No, gentlemen also guard against

Chapter 399 Are you here? Tathagata

Donglin Temple, southwest side.

Mahavira Hall.

This hall is one of the three treasure halls.

There is a saying among the people that "a young daughter-in-law should not go to the Three Treasures Palace for nothing".

Buddhism regards Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha as the Three Treasures. The Three Treasures Hall refers to the Buddha Hall, Dharma Hall, and Sangha Hall.

The Buddha Hall refers to the Mahavira Hall.

Generally, they are only found in larger-scale temples, which are places of peace and purity.

It is also the main place for worship, chanting and spiritual practice.

When necessary, the needs of temples for performing rituals are also taken into account.

Naturally, don’t rush in if nothing happens.

The same is true for Donglin Temple. The main hall on the southwest side is solemn and solemn, with golden Buddha statues.

Generally, it will be opened only for festival celebrations, to welcome and send Buddha treasures, or to hold important rituals.

That was the case tonight.

After night falls, the main hall in Donglin Temple is brightly lit.

A solemn ritual to drive away ghosts and ghosts is going on.

A coffin containing a corpse was placed in the back hall of the Buddhist hall, surrounded by a circle of candles as thick as a baby's arm.

The front hall was somewhat overcrowded.

But most of them were monks from Donglin Temple wearing black monk robes, sitting upright and chanting sutras.

The leader was Master Shandao, who had not been seen for many days. He was wearing a solemn and expensive mage cassock, with a flowing white beard, sitting at the front.

Anyone who sees this immortal look has to call him "Master".

Master Shandao, with an expression of compassion for the common people, performed exorcism rituals for the unfortunate benefactor.

Behind, Xiufa and several other young novices followed, chanting sutras together, but one of them seemed to be unable to bear the ritual ceremony at such a late hour and yawned.

Master Shandao tilted his head slightly and pulled his companion with his hair. The little novice monk immediately stopped talking, put away his lazy and tired look, and meditated seriously.

Xiufa glanced at the master's dedicated back.

Being able to invite the eminent monk Mahamati to do the rituals in person, of course, the price is not low. The person who paid this time was a high-roller. No wonder Master is so dedicated tonight.

The hair could not help but admire her.

It turns out that the county government commissioned Donglin Temple to perform the exorcism ritual on Zhao Rushi's body, and it was purely voluntary.

Master naturally didn't have much enthusiasm, but based on the principle of compassion, he still took it.

However, at first, of course, it was not held in a grand place like the Main Hall, and it was just a minimum standard. After all, everyone also wanted to eat. If most of the people in the temple gathered together like tonight, they couldn't drink the northwest wind.

But who knew that as soon as the body was brought up the mountain, "family members" would actively claim it.

Moreover, he was a generous gambler. The master's eyes flashed, and he immediately showed his affection and reason. This made the gambler's family deeply aware of the exquisiteness of Buddhism and understood the truth that must be dealt with ruthlessly, so he waved his big hand.

That’s what tonight’s specifications are.

If we don’t bury him first, we have to do it for three days and three nights. The ghosts must be converted by the holy light!

As a certain novice monk whispered privately during the day, whether he can get extra meals and prizes at the end of the year depends on these three days.

Therefore, most of the monks in the temple, except those who were on duty and unable to escape, were summoned by the master and attended the religious ceremony without missing a beat.

After all, the price is calculated per head...

Others looked at it and sighed with emotion.

At this moment, in front of the main hall, among a small group of "family members" gathered by a group of monks,

There was a Persian with brown hair and green eyes.

Li Li looked around the solemn Buddhist temple.

After chanting sutras with Master Shandao for a while, he stood up, first comforted the crying "family members" next to him, and then stood up with the Miyin Tutuo, frivolous Taoist priests and other guards behind him, and walked towards the back hall.

"Amitabha, donor, please stay."

It was Master Shandao who came over and stopped Li Li and his party.

"I haven't asked yet, what is the donor's surname and who is his family member, County Lieutenant Zhao."

Li Li calmly looked at the kind-faced old monk in front of him, and twitched the corners of his mouth slightly.

Zhao Ru is a bachelor with a fart family.

The so-called family members who were crying in the main hall were all hired by him with money. They were professional crying parties and mainly focused on a sincere feast.

Naturally, Li Li, Miyin Toutuo and others were not family members, but came from Xunyang City overnight to investigate.

It's just that in order to delay the burial ceremony, the price was specially increased to allow the ritual to be held for a few more days.

Fight for the survey, while... give it a try.

At this moment, when Master Shandao took the initiative to talk to him, Li Li nodded and spoke concisely:

"My surname is Li."

Master Shandao: "Shouldn't the family members of donor Zhao be named Zhao?"

After speaking, the old abbot looked curiously at the strangely dressed companions behind the Persian businessman.

When a loophole was pointed out, Li Li didn't even raise his eyelids.

He said nothing and just looked at Master Shandao.

"Cough cough."

The atmosphere was a little awkward. Master Shandao coughed and decided not to make things up with the money, so he didn't ask any more questions.

"Donor Li, why are you bringing some idle people? This is an important place in Buddhism. You still have to be careful."

Master Shandao glanced at Miyin Tutuo and the frivolous Taoist priest, and reminded them calmly.

Li Li said calmly: "I'm just a friend. I'm here to pay my respects. Master, don't be too stingy."

"It's not that I'm being stingy. The main reason is that I am a wonderful Buddha and I am not very talented. I am also nicknamed the eminent monk Mahamati who spews lotus flowers. Her Majesty the Queen personally gave me the title. I am afraid that I will recite sutras and lectures later and accidentally overstate the two friends who are traveling together. , rushing to join my Lian Sect Buddhism, it will be difficult to do so at that time, after all, they also have masters, so this is a bit unscrupulous. "

Master Shandao sighed with an apologetic expression.

"..." Li Li, Miyin Toutuo, and the frivolous Taoist priest.

Everyone couldn't help but look at the serious old monk, with different expressions on their faces.

Are you worried that this is not elegant? OK OK.

Miyin Tutuo lowered his head and chanted sutras, shaking his head silently.

The frivolous Taoist priest sneered.

Li Li suppressed the twitching corners of his mouth and waved his hand:

"It's okay, the eminent monk can just recite sutras. If he can save my two friends, turn around and learn Mahayana Buddhism, it will be an immeasurable merit, right?"

The frivolous Taoist priest nodded solemnly: "Master, please be sure to ferry me over."

Master Shandao thought: "It makes sense." Then he sang to the frivolous Taoist Buddha: "Amitabha."

Li Li smiled. Looking at it this way, the money was not wasted. Not only did he buy time for investigation, but he could also have fun while waiting boredly.

Master Shandao quietly looked around, found a reason, pulled Li Li aside, and said in a low voice:

"I found that the evil spirits of the donor Zhao were somewhat difficult to drive away. It happened that I had recently read the Diamond Sutra and achieved great success. I newly understood a set of Buddhist teachings that can save people. The essence lies in the elucidation of 'the emptiness of dependent origination'.

"The Tathagata says that the world is not the world, so it is called the world.

"These three sentences are the core true meaning of the Diamond Sutra. No matter how evil the demons and ghosts are, they can all be 'empty in nature'. They can focus on destroying illusions and eliminating karma...

"I wonder if Donor Li would be willing to give it a try for Donor Zhao..."

Li Li thought it was something important, but it turned out to be "begging for food". He was speechless, nodded and sighed with a serious face:

"It's alright, Master Xingkong is not... Master Shandao, just watch and prepare. You must let my brother go safely. It is best to catch the monster and eliminate this karma."

"good."

Master Shandao smiled and nodded, and ran to prepare happily.

A high roller is a high roller and never haggle.

At the same time, he pretended not to notice the careless behavior of Li Li and others who secretly went to the apse to observe the corpse.

Li Li laughed and walked back into the back hall with the Miyin Tutuo, the frivolous Taoist priest and two Xianbei men.    Just entered.

The frivolous Taoist priest laughed teasingly at Miyin Tutuo, who was stooped and wearing shabby monk clothes:

"Old bald donkey, this fellow bald donkey who is greedy for money wants to teach the Diamond Sutra, and he also talks about the emptiness of dependent origin and nature. Isn't this what your Buddhist sect is best at? Why don't you talk to him about the Dharma and teach him? Tell me what you're saying He's from Miyin Temple, and if he can even take on an old disciple, it's a worthwhile trip."

Miyin Tutuo, who had become an abandoned disciple, bowed his head and ignored him.

"Amitabha." He whispered.

Li Li stepped forward, opened the white cloth, suppressed the disgusting smell, and looked at the cross-sectional wounds separated from the corpse.

He took out another Wei token and took a look at it.

I don't know what he thought of, but the Persian businessman's face became more and more gloomy.

The frivolous Taoist priest smiled and asked: "That person will come? Is he really the legendary sword holder?"

Li Li nodded imperceptibly, glanced at the night, his face serious.

Miyin Tutu suddenly said: "Tathagata."

……

Ouyang Rong finished dinner with Liu's mother and chatted for a while about home affairs.

After they all fell asleep, they quietly closed the door and went out.

This time he came to Longcheng in a low-key manner, bringing with him a piano case and a baggage.

Inside the baggage was a bronze mask and a Qi-tonifying elixir called Mo Jiao.

I only brought these three things with me on this trip.

While it was still early, Ouyang Rong went to the underground palace and found Xiuzhen, whom he hadn't seen for a long time. He handed her some pastries and started chatting.

It's a real chat, you say something to me.

Although most of the time, the two of them were on different channels and talked about Dugu.

The surroundings were empty, and Ouyang Rong sat quietly on the lotus pedestal, looking up at the moonlight outside the well above his head.

Suddenly he thought of the mute embroiderer and said to herself:

"The nature of dependent origin is empty..."

I don't know if his "fate" with Xiu Niang still exists.

When it comes to fate, Ouyang Rong feels deeply.

Master Shandao has been studying the Diamond Sutra some time ago, talking about the meaning of three sentences and the emptiness of dependent origin. He also often writes letters and books to discuss with him...

Ouyang Rong was not interested in Buddhism in his previous life, but he was interested in getting high scores.

In this life, I am not interested in Buddhism, but I am interested in earning merit.

So he probably knows a little bit about Buddhism.

At first, it was Master Shandao who came to discuss with him. Of course, he also had the intention of showing off the profoundness of Buddhism. Unfortunately, he came to the wrong person.

As a result, later on, the two of them became familiar with each other, and it gradually became Ouyang Rong's unilateral output from all angles. Master Shandao could say less and less, so he had to start to be responsible for the epiphany, and some tongue-in-cheek comments. He even boasted that the Ming Dynasty had "great wisdom roots", which made Ouyang Rong, who was already eighteen years old, wonder, how did the master know this?

Come back.

The full name of the Diamond Sutra is "The Diamond Prajna Paramita Sutra."

The so-called three-sentence meaning is an expression that appears frequently in Buddhist scriptures such as the Diamond Sutra.

It is a sentence pattern that is both positive and negative at the same time.

For example, in the Diamond Sutra, there is a sentence that often appears... The Tathagata says that the world is neither a world nor a world.

The general meaning is: Tathagata says there is a world, not a world, it is called a world.

It sounds very contradictory, like a word game, pretending to be a ghost.

But it can be understood by combining the three realms of "seeing mountains as mountains, seeing water as water; seeing mountains as not mountains, seeing water as not water; seeing mountains as mountains, and seeing water as water."

Not entirely true though.

From the perspective of Ouyang Rong, who is currently meditating, the three Buddhist sentences touch upon a deeper issue.

It involves a question about the nature of the world... Does this world have an entity?

If he were still taking the postgraduate entrance examination in his previous life, Ouyang Rong would have nodded firmly, of course there is an entity. Physics does not exist anymore, right? What is the world if it is not an entity?

But after coming to this world, he came into contact with the existence of Qi practitioners, and he witnessed with his own eyes the mythical law of "Qi" that is possessed by everything in the world.

In the past, Ouyang Rong had a new understanding of the concepts of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism that were only contained in textbooks, and began to think and review.

Let’s look at the meaning of the three sentences of the Diamond Sutra again.

The first sentence is, the Tathagata talks about the world.

The Buddha said that there is a world, but you must not regard this world as an entity.

The second sentence is the non-world.

Tathagata immediately denied the existence of this world as an entity.

And the third sentence is called the world.

You have negated the world as an entity, but you cannot deny the world directly. Otherwise, how can you explain everything we see and feel now?

Therefore, it is still a world, but it is not composed of entities.

Sakyamuni believed that it is composed of "dependent origination", but its essence is empty.

All things are inherently empty.

So how does it come about that it can be touched and felt?

It is formed by the aggregation of causes and conditions.

That is, origin.

Things that come together by fate will also become separated by fate.

That’s why the Tathagata says that the world is not a world, but a world.

This is called the emptiness of dependent origination.

It is an important concept widely accepted by various Buddhist sects. If this is not recognized, it would not be a Buddhist sect. It's just that each sect's interpretation of "the emptiness of dependent origination" has different directions and emphasis.

Likewise, it is impossible to understand most Buddhist Zen without agreeing with the idea of ​​emptiness.

When you read Buddhist scriptures, you will be confused and feel that they are not speaking like human beings and are feudal and superstitious.

For example, when the underground palace woke up, Hehuo Qiu Laodao suddenly asked Ouyang Rong.

What is the first meaning of the Noble Truth?

He answered Kuoran Wusheng.

But at that time, Ouyang Rong only had a logical understanding, which was far less profound than it is now.

In the underground palace, silently sniffing the Buddhist sandalwood floating in the air, Ouyang Rong was silent for a long time, then suddenly turned to Xiuzhen who was sitting blankly and said:

"It's ridiculous.

"When I opened my eyes and came to this underground palace, I never believed in the emptiness of dependent origin, nor did I believe in the emptiness of dependent origination or cessation. Until later, with all kinds of expectations, I exchanged for the blessings of my return.

“The moment I realized I could never go back, I felt deeply the emptiness of dependent origination.”

He waved the bronze mask in his hand:

“The postgraduate entrance exams, family ties, and hometown that I had always firmly believed should exist forever... on the day the blessing was revealed, I knew it was gone.

"Looking back, I suddenly realized that all the rules and regulations in my life were essentially empty.

"After experiencing despair and rage, despair, confusion and helplessness, I picked up the mask left by Ah Shan and put it on again. That day was a new beginning.

"I also began to realize that the little junior sister I met, the aunt I met, the Rokuro I met, the A Qing family, the Li Xian family I met, etc., these ongoing karmic emotions are essentially the same, and they are also empty. .

"As the saying goes, when conditions arise, they come into being, and when conditions dissipate, they perish. This is true for everything.

"But, I don't know, Master, you say, just because the essence is empty, can I disillusion the nothingness, retreat into emptiness, and passively deny the existing things?"

Without waiting for Xiuzhen to reply "I don't know", Ouyang Rong asked and answered himself:

"Do not.

"You should cherish it more."

The murmuring young man lowered his head, gently put on his mask, hugged the piano case, and stood up:

"I don't know, Master, I'll come see you next time. Dependent Origination Xingxing is empty. I have a fate with you, with the underground palace, and with the embroiderer who guarded my awakening twice. Destiny is the most important thing. I look forward to next time.

"Goodbye."

(End of this chapter)