"But, what is 'spiritual consciousness'? Is it what Lao Dan said just now, that he has been able to recognize the 'self' in his heart since he was three years old?"
Confucius asked next.
"Yes, you are right! Little friend Confucius, this 'spiritual consciousness' can be roughly considered to be human's 'self-awareness'."
Shakya smiled and nodded.
"Don't think that I have great supernatural powers. In fact, there are four things that I cannot do: First, 'Cause and effect cannot be changed', whoever sows the cause will bear the fruit; second, 'Wisdom cannot be given'. Wisdom needs to be experienced over many lifetimes. Coming from practice, if you have the root of wisdom, you can open it; the third is 'the true Dharma cannot be said', the real mystery of the universe can only be understood, cannot be expressed in words, and cannot be expressed in words; fourth, 'cannot cross without destiny' , if you and I are not destined, even if you are in front of me, I can't save you.
Therefore, when answering the questions of you children from the East, I try my best to make it clear. But, fortunately, we are destined, and your wisdom cannot be underestimated. This is very good! Therefore, even if I cannot explain the true Dharma, I can still make you feel the edge of your understanding. This can be regarded as a worthwhile discussion today! "
Wenzi's simultaneous interpretation was quite fluent, achieving a "seamless connection" between the four people.
"Well, thank you, Master! Please don't hold back and come and unlock our wisdom!"
Lao Dan replied.
"Okay, let me try to make it clear! There are four continents surrounding the 'Sumi Mountain' I just mentioned, namely Dongsheng Shenzhou, Xiniuhezhou, Nanfangbuzhou and Beijuluzhou."
As soon as Sakyamuni finished speaking, Confucius realized very sensitively that since the "mountain" was not a "stone mountain", then the "continent" must not be a "mud continent", so he stood up and interrupted:
"These four 'continents' in the sky must not be the same as Jizhou, Qingzhou, Yuzhou, Yangzhou, Xuzhou, Liangzhou, Yongzhou, Yanzhou, and Jingzhou in our land of China, right?"
"Well, little friend Confucius is right! These four 'continents' are indeed not a simple concept like land; they are a collection of stars, where there are countless suns, moons, and places like this one where we are. , that is, they are all one of these countless stars. Let’s put it this way, children, can you understand?”
When Sakyamuni talked about this, he asked some thoughtful questions to the Oriental friends, fearing that the words would go too deep and would neither be translated nor understood.
"Well, I almost understand. Master, please continue!"
Lao Dan was listening with great interest and did not want to be interrupted by Confucius, who was quick to talk again and again, so he glared at Confucius with some resentment, and his meaning was very clear:
"Watch your mouth! Listen to the master's teachings and be humble!"
"The world we live in, in this kind of 'universe' - 'universe' and 'world' can almost correspond to one-to-one: 'yu' and 'jie' both refer to 'space'; and 'universe' and '世' both refer to 'time'.
We call this 'world' composed of countless 'universes' the 'Great Thousand Worlds'.
This 'big world' is not just in the sense of 'time' and 'space'; it also has several other perspectives: including tangible, intangible and other ways of distinguishing. "
Shakya slowly began to talk about it, starting from the "universe", the largest scale that humans can currently imagine.
"So, the 'big world' we are talking about is not only the tangible world that can be seen and touched; it is also the invisible world that can be understood in the heart and mind."
"'Tangible, invisible'? Just like now, the physical appearance of the four people in front of us is tangible; but the thoughts in the hearts and minds of the four of us are 'intangible', that's it Understood, right? Master?”
Little Confucius was very smart and immediately gave an example of what he had "understood".
"Well, that's right! It's okay to think so! My little friend Kongqiu, your wisdom is not shallow! Haha!"
Shakya nodded, praised him profusely, and continued:
"The universe we live in can only be regarded as a 'small world'. Beyond our tangible 'small world', there are infinitely many 'small worlds'.
We call the thousand 'small worlds' together the 'small thousand worlds'; the thousand 'small thousand worlds' together are called the 'middle thousand worlds'; and the thousand 'middle thousand worlds' put together again, then It's called the 'Great World'.
The so-called "Three Thousand Great Thousand Worlds" does not refer to the "three thousand" "Great Thousand Worlds", but the general term for "infinite and boundless worlds". "
"Well, I understand this. It's a 'virtual finger'. It's a bit like the 'two days' in what we like to say in 'I'll find you in two days'. It doesn't really mean the 'next day' starting from today. The exact day!”
Wenzi did not act as a suitable translator this time, but directly intervened himself.
"Haha, little friend Wenzi, not only do you translate well, but your comprehension ability is also quite impressive! Not bad, not bad!"
Shakya was not disgusted with Wenzi's rash intervention, and still encouraged him with the most tolerant voice and smile.
"Thank you, Master! Please continue to teach us!"
Wenzi realized that he had spoken too quickly and had missed Fugui's opportunity to express his verses, so he quickly thanked him and stopped talking.
"The part of the 'small world' also includes 'hell', 'hungry ghosts', 'animals', 'asuras', 'people', 'heavens', 'arhats', 'pacekabuddhas', and 'bodhisattva' , 'Buddha' and other dharma realms.
In this world, every living being is a self-sufficient and self-perfect 'small universe'. Even every particle of dust and every cell contains the "Three Thousand Worlds".
Therefore, the worlds overlap, there are infinite worlds outside the world, and there are infinite worlds within the world, even endless.
Ordinary people think that the universe is very big and dust particles are very small. This is a misunderstanding that only relies on vision. In fact, there is no difference in size at all in this world. They are all the same, covering the three thousand worlds!
The difference is your perception, not the things themselves. "
"This...it's obvious that mountains are big and insects are small. Why do we say there is no 'difference in size' between them, but the problem is that I look at their hearts differently? I don't understand, please enlighten me, master!"
Lao Dan, who had never taken the initiative to speak, finally had his turn and "successfully answered".
"Look, I'm talking about people's subjective distinctions, which is why they say 'mountains are big' and 'insects are small'. If you change your perspective and look at it from a place thousands of miles away from the earth, the same thing will happen. Is there any size difference between the 'mountains' and the 'insects'? At that time, were the 'mountains' you saw not as big as the 'insects' you saw at the beginning?
From another perspective, if you have a magnifying glass tens of millions of times, allowing you to drill into the body of an insect, drilling down layer by layer from each cell until the last nucleus, you can see these thousands of Tens of thousands of layers, isn't it far more vast than the 'mountain' you just described, countless times more?
Dear friends, can you understand what I mean? "
Shakya switched the conceptual perspectives of "big" and "small" between three modes, guiding Lao Dan to think deeply.
