The copy of the universe from the journey to the west

Chapter 199: Tao Yuanming and the Past of Donglin Temple (asking for monthly ticket)
"Why did Cheng Gongxing send the relics back?"

Lu Chen frowned.

Cheng Gongxing was Zhang Jiao, and this incident had a great impact on him, especially after he had become involved with Buddhayasas.

This made him start over again with his guesses about many things!
Judging from the expressions of the others, it was obvious that they didn't know Cheng Gongxing's identity.

"Cheng Gongxing is the teacher of Kou Qian, the Heavenly Master of the Northern Heavenly Master Dao."

Lu Chen told everyone what he knew.

Lu Chen's words made everyone else stunned.

"What is the Northern Heavenly Master Dao?"

Since the changes fifty years ago, Mr. Bai has paid less attention to the outside world.

Therefore, he is not very familiar with the development of Taoism in the world today. He still knows about the old Taoist sects such as Tianshi Dao and Lingbao Dao, but he is not clear about Beitianshi Dao.

Not only Bai Weng, but Huiyuan, Tao Qian and Lu Xiujing also didn't know.

Kou Qianzhi only came down from Mount Songshan and entered the Northern Wei four years ago. With the help of Cui Hao, he really began to emerge two years ago.

At that time, Huiyuan had been dead for nine years, and Tao Qian was also old and sick, bedridden. As for Lu Xiujing, a rich boy of low status, he naturally had no idea what the Northern Tianshi Dao was because of the Longhu Mountain's blockade of news about it.

Seeing this, Lu Chen told the story of how Kou Qianzhi was supported by the Tuoba family in the Northern Wei Dynasty to establish the Northern Tianshi Dao, call himself Tianshi, and eliminate the three false laws.

"Zhang Jiao is Cheng Gongxing, and Cheng Gongxing is Kou Qianzhi's master... Isn't Zhang Jiao a member of the Zhang family?"

Tao Qian looked confused. He was a little confused: "Why does he want to go against his ancestors' law?"

Zhang Jiao is the sixth generation Heavenly Master, and Zhang Lu is actually his great-grandfather. To get rid of the three false laws is to get rid of the laws of his ancestors! ?

Is this how he teaches his disciples?
"What if Zhang Jiao is no longer Zhang Jiao?"

When Huiyuan heard this, he understood a little: "Could it be that Buddhayasas was killed by him?"

Lu Chen shook his head: "That's not necessarily true."

Huiyuan asked why, but Lu Chen did not answer.

The One Mind Three Treasures Dharma is the Dharma of Buddhism, and it is difficult to talk about it at this juncture.

However, think about it and you will know that if Buddhayasas knew the method of One Mind Three Treasures, would he also know the method of One Mind Three Bodies?
Is the Buddhayasas that I saw in the relics the real Buddhayasas?
If it was Buddhayasaska, then it means that he is most likely not dead.

The magical power of the three bodies extended from the One Mind Three Treasures method has the function of replacing death!

Cheng Gongxing and Zhang Jiao can be the same person, so why can't Buddhayasas be them?
Buddhayasas understood the method of One Mind and Three Treasures, and Zhang Jiao was the Heavenly Master of Mount Longhu, so he was naturally familiar with the inheritance of the Taoist system.

If I can cultivate the three magical powers, why can't they?!

The fact that Cheng Gongxing was able to bring Buddhayasas' relics to Mount Lushan meant that he, or they, must have some kind of request for Mount Lushan.

Now, if we only know what Cheng Gongxing did after he went to Mount Lushan, we may be able to find out some of his background.

Thinking of this, Lu Chen asked Huiyuan what Cheng Gongxing did when he went to Mount Lu besides delivering the relics of Buddhayasas.

Huiyuan thought for a moment and said, "At that time, Cheng Gongxing claimed to be a Buddhist. When he came to Mount Lushan, I just thought he was a kind-hearted person. He heard that I had summoned the statue of Manjusri Bodhisattva from the river, so he wanted to see the statue. I took him to visit it."

"Is it the statue of Manjusri Bodhisattva that my great-grandfather found?" Tao Qian asked with a frown.

"Yes." Huiyuan glanced at Tao Qian and nodded slightly apologetically.

"Hmph!" Tao Qian snorted coldly, but didn't say anything more.

Tao Qian was also from a noble family. His great-grandfather was a founding hero of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. During his lifetime, he was granted the title of Duke of Changsha, a title that was inherited by his ancestors!

His grandfather Tao Mao was the prefect of Wuchang. His father Tao Yi was born in such a family, so he was a calm and indifferent person who did not seek fame. However, he died too early, so he was the worst-off among the Tao family.

When his great-grandfather Tao Kan was the governor of Guangzhou, some fishermen often saw streams of light several feet long on the seashore, which lasted for days on end, so they went to tell Tao Kan.

Tao Kan immediately sent people to salvage the golden Buddha statue from the bottom of the sea. There was an inscription under the base of the golden statue, saying that it was a statue of Manjusri Bodhisattva made by Ashoka.

Later, Tao Kan sent the golden statue to Hanxi Temple for worship.

However, one day, a fire broke out in Hanxi Temple. Tao Kan was transferred to Jiangzhou as the governor, so he ordered the golden statue to be brought to Jiangzhou. However, when the boat carrying the golden statue reached the middle of the river, a strong wind and waves arose, and the golden statue sank into the Yangtze River again.

It was not until Huiyuan established the Donglin Temple and burned incense and prayed devoutly by the river that the golden statue of Manjushri miraculously emerged from the water.

After Huiyuan welcomed him back to the temple, he first enshrined him in the Shenyun Hall, and later built another pavilion next to the lotus pond to enshrine him, and composed a praise for the auspicious statue of Manjusri.

This story was widely spread in the land of Jingchu, and even a folk song was born: "Tao is a mighty swordsman. He is like a god. He soars through the clouds and sleeps in the mud. How far away he is. He can be summoned with sincerity, but cannot be summoned by force."

It means to mock General Tao for his mere military power but inability to move the statue, and to contrast the miraculous effect of Master Huiyuan's sincerity that made the golden statue float to the surface of the water.

Although this folk song did not intend to suppress Tao Kan, it made Tao Kan a negative example.

This is also the initial origin of the Tao family's relationship with Donglin Temple, and one of the reasons why Tao Yuanming did not visit Donglin Temple on Mount Lushan once after he resigned from his official position and returned to his hometown.

Since his own grandfather was used as a negative example, it would be strange for Tao Yuanming to go to Donglin Temple to worship Buddha!

You say my grandfather is not sincere?

Then why don’t I, a member of the Tao family, just stop worshipping you?

Lu Chen glanced at the two of them and naturally understood where the initial rift between the Tao family and Donglin Temple lay.

When Lu Chen asked Lu Song to investigate, the grudges between the Tao family and Donglin Temple were also sorted out.

In fact, Xilin Temple, which was built before Donglin Temple, was built with money from the Tao family.

Tao Kan had eleven sons, Tao Yuanming's grandfather ranked ninth, and his tenth uncle Tao Fan was the most famous of the second generation of the Tao family.

In the early years of Taiyuan, he had already risen to the position of Guanglu Xun.

When Huiyuan followed Daoan to preach in Xiangyang, they were besieged by Fu Jian's army. Fu Jian conquered Daoan, who dismissed all his disciples.

Huiyuan and Huiyong planned to go to Luofu Mountain in Guangdong to preach together in the future.

Huiyuan was retained by Daoan, while Huiyong left first. When passing through Xunyang County, he was retained by Tao Fan, Tao Yuanming's tenth uncle, and lived in the Xilin Temple built for him by Tao Fan on the north side of Mount Lu.

Later, Huiyuan built Donglin Temple, which was also started after Huiyong discussed it with Huan Yi, the governor of Jiangzhou at that time.

Speaking of which, the Tao family also had some connection with the construction of Donglin Temple.

But the result?
When the folk song spread in the countryside, no monk in Donglin Temple or Xilin Temple spoke for Tao Kan, the ancestor of the Tao family. Instead, some monks were teasing Tao Kan, saying that his virtue was not as good as Huiyuan's.

Who can bear this?
Not to mention that the Tao family is a family of dukes and marquises in the State of Jin!

Perhaps some members of the Tao family had connections with the Donglin Temple, but who was Tao Yuanming?
He is a man who will not bow down for a few pieces of silver and has a very free and unrestrained temperament. Do you look down on my ancestor?
Then I won’t serve you anymore!
This is also the reason why Tao Qian looked unhappy when the statue of Manjushri Bodhisattva was mentioned, while Huiyuan had to put on a smile.

Both of them knew that this was the most important rift between the Tao family and Donglin Temple.

Lu Chen did not mention it, but pretended not to know, and continued to ask: "Is the statue of Manjusri Bodhisattva really magical?"

He has always believed that the statue of Manjushri Bodhisattva was either built by Donglin Temple itself, or that Donglin Temple deliberately found it and re-created it.

Huiyuan looked solemn and nodded, "Yes, there is a big taboo in it!"

Lu Chen thought of something. Daoan had told him that Huiyuan’s brother Huichi had said that there was a forbidden thing in Donglin Temple!
Lu Chen asked tentatively: "Is it related to the Western Spiritual Mountain?"

Huiyuan nodded silently.

Lu Chen asked again: "But is there a soul from the collapsed cave in the Western Spiritual Mountain stored there?"

Hui Yuan was shocked, and looked at Lu Chen in surprise: "How did you know this, Taoist? After the Manjusri statue was born, I found something wrong. There were a group of Western Bodhisattvas and Arhats sleeping inside it who were unwilling to enter the Yin-Yang world. After I found out, I immediately sealed it up and had someone build a new Bodhisattva statue overnight to worship it. I only told this to my disciple Hui Bao and my younger brother Hui Chi."

"Then the master really found the wrong person."

Lu Chen sighed and briefly described the current changes in Donglin Temple in the outside world.

These words stunned everyone present.

"Impossible!" Huiyuan questioned immediately after hearing this: "The method of sealing the city was established by Buddhayasa with the help of this poor monk. Even if Buddhayasa came in person, it would be impossible to open the city seal!"

"Did Buddhayasas tell you this?" Lu Chen asked.

"Exactly."

Huiyuan nodded immediately: "However, I was with Venerable Buddhabhadra at the time, and we both checked it many times and both believed that the method of sealing was flawless!"

Lu Chen did not care about the method of sealing, but asked: "Master, I want to ask, do you know the method of one mind and three treasures?"

"This..." Huiyuan hesitated.

He can say that he understands, but what he understands is only the superficial aspects of the Dharma of One Mind and Three Treasures.

Lu Chen shook his head helplessly: "This is the problem. Master, you yourself are not sure whether you understand the One Mind Three Treasures Dharma, so how can you know that you have checked it without any mistakes?"

Afterwards, he ignored Huiyuan who had fallen into silence, and instead looked at Bai Weng, bowing his head again and saying, "Senior, now I can confirm one thing. Huiyuan's entry into this paradise was most likely planned by someone."

Mr. Bai nodded and looked at Huiyuan.

There was a hint of satisfaction and helplessness in his expression.

It turns out that everything is just a continuation of the game that happened decades ago!

"Do whatever you want to do, you can go out now."

After a moment of silence, Mr. Bai suddenly said, "Of course, if you don't want to go out, you can stay here permanently. If there is any situation, let me know in advance, and the door to Taoyuan can be opened for you at any time."

Tao Qian and Hui Yuan both smiled, and Lu Chen nodded without surprise. The misunderstanding had been almost resolved, and everyone had a common enemy. Mr. Bai was not a person who could not distinguish right from wrong... Well, He.

Lu Xiujing was pleasantly surprised and asked, "Grandpa Bai, do you agree to form an alliance?"

Mr. Bai said helplessly: "Xiao Liu, sometimes you shouldn't be so straightforward when you speak or act. Look at your brother, he wouldn't ask such questions."

Lu Chen smiled and said, "I can express my attitude through practical actions. However, I still want to observe Taoyuan carefully, so I should stay for some time."

"It doesn't matter how long you want to stay. You can come back later after you leave."

Bai Weng nodded, then looked at Huiyuan: "Monk, are you still living in your shed?"

Huiyuan clasped his hands together and said: "People who worship Buddha and become monks should not ask where they live. However, when chanting the Buddha's name, in addition to being sincere in the heart, one must also be sincere in the body."

Tao Qian laughed and said, "If you want to live in a good place, just tell me. You monks are not very good at speaking."

This time, Mr. Bai accepted several people sincerely.

He waved his hand and asked the villagers to leave.

Then everyone went back and confirmed on the way that Buddhayasas was a suspect.

Although Huiyuan was unwilling to believe that Buddhayasas, who was both his teacher and friend, was a secret spy, he was able to confirm from some clues that even if Buddhayasas was not Cheng Gongxing's man, he was definitely not clean.

This suspicion cannot be cleared.

Therefore, his desire to explore the truth became much stronger.

Donglin Temple is the Taoist tradition that he passed down, so he is naturally very concerned about its future development.

Now that someone has taken over his position, how can he just sit there and do nothing?
He blurted out all the information he knew in one go.

“The statue of Manjusri Bodhisattva is said to have been built by King Ashoka.”

"In the past, King Ashoka founded the Maurya Dynasty and ruled Jambudvīpa. He taught the King of Ghosts to build hell, which was extremely tragic and cruel. Manjusri Bodhisattva appeared in the boiling pot, the fire was extinguished and the pot was cold, and a blue lotus flower bloomed. The hell officials told King Ashoka, and the king was enlightened. He destroyed the hell that day and built 84,000 pagodas and statues of Manjusri Bodhisattva, which were scattered all over the world. This statue is one of them."

"When I first got the statue of Manjusri, I was also very happy. However, after careful study, I found that Black Ashoka and White Ashoka might not be the same person."

Huiyuan talked about the situation when he discovered the statue of Manjushri Bodhisattva, and briefly explained the situation of Ashoka to Bai Weng and others.

Ashoka was an emperor who unified India. His status in India was equivalent to that of Qin Shihuang in the Central Plains.

The Maurya Empire, to which he belonged, reached its peak during his time.

The so-called "black and white dichotomy" refers to the definition of two split periods of history created by later generations due to the different policies during Ashoka's reign that changed extremely quickly.

Ashoka's transformation also came after he converted to Buddhism. Based on his conversion to Buddhism, the reign was divided into the first half, the Black Ashoka era, when he had not yet converted to Buddhism, and the second half, the White Ashoka era, when he had already converted to Buddhism.

The prosperity of Buddhism is also closely related to King Ashoka.

When he ascended the throne, Buddhism was only popular in a small area in the northwest of India, but when he died, Buddhists were spread all over India and quickly spread to neighboring countries.

In the history of Buddhism, Ashoka's status is almost the same as that of Siddhartha, the founder of Buddhism.

"This is normal."

Bai Weng listened with a calm expression: "During the Qin Shihuang period, there were also cave heaven cultivators who wanted to influence Qin Shihuang, but Qin Shihuang was the ancestor of dragons, and he had the great luck of heaven and earth, so the plans of those cave heavens failed, and even caused Qin Shihuang to counterattack, which led to the story of burning books and burying scholars."

Qin Shi Huang burned books and buried scholars alive, and most of those killed were alchemists. However, he did not harm books and talents on medicine, agronomy, etc.!
The origins of those alchemists are all controlled by the cave practitioners.

"Those caves want to control Qin Shi Huang. Could it be that they want to learn from the Western Buddhist caves?"

Tao Qian hesitated for a moment and said.

"Except for the Central Plains, there is no blessing of luck in the outside world, so Buddhism was able to influence the so-called Ashoka, and even took over his body. But in our Central Plains, such a thing would never happen! Every emperor has great luck, and even the ancient immortals cannot take over the emperor's body." Bai Weng said.

Huiyuan nodded and continued, "Whether Ashoka was possessed by another body, I don't know, but Ashoka's transformation must be related to the spirits in the Manjusri statue, so I sealed it... Actually, there was another thing at the beginning. I just wanted Cheng Gongxing to see the later replica of Manjusri statue, but Liu Yimin told Cheng Gongxing in advance that the statue of Bodhisattva in the Shenyun Hall was a replica. I had no choice but to let Cheng Gongxing see the real statue of Bodhisattva."

"It seems that Liu Yimin is also problematic."

Lu Chen touched his chin: "Zhang Jiao is Taoism, Buddhayasas is Buddhism, Liu Yimin is Confucianism... Haha, all three religions are complete!"

His eyes are deep.

The others couldn't help but feel a chill in their hearts when they heard this.

Zhang Jiao is the contemporary Heavenly Master of Tianshi Dao; Buddhayasas is a great Buddhist monk with an extremely good reputation; Liu Yimin is a great Confucian scholar who refused to take up the post despite being summoned by the imperial court many times. He can be regarded as a model of the Jin Dynasty!
Even Tao Qian's "not bowing for the sake of money" actually ranks behind it.

Each of the three religions has an extremely high status in their respective systems!
And if they were all an organization, or even a single person...

The secret hidden behind it is quite shocking.

"Haha, this is just some of my guesses."

Seeing everyone's expressions, Lu Chen smiled and said.

But no one else laughed. They all knew that although Lu Chen’s guess was a little unbelievable, it was very likely to be true!

How much have the three religious systems been eroded by people without anyone noticing!

Seeing this, Lu Chen didn't say much. In fact, he didn't understand yet whether Huibao and others from Donglin Temple were in cahoots with Cheng Gongxing and others.

If we go by our previous guess, the escape of Huibao and others must be related to Cheng Gongxing.

There is a high probability that there will be an alliance between the two.

But they were clearly a group of people, so why did Huibao and others allow him to snatch away the relics of Buddhayasas that contained the Three Treasures of One Mind?

Isn’t Cheng Gongxing afraid that the fact that he possesses the three supernatural powers will be exposed?

Do they no longer care?

Or am I also part of their plan?
But, think about it another way, if they were not in the same group...

This actually makes sense.

Cheng Gongxing was just controlling all this in secret, so Huibao and others didn't know that the One Mind Three Treasures method would give rise to the three bodies of magical powers!
"If this is really the case..."

Lu Chen's eyebrows twitched and a slight smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"That would be really interesting..."

(End of this chapter)