People live in the Ming Dynasty, evil spirits are soaring into the sky

Chapter 293 Why is Taoism relatively cleaner than Buddhism! !
Many people saw a very strange phenomenon this time.

Since No. 2 was burned by fire, even though the reason behind it has not been completely understood, the monks have been frightened.

Especially those monks who did not go to the temple to practice in the first place. Those fake monks wanted to make a lot of money from the temple. Now that I have a biological mother, being a monk has become a high-risk profession, and I will immediately become a monk. He dropped his pick and ran away.

Of course, this also brings certain troubles to many monks who really want to practice.

Because for a long time afterwards, Buddhism began to decline.

Because Chen Han and Emperor Wanli attacked the temple one after another, the common people and Buddhists all knew that there were bad people among the monks.

From then on Buddhism ceased to be a major sect in the history of the Ming Dynasty.

As for Taoism, it has learned the lessons of Buddhism and launched a large-scale self-purification plan.

An internal inventory of Taoism began, especially because the emperor's family believed in Taoism, and the number of Taoist temples that suddenly increased has been well adjusted in this plan.

Why is it that between Taoism and Buddhism, people today generally think that Taoism is relatively clean.

In fact, this is related to these two beliefs.

First of all, beliefs that can exist for thousands of years must essentially lead people upward.

Whether it is Buddhism or Taoism, their main purpose is to hope that people can be kind-hearted and be kind to others and themselves. This is certain, otherwise no one would believe in it.

But there will be bad people in any group. Whether it is Taoism or Buddhism, there are some people with sinister intentions who distort the teachings for their own interests.

But why does Buddhism seem to be more attractive to believers than Taoism?

That's the thing about Buddhism. The way it attracts followers is a bit like selling anxiety.

Especially in war-torn times, Buddhism has a very high ability to attract believers.

Because the more war-torn times go by, the more miserable people's lives become.

People will have a thought in their hearts, whether I did something sinful in my previous life that caused me to live such a miserable life in this life.

As for Buddhism, it will tell you at this time, yes, it is true that you committed a lot of sins in your previous life, so you will live such a miserable life in this life.

If you want to live a good life in your next life, you must believe in Buddhism.

After you believe in Buddhism, you can get rid of this sin, reincarnate in a better era and live a better life in your next life.

You can be reincarnated in your next life and join a good family.

Everyone wants to live a better life in the next life, so they flock to believe in Buddhism.

This is one of the reasons why Buddhism can attract more believers.

Of course, there is no distinction between good and bad, because this kind of teaching can persuade people to at least do more good deeds while alive, so that you can be better reincarnated in the next life.

This is a good teaching and can even give people a kind of spiritual sustenance.

It gives people the feeling that doing good deeds is an exchange for a good birth in the next life.

This exchange is good.

However, some individual elements use this belief to make profits.

How to make a profit?
Buddhists will tell you that you should come to our temple to burn more incense and donate more money to show your piety. The more pious you are, the better your next life will be.

This is the same as those religions selling indulgences in the Middle Ages. The more indulgences you buy, the more you can atone for your sins in this life, and you can go to heaven after you die. It is no different from a scam.

But Taoism's teachings are different from Buddhism.

Taoism pursues more personal practice. Whether it is the pursuit of immortality or the pursuit of purity and inaction, it is only related to the individual and rarely conflicts with others. What he tells the believers is that they must be pure and self-conscious. Even in Taoism, many of them are based on Huang Lao's learning and Taoist Laozi's inaction, which emphasize letting nature take its course and complying with the way of heaven.

Therefore, their entry threshold is much higher than that of Buddhism.

Sometimes Buddhist monks will tell you that if you recite Amitabha Buddha ten thousand times a day, as long as you are sincere, you will be able to sense the presence of the Buddha.

Therefore, among those who believe in Buddhism, there are a bunch of old men and women who recite Amitabha all day long.

You ask him what Buddhist scriptures there are, and he knows nothing.

But he recited the four words "Amitabha" very smoothly, and every first and fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year, he would go to the temple to burn incense very devoutly, buy their unique incense to burn, and donate money for the incense.

They remember the birthdays of various Bodhisattvas and Buddhas very clearly, and they also burn incense in large quantities at this time.

But you want to ask him what the Diamond Sutra is? He doesn’t understand;
You asked him what the Lotus Sutra is?
he does not know.

You ask him who is the Sixth Patriarch Huineng?
He will tell you that he only knows Tathagata Buddha, Maitreya Buddha, and Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva.

Even those who are not Buddhists can tell about past Buddhas, present Buddhas, and future Buddhas, but some old men and women have no idea at all.

Then this is not true faith, this is just a transaction. They think that as long as they burn more incense, recite Amitabha more, worship the Buddha when they see it, and give money to the monks when they hear it, that is faith.

But the Taoist Church will tell you that you must be proficient in Taoist classics.

There is dialectical thinking in the classics. You can see clearly how the world works and understand what the way of heaven is. Only in this way can you be able to see your descendants clearly, be pure and inactive, and not be troubled by the world.

The threshold is too high, which is not conducive to attracting believers.

The threshold of Buddhism is too low and it has attracted many people who are only interested in profit.

There are many people who have done evil things in their hearts, and they think, if I go to Buddhism and donate some incense money, and then make a confession, my sins can be washed away.

A person who thinks this way can never look back because he knows he has a way to retreat.

Therefore, Emperor Wanli was relatively tolerant of Taoism. The main thing he eradicated was Buddhism. Of course Buddhism itself talked about vastness and the Pure Land, but it was not clean at all.

Among Buddhists, at least 99% of them are not practicing sincerely, but are seeking only profit.

So Emperor Wanli led the four officials of the Zhengyin, Deputy Yin and the Ministry of Rites, and once again selected four temples.

In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, when official corruption was very common, these four temples only had one small temple with dozens of people on the outskirts of Beijing.

They do not lend money, and they rarely open to the outside world. Instead, they guard seven or eight acres of paddy fields, are self-sufficient, and practice Buddhism quietly.

The remaining three buildings are all prosperous, and there are various loan sharks and various industries below.

The monks became accountants, managers, and professional CEOs. They managed these industries with a bang. Taking advantage of the opportunity of not having to pay taxes and the selfless dedication of so many believers, they became They started a business without capital, and everyone became extremely rich.

By this time, the four officials, the Zhengyin, the Deputy Yin and the Ministry of Rites, began to be afraid.

Because the bet was for half of the five temples, and the interest rate was higher than that of the private sector, they had to behead their heads.

But now out of five, only one, a small temple with only 13 people, does not do lending business, and the rest are prosperous.

Then it's not just as simple as chopping off their heads, but also raiding their homes and killing their families.

So Emperor Wanli sat on the Taishi chair and announced the order...

Second update! !

(End of this chapter)