Qin Bukong saw that I accepted it, and a trace of relief flashed in his eyes. Perhaps when he decided to pass these things on to me, he seemed to have been worried that I would not accept them. After all, the master-disciple relationship between me and him was formed under a relatively inexplicable condition. Not only was I worried, but he was also worried that his skills would be trusted to someone else.
When I collected everything and wrapped it up again, we didn't speak anymore, and the atmosphere was a little awkward for a while. After I finished wrapping, I asked Qin Bukong, when do you plan to start teaching me? Qin Bukong said, let's wait until the barrier of "evil" is passed, if all of us are still alive.
After saying that, he turned around and went back to the back room, leaving behind these words that sounded a bit pessimistic and desperate, leaving me to think silently. His words made me quickly become nervous from the relaxation and laziness of the past few days. Three of the seven evil barriers have been broken, and the remaining four will only become more and more difficult.
After Songzi returned home that night, Qin Bukong suggested that we should continue to break through the barrier. After dinner, everyone sat together and began to discuss countermeasures.
Based on the experience of the previous three levels, we gradually mastered some rules. One of the most important points is the description of these ghosts and monsters in ancient books, especially "The Classic of Mountains and Seas" and "Sou Shen Ji". So far, what we have encountered is far from being a ghost in the ordinary sense, but has become a ghost. "Fairy" represents disease, accompanied by hallucinations, which can lead to death. Those who collided with the "monster" were all seriously ill and either died or became disabled. These records are like a warning to us, preventing us from moving forward. And everyone knows in their hearts that even if there is an abyss in front of us, now we have no other choice but to jump down with our eyes closed.
Song Zi said that the four characters on the stone brick with the word "鉉" are "Surangama Sutra", and there is no doubt that it means the Shurangama Sutra. This is a treasure book of Mahayana Buddhism from the Han Dynasty. The senior who set up the formation was obviously a Taoist, so he would never leave these four words for no reason. Therefore, according to my investigation and analysis in the past few days, these four words should not specifically refer to this book, but to those who are qualified to place this book. place. In this way, the first factor is that this place must be a Buddhist venue, such as a Buddhist temple or hall.
Qin Bukong and I both nodded. In fact, we have also thought about this problem. For an old Taoist, there is really no reason to leave a Buddhist classic on the stone bricks as the most important clue.
Songzi went on to say that although the Surangama Sutra is a treasure, it is not the original Buddhist sutra, but was written down by our Han eminent monks after the Lotus Sutra was introduced to China. A sutra has a very clear pattern of the times in its diction, and its stance is based on the environment of the times at that time, rather than the general perspective of the Lotus Sutra. Song Zi said that the "Surangama Sutra" was first written in our Tang Dynasty, so in terms of time, it is indeed in line with the order of succession we want to break through now. When the senior left this formation, the "Surangama Sutra" was already in the Tang Dynasty. It has become a classic in Chinese Buddhism.
Songzi said, if a Taoist left clues to a Buddhist scripture, then there must be something in common between the two, otherwise it would be too abrupt and illogical. According to what the senior expert did before, it is obvious that he will not leave us a baseless clue, otherwise he could have done this in the first level or even the eight-door formation, and he would not let us go all the way. This is where the formation is broken.
Qin Bukong and I knew that in terms of craftsmanship, we were much better than Songzi, but in terms of knowledge, we were no match for him. We had been imprisoned in the Taoist temple on the mountain for more than ten years at a young age, and we probably read every book no less than ten times. The amount of accumulation is beyond the reach of Qin Bukong and I. Songzi went on to say, since we need to have commonalities, I have been trying to read the Shurangama Sutra these days, hoping to find similarities with our Taoism. Not to mention that I have actually found it.
Songzi looked a little proud, as if he was confident in his judgment this time. So he said, in the Shurangama Sutra, there is this sentence: "There is no two ways to return to the origin, and there are many convenient ways." This concept is almost identical to a sentence in the "Book of Changes", the fundamental classic of our Taoism. When I heard this, I became excited, so I blurted out: "The essence of Yuan is the growth of goodness, Qian Yuan is the beginning, Kun Yuan is the birth, and it is easy to practice in the meantime, and all these dharma are unified." Is this the sentence?
Songzi nodded and said with a smile, it is this sentence that means where it comes from and where it goes back. Everything comes over and over again, but it will never go on endlessly, but it will cycle repeatedly. So based on this commonality, I found out about a local place that happened to fit this point.
I asked him where that was. Songzi said, Guiyuan Zen Temple.
But when he just finished speaking, Qin Bukong actually sighed and said, brat, I know you are powerful, but can you think clearly before speaking and don't make a joke?
I was stunned, is there any problem with this? But Songzi had a smile on his face, as if he had expected Qin Bukong's rebuttal and questioning. He looked at Qin Bukong with a smile, but said nothing. I asked Qin Bukong, why do you say that? Do you think there is something wrong with this place? Qin Bukong widened his eyes and said loudly, of course there is a problem! You all know that I have more than one Dharma lineage, and I also have the Buddhist Dharma lineage. So when I came to Wuhan in my early years, out of respect, I made a special trip to visit the Guiyuan Zen Temple and offered incense and made a wish. , those buildings are relatively new, and what we are looking for is a thousand-year-old thing. Even though the Guiyuan Temple has existed for a long time, it is definitely not as old as a thousand years. It is said that it was only built in the Qing Dynasty.
Songzi took over and said that Senior Qin was right. The Guiyuan Temple we see now was indeed built during the Shunzhi period of the early Qing Dynasty. Before that, its predecessor was the "Hanyang Wang's Sunflower Garden". The main reason why I proposed that this place must be Guiyuan Temple is because of the sentence in the Shurangama Sutra that I just mentioned. This is where the name of Guiyuan Temple comes from. Senior Qin was struggling with the time when this place was built, but during these days of investigation, he found out some past events that were far earlier than Wang's Sunflower Garden. Although this past incident is just a rumor, there is a strong sense of coincidence in our case.
He said that as early as the Sui Dynasty, Wang's Sunflower Garden had been a forest of pagodas and tombs. The Buddhist culture at that time was still quite simple and far less prosperous than the later Tang Dynasty. Therefore, most of the monks during that period mainly practiced asceticism. , there is no external incense hall to accept people's offerings, but they go out to beg for alms every day, and eat whatever others give them. Most of the money to build the temple comes from donations from private merchants, and no merit boxes are left, and no incense money is collected. This state has been maintained from the time he became a monk until his death. After his death, the relics will not be burned, but the whole body will be placed in a vat. After the salvation is completed, it will be placed in the sitting position in the pagoda. It is said that there were seventy-seven pagoda tombs in the forest of pagodas and tombs at that time. This temple was called "Yuanguang Temple" at that time.
I continued and asked, do you mean that that place has been a Buddhist pure land since the Sui Dynasty? Is that what you mean? Songzi said yes, but after entering the Tang Dynasty, Yuanguang Temple experienced wars. All the pagodas were destroyed and the temples were burned down. Only a foundation was left there, which became a wasteland, but it was still restored one after another. The monks had heard the name of the Yuanguang Temple Pagoda Tomb Forest and believed that it was the final destination of real monks. Therefore, in the Tang Dynasty, some old monks who foresaw that they would pass away soon would travel thousands of miles ahead of schedule. , chose to sit here and pass away, and after his death, he asked his disciples to build a pagoda and bury him in order to imitate the great virtues of his predecessors. So when there were no temples, pagodas appeared here. Over the decades, some more came one after another. However, after leaving eighteen pagodas of different schools and styles, there were no more pagodas. No monk came here to pass away.
I curiously asked why, if it is a place of spiritual energy and is still affecting future generations many years after the war, there should not be only eighteen. Songzi said that he had not been able to find out these things, but he heard that the eighteen towers had always remained there. Buddhism was popular in the Tang Dynasty. A local official heard about this place, so he spent money to build a Buddhist temple. Instead of building a temple, he just left a Buddhist temple here for the people to worship. Since there are eighteen pagodas, each pagoda is Each pagoda contains the body of an enlightened monk, so this originally unnamed Buddhist hall is called the "Eighteen Arhat Hall" by the people.
Songzi said that originally the eighteen Arhats were all disciples of Sakyamuni, not these monks, but the name was passed down from one person to another, and over time, no one cared about where they came from. And when this Buddhist hall became famous far and wide again, an unknown person donated a bronze Arhat statue to the Buddhist hall, so that the Arhat hall could truly deserve its name, and this Arhat statue is now enshrined in it. In Guiyuan Temple.
When I heard this, I asked, are you saying that the Arhat donated by the mysterious man could be our clue this time? Songzi said yes, but this was only part of it. After asking around these days, he even began to think that the mysterious man who donated the Arhat's bronze body was probably the senior expert who set up this formation for us.
Songzi's hypothesis was very bold, but it opened up a new way of thinking for Qin Bukong and I. It is indeed not impossible. First, the bronze statue is difficult to destroy, second, it is inconvenient to transport, and third, the common people are more or less familiar with these things. Be respectful and will not offend at will. The location selection of most temples will take into account many Feng Shui considerations. Therefore, if this place has become a place of spiritual energy as early as the Sui Dynasty, the possibility of being sited here in later generations is quite high, not to mention even far away. The Iron Gate Pass and Changchun Temple we looked for before were all newly built on the old site. They will not change places and have continued for thousands of years.
Qin Bukong stopped talking, but still looked unconvinced. It seemed that he had been looking for Song Zi's flaw, but could not find it.
