At the end of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 457
The moon was dark and the stars were sparse, and the bonfire was raging. Gao Bufan and the bearded man sat cross-legged beside the fire, and the latter was playing with three small wooden fishes, while slowly chanting: "It's sad to seek fish from a tree, but to see the Tathagata when the fire burns your body. After [-] years of reincarnation in the six realms, Buddha lotus blooms in Kyushu."

The bearded man glanced at the thoughtful Gao Bufan, and asked, "Third brother, have you heard of these four lines of Buddha's prayer?"

Gao Bufan shook his head and said: "It's the first time I heard that these three wooden fishes are related to the four lines of Buddha's prayer that elder brother recited?"

The curly bearded guest nodded and said: "These four lines of prayers to the Buddha came from an eminent monk in the Northern Zhou Dynasty. About more than 30 years ago, Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty ordered the destruction of Buddhas, destroyed temples, burned all scriptures, and forced monks to return to lay life. Those who refused to return to lay life, or Imprisoned or killed, the unknown master refused to return to secular life, and refused to leave the temple where he lived.

Because the unknown mage was quite famous, the soldiers did not dare to use force, so they reported to Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, who ordered the temple to be set on fire in an attempt to force the unnamed mage to leave, but unfortunately he did not do so, and the unnamed mage sat in the fire in full view. He died, and left this intriguing Buddha's prayer before he sat down.

It is estimated that Wuming Master's move touched Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. Later, the means of destroying the Buddha were much milder, and a large number of monks were able to flee to Nanchen, thus preserving the fire. "

Gao Bufan couldn't help but respectfully said: "So, this nameless mage is really a virtuous and eminent monk. He has practiced the Buddhist saying that if I don't go to hell, whoever goes to hell will go to hell. What is the relationship between the wooden fish? Could it be because of the sentence "seeking fish from a tree is sad", what is the meaning in it?"

The bearded man laughed and said: "Buddhism is the most concerned about the root of wisdom, so the understanding of the Buddha's prayer is different from person to person. Third brother, would you like to hear the most widely circulated understanding of these four Buddha's prayers?"

Gao Bufan hurriedly said: "I would like to hear the details!"

The bearded man nodded and said: "Actually, Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty had long thought of exterminating Buddhism, and Wei Yuansong just followed suit. But since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, Buddhism has flourished and there are many believers. During the Northern Wei Dynasty, there were even as many temples across the country as There are more than 30,000 monks, and there are more than 2 million monks, but the monks do not work, do not pay taxes and do not serve, which seriously affects the national economy and people's livelihood.

Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty saw the root of the problem, so he was very determined to exterminate Buddhism. However, Buddhism is so powerful that it can affect the whole body. Even Emperor Wu of Zhou had to be cautious. In order to create public opinion for the extermination of Buddha, Emperor Wu of Zhou Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism have been invited to participate in the debate for several years in a row, in order to prove which of the three is better, and the unknown master is also invited.

Although Master Wuming knew that Emperor Wu of Zhou was determined to exterminate the Buddha, he still participated in the debate. Therefore, the first sentence in the Buddha's address "seeking fish from a tree is a pity", which means that Master Wuming knew that participating in the court debate was like being in court. It's really useless to seek fish from a tree, but you still have to participate, so it's very sad. "

Gao Bufan nodded when he heard the words, and said: "Then the second sentence is that the unknown mage is expressing his heart and expressing his will by death. Lie down to see the Tathagata, which means that he would rather be burned to death than leave the temple. Return to the Western bliss to meet the Tathagata Buddha."

The bearded man smiled and said, "That's right, then third brother might as well talk about your understanding of the third sentence and the fourth sentence!"

Gao Bufan chanted thoughtfully: "Six paths of reincarnation for forty years, Kyushu unified Buddha lotus blooms. These two sentences seem to be a kind of vision, or a prophecy."

The bearded man's eyes lit up, and he asked, "What prophecy?"

"Six paths of reincarnation should be a Buddhist theory?"

The bearded man nodded and said: "Taoism seeks longevity, Buddhism believes in reincarnation."

Gao Bufan blurted out: "So after 40 years of reincarnation in the six realms, the Kyushu unified Buddha lotus bloomed. It should imply that after [-] years, the world will be unified and Buddhism will flourish again?"

The bearded man jokingly said: "It seems that the third brother's wisdom is not shallow."

Gao Bufan said with a smile: "This Buddha's prayer is very superficial, I guess anyone with a normal IQ can understand it immediately, but the prophecy of Master Wuming seems to be inaccurate, the Sui Dynasty unified Kyushu not many years after his death, and It doesn’t need to be as long as 40 years, and Buddhism and Taoism were both emphasized in the Sui Dynasty, and Buddhism is still prosperous today.”

The bearded man took a meaningful look at Gao Bufan and said, "Calculating carefully, it has been exactly 36 years since Master Wuming passed away."

Gao Bufan was slightly shocked, that is to say, there are still four years before the prophecy of the unknown mage, wait, when did Li Yuan become emperor in history?It should be after the death of Yang Guang, that is, in three or four years, the Tang Dynasty was established. This powerful dynasty lasted for 280 years. The country once spanned East and West Asia, and Buddhism was extremely prosperous. In the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, could it be that the prophecy in the Buddha's Call of the Unknown Master refers to the Tang Dynasty?

Thinking of this, Gao Bufan couldn't help being terrified, it couldn't be, it couldn't be such a coincidence, could it?

"Third brother, what's the matter?" Seeing that Gao Bufan's expression was wrong, the bearded man asked curiously.

Gao Bufan shook his head and said: "It's nothing! By the way, brother has been talking for so long, but he still hasn't said what is the connection between these four Buddhist prayers and these wooden fishes."

The bearded man smiled and said: "It is said that when Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty exterminated Buddhism, in order to preserve Buddhist scriptures and property, the monks teamed up and hid a large number of Buddhist scriptures and property in a secret place, and hid the clues in six wooden fishes. Only by finding this It takes six wooden fishes to open that place."

Gao Bufan's heart moved: "It means that whoever can find all six wooden fishes can get a lot of treasures and scriptures left by the monks?"

The bearded man nodded and said, "Does the third brother know how many treasures there are?"

Gao Bufan replied: "It should be quite a lot!"

Seeing Gao Bufan's calm expression, the bearded man asked in surprise, "Third brother, are you not interested?"

Gao Bufan smiled and said, "I'm tempted, but I still have enough money, I can celebrate the New Year with it or without it."

The bearded man gave a thumbs up and said, "Man dies for money, and birds die for food. A gentleman can love money, but he can't be too greedy. The third brother maintains this mentality, and the future can be expected!"

Gao Bufan smiled and said: "Brother said so, I'm curious about how many treasures are in the treasure. Although this thing can't be forced, if it comes to your door, don't want it for nothing!"

The bearded man laughed and said, "Brother, I don't know, but there were many monasteries at that time, and all of them were wealthy. It is estimated that there must be several million taels of silver."

Gao Bufan couldn't help smacking his tongue and said: "These monks are really rich, if I were the emperor, I would be jealous."

The bearded man smiled and said, "By the way, I actually have another understanding of Master Wuming's speech."

"I would like to hear the details!" Gao Bufan said hastily.

The bearded man tossed the three wooden fishes in his hand and said: "Liu Dao refers to these six wooden fishes. Seeking fish from trees means that after 40 years, someone got these six wooden fishes, and this person will rule Kyushu and become the Nine Five Kings." , advocating the Dharma, thus bringing about the great prosperity of Buddhism.”

(End of this chapter)