A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 309 The dispute between Buddhism and Taoism
The sun sets, the moon rises, the stars move again.

In the blink of an eye, the third day arrived, and the second debate officially began. The same place, the same challenger, but the challenger changed.

From Zhang Changshou to Song Zhenxian, who was about the same age as Flan.

Song Zhenxian, Zhang Zhenyuan's senior brother, but not the same master. Song Zhenxian was originally from Jiyin County. His original name was Song Xian. He was a child of the Song family in Jiyin County. He loved Taoism since he was a child and often read the few Taoist classics at home.

After he was crowned, he was appointed as a Taichang official with a rank of 200 shi in the imperial court, waiting for recruitment. Responsible for assisting Tai Shiling of Taichang Prefecture in observing celestial phenomena.

Following the astronomical scholar of the time, Deng Ting, who was in charge of the calendar at that time, observed the climate of the four seasons and the rotation of the five elements.

This experience laid an extremely solid foundation for his subsequent Taoist career.

When he was thirty years old, Song Xian followed Zhang Liang's example, resigned from his official position in the court, and went to the Taihang Mountains to seek his way.

At first, he did not directly worship the Tianshi Mansion. Instead, he became a disciple of Feng Jinghe, the master of Yinxian Temple, a remote Taoist temple in the Taihang Mountains. Witnessed by the temple masters of three surrounding Taoist temples, he entered his name into the Taoist book. , and was granted the title of Jing Jing and the title of Zhen Xian.

After successfully becoming a disciple, Feng Jinghe left him three complete Taoist scriptures, and then took his directory and went to the Tianshi Mansion to register his name. In the entire Taoist temple, he and two or three Taoist boys were the only ones left, no more than three or four people.

The Yinxian Temple was built by Song Zhenxian's master Feng Jinghe himself and commissioned the villagers from the small village at the foot of the mountain to build it. It is not big, with only a hall for worshiping the gods and three rooms for living.

In the following years, he continued to study Taoist scriptures with his master. However, because Song Zhenxian learned too fast, Feng Jinghe had to return to Tianshi Mansion every other year to exchange for Taoist scriptures for him.

Because according to the regulations of Tianshi Mansion, in order to ensure the accuracy of the inheritance of Taoist scriptures, each Taoist temple can only keep no more than thirty Taoist scriptures of Tianshi Mansion in the Taoist temple. If it needs to be replaced, the copied Taoist scriptures can be used to go there. Replacement of Tianshi Mansion.

However, this kind of regulation is based on self-consciousness, and no one patrols the number of these Taoist temples one by one, but no one violates it. After all, people who can become a high-achieving person in the Tianshi Mansion rarely have bad intentions. And this is also considered a kind of spiritual practice. It depends on whether you have the ability to control yourself.

When Song Zhenxian was in his forties, his master couldn't bear the disturbance of the journey and sent him directly to the mountain to receive salvation from the heavenly master. As for him, who was talented in Taoism, he successfully passed the Celestial Master Degree.

Originally, he wanted to go back and follow his master and practice in a small Taoist temple for the rest of his life, but his master wrote a letter saying that he had accepted another apprentice and had no energy to teach him, so he asked him to stay in Tianshi Mansion for further study. Never come back, old Taoist. I still want to live a few more years.

Therefore, Song Zhenxian stayed in the Tianshi Mansion as a high-level expert in the Tianshi Mansion. Gradually, with the blessing of his talent and hard work, his name of Taoist genius, Taoist, and Taoist idiot spread throughout the Tianshi Mansion. He became one of the few masters in Tianshi Mansion who was proficient in most Taoist scriptures and Taoist methods.

It is said that he often consulted He Xuanshou, the elder of Zangjing Pavilion, and got He Xuanshou's approval. He Xuanshou also reported many times that he intended to leave the position of the elder of Zangjing Pavilion to him after he became immortal.

Tianshi Mansion, Chen Gong Square.

At this time, the Taoist disciples had just finished their morning exercises and had breakfast. Song Zhenxian and Flan, who had received the start of the competition, came directly from the dining hall at the same time, and all the disciples followed them.

As Zhang Zhenyuan's debate began.

The two people sitting on the high platform also opened their sleepy eyes.

Song Zhenxian crossed his legs on the futon on the high platform, and gave Fran a Taoist bowing ceremony with a gentle face:

"Infinite Heavenly Lord, Song Zhenxian of the poor Taoist Heavenly Master's Mansion, please ask Brother Taoist for advice!"

Fran also took the same posture, but responded with a Buddhist salute:
"Namo Amitabha, poor Buddhist monk, Falan, please give me some advice, Taoist brother."

After spending a few days in the Tianshi Mansion, he also understood that his Buddha and their Tao both lead to the same destination by different paths, but with different methods, including other schools of thought such as Confucianism, Legalism, Farming, etc.

Therefore, he very much likes the Taoist sect's name for people who share the same Taoism, Taoist brother. The Buddha he cultivated can be called the Buddha's way to distinguish it from the heavenly way of Taoism.

Because the highest fruit of Taoism is heaven, just like the Three Pure Ones, it is the representative of the Way of Heaven, and they most highly respect Taiqing, one of the Three Pure Ones. They believe that Taiqing is the ultimate Taoist, and they honor him as the Taoist Ancestor.

The remaining two clear bodies are interpreted as the two bodies of the Taoist ancestors, which are the clones practiced by the Taoist ancestors. The three Qing Dynasties respectively represent the three periods of Taozu, youth, middle age and old age.

This is the same as Buddha, the highest attainment status in Buddhism. Buddhism also has divisions into past Buddhas, present Buddhas, and future Buddhas. But they highly respect the current Buddha, that is, Sakyamuni Buddha, who they call the third generation. Therefore, Sakyamuni Buddha is also called the World Honored One, also called the Buddha.

Song Zhenxian launched the offensive first:
"I heard that Buddhism has ten precepts for everyone. Those who enter Buddhism need to hold the precepts. It is for monks. It requires disciples to escape into Buddhism, abandon their relatives, and serve the Buddha wholeheartedly. It is also forbidden to start a family and start a career, and not to kill. Is this for cultivating Buddhism?"

Fran was slightly silent, thinking about whether there was a trap, because Song Zhenxian was different from Zhang Changshou. Both he and himself had been immersed in the scriptures for decades, and had been able to deeply understand the deep meanings in the scriptures and be able to apply the principles in the scriptures to reality. Otherwise, How to become a high achiever.

However, this question is obviously a conspiracy. The precepts he mentioned are indeed Buddhist regulations.

"It seems that Taoist brother also has some understanding of my Buddhism. Indeed, these are indeed the precepts that my Buddhism upholds. However, we are not asking our disciples to abandon their loved ones. We believe that we cannot study Buddhist scriptures in depth if we have worries in the world.

Therefore, when I accept disciples in Buddhism, I want them to cut off their worldly roots. Only when the six roots are pure can we better understand the Buddhist scriptures. Moreover, our Buddhist sect also has lay monks who practice Buddhism at home. As long as they devote themselves to worshiping the Buddha, they don’t need to go to a temple. They only need a Buddha statue. Don't kill, the Buddha said: all living beings are equal. In the eyes of the Buddha, there are no good or bad people, only respect for the Buddha or not.

Those who respect the Buddha will naturally do good deeds and achieve good results, and receive the blessing of the Buddha. After death, they will be able to enter the pure Buddha's kingdom; those who hate the Buddha will naturally do evil things and produce bad results, and will be despised by the Buddha, and even angry and punished. , after death, enter Abi Hell. "

"As Brother Tao said, break away from renunciation and calm the six roots. Once the six roots are exhausted, you will become a Buddha. A Buddha has no heart, no meaning, no sorrow and no joy, so how can he protect the world's common people?

It is precisely because of these seven emotions and six desires that this person is a human being. This is also what we call the way of humanity. This is different from the way of heaven, which is ruthless. The way of humanity is mostly clear. Heaven is always clear and people are always turbid. It is always clear, so the eyes are high; it is often turbid, so the position is low.

Pindao Guan Taoist Brother's Buddhist scriptures show that the Buddha's way is similar to the way of heaven, so it can be called the Buddha's way. If Taoist brother is determined to become a Buddha, wouldn't he have to give up his human body?

This method is to use the Buddhist way to rule the human world. It is a way that the poor people will never agree with, and the poor people call it an evil way.

The way of the poor monk is to take the way of heaven and make up for the shortcomings of human nature and promote the development of human nature. Therefore, Pindao does not want to become an immortal or a god, but to cultivate the way of heaven, that is, the ultimate way of heaven. With the method of heaven, we can save the common people and relieve the suffering of all peoples.

However, the way of heaven is high and deep, and mortals cannot escape it. If you approach it rashly, you will be punished by heaven.

For this reason, the founder of Pindao used his own power to consecrate the gods, use the power of humanity to control the power of the divine way, and solve the confusion of the heavenly way, so he is called the Celestial Master.

This is the establishment of the Tianshi Mansion, and the world has benefited from it. This is the meaning and necessity of Tianshi Mansion.

Brother Tao thinks so. "

Fran was silent for a moment. Song Zhenxian was not only warning them not to use the Western Regions, Guishuang, and Tianzhu to do the things of the emperor in the name of the Buddhist country to the Han Dynasty.

Don't interfere with the normal development of the Han Dynasty, and don't try to let Buddha replace Heaven, otherwise the Tianshi Mansion will be the first to disagree, and will label Buddhism as an evil way, and use all the power of the world to block the spread of Buddhism.

Obviously, Song Zhenxian knew about the social conditions of the countries in the Western Regions and Tianzhu and other countries. He even learned from the letters of some envoys that Buddhism in some countries in the Western Regions had usurped the king's power and turned the whole country into a Buddhist country. It is also related to the fact that he served in Luoyang and read a large number of books in Chang'an.

"What Brother Taoist said is quite Buddhist, but he also seems to have some misunderstandings about Buddhism. What the poor monk cultivates is nothing more than the afterlife, that is, rebirth. The Buddha said: There is so much suffering in the world because there is so much suffering in the world.

This life cannot be changed. Those who are officials will always become officials. Those who are common people will remain common people throughout their lives. Those who cultivate will mostly stop in the fields.

But you can use this life to cultivate the next life, know the Buddhist sutras, and do good deeds. This is practice. If you embark on the path of spiritual practice, you will have the opportunity to enter a pure Buddha's kingdom in the next life, and even those with great merits can become Arhats, Bodhisattvas, or even Buddhas in the next life.

Therefore, if there are more people who practice Buddhism, there will be less hostility, less disputes, and less suffering in the world. The poor monk has no intention of establishing a Buddhist kingdom on earth. He only wants to let the world know the Buddha's meaning.

As for what Brother Tao said about the farewells between gods, humans, gods, and Buddhas, isn't it based on the laws of Taoism to stipulate the precepts of Buddhism?

The poor monk heard that there is an old proverb from the Han Dynasty that even if the cook does not cook, the person in charge of sacrifices cannot go beyond his duties and put down the sacrificial vessels to cook instead of the cook.

Buddhism has its own precepts, and Taoism also has clear rules. Wouldn't it be ridiculous to criticize the precepts with clear rules? Could it be that the Taoist brother wanted to bully the poor monk and the senior brother who came all the way without the help of fellow Taoists, and used the overwhelming force to overwhelm me? Then the Taoist brother succeeded. "

After saying that, Fran closed his eyes.

Song Zhenxian didn't expect that this monk was still a bastard. He twitched his lips slightly and had no choice but to apologize: "What did Brother Tao say? I was just arguing with Brother Tao about the differences between you and me."

Fran smiled half-heartedly.

After all, Song Zhenxian still wanted to save face and did not pursue the issue further. Afterwards, whenever Song Zhenxian mentioned the shortcomings of Buddhism, Flan pretended to be weak and had no other choice but to debate with him about other aspects of knowledge.

This debate lasted for an exceptionally long time, from the morning until the Golden Crow landed.

In the end, neither of them could win over the other. Because of Fran's rogue behavior, the two ended up in a tie.

Two more days passed and it was time for the final debate.

Fran thought that Song Zhenxian had already represented the highest level of Tianshi Mansion, so he was very relaxed today.

But when He Xuanshou, who looked old but had a steady pace, came on stage, Fran's face became serious, because there is an unconventional rule that the older he is, the more knowledgeable he is. After all, people naturally become wiser as they age.

As soon as He Xuanshou opened his mouth, Fran's face changed drastically and he started to sweat profusely.

(End of this chapter)