My brother is so cunning

Chapter 1004 Buddha Makes His Move
When the video footage appeared, Venerable Kasyapa and the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the delegation were all speechless.

After Kasyapa returned empty-handed, a debate ensued on Mount Ling. The monastic community split into two factions. One faction, led by Venerable Kasyapa, advocated relinquishing all worldly possessions in exchange for the return of peace to the Western Continent of Niuhe.

The other faction, led by Venerable Ananda, resolutely refused to abandon the accumulated offerings from believers.

The two sides had huge differences and argued for a long time without reaching a conclusion.

The Kasyapa school advocates that monks should be free from all attachments. Even if they give up worldly possessions, it will not hinder their practice. It also saves some disciples with weak minds from breaking precepts and creating negative karma for these material things.

Ananda's faction insisted that without the accumulation of wealth, how could Buddhist temples be repaired, Buddha statues be sculpted, and all kinds of Dharma assemblies and activities be held?
From the perspective of propagating Buddhism, maintaining the operation of temples, and encouraging monks to focus on spiritual practice without engaging in production, many of Venerable Ananda's arguments are valid and seem to be aimed at promoting the Western religion.

According to him, if the opinion of Venerable Kasyapa were followed, the Western religion might be able to maintain its faith, but its teachings would be difficult to expand and flourish, with no hope of great prosperity.

The logic is simple: without money for promotion, without money to buy traffic, and without money to trend on social media, how can you possibly become popular?
Each side had its own reasons, and neither could convince the other. The argument went on for a long time, which led to the continuous deterioration of the external situation, the fall of temples, and the loss of Buddhist lands.

Even today, with the fall of the largest Tantric ancestral temple in the northern part of Jambudvipa, the debate within the Mahavira Hall is no longer about how to eliminate demons and protect the righteous path, but rather whether or not to spend an astronomical sum to borrow troops from the Creator God.

"Buddha, if the skin is gone, where will the hair attach?"

Venerable Kasyapa also bowed to the Tathagata with his palms together and argued, “The Arhat who just escaped back to Mount Ling has just reported that Drepung Monastery has fallen, Vajrapani Bodhisattva has passed away, and all the Tantric Buddhist temples in the Northern Territory have been destroyed by the demonic calamity. If this is delayed any longer, not one-tenth of our Buddhist temples will survive, our incense offerings and vows will be almost completely cut off, the foundation of our religion will be unstable, the power of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will be exhausted, and the calamity of the destruction of our religion is imminent.”

"If the tradition cannot be continued, how can it be expected to flourish in the world in the future?"

"Seeking military assistance from that evil god, the Creator Heavenly Venerable, is tantamount to asking a tiger for its skin, draining the pond to catch all the fish, or drinking poison to quench thirst. Even if we can overcome this temporary crisis, our sect will inevitably decline in the future and have no hope of ever rising again!"

Venerable Ananda countered sharply, arguing forcefully based on reason.

The two disciples of the Buddha bowed to the Tathagata and earnestly prayed, "Please, Buddha, enlighten the monks on how to overcome this life-or-death crisis?"

"Ugh……"

The Buddha sighed deeply, a look of disappointment appearing on his compassionate face.

He shook his head and said, "The cause and effect are unclear, the confusion has not been dispelled, you are all wrong."

Kasyapa and Ananda exchanged a puzzled look, then bowed their heads and said, "We are foolish and ignorant; please enlighten us, World Honored One."

The monks in the main hall were also full of doubt. They had been listening to the two venerable ones argue for some time and felt that each had their own reasons. Venerable Kasyapa's opinion could immediately resolve the current predicament faced by the Western Religion, while Venerable Ananda's words were also very much in line with reality.

It was thought that Buddha would support one of their opinions, but unexpectedly he rejected both.

If Wen Rui were present, he would be greatly surprised by the Buddha's judgment, because his wicked plan was to completely sever the Western Religion's momentum, no matter what choice it made. If they refused to spend money to avoid disaster, then he would slowly erode the Buddhist temples in the Western Religion that were most adept at accumulating wealth, leaving only the sects that practiced meditation and lived a life of seclusion.

If you pay money to avoid disaster, then even if there is another grand pilgrimage to the West in the future, and the Western religions, having emptied their coffers, want to build Buddhist temples and erect Buddha statues in the Tang Dynasty, they will have to plunder the offerings of believers. Otherwise, those magnificent Buddhist temples will not grow out of the ground on their own.

In this way, even if the people of Jambudvipa are the most foolish, they will not easily believe in this religion that drains the last penny from their pockets.

Moreover, the human autonomous region in Jambudvipa has now begun to promote the new knowledge education of the Intercepting Sect, and the number of superstitious fools will only decrease, and the living space of the Western Sect will be infinitely compressed.

After meditating for a moment with his eyes closed, the Buddha slowly stood up, stepped down from the lotus platform, walked past the crowd of monks gathered in the main hall, and headed towards the entrance of the Mahavira Hall.

“I have exhausted my supreme magical power and used my destiny-based divine abilities to calculate that the great calamity of the demonic calamity in Xiniu Hezhou is deeply related to the Creation Celestial Venerable. Perhaps he is the source of the disaster.”

As he walked slowly, Tathagata spoke: "On the day the Great Calamity of the Investiture of the Gods was quelled, the Dao Ancestor Hongjun made an agreement with the two Holy Venerables of our sect that from then on each would cultivate their own religion and not harm living beings. Since the day he attained enlightenment, the Creator Heavenly Venerable has made things difficult for our sect at every turn and pressed us step by step, which has already violated the Dao Ancestor's teachings. My original intention was to follow the precepts and be patient and not to fight with him, but it has brought our sect to the brink of destruction."

"This is intolerable! If this wicked creature is not eliminated, the Three Realms will never have peace!"

Venerable Ananda's face lit up with joy, and he quickly put his palms together in reverence, praising, "The Buddha's wisdom is unparalleled, directly pointing to the Buddha-nature in people's hearts. I bow in reverence and praise the Buddha's grace, and I wish to use my body to spread the Buddha's teachings!"

He completely forgot the Buddha's earlier judgment that he was also wrong, and took it as the Buddha's support for his argument. He left behind the offerings from the believers accumulated by the Western Religion over the years, and then had the Buddha personally kill Wen Rui.

If Wen Rui dies, those super puppets he created will become ownerless, and perhaps they can be divided up between the Heavenly Court and the Heavenly Court, with each receiving several thousand units.

With puppets in hand, those elite demonic insects with martial arts and supernatural powers are no longer a threat. They will soon be able to reclaim the Buddhist lands that have fallen in Xiniu Hezhou, and drive those foolish believers to rebuild the destroyed Buddhist temples brick by brick, tile by tile. The Buddhas will then be able to continue to lord it over everyone.

"Buddha, you should have personally taken action long ago to subdue that evil god who opposes Buddha!"

Venerable Ananda exclaimed excitedly, "We've let him run rampant for so many years, polluting my Pure Land of the Buddha in Xiniu Hezhou..."

Upon hearing this, the Buddha turned back and glanced at him indifferently. He raised his hand and made a grasping motion. Venerable Ananda was immediately struck by lightning. His body stiffened at first, then shrank continuously, turning into a mustard seed invisible to the naked eye, and flew into the Buddha's palm.

“Ananda, you have served me closely and have long heard the Buddha’s teachings. You should know that monks should make purity their profession and charity their practice. If they are attached to gold, silver and other material possessions, how are they different from ordinary greedy people?”

"Today I will take you into my Buddha Kingdom, where there is nothing to disturb your mind. I will punish you by making you face the wall in the Great Tranquility for a thousand years to repent and start anew."

After receiving Venerable Ananda, the Tathagata slowly walked to a cliff on Mount Ling, gazing at the sprawling mountains of West Kunlun, his Buddha eyes seemingly both bright and sleepy.

Venerable Kasyapa quickly caught up and said worriedly, “World Honored One, that evil god Wen Rui has a powerful background and is protected by a sage. If you attack him, the outcome will be uncertain. Even if you suppress him, it will be difficult to explain to the sages of the Daoist sect.”

(End of this chapter)