Xuanzang was silent there, and Li Ke didn't speak either. The atmosphere between the two people was a little subtle for a while.
After a moment, Xuanzang said: "Your Highness, I admit that Buddhism is not omnipotent. Whether it can save all sentient beings and whether people can live and work in peace and contentment requires efforts from many aspects. This poor monk is not a saint or a Buddha, but an ordinary monk. I I’m just trying to do my best.”
Li Ke nodded: "I do believe this statement, but master, you can obviously do better, or simply put, you can do more useful things."
Xuanzang was a little helpless. There was no shortage of famous ministers in the Tang Dynasty, and there was no shortage of people more capable than him. He might be relatively good in some aspects, but in fact he felt that he was just an ordinary monk and was not worthy of such an invitation from His Highness.
"The more useful thing His Highness said is to turn Buddhism into a tool for rulers?" Xuanzang paused for a moment, and then spoke directly.
"If necessary, it is absolutely necessary." Li Ke said calmly, "Since the master came to Tianzhu and learned the characters and language of Tianzhu, he must also know more about the history of Tianzhu. Not to mention understanding the history, Buddhism After the birth of the founder Gautama Buddha, you should know the history master."
"But in fact, from the birth of Sakyamuni to now, have the people on this land lived and worked in peace and contentment? No, no, they are not even as good as the people in the Central Plains."
"I do not reject Buddhism. To be precise, whether it is Buddhism, Taoism, or the Hinduism of the Harsha Dynasty, the new Catholic religions in Arabia are actually just related to philosophy. It is just that intelligent creatures like humans are constantly developing. In the process, I pursue wisdom, be good at thinking, and then sum up some auxiliary disciplines derived from myself, that’s all.”
"Sects are just a way for many scholars to yearn for a better life, and then endow it with something unattainable in reality, using gods, Buddhas, and immortals to express their beliefs."
"Having faith is a good thing, it can make people more motivated, but it is nonsense to think that faith can solve everything."
"Master is a student of Buddhism. Let me tell you first. I don't understand Buddhism, and I am not proficient in Buddhism. From what I heard, Buddhism emphasizes no desires and no pursuits, and the four elements are empty. But as an intelligent creature, master, do you think there is really someone who can do this? One point? Human beings are a kind of life, and life has absolute basic demands, such as eating, drinking, sleeping, and eating. Isn’t eating a kind of desire? Master, I will put you in the endless desert for three days and three nights, without eating or drinking. Then I will put delicacies from mountains and seas and fresh water in front of you, master, can you bear it?"
"This desire is an instinctive need of the human body. It is a need issued by the human body in order to survive. It is the same as the law of the jungle in nature. How difficult is it to eliminate such a desire?"
"Perhaps someone can really do it, but if one person can do it for thousands of years, it is considered extraordinary. Master, how can you expect Buddhism to make everyone in the world have no desires and desires, and all the four elements are empty?"
Xuanzang was silent. The King of Qin in front of him did not talk to him about Buddhism, but from the most fundamental point of view of human nature, he told him the almost irrefutable truth in the most straightforward terms. Whether it was the Central Plains Dynasty or this Tianzhu, there was no record of it. In the history of writing, what His Highness said is almost always correct.
"We said that the four elements are empty and have no desires and desires. Of course, again, I don't know if this is a Buddhist concept. But from what I understand, it seems to be. Let's talk about this concept. This concept itself is right. Of?"
"If it is right, then let me ask you, master, if you are empty of the four elements and have no desires or desires, how can the people grow more food, fill their stomachs, wear better clothes, and take care of a better life? No matter it is Farmers are constantly trying to increase food production through various means, whether they are trying to find more spices and more types of food that can be used, or whether craftsmen are developing better textile methods and wearing better clothes. These are all desires. They all want something.”
"But their ultimate goal is indeed good. If everyone really has no desires and desires, and all the four elements are empty, is this still contradictory? As far as I know, many Buddhist temples want to use gold to build golden bodies for the Buddha. Why not use yellow clay to coat it? Is this a desire for expression? Is it a desire?"
"If you have to say that all four elements are empty and have no desires or desires, I think the most consistent one is the primitive tribes I found on the Nanyang Islands. They don't understand anything, have no culture, and have nothing. What they do know is to find something every day. Food to survive, and then reproduce with the same maternal line. This is the most basic need, but it is the closest to your Buddhist philosophy and the least desire."
Li Ke picked up the tea cup and took a sip of tea, then stopped talking.
For a long time, Xuanzang laughed bitterly, then made a Buddhist salute, pronounced the Buddha's name and said: "Your Highness is wise, even a poor monk can be considered to have traveled thousands of miles, read thousands of books, and met thousands of people in the world, but Your Highness has indeed The person who lives the most transparent life and sees the problems most thoroughly, if His Highness studies Buddhism, he will definitely become a master that has never been seen in the ages."
"Well, you are right about this. If I want it, after I die, someone in the future will definitely confer me a Buddha title." Li Ke was not modest at all, and nodded with a dull expression.
Xuanzang nodded, "What the poor monk has learned is not enough to discuss the principles of this world with Your Highness. After the poor monk finishes studying here, he may have some enlightenment in the future."
"It's nothing. After all, you traveled tens of thousands of miles and walked for several years to get here. It seems a bit unreasonable to just give up." Li Ke nodded with a smile.
Xuanzang also smiled bitterly, Your Highness, are you suggesting that I have an obsession with getting married, right? But...he couldn't deny it, because he was human after all.
"Well, since you are studying, master, you also need to read. I have a book here. Why don't you read it together?" Li Ke said with a smile.
Xuanzang was a little curious. What kind of book could His Highness write when he told him so many stories? "I wonder what book it is?"
"It's called "Das Kapital." Master, let's take a look." Li Ke smiled and clapped his hands. The maid who had been standing behind quickly turned around and returned to the cabin. Soon several maids took out a set of twenty thick books from inside.
Xuanzang stood up and took the twenty books with both hands with a solemn expression. This was not a respect for Li Ke, but a respect for knowledge.
"Is this... written by His Highness?" Xuanzang took the book. There was only a name on it, but no author. He paused and then asked.
"Just think it was written by me." Li Ke smiled.
He didn't mean to say this out of bad faith, because this definitely couldn't be the original version of "Das Kapital", but one that he had carefully improved.
