows.

They knelt on the rain-soaked steps, their foreheads actually touching the hard stone. They didn't look away and were not distracted. They rose and fell together, and their steps were steady.

There were no uniform clothes, no neat steps, and no neat and loud chanting of Buddha's name, but I clearly felt an overwhelming power coming from me.

What kind of faith makes them so humble yet so pious? What kind of attraction is it? Let them be in awe but never look back!

Walking on such a road, there is a sense of sacredness. Inspired by this spirit, I can't help but think about the meaning of climbing Dailuoding or coming to Mount Wutai.

They bend down to let go of their arrogance and selfishness. They bow their heads to show respect and humility, to gaze into their own hearts and reveal the light of their own Buddha nature.

They sincerely prostrate themselves, not only to seek protection from the Bodhisattva and the blessings of the Buddha's Dharma, but also to seek guidance from the Bodhisattva and learn from the Buddha in order to get rid of greed, obsession, and troubles and pain.

Could their story be sad? Maybe bitter? But at least there is something to support. Thinking about myself, I have spent half my life and gained nothing more than a handful of rice in a bowl, and I can't help but feel guilty.

I realize while walking that the so-called great wisdom is by no means a little cleverness in life. It is great wisdom to abandon worries, transcend the mortal world, have faith in the heart, and live to know the clear nature of the mind!

These believers who prostrate themselves on the road of Dazhi have faith in their hearts, so their feet are firm. They are the real Chaotai people with great wisdom!

Being surrounded by these people with strong hearts seems to have added new motivation, and step by step, I move my heavy body towards the ideal kingdom of heaven.

Dailuoding is indeed worthy of the imagination of heaven. Dailuoding rises from the ground and is an excellent viewing platform for Taihuai Town and even for the entire Wutai Mountain.

Every time you climb a few steps, your horizons will become wider. As long as you avoid the obstruction of the jungle, you can see the Big White Pagoda as a symbol of Mount Wutai from bottom to top.

You can overlook the majestic temple complex surrounding the White Pagoda, with green tiles, red walls, and cornices. You can also overlook the auspicious clouds rising slowly in the green mountains and valleys.

Finally, I climbed to the top of Dailuo Peak and looked back from the white marble viewing pavilion in front of the temple. Thousands of mountains are dripping with green, the clouds are like smoke, and the white pagoda and red walls are hidden among the green bushes. How peaceful and peaceful it is. mysterious.

Dailuoding is such a peak. It is not unusual in terms of altitude figures, but in terms of inner experience, it is a peak with extreme feelings.

The front of Dailuoding Temple is an antique wooden archway, with the inscription "Big Luoding" on the front and "Qingfengding" on the back. These are the names Dailuoding has used in history.

Behind the archway is the "Tianwang Hall", the largest hall on Dailuoding, which is dedicated to Maitreya Buddha and the four heavenly kings. The main entrance of the Heavenly King's Hall is closed, but believers still kneel and worship in front of the door.

Entering the temple through the side door on the right side of the Tianwang Hall, you are faced with a main hall, the Zhantan Hall, which is shaped like a pavilion or a tower, with six sides and six corners, and double eaves with pointed peaks.

A standing statue of Buddha is enshrined in the hall. According to records, the first Buddha statue in the world was a standing Buddha statue carved from precious sandalwood. In later generations, all standing Buddha statues were collectively referred to as sandalwood statues.

The third most important hall is the main hall "Five Directions Manjushri Hall". The five incarnations of Manjushri Bodhisattva are worshiped on the top of the five platforms in Mount Wutai. They sit together here.

The image of Manjusri Bodhisattva holds a sword in his right hand and a lotus in his left hand. The sword represents wisdom as sharp as a sword, which can cut off all troubles. The lotus represents purity and innocence, and a clear heart.

The five statues of Manjusri on the top of five platforms are gathered in one hall, which is unique in Wutai Mountain. It is precisely because of this that Dailuoding became famous all over the world. It is said that this matter is also related to Emperor Qianlong.

Emperor Qianlong came to Wutai Mountain many times to pay homage to Tai, but either the road was difficult or the weather was bad, so he never climbed Mount Wutai to worship the Bodhisattva, and his wish to pay homage to Tai was never realized.

The abbot of Dailuoding catered to the holy will and remodeled the five Bodhisattva statues according to the five tops and enshrined them in the Five Directions Manjusri Hall. Emperor Qianlong only had to climb to Dailuoding , you can worship all the Bodhisattvas in the five directions and fulfill your wish to go to the stage.

Nowadays, people climb to the top of five platforms to worship the five Bodhisattvas in all directions, which is called the "Dachaotai", while the people who climb to the top of Dailuo Peak to worship the five Bodhisattvas in one place are called the "Small Chaotai" .

Many emperors have left their footprints on Dailuoding. Qianlong alone has several excellent poems for it. One of the most famous poems is engraved in front of the main hall.

I return to the valley to hold my weight, and to the left of the top of the snail is the other peak.

The cloud stacks are bent over the sky and Han Dynasty, and the hibiscus alone appears in the Flower Palace.

The sun is rising over the East China Sea in front of the window, and the thousand-year-old pines are under the steps.

Offering five Manshu statues, Jia Li suspected that he did not know the true sect.

In front of the "Mainxiong Hall" in the back hall, the most eye-catching one is a pine and a cypress. There is no need to look at the records on the stone tablets. The giant pines and cypresses that reach into the sky are witnesses of the long history of Dailuoding.

A Buddha worship ceremony is being held in the main hall, with chanting and bells ringing. Many believers inside and outside the door put their hands together, chanting Sanskrit sounds in unison.

The drizzle is cool and cool, immersing yourself in the remoteness and mystery of the void; the light smoke is solemn, listening to the majestic sounds of retribution for good and evil, and the cycle of life and death coming from the holy land, feeling that the soul has ascended to Brahma.

Even if you don’t burn incense and worship Buddha, you can just walk or sit in meditation in the holy land of Buddha, and you can realize the eternity and beauty that the otherworldly time and space brings to you.

No matter where we come from, we are actually living in the mortal world, and the lush green flowers and light smoke lingering on the top of the snail represent the existence of heaven that transcends the mortal world.

No matter in the environment or in the religious atmosphere, in the geographical sense or in the psychological sense, Dailuoding is full of growth and satisfaction. I am extremely happy with the Buddhist Kingdom of the West. Endless imagination of the world.