After returning to Jincan Temple, Fang Yi was no longer as at ease as before. A turbulent sea had begun to grow secretly deep within his heart.
Endless mountains to climb, endless firewood to chop, endless water to fetch, endless scriptures to copy, endless dust to sweep, endless Buddha statues to scrub... This was simply not the monastic life of cultivation that Fang Yi had desired. The endless busyness left him without even the most basic time for sitting meditation and contemplating Zen.
Earlier, Abbot Faxin had indeed instructed Fang Yi to quietly chant scriptures and practice Zen, but Zixiu always found ways to assign him all sorts of chores, treating him purely as a handyman without any intention of letting him quietly practice Zen and attain enlightenment.
Chapter 163