Shen Gongbao Great Sage Persuading Death Immortal

Chapter 333: Kill the Three Corpses and Make Nothing of Them

Buddhism aims at enlightenment.

To become a Buddha by oneself is called Hinayana.

All beings become Buddhas and reach the other shore together; this is Mahayana.

There is no essential difference between Mahayana and Hinayana. They are just rafts and tools to reach the other shore and cross the sea of ​​suffering.

However, saving oneself is extremely difficult, and saving all living beings is almost hopeless and there is no chance of survival.

Mahayana Buddhism seems beautiful, embracing all things, compatible with everything, with unlimited financing and immeasurable merits. However, the reality is cruel, and sooner or later it will explode.

Even if there are people with great compassion and a great wish to save all sentient beings, their supernatural powers cannot defeat karma, and they will ultimately not escape the fate of being a god. What's worse, some people may become Buddhas or demons in just one thought, endangering sentient beings and causing endless harm.

The six realms of reincarnation rotate, cause and effect are endless, the red lotus of karma blooms, and a Bodhi seed rotates in it, enduring countless hardships. After 9981 kalpas, before the future star kalpa, at the end of the Dharma, he will become a Buddha, with thirty-two kinds of wonderful features and eighty kinds of auspicious signs. He sits in the lotus position on the lotus throne. His body is blue, with his right hand in the earth-touching seal and his left hand in the concentration seal. He is called the Sandalwood Merit Buddha.

Seeing this, all the great Arhats, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas could not help but put their hands together and praised in unison: "Namo Sandalwood Merit Buddha, Namo Sandalwood Merit Tathagata, all Buddhas of the ten directions and three times, all Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas, Mahaprajnaparamita."

In the past Auspicious Kalpa, the future Starry Kalpa, and the present Virtuous Kalpa, one thousand Buddhas were born in each of the three kalpas, totaling three thousand. Among them, only ninety-four can become Tathagatas.

Led by the ancient Buddha Dipamkara, there were fifty-three Tathagatas among the thousand Buddhas of the past, all of whom had the foundation of Western teachings.

For example, the Dragon Seed Supreme King Buddha is the Tathagata body of Manjusri Bodhisattva; for example, the Medicine Master Tathagata was called the Lapis Lazuli Adorned King Buddha in the past kalpa;

The fifty-fourth Tathagata is the World-Honored King Buddha, the teacher of the monk Dharmazang.

After becoming a Buddha, the monk Dharmazang was named Amitabha Buddha, and was the fifty-fifth Tathagata.

After Amitabha Buddha attained enlightenment, he laid the foundation of the Pure Land, Buddhism flourished, and he began to subdue the heterodox teachings. Then three Tathagatas appeared, named Aparagodānti, Sīlagīya, and Vaiśvabha.

Vaishva, also known as Vishva, means all-pervading, all-victorious, all-living, able to manifest, omnipresent, widely-lived, and victorious.

He is the last Buddha of the past Auspicious Kalpa, the fifty-eighth Tathagata.

Now the Kalpa of Virtue has begun, and three Tathagatas have been born, namely, Kukkuravatika Buddha, Kunagamamuni Buddha, and Kasyapa Buddha.

These three Buddhas all became monks late in life, bringing their skills with them to become masters, paving the way for Sakyamuni, with the aim of protecting the Dharma and defending the Way.

The Buddha Kukkuravatika was a master of both Buddhism and Taoism, each with his own alias; the Buddha Kunagamanmuni, also known as the Golden Silence Immortal and the Golden Summit Immortal, was the first Daluo Golden Immortal in Buddhism; the Buddha Kashyapa had a similar cultivation experience as Sakyamuni, and if he had not met the Buddha, he could have achieved enlightenment on his own, so he can be considered half a religious leader.

Since then, with Sakyamuni as the leader, there are thirty-three Tathagatas among the thousand Buddhas today.

There were fifty-three in the past and thirty-three now, totaling eighty-six Buddhas. Add the eight transitional Buddhas in between, and there are a total of ninety-four Tathagatas.

As for the future star calamity, it has not yet begun and will eventually become empty. Even the master of the star calamity, the future Buddha Maitreya, is only a great bodhisattva now, and was called Maitreya Immortal Light Tathagata in the past calamity.

"When the Meritorious Buddha appears, it will be the 95th Tathagata." The Bodhisattva Maitreya looked at the six realms of reincarnation, smiling, clasped his hands together, and said slowly: "This is a great happy event, and we should celebrate it."

"Ninety-five Tathagata." Medicine Buddha laughed, his eyes deep, and shook his head and said, "I don't think so. I'm afraid it's the ninety-sixth Tathagata."

With the birth of the Merit Buddha, due to the connection of cause and effect, thousands of golden lotuses fell from the sky, and another Buddha was born, named Fighting Buddha.

"Fighting Buddha?" A golden Buddha who was in Nirvana suddenly moved. He slowly opened his eyes, and his Dharma eyes observed the past and the future. He saw the cause and effect of the ten directions and three times, and whispered, "Cut off the three corpses, reduce everything to nothing, and use the Taoist Dharma to prove the Buddhist fruit. Subhuti has a good plan."

Seeking the truth in Taoism and realizing emptiness in Buddhism, transcending all causes and effects, breaking free from all constraints, jumping out of the Three Realms, and achieving Nirvana that is not within the Five Elements are what Buddhist disciples pursue.

There are two kinds of Nirvana: one is with remainder, the other is without remainder.

Nirvana with remainder means that all sentient beings’ troubles have been eliminated, their desires are gone, and their spirits have entered the state of Nirvana, but their physical bodies still exist and the flesh has not yet died. The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are in this state. Their physical bodies decay and die regularly, and their lifespan has an end, but a point of spiritual light penetrates time and space, reversing cause and effect, and is omnipresent in all the heavens and worlds, in the past and the future.

In Nirvana, both the spirit and the body are dead, and one has completely escaped from the cycle of life and death. It is unpredictable and unimaginable, and extremely difficult. Among the three Buddhist founders and the ninety-six Tathagatas, only Sakyamuni has attained this state. Without cultivating any magic power, he attained great freedom and ease, and was on par with Laozi.

Therefore, the Bodhisattvas and Buddhas of later generations had to go back in time and space to come to this point to listen to the Dharma.

Shakyamuni did not cultivate supernatural powers and stayed in the world for only eighty years.

Subhuti was a great golden immortal who had attained a majestic body with a lifespan as long as the sky. He was known as a great master who had enlightened his mind after going through many tribulations, but he still could not attain the state of complete nirvana. However, Subhuti had great wisdom and realized the Buddha's mind from Taoism, and by analogy, he took an alternative path.

Cut off the three corpses, take responsibility for your own cause and effect, abandon greed, anger, and ignorance, and make the four elements completely empty.

"It is different from the three corpses of good, evil and self, but greed, anger and ignorance." Maitreya Bodhisattva chanted the Buddha's name and praised: "Subhuti is indeed amazing, what did the Buddha think of it in the past?"

"The method is certainly good. If it succeeds, there will be ninety-eight Tathagatas in our Buddhist sect." The ancient Buddha Rāhula was calm and composed. After making a calm comment, he did not listen to what Sakyamuni said. He simply closed his eyes, restored his golden body state of nirvana, and said no more.

“If we can succeed…” A group of great Arhats and Bodhisattvas figured out many things from the attitude of the past Buddha, Rāhula.

It would be best if it succeeds, but...what if it doesn't? !

When the Buddha, who came from later generations, saw this scene, they suddenly realized that it was actually Tathagata.

No wonder Journey to the West, which seems unremarkable on the surface, can stand side by side with dragons and phoenixes, wizards and liches, and the Conferred Gods, which are great catastrophes involving the structure of heaven and earth.

Because it involves the path to enlightenment of a Buddhist leader!

Once successful, it will be of far-reaching significance, and will allow Buddhism to surpass Taoism, the Heavenly Court, and even all other forces in one fell swoop, becoming the supreme among all the heavens.

At present, the highest fruit of the Tao in all the heavens and worlds is unique. No matter it is the Taiyi fruit, the Taishang fruit, or the Nirvana fruit, only the ancestor can achieve it.

If Subhuti succeeds, he will have verified one thing: there is a second state of Nirvana, which is allowed to be passed by later disciples other than the original ancestor, and this path can be replicated.

At that time, all the great masters in the heavens and all realms, regardless of their camp, will study Buddhism and join the Buddhist community as long as they want to go further.

(End of this chapter)