As soon as Duobao finished speaking, boundless seven-colored clouds descended from the sky. One cloud flew towards Duobao Tathagata's body, another towards the Eight Trigrams Palace, and the third split into two parts: the larger and smaller cloud flew towards Cangjie, while the other two smaller clouds were received by Dipankara. It was because Cangjie had completed the act of transforming into a Buddha that he also received a portion of the merit.
Seeing that Duobao had already established his teachings, Cangjie was somewhat moved, but he didn't say anything. After the merits were distributed, he collected them and left.
Just as Dipankara had accumulated merit, he received a message from Cundi, instructing him to bring Shakyamuni back to the Pure Land.
The 11th Primordial Hatred
After Dipankara and Shakyamuni departed, they headed towards the Western Paradise. Both possessed extraordinary magical powers; they traversed mountains and seas, arriving in the Pure Land in a short time to meet Amitabha Buddha. Upon entering, they saw the former guide, now Amitabha Buddha, chanting sutras with the visiting Cundi. Amitabha Buddha's youngest disciple, Maitreya, was also seated on a lotus throne, listening to the Dharma of Nirvana. Dipankara led Siddhartha in paying homage to the two religious leaders.
The two sages nodded, and Cundi said to Shakyamuni, "Are you willing to take refuge in the Buddha?"
Shakyamuni laughed and said, "I am the Buddha, so why should I take refuge in him?"
The Guide said, "Buddha is the Way, Buddha is everywhere." After saying this, the Guide's body emitted endless golden light. The Guide said, "Our great vow is to pity the suffering of all beings; to deliver all those with affinity to the Western Paradise; our great vow is to pity the suffering of reincarnation, to realize the original Buddha-nature, and to realize the supreme Way. I vow to deliver all beings from the sea of suffering and lead them to the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. From this day forward, I am Amitabha Buddha, the Buddha Lord of the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss."
Jieyin had long promised Duobao that he would relinquish the Buddha's throne to Duobao after Duobao established his own religion. Jieyin kept his word, and now that Duobao had established Mahayana Buddhism, he relinquished the Buddha's throne to Shakyamuni. From then on, he and Zhunti went into seclusion in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, no longer concerning themselves with Buddhist affairs. Shakyamuni was known as Namo Shakyamuni Buddha, also called Duobao Tathagata, and was referred to by the world as Tathagata Buddha.
Duobao, who had originally harbored a deep longing for the Xuanmen (Taoist school) and felt guilty, felt no lingering attachment after hearing this. He too had not yet attained Hunyuan (Primordial Chaos), and naturally wished to advance further and attain Hunyuan after countless eons. Shakyamuni then said, "Namo Amitabha Buddha! May the Buddha have mercy."
Zhunti smiled upon hearing this and said, "In that case, we can first introduce Theravada Buddhism to the Central Plains. Since it was established by Laozi, the various regions of the East will not object. As for Maitreya?"
Maitreya lowered his head, not daring to show the slightest resentment. Amitabha Buddha said, "During the Bhadrakalpa, our Buddhist school flourished greatly. I was the Buddha of the past, Shakyamuni Tathagata was the Buddha of the present, and Maitreya was established as the Buddha of the future Star Kalpa. Maitreya!" Maitreya responded, "World Honored One."
Amitabha Buddha said, "I now personally bestow the Buddha seal upon you. You will become the leader of my religion during the Starry Calamity. Namo Future Maitreya Buddha." Maitreya bowed and said, "May the Buddha be merciful! Namo Amitabha Buddha!"
Zhunti then said, “The Buddhas of the past, present, and future already have the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss and the Central Saha Pure Land. Why not create another world to make it perfect?”
Upon hearing this, Amitabha Buddha smiled and said, "Excellent! Excellent! Junior brother's words are very good. Maitreya, go and invite the Medicine Buddha Bodhisattva here."
Maitreya received the order and went out, returning a short while later with a Buddha. This Buddha was named Bhaisajyaguru (Medicine Buddha), and bowed to the two religious leaders. Amitabha Buddha said, "Bhaisajyaguru Bodhisattva (previously, the Bhaisajyaguru Daoist was a Buddha, but did not call himself a Buddha), you are now fortunate enough to be reborn in the East, beyond the ten Ganges River sands' worth of lands, to establish a Buddhist realm for our Buddhism and become a Buddha." Bhaisajyaguru Bodhisattva was overjoyed and hurriedly said, "May the Buddha have mercy! Namo Amitabha Buddha!"
Amitabha Buddha personally bestowed the seal upon Bhaisajyaguru Bodhisattva, patted his head, and said, "Excellent! Excellent! Having entered the East, make a great vow, Namo Lapis Lazuli Light King Buddha!"
The Medicine Buddha Bodhisattva hurriedly made a great vow: "May I, in my next life, when I attain Bodhi, if any sentient beings are afflicted by numerous illnesses, without help, without refuge, without medicine, without relatives, without home, and suffering from poverty and hardship, upon hearing my name, all their illnesses will be cured, their bodies and minds will be at peace, their families and possessions will be abundant, and they will even attain unsurpassed Bodhi. May I, in my next life, when I attain Bodhi, if any woman is tormented by the hundred evils of womanhood, and deeply abhors her female form, wishing to relinquish it, upon hearing my name, may she be transformed from female to male, possessing the qualities of a man, and even attain unsurpassed Bodhi. May I, in my next life, when I attain Bodhi, enable all sentient beings to escape from demonic possession and liberation." All beings are bound by heretical paths. If they fall into the dense forest of various evil views, I will gently guide and lead them to right view, gradually leading them to cultivate the practices of all Bodhisattvas, ultimately attaining unsurpassed, perfect enlightenment. In my next life, when I attain enlightenment, if any sentient beings are subject to the laws of the king, bound, whipped, imprisoned, or subjected to execution or countless other calamities and humiliations, overwhelmed by sorrow and suffering in body and mind, if they hear my name, through the power of my merit and divine might, they will all be liberated from all sorrow and suffering. Excellent! Excellent! Namo Amitabha Buddha! Namo Lapis Lazuli Light King Buddha! Having said this, he joined his palms, smiled, and his body entered Nirvana, transforming into a relic the size of a bushel, flying eastward from the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.
The Buddha was born as the Supreme Pure One, the Master of the Intercepting Sect, and later received instruction in the Great Law of the Supreme Pure One from the Supreme Pure One, Laozi. He was also taught the Great Law of the Jade Pure One by Dipankara and Kasyapa, as well as the Great Law of the Western Buddhist Saints. Therefore, the Buddha became the only person in the world who was versed in the Great Laws of the Three Pure Ones and the Great Laws of the Western Buddhist Saints. His fame was unparalleled in the Three Realms.
After Duobao attained Buddhahood, he appointed Manjushri Bodhisattva and Samantabhadra Bodhisattva as his attendant bodhisattvas. The Buddha also accepted two direct disciples and ten nominal disciples. The direct disciples were Kasyapa and Jin Chanzi. Kasyapa had died protecting the Buddha and was reincarnated, so the Buddha naturally had to repay this karmic debt.
That Golden Cicada was actually a cicada. When the Buddha was listening to Dipankara and Kasyapa preach under the Bodhi tree, a cicada flew from afar and landed on the Bodhi tree. It listened to the sermons with the Buddha day and night. The saint Cundi, who had transformed into the Bodhi tree, did not stop it, and the other two naturally did not make things difficult for the cicada. After obtaining it, the Buddha enlightened the cicada and took it as his second disciple.
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