Tales of the
Living Buddha of Golden Mountain

Chapter 2: How the Living Buddha
Got His Title

Sometimes Miàoshàn would meditate in very unusual places.

"Who's sitting up in the top window frame of the pagoda? That's really dangerous."

"It's the Crazy Monk."

"Hey, Miàoshàn! That's dangerous! Get down from there!"

"It's O.K. I am going to conquer the evil of sleepiness!"

"Wow! He really is nuts. Oh well, let's go."

"Aaaaaaaaah"

"He's fallen. Hurry. He surely killed himself!"

But they found him sitting peacefully on the ground in front of the pagoda, still meditating.

"That's really peculiar. He fell over a hundred feet!"

Quickly the word spread. "We saw a devil monk (yāosēng 妖僧) today!," said one. "No, it has to be a living buddha (huófó 活佛)," said another. "Otherwise there could not be such a miracle."

Many actions of the Crazy Monk were beyond normal comprehension, and the other monks at the Monastery of Golden Mountain knew he was not an ordinary person. The fame of the "Living Buddha of the Monastery of Golden Mountain" spread far and wide, and young and old, men and women, flocked from all directions to see him.

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