Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 1506 The "fruit status" of Southern Buddhism

Regarding Gao Yushi's words, Liu Xin immediately expressed her disagreement. She restrained her smile and said seriously: "I know you are very firm in atheism, and I am also an atheist, but as a confidential secretary, I must remind you: In this era, theocracy is still a very important ruling force, not to mention Europe, Arabia, India, etc., do you think that the southern border does not need theocracy? I even dare to say that even Ming Dynasty did not completely abandon theocracy!"

Gao Wushi frowned slightly, but did not reply immediately.Liu Xin then continued: "Let's talk about Southern Xinjiang and Daming. Except for Annan, a special existence who calls himself 'Little China', almost all other kingdoms in Southern Xinjiang believe in Buddhism. Of course, there are many Annan people who believe in Buddhism. It's probably similar to our Daming's situation.

But we don't care whether they believe in Theravada or what, they should all belong to Theravada Buddhism..."

"Your statement is too general, and I suspect that you don't know as much as I do." Gao Wushi interrupted: "The Southern Buddhism is also called Southern Buddhism, Theravada Theravada. Basically, it can generally refer to the Buddhism that spread in South Asia. They roughly can be further divided into four categories:
The first type is the southern Theravada Buddhism spread in Ceylon, Myanmar, Siam, Cambodia, Nanzhang and other countries; the second type arose in Annan, but the Annan sect is a hybrid Buddhism mixed with Confucianism and Taoism; The third category used to be very popular in Cambodia, and it was the Buddhism believed by the Jimei people at that time; the fourth category was the South China Sea Buddhism passed down in Java, Sumatra, and the Malay Peninsula. "

Liu Xin was taken aback for a moment, she didn't care about being interrupted by him, but asked in surprise, "When did you know this?"

"Do you really think that the Ministry of Internal Affairs only supervises my servants?" Gao Wushi chuckled, "If I don't know the public opinion in southern Xinjiang, if they rebel one day, wouldn't I not even know the reason?"

"Oh..." Liu Xin looked stunned, nodded and said: "How about that, first tell me what you know about Theravada Buddhism—especially the Theravada Buddhism in southern Xinjiang, and then I will compare it. See if my previous thoughts are correct, and then we will continue to discuss the things I didn't finish just now."

"Alright, let me briefly talk about the information provided to me by the Ministry of Internal Affairs." Gao Wushi thought for a while, as if he was recalling or organizing his words, before opening his mouth after a while.

"The four types I mentioned just now, the third and fourth types are basically extinct now, and there are only a few relics with a small number of digits left, so there is no need to discuss it further.

The second category, that is, Annan's hybrid Buddhism, strictly speaking, it actually belongs to the Chinese Buddhist system.The first type is also called Pali Buddhism, because most of this system is based on the Pali scriptures as classics, and the so-called Southern Buddhism or Theravada Buddhism mainly refers to this system. "

Liu Xin nodded, her face was very serious, and Gao Wushi didn't know why she took it so seriously.

However, Gao Wushi continued to introduce the information he had received: "About the third century BC, King Ashoka sent his son Mahatma to import Indian Buddhism to Ceylon Island, which was the beginning of Ceylon Buddhism.

In the first century BC, Buddhism in Ceylon split into the Great Temple School and the Wuweishan Temple School.In the third century A.D., the Wuweishan Temple School split into the Nansi School.Among them, the Dasi sect is regarded as the orthodoxy of Ceylon Buddhism.In the fifth century, great commentators such as Jueyin and Dharma Polo appeared from time to time.

In other countries, Buddhism was introduced into Myanmar probably after the 1058th to [-]th centuries AD, but the southern Theravada Buddhism they adopted began in [-] in the era of King Anurudha.

After the twelfth century, Siam also began to accept Theravada Buddhism.Around the time of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the leaders of the Sangha of Ceylon were welcomed into Siam to preach precepts for the King of Siam.As for Cambodia, Laos, etc., the acceptance of Theravada Buddhism began more than a hundred years ago, after the conquest of the Siamese nation. "

Liu Xin immediately asked: "That is to say, if we want to trace the origin of these Theravada Buddhism, they all originated from Ceylon—that is, Sri Lanka at that time?"

"Uh, King Ashoka's land has long been... well, so you are right, that should be the case." Gao Yushi nodded in affirmation.

Liu Xin asked again: "What about Buddhism in the Malay Peninsula, Java and other Southeast Asian regions?"

Gao Wushi curled his lips and said, "It's been 'greened' over there, what do you think?"

"Oh, let's not mention them for now." Liu Xin waved her hand, thought for a while, and said, "What is the difference between Southern Buddhism and Northern Buddhism? I mean, is there... er, Catholicism and Orthodox Buddhism among them?" the doctrinal difference between them."

"This question is beyond the outline, and I'm not very clear about it." Gao Wushi shook his head slightly, but said: "However, it is said that some thoughts of the Zen Buddhism Patriarch Bodhidharma of the Han Buddhism system and the Law School are related to the Southern Buddhism, and have Similarities."

However, Liu Xin didn't seem to be interested in the relationship between Theravada Buddhism and Chinese Buddhism, and she just pondered: "The spread of Theravada Buddhism is almost exactly the countries in southern Xinjiang that you control now, so I think you should pay enough attention to it. .

When I was in southern Xinjiang, I discovered that although most of these countries believe in Theravada Buddhism, the interpretation of the scriptures is still slightly different between countries.I suggest that you can consider mobilizing some power to help them organize a "collection" to make some corrections and unification of the scriptures and scriptures. "

"Jieji" is a Buddhist vocabulary, also known as Jifa, Jifazang, Sutra, and classic collection, which means recitation together.That is to say, the bhikkhus gather to recite the Buddha's legacy.

When the Buddha was alive, the Buddha directly explained, guided, and relied on for his disciples. After the Buddha passed away, it was necessary to recite the Buddha’s teachings together. Established, the disciples of the old Buddha gathered in one place to organize and compile the teachings passed down orally, which is called gathering.

Gao Wushi also knew the meaning of this word, but he was curious about why Liu Xin made this suggestion, so he asked, "What is the intention?"

Liu Xin raised her eyebrows slightly, and asked, "What is the intention of Che Tonggui and Tongwen?"

"Hmm... But is it necessarily a good thing for us to let them form a unified faction?"

"On your territory, assembled under your order, don't you need to affirm the final scriptures?" Liu Xin spread her hands: "Since the final interpretation is in your hands, why don't you choose one for you?" Say the most beneficial?

Besides, if you do this under such circumstances, you are expressing goodwill to them. After all, Buddhism is different from the 'two schools'. It is relatively light in interference with the political power and has a softer attitude. I guess they must You will reciprocate, and the two of you are likely to reach some tacit understanding. "

Gao Wushi asked: "The tacit understanding you mentioned, shouldn't you give me another title like the agreement I reached with Sonam Gyatso back then? I don't think this matter...is suitable for doing more."

"That's hard to say. Both of us don't understand the teachings of Theravada at all. Reincarnation and honorary titles seem to be popular practices in Tantric Buddhism. It's hard to say whether Theravada is happy or not." Liu Xin shook her head and said: "But no matter what, they will use their methods to bring some legitimacy to your rule, there is no doubt about it."

At this time, Gao Mo happened to come in from the outside, and said with a smile, "Miss Liu, is she talking about Theravada Buddhism with my master? This old man has a little understanding of it. Compared with Han Tradition and Tibetan Tradition, Theravada Buddhism can be regarded as Quite distinctive."

Gao Mo had just seen off the guests on behalf of Gao Pragmatically, and he just came back now.Liu Xin knew that he was special in front of Gao Yushi. Except for the matter of crossing, Gao Yushi hardly hid from him about other matters, so when he said this, Liu Xin said happily: "Then I will ask Uncle Mo to give me some pointers." gone."

Gao Mo smiled and bowed: "Don't dare to do it, if Miss Liu asks, I will know everything."

"Thank you, Uncle Mo." Liu Xin asked, "Is it possible for this Southern Buddhism to give Gao... Situ a special identity or title?"

"I'm afraid it will be difficult." Gao Mo explained calmly, "Miss, you should know that I believe in many Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Arhats, Vajras, Patriarchs, gods and ghosts in Central Plains Chinese Buddhism, such as Amitabha Buddha, Medicine Buddha, and Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. , Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva and so on.

In Tibetan tradition, there is a larger system of gods and Buddhas. In addition to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, there are Vajra, King Ming, Tara, Dakini, patriarchs of various schools, Dharma protectors, etc., and there are countless more.

Even for the Buddha, there are also theories of Dharmakaya, Sakyamuni, and Incarnation, such as "Pure Dharmakaya Vairocana Buddha, Perfect Sakyamuni Lushena Buddha, Thousands of Billions Incarnation Sakyamuni Buddha", and Sakyamuni is considered to be " Incarnate Buddha'.

However, according to the detailed report of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in various monasteries of Theravada Buddhism, only Sakyamuni Buddha is enshrined.This is because Theravada Buddhism only respects and enshrines the historical Gotama Buddha as a teacher, and does not worship bodhisattvas, patriarchs, Dharma protectors, etc. "

After hearing this, Liu Xin frowned, thought for a while and then asked, "Then is there any loophole in their scriptures that can be exploited?"

Gao Mo still shook his head and said, "I'm afraid not."

Liu Xin didn't believe it, and asked doubtfully, "Isn't it?"

Gao Mo smiled wryly and said, "Miss Liu doesn't know something. My collection of Chinese Buddhist classics is called the Tripitaka. In addition to the Hinayana Tripitaka, there are also a large number of Mahayana classics, such as the Huayan Sutra and the Fahua Sutra." "Sutra", "Diamond Sutra", "Surangama Sutra" and so on. In addition, it also includes various treatises written by the great masters of the past dynasties.

The classics inherited by Theravada Buddhism are the Pali Tripitaka scriptures, which were finalized in the era of King Sanzang of Tianzhu more than 2000 years ago, as well as the annotations and re-notes explaining these scriptures.In terms of quantity, it is much less than the Han classics.

This "Pali Tripitaka" is an authoritative scripture that is commonly enshrined in all Theravada Buddhist countries and regions without any disputes.

In addition, Theravada Buddhism has been passed down for more than 2000 years. There has never been a patriarch, nor has there been any sect established because of its advocacy of extraordinary teachings.

If an eminent Buddhist monk wants to write a book such as "The History of Theravada Buddhist Thought Development", he may find that the relevant materials will be extremely lacking, so that he has to come back to study "Pali Tripitaka" and its annotations.

Of course, there are also some sects in the Theravada Sangha, but they only differ in minor aspects such as the tightness of precepts, and they are still consistent in terms of scriptures and teachings.

And precisely because of its few classics, it insists that Buddhism should maintain the original original teachings, practice methods and its own characteristics, pay attention to personal practice, require monks to strictly abide by the precepts formulated by the Buddha, and maintain the tradition of primitive Buddhism.

The biggest characteristic of Theravada Buddhism may be the precepts. They insist on observing the original precepts formulated by the Buddha, and do not abolish, tamper or delete the precepts of the Buddha at will. "

"Oh, it's not easy." Liu Xin turned her head and shrugged at Gao Yushi, and said helplessly, "I guess the Buddha never said that you, Gao Situ, would become King Ming Bodhisattva in the future."

Gao Wushi smiled and didn't take it seriously.

But Gao Mo said formally: "That's right, that's exactly the case. They don't believe in Bodhisattvas, they think Bodhisattvas are just ordinary people and shouldn't be revered as saints; they don't believe that after getting rid of afflictions, they can rely on Dharma to continue reincarnation and other Mahayana teachings; Do not recognize the Buddha is the fruit position, that the Buddha is a title.

In their view, the Buddha was the first Arhat who founded Buddhism, and the highest fruit is not the Buddha fruit itself, but the Arhat fruit; they do not recognize Bodhisattvas such as Avalokitesvara and Samantabhadra, but only Maitreya as a Bodhisattva, because Maitreya Bodhisattva He is the next Buddha, and there shouldn't be many of them.

There is only Maitreya Bodhisattva in the original Buddhist scriptures, so they do not recognize other Bodhisattvas, and Maitreya Bodhisattva is also an ordinary person and should not be worshiped; There is an unborn, immortal nature, and so on and so forth. "

Gao Wushi reached out his hand to stop him, interrupted and concluded: "Okay, Uncle Mo, I understand what you mean. In short, it's just one sentence: only the Buddha said. Other than that, they don't believe it or follow it. "

Gao Mo bowed and said, "Master Rui Duan."

Gao Wushi spread his hands towards Liu Xin, and said with a smile, "It seems that there is no way out now."

Liu Xin didn't draw a conclusion right away, but continued to ask Gao Mo: "Uncle Mo, I don't quite understand the 'fruit position', what does that mean? It seems...it sounds like they think 'Arhat' is the highest status , even the Buddha was only the first Arahant?"

Gao Mo nodded and said: "The word 'fruit position' refers to the position of attaining the Tao through practice, which is the opposite of 'cause position', and it probably refers to the realm reached by practicing Buddhism."

"Oh...it's not much different from what I guessed." Liu Xin nodded.

Gao Mo said again: "The highest attainment status of Southern Buddhism is the Arhat of the Four Goals, and there is no such attainment status as Bodhisattva or Buddha. However, Southern Buddhism does not deny the existence of Buddhas or Bodhisattvas, but believes that after the Buddha passed away, , the highest fruit position that mortals can prove is only an arhat, not a Buddha or a Bodhisattva."

Liu Xin seemed to have a bit of a headache, and said with a wry smile, "This...is there any difference?"

"Yes, of course there is." Gao Mo said solemnly: "Because the Southern Buddhism believes that even the Buddha, before he awakens to become a Buddha, he needs the bodhisattva practice of the 'Four Great Asamkhya Kalpas' before he can become a Buddha. , not to mention me waiting for ordinary beings."

Liu Xin asked again: "Then the four great... what kind of Bodhisattva deeds, what is the saying? I mean, is it possible to admit that a certain person has obtained a certain fruit status?"

"That's true." Gao Mo said: "According to the report of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in the past history of Theravada Buddhism, there are indeed many practitioners who can prove the Arhat status."

Liu Xin suddenly patted the table next to her: "It's very good! As long as you have it, it's easy to handle!"
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Thank you book friend "Cao Mianzi" for your monthly ticket support, thank you!
PS: It’s almost summer. In order to avoid clothes not fitting in, I plan to go out to exercise after dinner, so I will update it in advance today.

(End of this chapter)