"Pushan Ancient Buddha!"
"The ancient Buddha has appeared!"
The believers and Buddhist practitioners in the square became even more devout, with many prostrating themselves on the ground, not daring to raise their heads.
The gaze of the Ancient Buddha Pushan fell upon Su She, calm and undisturbed, yet carrying a condescending scrutiny: "Benefactor, you have not even bowed at the temple gate. Your heart is not sincere, and your affinity is not there. The Buddhist teachings of the Great Thunderclap Temple will be of no benefit to you."
“Sincerity?” Su She stood amidst a group of kneeling figures, his blue robe standing tall and straight, like a pine tree growing from a crack in the rock. He met the gaze of the ancient Buddha, his tone calm yet sharp, “The ancient Buddha says I am not sincere. May I ask the ancient Buddha, where is my sincerity?”
Pushan Ancient Buddha frowned slightly: "Sincerity lies in reverence, in awe, in bowing to the Buddha, and in silently reciting scriptures. Your upright posture, treating the mountain gate as if it were nothing, is not sincerity."
“I laugh at the world for being so foolish and mad!” Su She shook his head slightly, his voice clearly echoing throughout the square. “If sincerity is only in worship, then the stubborn rocks in the mountains that believers kneel to worship every day, is that sincerity? If sincerity is only in scriptures, then the Buddhist monks (referring to the monks in the mountain villages of the Southern Region) who can recite scriptures backwards but refuse to help those in distress, is that sincerity?”
His gaze swept across the believers in the square and landed on the Buddha Pushan: "I believe that sincerity comes from the heart. Having compassion for all living beings, reverence for the Great Way, and steadfastness in oneself is sincerity. It is not about formal worship or empty words."
“I have seen it. In a mountain village in the Southern Region, dozens of villagers were eaten by demonic beasts. A Buddhist cultivator nearby watched coldly and said, ‘Those who do not believe in Buddhism will not be saved by Buddha.’ May I ask the ancient Buddha, is this kind of ‘sincerity’ the sincerity of Buddhism?”
"I ventured into the mountains today not to provoke, but simply to see if Buddhism is truly as compassionate as legend suggests, and whether it can truly accommodate different paths. The ancient Buddha said I was not sincere because I did not bow. Is the Buddhist concept of 'sincerity' so narrow?"
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