Admitted it, the monk admitted it himself, Buddha is not a god, but a mortal? So what does it mean if we worship the golden Buddha statue in the temple all day long? If you are not worshiping God, what are you worshiping? Ghost?
The believers who originally supported Daxingshan Temple also began to deny themselves. Everyone looked at the old abbot blankly.
If the Buddha was a mortal who later passed away and died on the same spot, that person died and became a ghost. Later generations would erect monuments, erect monuments, and burn incense and worship with clay and gold statues. From the perspective of commemorating the deceased, it is not wrong to say that he was worshiping ghosts.
Just like burning paper and giving money to ancestors during the Qingming Festival, you don't just want to burn it to your ancestors so that they will not be short of money to spend underground. So a very interesting question came from a soul later: If it is true that burning paper and giving money to ancestors is useful, it would be useful. So if we can't make money now, is it because our descendants in previous lives were unfilial and didn't burn it for us?
Back to the story: When the audience stopped commotion, the old abbot slowly began to tell the history of Buddhism: "According to legend, the Buddha was the prince of a small country in the West. He was born into a noble family but was tired of the struggle for power. He devoted himself to spiritual practice. Later, he died under the bodhi tree. He suddenly became enlightened, became a Buddha, and vowed to save the world with compassion. He passed down the Dharma, founded Buddhism, and received countless disciples in his life. He died at the age of eighty."
"In order to commemorate the Buddha, the disciples built temples and built golden statues for him, spread Buddhism widely, and carried forward Buddhism."
"Buddhism was introduced to the Central Plains during the Yongping period of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Two eminent monks from the West were invited by the imperial court and came to Luoyang on white horses carrying scriptures. They established a temple to spread Buddhism, which is now the White Horse Temple in Luoyang."
"In fact, the Buddha is just like our predecessors in the Central Plains, Lao Tzu and Confucius. They are ordinary people, wise men and sages. The Buddhist teachings passed down are also orthodox methods of practicing and attaining the Tao. Arhats, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas are not gods. position, but the state of cultivation.”
"At first, everyone just wanted to commemorate him, but gradually, I don't know when, people started to say that Buddha is an omnipotent god. Alas..."
A vigorous young man rushed out angrily, grabbed the old abbot by the collar and shouted: "Old bald donkey, according to you, the incense money we give you every year is not given to the Buddha. Then you take it What do we do with so much money? Isn’t this money fraud?”
Xiao Rui didn't recognize this person, and it wasn't arranged by him in advance, because he rushed out from among the Buddhist believers. Looking at the situation, it seems that his faith collapsed and he defected on the spot.
Du Ruhui smiled and said loudly: "The incense money for the Buddha? How many years has it been since the Buddha passed away? Did you use the incense money? All the money donated by everyone was spent by living people. This huge temple, this magnificent temple The main hall, the gilt-bronze Buddha statue, and the monks in the courtyard are fed, clothed and housed..."
"Without your incense money, they would not be involved in production, never work, what would they eat and drink? I don't know if the money was given to the Buddha, but it must have gone into the stomachs of these people."
Wow...
As the prime minister, Du Ruhui spoke very forcefully, and now he has basically reached a conclusion.
No one is a fool. Praying to God and worshiping Buddha is more out of fear of being punished than worshiping idols. Now that the scam has been exposed and Buddha cannot protect the world, why should we pay? It was clear that he had been defrauded of money...
Damn it, give me your money back!
With the abbot of Daxingshan Temple revealing his secrets, today's events will truly come to an end. The collapse of Buddhist faith will bring disaster not only to Daxingshan Temple, but also to all temples in the world.
After thinking about it, the common people remembered their true purpose of coming today. Xiao Rui smiled and winked at Chang'an County and Wannian County to start the process.
process? Is it a government process?
No, it was the process of demolishing the Buddhist temple a few days ago. Buddhism aroused public resentment among the people, causing monks to be beaten and Buddhist temples to be demolished. The government stepped in to settle the grievances, count the amounts, and repay the people's losses... It is a mature process. Today, more people are participating, and many people have defected in the face of battle. of.
Xiao Rui slowly walked to his father Xiao Yu. The father and son looked at each other, neither saying a word nor being affected by the noise of the people around them.
After a moment of silence, Xiao Rui said: "Dad, my child is unfilial and I apologize to you."
Xiao Yu rolled his eyes and reprimanded: "Next time, if you have anything to say, tell me carefully, so that I can beat your cousin? Why are you so cruel to me as a family? Go back to the ancestral hall and kneel down to apologize to your fourth uncle."
After saying that, he took his second son Xiao Yue and left. Xiao Yue wanted to laugh but didn't dare to laugh along the way.
Seeing Xiao Rui's eyes turning to him, Xiao Qi, who had a broken leg on the recliner, said timidly: "Brother Rui, don't, don't fight. I know I'm wrong and I don't believe in Buddhism anymore. I really don't believe it anymore..."
Xiao Rui smiled, squatted down and gently held the cousin's hand and said, "Father is right, cousin, I'm sorry, I was a bit harsh. I will go to the ancestral hall to apologize when I get back soon."
"Don't, don't, don't, it's because of my brother's confusion, otherwise I would have been deceived by these bald donkeys all the time. Rui Di, Rui Di, please put me down, I really don't dare to do it anymore..."
"Cousin, what are you shouting for? It's over now. I'm taking you home. Now that you're like this, I can't hit you anymore, right? We can be a family."
Pfft...can I believe this? When you broke my leg, did you remember that we were a family?
When all the people swarmed up and beat the monks violently, Li Er and Fang Xuanling, who were mixed in the crowd, quietly retreated. Li Er said to Fang Xuanling: "Go down and put these monks in jail, and they must be tried." Concrete evidence of who was behind it.”
Fang Xuanling looked back worriedly at the angry people, "I'm just afraid that they won't stop beating them, and if they get beaten to death by the people..."
Li Er also looked back and snorted coldly: "Today is the Daxingshan Temple, and tomorrow the Grand Master Chi Temple will definitely not be able to escape."
I understand, the people of Daxingshan Temple are hopeless. The people of Dazongzhi Temple also have collusion to convey benefits. Taking them down before the common people is the same evidence.
"Huh? Is that Taishi Ling Fu Yi? He's here too? Why don't you see him speaking? He seems to have been recording something." Li Er saw an old man writing hard in the corner.
Fang Xuanling thought for a moment and suddenly smiled, "Your Majesty, during the Wude period, Taishi Ling wrote a letter to destroy the Buddha. He has been running for so many years. It seems that this time, we can finally agree to him."
Li Er nodded, "Go back to the palace."
…
"Can you please stop beating him..." In the backyard of the temple, a thin little boy was guarding the long-browed old monk. There were dozens of people surrounding him.
An acquaintance of the common people advised: "Little dog, get out of the way. All the monks in this temple should be beaten. They cheat us of food and drink all the time. Are you treating us like fools?"
"Yes, although our Tang Dynasty governs the country with filial piety and advocates respecting the elderly. But the old monk is different. He is a liar. The older this kind of person is, it proves that he has been cheating for a long time, so we cannot let him go."
The little boy cried and begged: "Dear uncles and uncles, he is my mother's lifesaver. My mother said that she must repay her kindness. The dog kowtows to you, can you let him go?"
