Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 390 Zen Patriarch
Ou means to look at people. Another word is yong. Xiang means to resemble.

"Ou" is a kind of figurine similar to a human being, a sculpture carved in the image of a human being.

By this era, idols have basically become associated with Buddhism and Taoism, and specifically refer to the statues of gods enshrined in temples and believers' homes.

The idol worship in Buddhism is even more serious than that in the native Taoism.

When Su Ze was in Dunhuang, he heard that during the annual Buddha Bathing Festival in Gaochang, the Buddha statues in the temples would be taken out to bathe and then carried around the city by believers. The believers would enthusiastically offer their year's savings as sacrifices to the Buddha statues.

The Northern Wei royal family was also keen on casting statues. In the early days, this was a primitive religious belief on the grassland, and the success or failure of casting statues was used to judge good or bad luck. However, it was soon combined with Buddhism, and the bronze statues of human-faced Buddha bodies were used for divination. Because the casting technology of this era was not up to standard, the success rate of casting statues was not high. Once a statue was successfully cast, it symbolized that it had received the mandate from heaven.

When Wang Sizheng finished reading out the theme, the first person to stand up was Qi Tai from the Confucian school.

Qi Tai first bowed to Su Ze and then said:

"If you have the true Buddha in your heart, why do you need to kneel down and worship the Buddha statue? People in the world are proud of building statues and pagodas. The more magnificent they are, the more they feel they are accumulating blessings. They use worldly wealth to seek blessings from the outside world. Will the gods and Buddhas really bless such people?"

The monks' hearts skipped a beat and they all looked at Master Guanghui who represented Buddhism.

The Confucianists attacked the Buddhists right away, which can be said to be their ill intentions.

Those Buddhist disciples who were more thoughtful secretly looked at Su Ze.

Qi Tai's attack could be said to be well prepared. The Confucianists were able to launch an attack on the Buddhists so quickly. It was hard to say whether this was Qi Tai's quick wit or whether the Duke's Mansion had already revealed the topic of the debate to the Confucianists and prepared the offensive rhetoric in advance.

The monks also became nervous. Idol worship concerns the foundation of Buddhism. This is not the foundation of doctrine or theory. After all, the Buddha did not ask his disciples to cast statues for worship before his death. Instead, the statues of Buddha are too important in the economic system of Buddhism.

Casting statues is a merit, and believers will also "invite" the Buddha statues in the Buddhist temple back home to worship. Of course, they also need to pay incense money during the "invite" process.

Those spectacular grottoes are also historical wonders that took a lot of time to build based on this theory.

It can be said that Buddha statues are the most important link in the entire Buddhist economy.

Master Guanghui, who came from Gaochang State, naturally understood this principle better.

He said:
"The Buddha said: The true Buddha has no image."

After hearing these words, some impatient monks were ready to curse.

Guang Hui continued:

"But ordinary people are dull and stupid. Without a solemn Buddha statue, they cannot feel the majesty of the true Buddha and cannot embark on the path of Buddhist practice."

Almost all the monks applauded, saying that he was worthy of being a master from the Western Regions!
This sentence not only enhances the mystery of Buddhism, but also explains the role of Buddha statues. It can be said to be a very relevant and appropriate answer!

At this time Liu Bozhi stood up and said:
"If there really is a Buddha in the world, then just by thinking of him, you can embark on the path of practice. There is no need to rely on Buddha statues at all."

What Liu Bozhi was talking about was the new idea of ​​practice that emerged through Bian Ji.

At that time, Bian Ji declared that as long as one chanted the Buddha's name, one could embark on the path of spiritual practice. Ordinary people did not need to offer expensive Buddha statues or donate incense money, they could chant the Buddha's name and practice on their own.

Nowadays, this theory is popular in both the north and the south because it “saves money and trouble”.

Master Guanghui said calmly:

"Before Emperor Ming of Han, there were no Buddha statues in China. Why don't the people here know that the real Buddha exists?"

Even Huike applauded this answer, and all the monks cheered.

Even the important officials sitting next to Su Ze nodded.

But it was obvious that Master Guanghui was not satisfied with passive defense, he attacked:

"Without Buddha statues or Buddhist scriptures, people can understand Buddhist teachings. Why didn't people understand benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness before the birth of the sages Yao, Shun, and Yu? Why did people at that time only know their mothers but not their fathers, like animals?"

This sentence was obviously an attack on Confucianism, and even Qi Tai's face turned pale.

Guanghui understood that the Taoist school had been defeated long ago, and his opponent was still the Confucian school.

He continued:
"If, as Lord Qi said, kneeling down to worship Buddha statues does not bring about merit, then isn't the Duke of the County praying for the blessings of his ancestors by setting up five temples to worship their ancestors? Are ancestral temples also useless?"

As soon as this statement came out, everyone was shocked.

I didn't expect that Guanghui, who looked like an enlightened monk, had such sharp words. He directly attacked idol worship and the ancestral temple sacrifices advocated by Confucianism. But what he said made some sense.

Speaking of the fundamental Confucian rituals, Qi Tai also became anxious. He said:

"My Lord, Buddhism is a foreign religion. How can we in the Central Plains be assimilated to Buddhism? Please abolish it!"

Qi Tai's words caused an uproar among the monks.

However, Su Ze on the main seat nodded slightly. Qi Tai's knowledge of classics was still a little lacking, and he couldn't tell whether his opponent had started to attack him.

It seems that the trolls of ancient and modern times all use the same tactics.

Guang Hui is obviously at a higher level. He said:

"If we follow what Qi Gong said, foreign laws should be abolished and not used. Then Confucius' Confucianism is the learning of Lu State, and it is also a foreign law for Qin Land, so it should also be abolished!"

The monks cheered.

Qi Tai's face flushed, and he said angrily:

"Lu and Qin have long been ruled by the king! They are both orthodox in the Central Plains and cannot be confused with Buddhism!" Guanghui continued:

"Lu and Qin were both under the rule of the king, so their scriptures and teachings could be used interchangeably. Then why should Central Plains and India, both under the light of the Buddha, not respect Buddhism as well? Why should they be abandoned alone?"

Qi Tai was really irritated, and he used the fact that Buddhist disciples became monks to attack:

"Our bodies and hair are given by our parents. As children, we should be filial to our parents. Giving up one's life for Buddhism is unfilial. Can those who offer money and goods to Buddhism but do not support their parents also ascend to paradise?"

Guang Hui was also furious. He said:
"Then the soldiers serve in the army, and Qi Gong serves as an official. Aren't they also unfilial by being away from their parents? Why don't you let the soldiers and officials go home to serve their parents?"

The monks cheered again, but this time Hui Ke did not cheer again.

Bodhidharma, who had been silent all this time, let out a long sigh.

Sure enough, when Guanghui said this, although the Buddhists were cheering, the bigwigs sitting in Shiqu Pavilion all looked unhappy.

And smiles appeared on the faces of those Confucian students.

Wang Sizheng himself is more inclined towards Buddhism, but when he heard Guanghui say this, he glanced at Su Ze's expression and finally just sighed.

This sentence touched the Duke's sore spot.

The reason why Lord Su chose "idol" as the topic of the debate was actually because he was dissatisfied with the fact that Buddhism was amassing wealth in the name of Buddha statues.

At least based on Wang Sizheng's understanding of Su Ze, at this point in time, the Duke had no intention of destroying Buddhism.

At most, it would mean suppressing Buddhism, forcing it to give up some money and release some people. Just don't go too far.

However, Guanghui's debate directly touched upon the foundation of the Duke's Mansion - the military service system, which was a way to seek death.

Confucianism encourages people to be loyal and filial, while Taoism simply abolished its grassroots organizations after Kou Qianzhi's reforms and gave up some of its doctrines advocating rebellion in exchange for the protection of the rulers.

But you, the Buddhist sect, are so different that you even attack a country's military service system, and use sophistry to equate becoming a monk with serving the country as a soldier.

If this isn’t suicide, then what is?
It’s just ridiculous that this monk was so proud of Qi Tai’s silence.

Wang Sizheng thought to himself that it seemed that he could no longer show sympathy for Buddhism and could no longer let his family go to the temple to make donations.

Just when the monks were still excited about Guanghui's eloquence, a monk suddenly stepped out.

"Master Guanghui, you are angry."

Huike looked at his master Bodhidharma beside him in surprise. He didn't know how he had squeezed past the monks around him and arrived at the center of the debate venue.

Bodhidharma bowed to Su Ze and said:

"The Indian monk Bodhidharma pays homage to the Duke of the County."

At this time, Wang Sizheng, who was maintaining order, was ready to send people to drive away Damo, but was stopped by Su Ze who raised his hand.

In fact, Su Ze had already learned about Bodhidharma's arrival in Guanzhong through the intelligence network.

After all, the abbot of Yongle Temple where Bodhidharma stayed was the follower summoned by Su Ze.

However, he had long since become disenchanted with historical figures and had no intention of summoning the future Zen master.

After all, Su Ze is not interested in Buddhism.

Although Zen Buddhism has been very famous in history, the threshold for admission to this sect is really too high. The reason for its fame is that Zen Buddhism is very popular in the upper-class intellectual circles, and in later generations it was well integrated with Confucianism. Therefore, many Zen monks can be seen in history books, giving people the feeling that they have a great influence.

In fact, from the Southern and Northern Dynasties onwards, the influence of Zen Buddhism was just like this. In terms of the effect of reforming Buddhism, it was not as good as the Vinaya School and the Pure Land School.

Bodhidharma put his hands together and said:

"Because of emptiness, seeing form gives rise to desire; because of loving-kindness, desire gives rise to the sea of ​​desire."

"The Buddha's nature is empty and is within our hearts. However, we want to make clay sculptures or bronze objects to worship them. This is because our hearts are attached to the appearances. If we rely on external things, we will develop desires for these external things, which will eventually cut off the path of spiritual practice."

“Offering to the Buddha under the green lamp is originally a kind and benevolent act, but if you offer to the Buddha for the purpose of accumulating merit, then the desire for gain will overwhelm the kindness towards the Buddha, and it will breed endless desires instead.”

After Bodhidharma finished these two sentences, Su Ze also clapped his hands and said:
"it is good!"

Perhaps Bodhidharma’s two sentences were too profound and many people were unable to understand them.

Su Ze smiled and said:

"Master, your Buddhist teachings are profound. I am grateful for your teachings."

"Master, what you mean is that practicing with the intention of seeking results will only lead you to the wrong path of chasing fame and fortune."

"If you practice Buddhism with the intention of repaying something, then what is the difference between you and those who pursue fame and fortune in the secular world? If you practice Buddhism without any intention of repaying anything, will you still vent your anger on the Buddha?"

Su Ze stood up and said, "From now on, under the rule of this county, the parade of Buddha statues will be prohibited. All Buddhist temples that cast statues must register with the local Buddhist and Taoist Bureau. Those who privately cast statues to make money will be expelled from the monkhood!"

The monks' faces turned pale, as this had cut off one of their means of making money. They cast angry glances at Bodhidharma, believing that it was this monk who was talking nonsense and that was why Lord Su had given such severe punishment to the Buddhist community.

Unexpectedly, Bodhidharma knelt down and bowed to Su Ze:
"I traveled to the East and met the Holy King!"

(End of this chapter)