Is Buddha a god?
Is this a difficult question to answer?
Needless to say? It must be! Any passerby on the street will know that Buddha is God. Otherwise, why would so many people worship Buddha every day? If it’s not God, what do people worship?
But why is the abbot of Daxingshan Temple frowning, as if he is in endless confusion?
Buddha is a god, this is what ordinary people think. If a person who truly practices Buddhism also thinks that Buddha is a god, then he has not yet started. The old abbot is a person with profound knowledge of Buddhism. Of course he knows that Buddha is not a god and that Buddhism is a method of practice.
If a Taoist disciple came to discuss Taoism and debate scriptures at this time, the old abbot would have 10,000 answers to answer.
But it doesn't work now, not because we are facing Prime Minister Du Ruhui, but because in full view of everyone, almost all the people in the city are here. The common people are ignorant. If you tell them what Buddhism is, they will not have the patience to listen carefully. He doesn't know how to think, and he doesn't even have the mood to reason.
This is the brilliance of Du Ruhui. Du Ruhui once argued with Xiao Rui that the Buddha is not a god, but a mortal who has accomplished cultivation and passed down Buddhist teachings that can be practiced. He is a sage and wise man. But he is not the omniscient and omnipotent God who controls everything.
At this time, his question was definitely a heart-breaking argument.
Because Buddhism needs Buddha to be a god and an idol that people worship and believe in. Otherwise, how do you explain the peace incense of Daxingshan Temple? How to explain the incense money in various Buddhist temples?
People come to temples to burn incense and worship Buddha, not to learn Buddhism, but to seek blessings from gods and goddesses, either to cure diseases or disasters, or to have children and wealth. If you weren't a god, you wouldn't be able to do these things. A mortal like me, I'd like to worship you? What are you thinking about? I spat at you.
So at this moment, the old abbot did not dare to tell the truth or admit that Buddha was not a god.
But if he says that Buddha is a god, Du Ruhui must have plans later. Everything about Buddha needs to be justified by the practice of Buddhism. The problem is that the practice of Buddhism is not to cultivate gods, but to guide people's own cultivation realm. There is never any evidence that Buddha is a god.
There is a classic allusion in the Buddhist scriptures: Buddha points to the moon. This means that I, the Buddha, tell you where the moon is and point you in the direction. But the ignorant people all looked at the Buddha's fingers, except for the moon. The same goes for Buddhist scriptures and Buddhas. Buddhist scriptures and Buddhist Dharma are like fingers pointing at the moon, and Buddha is the moon. All Buddhist scriptures and Dharma are to guide the direction of practice, rather than telling you what Buddha is.
So why do people firmly believe that Buddha is a god? Buddhist propaganda? Yes, Buddhist propaganda. There is no evidence to prove that Buddha is a god, but there is also no evidence to prove that Buddha is not a god! Such propaganda is not what Buddha needs, but what Buddhism needs, Buddhist temples need, and survival needs.
For the Buddha to teach the Dharma, he only needed one or two disciples to uphold the Dharma and practice it, or throw out three or two scriptures and have someone read them. It did not say that we must build high-rise temples and golden clay sculptures. These are all done by ignorant people who have not practiced Buddhism enough, and are not taught by Buddha.
In fact, the Buddha has many magical powers that are far beyond the understanding of ordinary people. In the eyes of mortals, isn't this a god? Therefore, Buddhism will use these supernatural powers to prove it, so the people believe it and worship it.
Are you worshiping gods? No, it is actually worshiping those with great supernatural powers, worshiping those who are stronger than themselves. If there is such a person with great supernatural powers who is much stronger than himself and can do many things that ordinary people cannot do, in the hearts of the people, such a person is a god, then it can be regarded as worshiping the gods.
But they forgot that these great supernatural beings were also cultivated step by step by ordinary people. Their essence is still human beings, not other races.
As the Buddhist scriptures say: Why deceive your own nature? It is self-contained.
Wang Sheng, a scholar of Xinxue, also said: The way of a sage is to be self-sufficient in nature and not to seek anything from outside.
The path to spiritual practice and success is all in one's own heart and within oneself. Everyone has awareness, but how many can truly awaken their own awareness? Most people are ignorant, no, I should say lazy. I have been shouting all my life: How good would it be to have a savior to save me?
Some people pray to Buddha, some pray to heaven, some pray to mountain gods for land, and some pray to the national government. Haha, they all mean the same thing, that is, they hope that someone can take charge of their own affairs and solve their difficulties.
But they were wrong from the beginning. They forgot one thing, that is, only they can be their own masters. What are you doing when you wait for others to save you all day long? Why not save yourself?
There is a slogan in later generations: the people are the masters of the country. From now on, we have stood up! How long have you been standing up? He seemed to be on his knees again.
Why? Looking up at the society, there are still overwhelming shouts that the country will make the decision for me, the government will help us redress our grievances, punish corrupt officials, and punish profiteers...
Doesn’t it mean that the people are the masters of the country? So who is the master of this country?
Everyone will say: People!
then who are you?
I? I am an ordinary citizen, the most powerless and the weakest.
Haha... Look, even he himself has forgotten that he is the people.
So, history is always surprisingly similar. What do we mean by things like deer turning into horses, camel Xiangzi, teahouses, Kong Yiji, and the emperor’s new clothes? What will happen in the 21st century? Isn’t it still happening everywhere? Maybe the world has never changed.
In the next hundred or hundreds of years, if something like a hundred years of humiliation happens again, it will not be surprising at all. He who knelt down deserved to be bullied.
Back to business: Got asked a question? How can we save the temple? Is the old abbot an old fool? You have been standing silent, haven't you seen the people around you starting to point fingers?
Then a young monk suddenly stood up and said loudly: "Buddha is of course a god!"
The old abbot turned around and shouted: "Xuan Zang, step back!"
Xuanzang? Is it that Xuanzang? Xiao Rui looked at the young monk curiously. He was thin, with sharp eyes and a handsome face. Could he really meet a celebrity?
Xiao Rui waved his hand to smooth things over, "Master, since this master wants to speak, let him do it. I also want to see what the future generation of Daxingshan Temple will be like. Could it be said that the master taught me Disciple is not confident? Or is he not confident in the Dharma taught by Daxingshan Temple?"
The old abbot explained: "Xuan Zang is not a disciple of the old monk. He is a wandering monk from Wutai Mountain. He used to practice at Dazongchi Temple and just came to Daxingshan Temple the day before yesterday to practice."
Xiao Rui smiled: "No problem, as long as you are a Buddhist disciple, you are qualified to answer questions on behalf of Buddhism. Master Xuanzang, can you explain to everyone, is Buddha a god?"
The old abbot was stopped. Xuanzang was still full of blood, but he couldn't bear the oppression of Buddhism to this point. He was confident that with his level of debating scriptures, he would definitely be able to answer this question without any fault.
Slowly walked to the middle, put his palms together and saluted everyone around him, and then Xuanzang said loudly: "Buddha is a god. He once made forty-eight great wishes out of compassion, vowing to overcome all the hardships in the world and create supreme achievements. The Pure Land of Buddha.”
Du Ruhui nodded, seeming to agree with his answer, and Xuanzang was secretly happy.
But the next second, Du Ruhui asked a question again: "Since Buddha is a god, that means that when people encounter disasters and sufferings, they can pray to Buddha to get blessings?"
Xuanzang blurted out, "Of course!"
"Xuan Zang, shut up!" The old abbot was no longer calm and shouted hurriedly.
