Great Warriors of Sui and Tang Dynasties

Chapter 939
Songshan.

Monk Xu came down the mountain on horseback with a sixth-rank green-robed officer from the General Administration Department.

Far away, the abbot, who had received the news, led a group of monks down the mountain to greet him.

Guangzhang Daoxin looked at Monk Xu who was wearing the flying fish repair suit, and felt a little strange. The baby he picked up in front of the mountain gate, now took off the monk's clothes and put on a flying fish robe, with a thousand-ox knife on his waist, it looked so good. Tall, even with a bit of power.

"Abbot!"

Monk Xu stepped forward and bowed, and the abbot quickly stepped aside.

"The benefactor is no longer a Buddhist, nor is he a monk in this temple. How dare a poor monk."

Monk Xu froze for a moment.

The young Tongshisheren smiled and went forward to salute the abbot first, and then asked the abbot to prepare an incense table to welcome the imperial edict.

Everyone goes back to the mountain.

In front of the main hall in the temple, the young Tongshi Sheren read out the imperial decree.

At the beginning of the word, the abbot can't help but understand that this is not a central decree, but an official decree that has passed through three provinces.

The imperial decree is very long, the scroll is ten feet long, and the content in it is even more beautifully worded. At a glance, you can tell that it was written by scholars from the Imperial Academy. The abbot is a man of culture. Although he is a monk, he is also well-read. He was even able to compose poems and Fu, so he immediately understood the sacred meaning behind these gorgeous words.

The emperor specially bestowed on the abbot as the protector of the country, and respected Wang Zhiyuan, a branch of the Nantianshi Taoism, as the protector of the country.

Wang Zhiyuan was a disciple of Tao Hongjing, a famous Taoist priest of the Southern Dynasties who was known as the prime minister in the mountains. Both Emperor Chen and Emperor Yang Guang of Sui and Ming Dynasties said that they used their disciples to ask about immortality.

At this time, the Taoism of the world, the Taoism of Tianshi is actually not the most powerful, the most powerful is Louguan Taoism in the north. It is indeed interesting enough that the master of Lou Shi Dao, which is more powerful in Nanshan, is a celestial master, but he respects Wang Zhiyuan, a branch of Nan Tian Shi Dao, who is a branch of Nan Tian Shi Dao.

Even Shaolin, in fact, is not the most powerful Buddhist sect at this time, and the reputation of the abbot is not very high, but the emperor just conferred him the title of protector of the country.

The abbot knew that it was not easy to be a guardian of the country, no, the emperor's reform of Buddhism and Taoism started with Shaolin.

In addition to coming to proclaim the decree, the general practitioner also came to preside over a Buddhist scripture examination. Only those who passed could be issued a certificate, and those who failed would be forced to return to vulgarity.

Not to mention that even if they pass, not all of them can stay.

The abbot will also go to Luoyang to accept the post of Senglusi's Tianxia Sengzheng.

Although it is a good thing to confer an official title, Shaolin is not the head of Buddhism in the world at this time, and the abbot is not an authority in the Buddhist world, but giving him such an honorary title and official position clearly means that he is going to be roasted on the fire.

What's more, if you take this position, you have to take the lead in reforming in Shaolin.

This huge Shaolin has been accumulated for many generations to reach its current scale, but it can only keep a hundred monks, all slaves must be released, and only one thousand mu of land can be left.

Although the emperor said that he would build the East Shaolin Temple in Daifang, the South Shaolin Temple in Guangnan, the North Shaolin Temple in Wuchuan, and the West Shaolin Temple in Dunhuang County for Shaolin. The size of the temple is 50 people.

Each also gave a thousand mu of monk land.

But in this way, the Shaolin in Songshan will inevitably become weak.

The Buddhist temple is originally a quiet place outside the world, a place of practice, but since it is in this world of mortals, no one can transcend the world.Even this Shaolin is the same. It has more than 3 mu of temple land, Wanguan Temple property, and hundreds of temple slaves. This allows the monks in Shaolin to build majestic halls, erect tall Buddha statues, and set up trees for Buddha statues. The golden body is painted with lacquer, so that they can train scripture copyists by themselves, copy scriptures and translate scriptures.

Under the solemnity of the superficial Dharma image, it is inseparable from the support of the huge temple property, and the protection of these temple properties cannot be separated from the support of the court and the government. Otherwise, it will be like Wang Shichong when he ruled Luoyang. , there will be countless soldiers and horses coming to rob the temple property and take away the temple wealth.

Now, the emperor gave him the title of protector of the country and the title of monk in the world. This is a reward from the emperor in exchange for his allegiance.

The abbot felt that it was normal to bow his head in front of the emperor. No abbot in any great temple dared to despise the emperor, unless he was a wild monk, who had no roots and roots anyway, and was at ease, but he couldn't.

"The poor monk led the decree, thank the emperor for his kindness!"

In the end, the great monk, who was wearing a purple-gold cassock with a bright crown on his head, stepped forward to receive an order to thank him.

The young Tongshi Sheren didn't seem to be surprised at all. As a Confucian disciple who read sage books, his perception of Buddhism and Taoism can only be said to be average, and the dispute between the three religions is not something that happens every day.

The children of Confucianism who are more powerful in Middle-earth need to sell goods to the emperor's family, so how can Buddhism transcend things?
"Under the whole world, is it the land of the king, and the guests of the land are the ministers of the king. As long as it is in this sunny place, whether it is secular or not, it is under the jurisdiction of the Emperor of Qin. The secular world belongs to the emperor. The emperor is in charge of everything, the emperor of Qin is the son of heaven, no matter Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, scholars, farmers, businessmen, or businessmen, all must obey the will of the emperor, and the emperor is the only spokesperson in the world!"

After these domineering words were announced, the abbot didn't even have a word of rebuttal.

Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and the three religions can be debated and attacked, but the words of the emperor cannot be disputed or attacked, especially the emperor, who is still the strongest in the Wei and Jin Dynasties in the past 300 years, let alone be attacked.

The abbot believed that there would definitely be people in Buddhism and Taoism who would oppose the emperor's New Deal, and there would definitely be people who would oppose it, but he didn't want to be such a leader.

"Abbot, from now on, you are not only the abbot of Songshan Shaolin, you will also be the protector of the Great Qin Dynasty and the monk of the world. Since you have accepted this favor, you must serve the emperor well. You must I know that to spread the Dharma and develop believers in the middle land, it is inseparable from the permission and support of the emperor. Huang Huang's millions of Qin armored soldiers are popular all over the world. From invincible hands, the iron cavalry and swords of the Qin army soldiers will never be Willing to try."

Others might not know why the emperor respected the abbot of Shaolin as the protector of the country, but he knew something.

Because there are many schools of Buddhism today, and Shaolin was built by Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty at the northern foot of Shaoshi Mountain, Songshan, which is opposite the capital Luoyang, in order to house the Indian eminent monk Bhatuo he admired.

Shaolin is the ancestral home of Zen Buddhism, but compared to Daxingshan Temple, the ancestral home of Tantric Buddhism in Chang'an City, it is much smaller in terms of reputation and scale.

Esoteric Buddhism had great influence at this time, but the emperor chose Zen Shaolin.

It is said that the emperor said such a sentence, Zen is not Chinese Buddhism, and it is not divorced from Chinese Buddhism, it is Buddhism after Chinese soil.They did not copy the precepts of Indian Buddhist scriptures mechanically, but based on the customs of Chinese people, geography, people, customs, etc., they learned the reasonable part of the Mahayana precepts suitable for China's national conditions, and formulated a brand-new management system.

More importantly, Sima Daoxin, the fourth patriarch of Shaolin Zen Buddhism who is only 42 years old this year, is a person with a unique understanding of Buddhism. He proposed that everyone has the Buddha-nature, and the theory of becoming a Buddha through sudden enlightenment is not yet systematic. However, it has simplified the cumbersome Buddhism, and on the one hand, it has also made the Buddhism introduced from Tianzhu more Chinese.

Compared with Daxingshan Temple, Qinglong Temple and other big temples that like to introduce Tianzhu monks and translate a large number of Tianzhu Buddhist scriptures, there is no doubt that Abbot Shaolin Daoxin's kind of everyone has Buddha-nature and enlightenment into Buddhism, which is more appreciated by the emperor. More suitable for localization.

Because of this, he was bestowed by the emperor with the title of Protector of the Country and the title of Sangha, which is to show his support for Zen Buddhism and to use Zen Buddhism to improve the current Buddhist schools.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty only respected Confucianism because Confucianism was more helpful to his rule. The emperor now chose Shaolin Zen and Maoshan Shangqing School among the Buddhist and Taoist schools, and the same is true.

"Your Majesty once discussed Zen Buddhism with Xu Shiwei, and he was very appreciative of the Master's Buddhism. He said a few words, "The heart is the Buddha!" "" Pointing directly at people's hearts, seeing one's nature and becoming a Buddha!" "Back then, Patriarch Bodhidharma sat in meditation facing the wall for nine years, but once enlightened and became a Buddha, the key is enlightenment."

These words shocked Abbot Daoxin extremely.

The reason why Shaolin is called the ancestral court of Zen is because their way of practice pays attention to sitting meditation, but the fourth patriarch Daoxin took a different path, that is, it is not necessary to gradually progress through sitting meditation, but to become a Buddha through sudden enlightenment. He believes that everyone Everyone has Buddha nature, and does not necessarily need to be practiced through meditation.

To see the origin of mind and nature is the main purpose.

His theory has actually brought about a huge change, but although Daoxin has been in charge of Shaolin for many years, he is still young, and his theory has not yet fully formed and is still in the stage of perfecting.

However, the words of the emperor that the generalist Sheren uttered now made it clear at once what he had been trying to figure out in diamonds.

The few words the emperor said were exactly what he had been searching for and hadn't been able to understand.

He felt that now that the emperor pulled it out a little, he suddenly had a feeling of breaking the secret and enlightening him.

This is exactly the kind of Buddha-mind nature he pursues.

Suddenly, he felt that he had become a Buddha.

"Unexpectedly, His Majesty, he had an epiphany." Daoxin admired him very much.

All the disciples of Daoxin were shocked, especially Hongren, who claimed to be extremely Buddha-nature and had received the true teaching of Dao-nature, was even more shocked. Just participate in the research to get a little feeling.

But now the master said, the emperor has already realized the epiphany?

"Hong Ren!"

"Master, the apprentice is here."

"My teacher has decided to send you to Dunhuang to establish the West Shaolin Temple. You choose fifty monks and make preparations!"

From the beginning of Bodhidharma's first arrival in Zhongtu to the current Fourth Patriarch Daoxin, the status of Zen Buddhism in Zhongtu Buddhism has always been awkward, and has been excluded by some sects such as Tantra.

Today, the Zen sect is finally able to gain the appreciation and support of the Great Qin Emperor, especially since the emperor knows so much about their Zen sect. Daoxin believes that they have nothing to hesitate and must support the emperor with all their strength.

Only in this way can Zen Buddhism flourish.

(End of this chapter)