Xuanzang was slightly startled.
"It was actually summoned by His Majesty."
Yuan Jing said in shock,
"This...mage still has some strength left?"
"Your Majesty has a decree, I'm afraid it's hard to shirk it."
Yuanyin hurriedly said:
"Yes, Your Majesty has a decree. Master Xuanzang should be a little bit troubled and enter the palace."
"Being able to bring the Dharma to His Majesty the Emperor, and letting His Majesty hear the true Dharma, is also a good thing for our Buddhist sect!"
All the monks nodded.
Of course they wanted Xuanzang to go to the palace! This is of great benefit and no harm to Buddhism!
Even His Majesty the Emperor invited Xuanzang to teach the Dharma. Wouldn’t everyone in the world have to rush to listen?
The rise and fall of Buddhism is inseparable from the emperor's preferences.
If the emperor is happy, he will worship Buddha like Emperor Wu of Liang Dynasty; if he is evil, he will destroy Buddha like Emperor Taiwu of Wei Dynasty!
"The poor monk understands."
Xuanzang nodded and said in a deep voice,
"I will enter the palace right away and have a conversation about Buddhism with Your Majesty."
"Everyone, take a rest early."
"Amitabha."
"Amitabha." All the monks clasped their hands and watched Xuanzang leave.
"There is really no trace of secularism in Master Xuanzang."
Yuanyin couldn't help but admire and said,
"Following him, my whole body seemed to be at peace, and all kinds of desires and delusions were silenced."
"That's great. I must practice well with him in the future."
When all the monks heard this, they all believed it.
The unique temperament of Xuanzang affected everyone present!
"If a person can truly become a Buddha, then Master Xuanzang can definitely do it."
Yuanjing said softly,
"If even he can't achieve it, then I'm afraid we will be hopeless for the rest of our lives..."
…
That night.
Tai Chi Palace.
Li Shimin did not meet Xuanzang in the study room, but arranged the meeting in the queen's palace.
"See Your Majesty."
Xuanzang looked at Li Shimin sitting on the stone chair and saluted respectfully.
"Master Xuanzang is indeed an outstanding talent."
Li Shimin waved and said with a smile,
"Sit, sit."
"Your great perseverance and determination really make me admire you!"
"You have traveled thousands of miles, worked tirelessly, and gone through many hardships to go to Tianzhu to seek the true scriptures. To be honest, with this courage, there is nothing in this world that cannot be accomplished!"
"I'm a little curious, why do you have such a strong desire to get Buddhist scriptures?"
He didn't make too many pleasantries and got right to the point.
Xuanzang smiled slightly and responded:
"For the sake of Prajna wisdom, for the realization of Anuttarasamyaksambodhi, for enlightenment, and for true liberation."
Li Shimin raised his eyebrows.
"What is Anuttarasamyaksambodhi?"
Xuanzang continued to respond:
"This is Sanskrit. Translated into Chinese, it means supreme enlightenment."
"In the past, the Buddha sat cross-legged under the Bodhi tree and made a great vow not to get up until he attained enlightenment. Finally, he sat there for seven days and seven nights, and finally achieved enlightenment. What he realized was the supreme enlightenment."
"This is also the ultimate pursuit of all Buddhists."
Li Shimin nodded slightly.
"Tianzhu, does a Buddha really exist? How much power does he have?"
he asked curiously again.
"Buddha naturally existed, but he passed into nirvana hundreds of years ago."
Xuanzang said,
"Your Majesty may have misunderstood the Buddha and thought that he was a figure similar to a god."
"In fact, Buddha means enlightened one in Sanskrit."
"If it were written in Chinese, it would be almost the same as De Dao."
Li Shimin suddenly realized.
"So that's it..."
He smiled and said,
"I was wrong about this. I always thought that the Buddha had great supernatural powers and only existed in legends."
"I didn't expect that like Laozi and Confucius, he was a living person in history."
"Since we are human beings, we don't have any magical powers, and we will also get old, sick and die?"
With this question, Li Shimin also wanted to reveal the mystery of the Buddha in the West.
However, Xuanzang shook his head.
"There are supernatural powers, but the Buddha does not advocate the use of supernatural powers. Being wise and not using them is the right way."
He responded,
"And magical powers are not what ordinary people think. They can fly into the sky and escape from the earth, and are omnipotent."
"Supernatural powers are only abilities that will appear naturally after the six roots are truly purified."
"The reason why ordinary people have lost all kinds of abilities is because they are burdened by troubles and delusions, their six sense organs are blinded, and their minds are unclear, so they have no supernatural powers to use."
Li Shimin stroked his beard.
Xuanzang's tone was very calm, but there was a sense of certainty that made people unable to help but believe his words.
"The Buddha will also be born, old, sick and die, but he will not fall into reincarnation. The Buddha's birth, old age, sickness and death are all manifestations to the world."
Xuanzang continued,
"After his Sambhogakaya Nirvana, the Dharmakaya returned to the Dharma Realm, and the incarnation appeared in the world to save all sentient beings."
Li Shimin smiled.
"I don't really believe this."
He said,
"What kind of Dharma Realm and Dharma Body are incarnations? I only know the physical body."
"If the Buddha is really so powerful, why doesn't he live in the human body?"
"If this is the case, let alone me, everyone in the world will believe in Buddhism! Buddhism is directly the number one dharma in the world! This world will become a Buddhist country!"
"right?"
Xuanzang also smiled slightly and responded:
"The answer to your Majesty's question is very complicated and cannot be explained in just a few words."
"The poor monk can understand His Majesty's doubts, because the poor monk also had the same confusion in the past."
"In fact, the Buddha once said that he could live in this world for a long time, but due to various reasons, he finally chose to show the posture of Nirvana."
"But the poor monk heard that the Buddha's disciple Maha Kassapa and his biological son Venerable Luo Yun were both in concentration and lived in the world for a long time. There were even rumors that Venerable Kassapa lived in Jizu Mountain in the Tang Dynasty. Enter samadhi and wait for Maitreya to come to this world."
Li Shimin was shocked.
"Venerable Kasyapa?"
He continued,
"Then I will send someone to look for it?"
If there is an immortal person, wouldn't finding him prove that people can live forever? !
Li Shimin used to sneer at the pursuit of immortality by Qin Shihuang and Han Wu Emperor.
But now, as we grow older, our bodies age.
His mentality also quietly changed...
If a person can really live forever, then he must pursue it!
"The poor monk promises that Your Majesty will definitely not be able to find it."
Xuanzang said with a smile,
"Only when His Holiness wants to see someone can someone meet him."
"Even if we meet, we may not be able to recognize him, let alone deliberately search for him."
Li Shimin couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when he heard this.
"Why do I think you are lying to me?"
He said displeasedly,
"It sounds amazing, but you can't see it. Isn't that just based on what you say?"
Xuanzang smiled again.
"It is nonsense that Your Majesty can be regarded as a poor monk, but the poor monk is a monk and will not lie."
"The poor monk said everything he knew and believed. As for whether your Majesty believes it or not, that is your Majesty's business."
No matter what Li Shimin said, his attitude from beginning to end was neither angry nor happy.
This temperament is quite popular with Li Shimin.
"Okay, let's not discuss this for now."
Li Shimin turned around and said,
"I have been feeling very troubled these past few years, and I often have nightmares at night."
"I heard that Buddhism can make people's hearts pure. Do you have any good tips?"
Xuanzang clasped his hands together.
"I think about it every day and dream about it at night. Please tell me, Your Majesty, why you are troubled?"
Li Er sighed softly and pointed at the eldest grandson Wugou in the room.
"My queen slipped and fell into the water. She has been unconscious since she was rescued. It has been several years."
He whispered,
"Every time I think about everything I had with her in the past, I can't help crying, and my heart is filled with endless trouble and sorrow."
"These days, my longing is even stronger, alas..."
As for Li Shimin's infatuation with Guanyin, the older he gets, the more serious his infatuation becomes.
Several times, he shouted in his sleep——
Avalokitesvara, Avalokitesvara! How can I live without you, Guanyin Maid...
I woke up many times because of this, and then felt lost, unable to fall back to sleep.
"So that's it, His Majesty is also an infatuated person."
Xuanzang nodded and said,
"It seems that the relationship between the Queen and Your Majesty is very deep."
Li Shimin nodded repeatedly.
"Of course it's very deep!"
"I feel so miserable without her!"
Xuanzang pondered for a moment, raised his head and said:
"The poor monk will try to explain it to Your Majesty...Does Your Majesty know about the emptiness of dependent origination?"
Li Shimin was stunned for a moment, then nodded slightly.
"I do know this. I have seen some in Buddhist scriptures and asked the Dharma Master to explain it to me."
He said,
"You're talking about Buddha's view of the world, right?"
"Everything in this world is illusory and empty... right?"
"Master Xuanzang means that I am bearish? Don't care?"
When Xuanzang heard this, he couldn't help but laugh.
"of course not."
"Buddha said that the nature of dependent origination is empty, that all things are empty in nature, but he does not deny the existence of dependent origination, and this dependent origination is the basis for the gathering and development of all things."
Li Shimin listened carefully.
Xuanzang's views were naturally stronger than those of the previous Master Yizhi.
"It's like this stone table."
Xuanzang pointed to the table in front of him and said,
"It looks like a stone table now, but what about before?"
"It was once a stone." Li Shimin replied without thinking.
"What about before the stone?" Xuanzang asked again.
Li Shimin: "..."
He couldn't answer this.
"In the beginning, there was no such stone."
Xuanzang said,
"Millions of years of change, migration, and aggregation, countless invisible tiny gravels, combined with various causes and conditions, formed a stone."
"After millions of years, due to various causes and conditions, it passed through the hands of craftsmen and arrived in front of His Majesty, becoming a stone table."
"Then, what will this stone table look like in millions of years?"
Li Shimin: "..."
He didn't respond, but his brows were furrowed and he was lost in thought.
"Change into something else, or decay and dissipate into nothingness?"
It took a while before Li Er responded.
Xuanzang smiled slightly.
"Your Majesty is right. Now, if you look at this stone table, is it still the reality?"
he asked,
"What it presents is reality, but its nature is emptiness."
"Due to fate, it is now aggregated into a stone table, but in the end, it will return to its nature."
"All living beings and all things will eventually return to their own nature, and to see their own nature is to become a Buddha."
A hint of enlightenment appeared on Li Shimin's face.
"You... seem to have convinced me a little."
He said,
"Then what does this have to do with the Queen?"
I have to say that the Buddhist theory of emptiness is indeed reasonable. If we look at it over time, everything is indeed emptiness!
"The poor monk just talked about dependent origin."
Xuanzang said seriously,
"Your Majesty and the Queen are married. This is a combination of fate."
"The Queen's fall into coma was also caused by various causes and conditions."
"Cause and fate are changing all the time. Maybe next moment, maybe in a few years, when the fate matures, the Queen will naturally wake up and reunite with Your Majesty. Why should Your Majesty be upset by this?"
Li Shimin looked stern.
"You mean, the Queen will wake up?!"
He didn't listen to the nonsense and got to the point directly!
Xuanzang nodded.
"Since the Queen is in a coma, she will definitely wake up again."
"I believe that the Queen will definitely wake up."
Li Shimin frowned.
"I don't want you to believe it! What I want is a definite conclusion!"
He said,
"Don't be careless with me!"
"Just tell me, can the queen wake up? Yes or no! I want to be sure!"
Xuanzang did not hesitate, nodded and said:
"able."
Li Shimin's brows suddenly relaxed and he smiled happily.
"Okay, okay, okay... With the words of the holy monk, I feel relieved."
He said,
"My confidence is even stronger this time."
"The Master is teaching me the Dharma today, and I am very happy! The Dharma is indeed profound! I have also seen the Master's ability, and it is indeed extraordinary!"
"As expected of a holy monk who came back from Tianzhu to obtain Buddhist scriptures! It's just different!"
"Your Majesty, you are so complimentary." Xuanzang just smiled when he heard this compliment.
Of course he knew that Li Shimin's focus was not on Buddhism, but on hearing his words, "The Queen will definitely wake up."
Of course anyone can say this kind of auspicious words, but there are different opinions.
Compared with an ordinary citizen and an enlightened monk, the latter is naturally more credible and convincing.
"Bu Miaozan, you have real ability!"
Li Shimin waved his hand and said,
"I won't let your work go to waste in the middle of the night!"
"Tell me, what demands or wishes do you have? As long as they are reasonable, I can help you achieve them."
Xuanzang clasped his hands together and stood up suddenly.
"Amitabha."
He said sincerely,
"To be fair to your Majesty, this poor monk does have a request, and I would like your Majesty to grant it."
"The eminent monk who has no desires and desires actually does have something to ask for, haha..." Li Shimin looked playful and raised his hand, "Okay, let's talk about it."
Xuanzang's expression did not change and he said seriously:
"The poor monk wants to find a quiet place where he can translate Buddhist scriptures quietly without being disturbed."
"The poor monk's greatest wish in this life is to translate all the 657 Sanskrit Buddhist scriptures he brought into Chinese for all those who study Buddhism in the Tang Dynasty to learn from and further their studies."
"If this long-cherished wish can be realized, the poor monk will have no regrets even if he dies."
"Your Majesty, please grant me permission."
