The Xuegong Library has a history older than the entire Yu Dynasty. Walking in the corridors formed by towering bookshelves, you can clearly smell the smell of ancient wood and old books.
"A Detailed Study of the Inheritance Line of Medieval Zen Sect and Existing Variations" is...here.
Li Ang pushed the ladder with pulleys to the bookshelf, and then climbed onto the step ladder.
The Library Collection Pavilion collects books from all over the world. These books span a huge time span, are rich in variety, and are all-encompassing. From the investigation of local dialects to the habits of a certain insect,
From the fairy tales told to children by the locals in the Far West, to the practice tips written by the monks in the Zhuxiao Realm before they died.
The Academy has specially trained several teams with different divisions of labor, some of which regularly repair and maintain ancient books;
There are those who go to all over the world to collect books and bring them back to the library;
There are those who specialize in identifying management books—identifying which books are out of date and have so many errors that they are of no value. Which books are valuable for students to read. Which books are of great value but too dangerous and must be permanently sealed.
The high-risk books that are positioned between "banned books" and "non-banned books" are all locked with iron chains in the library and require a key to open.
Li Ang took out a heavy brass key from his arms, opened the iron lock, and with a low sound of the chain sliding down, took out the ancient book and walked down the long ladder.
Thanks to the constant dust-sweeping effect on each bookshelf, there is not much dust inside and outside the ancient books.
Li Ang held several books including "Medieval Zen" and sat down at the desk by the window, flipping through the pages.
【Buddha is not a Buddha, all Buddhas are human beings】
Li Ang raised his eyebrows at the beginning of the book. The author of "Medieval Zen" is Lin Liangce, a sage from the early Yu Dynasty. He has visited various places in Tianzhu and collected a large number of local myths, legends, and fables, combined with his understanding of all walks of life in Tianzhu. Through interviews, as well as historical objects of Zen Buddhism, we came to the conclusion——
Buddhas are all human beings.
[Siddhartha is a member of the Sakyamuni tribe and was born in Kapilavastu City. His father's name is Shutu Dana, which means pure rice. He calls himself King Suddhodana and is a descendant of the immortals. His mother was Mahamaya, the eldest daughter of King Shanjue of the neighboring city of Heavenly Arms. Mahamaya died seven days after Siddhartha was born, and Siddhartha was raised by his aunt Qudami...]
The book describes in detail the Buddha's birth, path seeking, asceticism, enlightenment and other experiences, and believes that Siddhartha, like other so-called saints and sages, is an ordinary person. It was the fate of the day after tomorrow that he embarked on the path of spiritual practice and had disciples who spread his ideas. This led to the creation of Tianzhu Buddhism and the subsequent history of Buddhism being introduced to the Central Plains.
Li Ang continued to turn the pages without comment. The concept that saints are all human beings is not unmarketable in the academy. Some doctors believe that those deified saints are essentially powerful practitioners.
Including Laozi, who is considered an ancestor by the Li Yu royal family, the first leader of the Haotian Taoist Sect (the so-called first envoy sent by Haotian to the world), and Yanhuang, the ancestor of China, etc.
Since everyone is on the path of spiritual practice, there is no need to devote yourself to absolute worship, as long as you have respect for your predecessors.
Of course, that's what those doctors thought in their hearts. When the Haotian ceremony was held in the academy, they would still wear formal clothes to participate.
"If the great monks of White Horse Temple were to read the contents of this book, they would probably be so angry that they would have brain congestion."
Li Ang shook his head and continued reading.
[…After Siddhartha’s death, his disciples spread his ideas throughout India. However, each disciple had different understandings of the original Zen teachings such as the "Four Noble Truths", the "Eightfold Path" and the "Twelve Causes and Conditions", and gradually evolved into various sects. To this day, the differences between the various sects are huge, and it is difficult to tell which one is absolutely orthodox. But the relatively most orthodox one, and the one that is said to have inherited the most essence of Siddhartha’s thoughts, was the Buddha’s teachings compiled by five hundred Arhats at the Seven-leaf Cave in Rajagaha after Siddhartha’s death. That is, the Agama Sutra]
Li Ang knew what the "Agama Sutra" was. It was the fundamental classic and fundamental Dharma recognized by both the original Zen sect and the Buddhist Zen sects. It was composed of many small sutras.
[The Agama Sutra has a huge content and many chapters, some of which are no longer reliable due to wars, differences in narration, distortions by later generations, etc., and the whole picture cannot be pieced together. Among them, the one that interests me the most is a lost scripture called "Guanzhou Jing". In the murals of various Zen grottoes in Tianzhu, the names of the "Avalokitesvara Sutra" appear. Those Arhats, with a strange expression that I have never seen before, compiled this legend to record Siddhartha's views on heaven and earth in his later years. A book of insights. 】
[The expression on his face can be said to be awe? Or... fear? 】
[This makes me very curious. After the Buddha passed away, his great disciple Mahakasyapa heard about the passing away of the Buddha in Yebo Kingdom and returned. Since the Buddha did not leave any writings during his lifetime, three months later in the summer, with the support of King Ajatasava from the Kingdom of Magadha, Maha Kassapa selected five hundred learned monks, that is, five hundred Arhats, to jointly compile the Buddha's works. Thought. 】
[What did the Buddha think about in his later years, or what was he happy about? What makes these educated monks so uneasy? Could it be related to the demon king who was predicted to destroy the Buddha? 】
【I don’t think so. In the cave murals, the learned monks seemed to be forced to respect the Buddha and recorded some things that the Buddha said during his lifetime but that they could not understand. Later, out of fear, he burned the deviant "Guanzhou Sutra". 】
[In order to find out what the "Avalokitesvara Sutra" actually said, I visited more relics of primitive Zen Buddhism, but to no avail. Until in a remote village, I heard a fable. There was a monk who participated in the five hundred gatherings. He couldn't bear the loss of a precious scripture. After the gathering, he secretly compiled a copy according to his memory and ordered his disciples to The scriptures were taken out of Tianzhu to prevent them from being discovered and burned by other monks. 】
[After that, it is unknown where the book suspected to be the "Guanzhou Jing" went. It may have been intercepted and burned by other monks, or it may have been collected by the Haotian Dao Sect, or it may even have been exiled to the Central Plains and secretly kept by a certain Zen sect. 】
[Perhaps, I should look for the ruins of Jing Nian Sect? Their sudden demise is extremely suspicious. I suspect that in the process of destroying the sect, other Zen sects in China also took action in order to obtain the original Sanskrit "Avalokitesvara Sutra". 】
Jing Nian Sect!
Li Ang's heart skipped a beat and he immediately thought of something.
Zhao Ming organized Shen Shen Nao, and Ya Jiu didn't seem to be interested in the secret method of resurrection that Jing Nian Sect was proud of.
Are they also doing this for this book...
