Chapter 984: I Am the Only One in the World

The corner of Lu Yang's mouth twitched. The rise of Kaihuang Temple was really unexpected.

"After all, Xitian Temple is an orthodox Buddhist country, so they shouldn't kill people..."

Master Duanchen stroked his white beard and said, "Monks do not kill, so the abbot's life should be safe. It is hard to say what he will be treated like outside of his life. We have no affinity with the Kaihuang Temple and the Xitian Temple, so we have no way to find out the whereabouts of the abbot."

"After the abbot disappeared, the scale of Kaihuang Temple has remained the same, with no ambition to make further progress."

"When I become the abbot, I will make a great wish to make Kaihuang Temple prosperous and attract an average of 10 million visitors per year."

"In order to fulfill my ambition, I have worked hard to find ways to expand the reputation of Kaihuang Temple, make Kaihuang City comparable to big cities, and make the people in the city live a better life."

"...Master, your aspiration is quite detailed."

"Of course. The two donors must have never been to our Buddha Kingdom. I wonder how we make great wishes. The great wishes made in our Buddha Kingdom have always been very precise. If we only make a great wish of 'prosperity of incense', how should we set the standard for judgment?"

"What does it mean to have a prosperous incense business? If one day a million donors suddenly come, does it mean that the incense business is prosperous? If one donor buys all the incense for the whole temple for the whole year, does it mean that the incense business is prosperous? If the temple catches fire and all the incense is burned, does it mean that the incense business is prosperous?"

“If the standards are not set, the ambition will only be talk and will never be achieved.”

"The master has really put a lot of effort into Kaihuang Temple. It's really admirable."

Master Duanchen smiled and said, "Monks do not tell lies. I am not that great. Kaihuang Temple is very popular. As the abbot, I will certainly get some benefits. I can also fulfill my great wish. Why not do it?"

As far as Lu Yang knows, each temple keeps 50% of the incense money it receives, uses 30% to sculpt a golden statue of the Buddha, and hands over 20% to the Xitian Temple.

Cultivating immortals is inseparable from the word "wealth". The more popular the Kaihuang Temple is, the more spiritual stones Master Duanchen will obtain, which can be used for cultivation.

Originally, Master Duan Chen thought it was getting late and wanted to take Lu Yang and the others to the guest house to rest, but Lu Yang thought it was a rare opportunity and he might as well go to the Main Hall to take a look. He had only seen the Main Hall built by the Immortal Fairy in the spiritual space before, but had never seen it in reality.

Meng Jingzhou had never been to the Great Hall and agreed with Lu Yang's proposal.

Master Duan Chen led Lu Yang and the other man into the main hall. The golden statue of Vairocana Buddha was in the center, holding a flower and smiling, compassionately saving people.

It was already night, the main hall was brightly lit, and the Buddha statue reflected the light of the candles, looking extremely sacred.

"What's so good about the Main Hall? The Main Hall that I built for you is the most authentic one." The Immortal Fairy pouted. According to Buddhist scriptures, as the founder of Buddhism, the place where she is located is the Main Hall, which is sacred and inviolable.

In the spiritual space, at the end of the desert, a main hall rises from the ground, which is more magnificent than the main hall of Kaihuang Temple.

In the center of the palace, an immortal fairy wearing scarlet eyeshadow and western-style clothes stood on one leg in a half-squat on a lotus platform, with the other foot on her thigh, her hands clasped together, charming everyone.

Lu Yang looked at the Main Hall in the spiritual space, and then looked at the Main Hall in reality, and felt that the real one was more authentic.

"Master, I heard that the Buddha Bathing Festival is a festival to celebrate the birth of the Buddha?" On the way here, Lu Yang learned the origin of the Buddha Bathing Festival in detail, so as to avoid arriving in the Buddhist country without understanding anything and making it like a tourist.

"What Donor Lu said is correct. It is said that in ancient times, the Buddha could walk when he was born. He stepped on a lotus flower with one foot each, pointed to the sky with one hand and pointed to the ground with the other, and said, 'I am the only one who is supreme in heaven and on earth.'"

"In order to commemorate the birth of the Buddha, this day is designated as Buddha's Birthday and the Buddha Bathing Ceremony is held."

Meng Jingzhou interrupted: "I am the only one who is supreme in heaven and on earth. What the Buddha said is very domineering."

Master Duanchen chuckled and said calmly, "It's not surprising that Mr. Meng has such a misunderstanding. Many people in the world have misunderstood this statement and think that the Buddha is arrogant and conceited. In fact, it is not the case."

"The deeper meaning of the 'I' here is the 'Buddha nature' inherent in every living being, which refers to the entity that pervades everything, the 'true self' that is inherently perfect and pure, which is also the 'I' of 'eternal bliss, self-purity' mentioned in the Nirvana Sutra."

"The Sutra of Auspicious Responses says: 'I am the only one who is supreme in heaven and on earth. All three realms are suffering. How can I be happy?' It can be seen that the 'respect' here mainly refers to the great responsibility of saving the people from suffering."

"So the original meaning of this sentence is that the Buddha is expressing that he was born with the mission of saving sentient beings, to save sentient beings from the sea of ​​suffering of birth and death, and the day when sentient beings become Buddhas, they will also do the same."

Listening to Master Duanchen quoting scriptures to help him understand this sentence, and they were all Buddhist scriptures he had never heard of, Meng Jingzhou nodded frequently, thinking that he had misunderstood the Buddha.

In the spiritual space, the immortal fairy standing on the lotus platform scratched her head when she heard this.

"Ah? Isn't this what I said when I defeated Ying Tianxian and the other four? I suddenly had an idea and imitated Ying Tianxian's tone of voice, right?"

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"I think this is quite domineering and can describe my ability very well. I will ask Ying Tianxian and others to put it in the Buddhist scriptures when they compile them, to show that I am the leader of the five ancient immortals."

"Does this sentence have this meaning?"

Meng Jingzhou folded his hands and said: "I never thought that the Buddha cared about the world. I misunderstood the Buddha."

Master Duanchen smiled slightly and said, "The Buddha has great wisdom, great perseverance, and great compassion. I wonder if Mr. Meng has heard that when the Buddha was enlightened under the Bodhi tree, the demon Buddha Marun sent three demon women to flatter him and interfere with his enlightenment. The Buddha was not disturbed by the demon women and he enlightened in seven days. He was fully awakened and cultivated great wisdom."

"After the Buddha attained enlightenment, his Buddha light shone thousands of feet high, illuminating the ten directions of the world. Even the four ancient immortals came to congratulate him."

"There is also this matter." Meng Jingzhou had not had much contact with Buddhism before. Now, after listening to Master Duanchen telling the story of the Buddha's past, he felt that the Buddha was truly admirable.

"Speaking of the Bodhi tree, I felt that my culinary skills had improved greatly, so I wanted to compile a cooking encyclopedia to benefit the world. I wrote the book under the Bodhi tree. Xiaoling, Lianyi, and Qinghe always liked to hang around me, asking me to play with them, and interfering with my writing."

"It's strange. I remember Xiao Ling and the other two left for something. They shouldn't be there. Is this an illusion or a demon in my heart?"

"Anyway, I was determined and didn't get disturbed by them. I finally finished the Cooking Encyclopedia in seven days."

"Then Jiuchongxian came over with several golden crows, which were so bright that they almost burned the book I had just written. Later, Yingtianxian and the other three came over one after another to congratulate me. I saw that they were so happy that I cried with joy."

Lu Yang watched Meng Jingzhou and Master Duan Chen chatting happily, and was considering whether or not to tell his good brother the truth about the Buddha.

(End of this chapter)