Liaozhai: A scholar should draw a sword

Chapter 249 Monkey King Cuts Six Roots
Zhou Yu didn't say a word, and let Monkey King chatter on and on.

After all, he has been trapped under the mountain for 500 years, and he can speak a few words except for the occasional villagers who give him a few wild fruits.

It's not easy to have a chance to speak freely, how can I hold back?
When Sun Wukong had finished speaking, Zhou Yu said, "Don't worry, Great Sage, you should be out of trouble soon."

Sun Wukong was not surprised by this, and said happily: "Yes, yes, the Bodhisattva said that there was a monk from the Tang Dynasty who would write this passage.

As long as my old grandson worships that monk as his teacher and escorts him to the west to learn Buddhist scriptures, he can regain his freedom. "

"That's right, I've seen that monk before."

"Really?"

Sun Wukong's eyes lit up.

"If there are no accidents, it should arrive in a few days."

"That's great... Shangxian, what is the background of the monk? Why does the Bodhisattva want my grandson to worship him as a teacher?"

"My lord, that monk is an eminent monk of the Tang Dynasty, with the dharma name Xuanzang, and later the Tang king gave him another dharma name Sanzang."

"Is he an ordinary person?" Sun Wukong couldn't help frowning.

"Hehe..." Zhou Yu smiled: "He does look like an ordinary person, but if he is really an ordinary person, why would the Bodhisattva let him be your master, and why would he choose him as a sutra learner?"

Sun Wukong is not stupid either, when he said that, he suddenly realized something.

Because, the gods and Buddhas in the sky sometimes cross the samsara, that is, they become mortals in samsara.

"Thank you Shangxian."

"The great sage doesn't need to be too polite. It's just that if the great sage really wants to worship as a teacher, he may be subject to some restrictions in the future, and he can no longer do whatever he wants..."

After that, Zhou Yu made some delicious food and drink every day, and chatted with Monkey King.

During the chat, Sun Wukong was quietly instilled some Confucian ideas.

This is also one of Zhou Yu's reasons for coming to this world. Tang Seng can't let Tang Seng take advantage of this journey westward by himself. Along the way, he must try his best to spread Confucianism, and try to let Confucianism take root in Xiniu Hezhou...

On this point, Zhou Yu was quite confident.After all, this road has to pass through many countries in the Western Regions, and there are plenty of opportunities.

a few days later.

Zhou Yu frowned: "Great Sage, the Great Tang Monk is nearby."

After speaking, the figure disappeared in a flash.

"Master, master, my grandson is here..."

Sun Wukong's voice echoed in the sky.

Tang Seng was walking forward, he couldn't help but froze when he heard the voice, and looked around.

He was not surprised at all, because Master Guanyin came to him again before and told him that there was a monkey under the Five Elements Mountain, with great supernatural powers, able to subdue demons and eliminate demons, and guaranteed him to go to the West to learn scriptures.

Tang Seng was overjoyed.

If it were in Chang'an, he probably wouldn't take it seriously.But now, he has personally experienced several life and death crises and witnessed the horror of demons and goblins with his own eyes. Naturally, he wished that someone would be by his side to protect him at any time.

So Xunsheng looked for it.

"Master, Master, I am here..."

Finally, Tang Seng was shocked when he saw Monkey King who was crushed under the mountain.

He was thinking, is this a monster?It is still the monkey that the Bodhisattva mentioned.

"Master, come and save me, the Bodhisattva said, let my grandson worship you as a teacher, and escort you to the west to learn scriptures."

Tang Seng subconsciously asked: "Have you seen the Bodhisattva?"

"I've seen it...Master, did you come from the Eastern Tang Dynasty and go to the Western Heaven to get it?"

"The poor monk is exactly..." Tang Seng hesitated for a while, and then asked, "Who are you?"

"My old grandson is the Great Sage Equaling Heaven. Back then, he made a big disturbance in the Heavenly Palace and killed those hundreds of thousands of heavenly soldiers and generals..."

Monkey King was afraid that Tang Seng would not accept him, so he boasted about his skills again.

Tang Seng frowned, looked at the high mountain in front of him and said, "But, how can I rescue you?"

"It's simple. You climb to the top of the mountain, and there are gold letters of the Tathagata Buddha on it. The Bodhisattva said that only you can peel it off.

As long as you take off the pressure sticker, my old grandson will find his own way out of trouble. "

Tang Seng did as he said.

After a lot of hard work, I finally climbed to the top of the mountain, and there was a gold sticker on it, which wrote a Buddhist mantra: Om Mani Padme Hum.

Tang Seng quickly bowed, after all, this is the seal of the Tathagata Buddha.

After praying, I tried to peel it off, but when I stretched out my hand, the sticker automatically flew into the air and disappeared.

"Hahaha, my grandson is coming out."

Below the mountain, Monkey King sensed that the power to suppress him had disappeared, and couldn't help laughing happily.

Tang Seng was frightened, and hurriedly yelled on the mountain.

"Master, go down the mountain quickly."

This time, Tang Seng didn't know where the strength came from, so he went down very fast.

After going down the mountain, he dodged far away.

Soon after, there was a wave of shaking, and Monkey King, who had been suppressed for 500 years, finally escaped.

Crazy enough, then ran to Tang Seng's side and bowed: "Disciple pays homage to master."

"Amitabha! Good, good, good."

Tang Seng saw that although Sun Wukong was ugly and short, he was able to collapse a mountain. He thought it would be no problem to protect him, so he was very pleased.

So he said again: "Since you have entered my sect, you will become a monk in the future. I will give you a dharma name as my teacher, and I will call you Wukong. How about the nickname Xingzhe?"

"Okay, thank you, Master!"

Since then, Sun Wukong has two more titles, one is the official name Sun Wukong, the other is the nickname Sun Walker, and the other is the old name Equaling Heaven.

Soon after, the master and apprentice continued on their way.

In the morning of the next day, an unlucky colorful tiger jumped out of the grass and rushed towards Tang Seng.

This fierce tiger has a huge body, and it looks like it has become a spirit.

"Master, be careful."

Monkey King pulled Tang Seng aside in time.

The tiger also stopped and stared at Sun Wukong.

"Wukong, monks don't want to kill, just drive it away."

Sun Wukong answered, but his actions were vague. He went forward and beat the tiger to death with three punches and two kicks, and stripped off the tiger's skin.

"Amitabha!"

Seeing this bloody scene, Tang Seng quickly closed his eyes and recited the Buddha's name.

"Master, don't be afraid. With my old grandson here, don't say it's a tiger. Even if it's a dragon, my old grandson will beat it until it finds its teeth all over the floor."

"Wukong, my teacher has already warned you, you are a monk now, don't kill."

"Master, it wasn't the old grandson who wanted to kill it, but it came out to seek death by itself. If my grandson wasn't there, master would have been eaten by it."

In the past, Tang Seng would probably say, as a teacher, I would rather be eaten by it than you kill it.

In fact, this is completely against your will. If this is the case, what is life-saving?
Anyway, what Zhou Yu said to Tang Seng last time had more or less influenced him.

So, after Tang Seng said a few words, he stopped talking, but took a look at Monkey King.

He suddenly discovered that Sun Wukong is no different from a monkey now, with hair all over his body.

Anyway, he is also his disciple, so he still has to dress up.

So, he glanced at the tiger skin again, and sighed: "Forget it, since it's already like this, let the tiger skin be my teacher, and I will sew clothes for you."

"Ha, that's great, thank you Master."

Sun Wukong was overwhelmed with surprise, and hurriedly handed the tiger skin to Tang Seng.

Tang Seng sewed carefully for two days, and finally sewed a piece of clothing. Monkey King wore it on his body, and it looked a little more human.

In fact, it is not the first time Sun Wukong wears clothes. He also wore them when he went out to sea to find immortals.

Later, he became the Monkey King, and he was even more majestic in battle armor.

It's just that, being suppressed under the Five Elements Mountain for 500 years, he also wanted to understand a lot of things and realized a lot of truths.

Because, I was still a little moved by Tang Seng helping him sew clothes.

In any case, from the bottom of his heart, he actually didn't want to worship Tang Seng as his teacher.However, he also knew that this was the only chance to get out of trouble.

He couldn't help but worship.

Since he promised the Bodhisattva to escort Tang Seng to the West to learn Buddhist scriptures, he didn't intend to break his promise, he just went honestly.

That night, Monkey King thought quietly all night.

The next day, when the master and the apprentice were on the road, six robbers rushed out suddenly, looking fierce.

Tang Seng was taken aback.

But Sun Wukong didn't say anything, he stepped forward and hit him.

Not long after, the six robbers were beaten to death.

This time, Tang Seng was really angry.

The last time Sun Wukong killed a tiger, he didn't go into it.But this time, Monkey King killed in front of him again, and there were still six living people.

He didn't dare to tell if the other party was a robber.

Don't Buddhists often say, put down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha right away?

So this time, a fierce dispute broke out between the master and apprentice.

Sun Wukong argued that the six robbers were not human beings at all, but originated from his own six roots, pointing to the ground, saying that now even the corpses are gone, which is enough to prove what he said.

But Tang Seng didn't believe it, and instead said that Sun Wukong cast a spell to destroy the corpse and wipe out the traces.

Has Sun Wukong ever been subjected to such a bird's breath?In a fit of rage, he soared into the sky and wanted to go back to Huaguo Mountain to be the carefree Monkey King.

"Sage, wait!"

At this time, Zhou Yu suddenly appeared.

"Shangxian, you come to judge..."

When Monkey King saw Zhou Yu, he couldn't help being overjoyed.

Tang Seng also stepped forward to pay respects.

Zhou Yu smiled, and said to Tang Seng, "Elder Tang, you really wronged Wukong."

"Ok?"

Tang Seng couldn't help frowning.

"Wukong was indeed stubborn in the past, but after these 500 years, he has calmed down a lot, and he has become more enlightened.

Because of this, some previous evil thoughts were broken.

The six robbers just now were indeed his evil thoughts. He killed these robbers. Didn't he violate the Buddhist philosophy of having no eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind, colorless sound, fragrance and touch the Dharma? "

"This……"

Sun Wukong said that Tang Seng didn't believe it, but after Zhou Yu's explanation, he believed it a little bit.

"Besides, even if these six are real robbers, since they are seeking money and killing their lives, it is karma for Wukong to kill them..."

"But……"

Tang Seng wanted to defend himself.

Zhou Yu waved his hand: "Elder Tang, I know what you said, the so-called putting down the butcher's knife and becoming a Buddha immediately is just a beautiful wish.

Where there is day, there is night, and where there is good, there is evil.

Since ancient times, no matter what race, including the way of heaven, there are laws.

Including Buddhists, don't they often talk about cause and effect?

They became robbers and killed their lives for money, which has already planted evil results. Even if it is a wilderness of corpses, let's not mention what they deserve, it is also retribution from heaven, karma and reincarnation.

In the world, many things are inherently contradictory.

And Elder Tang, doesn’t Buddhism also stress that good will be rewarded with good, and evil will be rewarded with evil? "

"This……"

Tang Seng was speechless for a moment.

"I know Elder Tang is dedicated to Buddha, but to practice Buddhism, the most important thing is to have your own insights, to experience the suffering of the people more, and to understand the Dao of heaven and earth, instead of just reading Buddhist scriptures blindly.

Time is changing, the world is changing, and the heart should also follow the trend of the sky, so that you can truly enter the road. "

"Yes, yes, what Shangxian said makes sense." Monkey King was overjoyed.

"Also, Elder Tang, if you have nothing to do, let's discuss it."

"I don't know what advice the celestial being has?"

"I don't dare to advise, it's purely for discussion. Let's assume one thing, assuming that the six before are real robbers.

Wukong followed Elder Tang's wishes and let the six robbers go.

But these six robbers went to other places to kill and set fire, destroying the families of the people.

May I ask, who caused their death? "

"This..." Tang Seng's forehead soaked with cold sweat.

He suddenly discovered that he had never given much thought to such a question.

He only thought that this is human life, he cannot be killed, and he has to persuade them to be kind.

The question is, after a while of persuasion, can they really be kind?As Zhou Yu said just now, when they turned their heads, they ran and killed six more people.

So, does he have to bear the karma for this?
"There is a saying in the Book of Jin, although I will not kill Boren, Boren will die by me. Because of Elder Tang's benevolence, some robbers who commit all kinds of crimes will be spared.

Could it be that Elder Tang can guarantee that these robbers will change their ways?Can you guarantee that they can't kill?
If not, then, Elder Tang, you are allowing evil to breed in the world..."

"No, it's not like that..."

Tang Seng's stubborn ideas finally began to waver.

In fact, it would not be wrong to say that he hadn't thought about these issues at all. He had thought about them, but he didn't think deeply about them.

His every move, every word and action, is completely in accordance with the scriptures he has read, and he has never, and dare not question some of the theories in the book.

Now that Zhou Yu said this, he began to feel that he was really divorced from reality and lacked his own thoughts.

He advised Sun Wukong not to kill, to let go of those ferocious beasts and robbers, even though the tiger and the robbers originally wanted to kill their master and apprentice.

However, he never thought that if he spared the beasts and robbers, and these beasts and robbers turned around and killed people, wouldn't he think that he would become an accomplice?
How is this different from killing?
Moreover, Zhou Yu also said to Tang Seng last time that there is no such thing as non-killing in the world.

Monks don't eat meat, but they have to eat food and fruit, right?Are food and fruit not living beings?
"Elder Tang, there is a Confucian saying that learning without thinking means nothing, and thinking without learning means nothing.

I know that Elder Tang has read a lot of Buddhist scriptures, but this is the same principle as a scholar who reads books. You can't just read dead books, but learn to think and adapt..."

"Thank you for your teaching!"

Tang Monk bowed respectfully.

"Elder Tang doesn't need to be too polite..."

Next, Zhou Yu went forward with the master and apprentice.

This time, Zhou Yu prepared a lot of books. As long as there are suitable people in the villages along the way, he will enlighten them and leave some Confucian classics.

As the saying goes, a single spark can start a prairie fire.

Along the way, Zhou Yu believes that Confucian culture will definitely be able to take root in Xiniu Hezhou...

(End of this chapter)