It is inevitable for monks with huge financial power to engage in commercial activities.
It is said that the earliest financial industry in China was started by monks in the form of monastery treasury...
During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the earliest pawn institutions appeared in Buddhist temples. The temple's treasury can be mortgaged and redeemed, and can even be inherited through contractual relationships between relatives, which is quite complete.
Human greed is endless, and monks whose six roots are not purified are no exception.
Gradually, the monks were no longer satisfied with pawning, and the monasteries began to engage in loan sharking. French explorer Pelliot's Dunhuang Manuscript records the annual settlement report of the monks of the Pure Land Temple in Dunhuang. One-third of the temple's income comes from usury...
What is the difference between this kind of temple and a pawnshop? The smell of copper has long tainted the Buddha's heart. In the face of interests, these so-called worldly masters and eminent monks have not shown any purity and nobility commensurate with their status. They are no different from the dirty businessmen in the market. .
A monk once declared without hesitation: "Money is like honey, every drop is sweet." The monks engaged in usury without any scruples, which also aroused strong dissatisfaction among the world.
But in fact, usury did not violate the laws of the time at all, and it could not be eradicated. As a result, the monks developed the very promising career of loan sharking in full swing, lending money to almost everything. The varieties that can be borrowed include gold, silver, cloth, grain, oil, and even living animals. Some temples lend cattle to farmers and charge interest.
Another characteristic of monastic loan sharking is that the interest rates are usually higher than those of secular moneylenders. Monks often use the power of Buddha to intimidate borrowers, saying that if they do not repay, they will go to hell and never be reincarnated, so as to obtain higher interest rates. The monasteries are not polite to borrowers who cannot repay their money. They will file lawsuits with the government, use legal means to protect their legitimate rights and interests, and even force them to serve in the military to repay their debts.
If buying and selling property, lending money and pawning were still legal businesses in the feudal era, some monks with bad behavior even engaged in illegal activities.
An edict written by Emperor Li Yuan in the 9th year of Wude mentioned: "There are despicable couples who have high self-esteem; lazy people who avoid corvee work. They want to be ordained rashly, and they are asked to become a monk. They have insatiable desires and can't find anything. Xi... He enters the text that violates the commandments, and retreats without the rules of etiquette. He even goes so far as to personally plunder, steal (steal) by himself, create evil and deceive, and travel cunningly."
Some monks blatantly robbed, stole, and cheated, and lending money pales in comparison.
Therefore, peeling off the seemingly noble outer layer of "monkhood", these monks are not fundamentally different from businessmen in the market and rich men in the villages.
Fang Jun's words immediately aroused the indignation of the onlookers towards the temple. They don't care that not all temples and all monks do these things, they just want to find an outlet to vent their dissatisfaction.
So the debate is a tragedy...
The eminent monk looked bewildered. Faced with the accusations and abuses from countless onlookers, he was quite at a loss. His previous aloof and calm demeanor had long since collapsed.
He didn't understand. He was obviously the weak one and the one being bullied. Why not only did he not receive sympathy, but he seemed to arouse public indignation and be criticized by thousands of people?
This is completely different from the past experience of being regarded as a great virtue wherever I go. A Buddhist heart that is not difficult in the first place is crumbling in a mouthful of saliva...
Princess Gaoyang on the carriage watched helplessly as Fang Jun punched Bianji until his nose started to bleed. Then, amidst the sound of condemnation, he used his sharp tongue to reverse the situation, and instead pushed Bianji into the eternal damnation. situation……
Her Highness the Princess watched with stars in her eyes as Fang Jun showed off his power over there, but the handsome monk, who was profound in Buddhism and good-looking, had a plummeting status in her heart...
The scene that happened in front of her was once again the theory of Princess Fangling's aunt: It's useless for a man to be good-looking. You have to see whether he has a beautiful heart, whether he can hold up a woman's world, and whether he can control the wind and rain outside. At the same time, I can still have love for you, and more importantly, whether I can have a strong body...
Well, when Princess Gaoyang thought about the "dirty" place, her palm-sized face couldn't help but turn red. She was extremely shy and charming.
My aunt is not a good person, she says anything...
Fang Jun didn't care what Princess Gaoyang thought. He was angry just looking at this flower monk. Not only did he want to beat him physically, but he also wanted to destroy him mentally, let him accuse him, and destroy his reputation!
Mother!
You dare to flirt with my sister, are you tired of living?
He looked at the already distracted Bian Ji, raised his chin high, and said arrogantly: "So, don't use your seemingly noble status as a monk. That is not your confidence, but your shame! You crooked monks have tarnished the pure name of Lord Buddha and the purity of the Dharma. You are all sinners of Buddhism!"
This guy is obviously unreasonable, and he is very good at "stealing ideas".
After all, it is true that there are monks who engage in loan sharking, and it is also true that there are monks who do bad things, but they did not do it!
They are just chatting with your horse on the street...
Bianji's face was gray and his expression was flustered. Faced with everything in front of him, the Buddhist teachings he had practiced were completely ineffective. The skill and sophistication that he used to have when debating Buddhist teachings with his smart lips was nowhere to be seen. He felt depressed and confused.
Is it true, as he said, that the pure place of Buddhism has become so filthy already?
So how can I maintain that pure faith when I am in a situation full of filth and filth that I have always adhered to?
At this moment, the pain on my nose is not as bad as the pain caused by the wavering faith in my heart...
At this time, the dispute in front of the temple gate had attracted the attention of the temple.
The gate of Ximing Temple opened wide, and dozens of monks poured out. The leader, a tall monk with a fierce look on his face, stepped forward and pushed away the onlookers, angrily yelling: "In this pure place of Buddhism, why are you making such a loud noise again? I'm disturbing you. How can you afford the disaster caused by the Buddha?"
Before he finished speaking, he saw Bianji's thin body leaning against the big tree, trembling slightly. The blood on his nose had dried up, but the bright blood on the moon-white monk's clothes was like a blossoming plum blossom...
The monk was furious: "You thugs, don't you know that this is a place of pure cultivation outside the world? You are simply despicable and ignorant, and your ignorance is hopeless. We monks are compassionate and do not argue with you and other common people. This is our great mercy. But it’s not because I’m afraid of you and others. Whoever beats him should stand up for the poor monk! This is a place for monks to cultivate, is there any royal law?"
He talks like a common man and shuts up about a common man. He is both despicable and ignorant, which immediately aroused public indignation.
A stinky duck egg flew out from the crowd and hit the monk's bald head. The eggshell shattered and filthy egg juice flowed all over his face. The image was extremely embarrassing.
The monk was furious and shouted: "Buddha even roars like a lion, monks are not just easy to bully..."
But suddenly I heard a shout: "I'm going to beat you as a monk!"
Then, a fist as big as a jealous bowl suddenly enlarged in front of his eyes, and then his vision went black, and there was a "buzzing" sound in his head, and he received a hard punch.
When the monks around him saw it, they immediately gave up and beat our people at the gate of our temple. Isn't this going against heaven?
Immediately, a crowd came up and surrounded Fang Jun, the murderer, and greeted him with fists, feet and sticks.
Fang Jun roared: "Xi Junmai, fight alongside so-and-so!"
Xi Junmai's spirits perked up, and he felt as excited as when he returned to the Western Regions to face the Turkic wolf cavalry. Hearing this, he shouted: "No!" and jumped into the battle group, guarding Fang Jun closely.
Fang Jun's agility and strength were limitless, and he was not under any pressure when facing these monks. There was a "bang bang" sound, and he punched and punched without missing a beat, making the monks in front of him howl like ghosts. Xi Junmai, on the other hand, has skills tempered in the mountains of corpses and seas of blood. He is also able to move forward in an unstoppable manner. He is not afraid to face enemies that are ten times more numerous.
The two masters and servants were like tigers in a pack of wolves and wolves were like pigsty, beating a group of monks until they cried for their fathers and cried for their mothers.
The thin body of Bian Ji beside him was trembling like a broken leaf in the wind. His small face was pale, his lips were moving constantly, and his heart was already messy in the wind...
