"What is restraint?"
Fahai looked at the disciples around him and asked, "What should you restrain yourself from?"
"In other words, it means controlling one's emotions, or suppressing evil thoughts, desires, and some dangerous thoughts and behaviors."
These are commonplaces and they understand them without Master repeating them.
After all, they have also recited the sutras with Master all the way. It is impossible that they do not understand these simple principles. But now that Master is repeating the same old tune, it is natural that Master has his principles. Moreover, Master has always been lax... At this moment Even Bajie looked attentive, fearing that he might have missed something.
"Actually, it is not these negative emotions that need to be restrained. In many cases, even positive emotions also need to be restrained." Fahai asked his disciples, "Do you know what this means?"
The Great Sage was the first to answer, "Too much is too little."
Wukong's understanding is, as always, many things can be revealed at a glance...but in the past, there was just one less person to guide him.
"That's right." Fahai was obviously very satisfied with Wukong's answer. He first affirmed Wukong's answer, and then continued: "The counterpart to restraint is indulgence, and indulgence... often leads to loss of control."
Fa Hai has a deep understanding of this.
"So when you become my disciple, the first thing I teach you is to learn restraint."
In fact, this is not only a requirement for Wukong and others, but also Fahai's own code of conduct today.
Restraint is undoubtedly a very important lesson for practitioners, and even most practitioners need to spend their entire lives in it... This is why heaven requires gods to restrain their seven emotions and six desires through heavenly rules, and Buddhism also has precepts as a guide for monks to conduct themselves in the world. regulations.
"And you must learn to control restraint and indulgence."
"You must learn to control your seven emotions and six desires, including good and evil thoughts." Fahai said here, smiling slightly, "This is like Wukong controlling his own strength and aggressive nature, and Bajie controlling his greed... You have to control It becomes one, and you can control it as you wish without being influenced by it."
"As a teacher, I believe that this is what cultivation is all about."
This may not be the same as the mainstream practice in the three realms today, but this is Fahai's understanding of his own practice in these two lives.
As for whether it is right or wrong... Fa Hai does not dare to judge without permission. All he can do is to encourage and act with integrity, to prevent going astray.
In fact, in Fa Hai's view, what Taoism seeks is to be pure in heart and have few desires, which is restraint... and the next level of "extermination of emotion and nature" may not be seen as an indulgence of restraint.
Relatively speaking, the same is true for some of Buddhism's extreme means of transforming people.
After listening to the master's words, several disciples felt as if they were enlightened, but they realized that their previous thoughts were too superficial.
Master is indeed an eminent monk in this world, to be able to have such a state of mind.
The Great Sage couldn't help but think of his original intention when he first started practicing - wanting to live forever.
The master's evaluation of himself was only two words.
--fear death.
In this regard, the Great Sage really has no room to refute.
But who hasn’t had a time when they were young and ignorant?
The Great Sage looked at the villagers in this village. It is difficult for the dead to come back to life. The living still have to bear the burden and move forward. Even in today's world, the Tuoluo Village at the foot of Qijue Mountain... is actually not very wealthy. place.
It's just that the land is vast and the people are sparse, so they can be self-sufficient and have enough food and clothing.
In the past, this Qijue Mountain was dangerous, but now that a cave snake demon has been conquered, the villagers can naturally rely on the mountain to feed themselves... It's a pity that the transportation is not convenient, otherwise they can rely on the persimmon trees all over the mountain to call their little ones. Make a fortune.
The eminent monk had the skills to subjugate demons and got rid of the snake demon in Qijue Mountain. Naturally, the villagers couldn't help but be grateful.
All the families were grateful, and invited them here and there, each with a reward... He insisted on asking their master and apprentice to stay at Zhuangzi for a few more days, and asked each family to take turns being a host to express their gratitude.
The masters and disciples could not refuse. Secondly, they were the surviving people who had been rescued. They were weak and needed to be nursed back to health. Otherwise, even if they had saved a life now, if they left it alone, they would inevitably have to stay. Some future troubles.
While Fahai was recuperating these surviving villagers, he also learned why they were able to survive.
It turns out that this goblin got a fragment of a scroll from nowhere, but he practiced it to the point of becoming possessed. Even though he could barely transform into a human form, he was in trouble after all. Every three to five days, he had to suck blood to stay alive... .
On this day, the master and apprentice were about to say goodbye and go west.
Because their master and disciples didn't want money, they all prepared some dry food and fruits for the farewell party... It was just some fruits, so Fahai asked Bajie to accept them, which was considered as the cause and effect of subduing the demons for them.
And because before Fahai left, he said that he would clean up the filth in Qijue Mountain for them, so the whole village went with him to see Master Tripitaka's magical powers.
Along the way, the five masters and disciples were sent to Xishi Tongkou in Qijue Mountain.
A smell of foul smell made everyone cover their mouths and noses. This smell... is really not something ordinary people can bear.
"Holy Monk." Old Man Li said to Master Sanzang: "There is only one way to cross Qijue Mountain. Now the road has been blocked for a long time... How can we get through?"
Everyone knew that their masters and disciples came and went, and they all had the ability to fly to the sky, but they also knew that this mage made a vow to walk to the west.
Old Man Li suggested to Master Sanzang: "It is better for the holy monk to stay in Zhuangzi for a little longer. It is better for us to work on our piety and find another good road to send the holy monk there."
As for what Master Sanzang said before about cleaning up the filth in the mountain for them, Old Man Li just thought it was Master Sanzang being polite... He may not have been to Qijue Mountain for a long time, but looking at it now... he is still an outstanding person. What does it look like?
"Old man." The Great Sage stopped in front of Old Man Li and said with a smile: "If you want to open another mountain road with just an ax and a chisel in your hand, how long and what month will you have to wait? Since my master and disciple have promised to clear the way for you, The filthiness of Qi Jue Mountain, you just keep it all in your stomach... Let's see me, Old Sun, arrest the mountain god's land... Ahem, call them and ask them to clear the way."
The Great Sage recited the magic spell several times in an attempt to summon the land of the mountain god here, but after reciting it several times, no sound was heard, and he screamed strangely: "There is not even a land of the mountain god here!"
Bajie thought for a while, squeezed his senior brother away, and suggested to the master, "Master, it seems that senior brother's method of praying to God doesn't work... In my opinion, it's better to ask the disciple to perform a change to change this original Just open the road."
"It's inappropriate." Fahai shook his head: "Although we can open a way, the filth is difficult to remove."
Bajie looked at the endless rotten persimmons on the mountain and said to himself: "This is really difficult."
The villagers saw that the great sage was missing when he summoned the mountain gods, and Bajie's advice was rejected again... When they were worried, they heard Master Sanzang say: "Wu Jing, get that human seed bag."
】
In fact, not only the people in the village didn't know what this human seed bag was, but even the Great Sage Brothers didn't know what the magic of this human seed bag was.
Fahai also gave it a try. After all, this was Maitreya's bag, so it wouldn't be able to hold these things.
Wu Jing took out a cloth bag and handed it to the master, but saw that the master did not use magic power to move it, but filled it with the golden light of Buddhism. Hugh——
Suddenly, I saw the bag bulging without any wind, flying up into the air. When the bag was opened, it seemed to be bulging.
The Great Sage turned sideways and took a few glances, and saw that the bag was filled with chaos, with no clear distinction at all, just like a bottomless pit. He suddenly thought of Zhenyuan Immortal's "The Universe in His Sleeves", and thought to himself: It must be hidden. The treasure bag of the way of space.
The bag swelled, and a gust of wind came out of thin air, sucking up a mountain of rotten persimmons from Qijue Mountain from the surface of the mountain, and putting them all into the bag.
This scene made the villagers marvel. Many people even knelt on the ground and said, "Meet the living Buddha."
Living Buddha...
Life is like this, always somewhere, inadvertently will wake up some memories of the past.
Fa Hai asked himself that he could never live up to the title of "living Buddha", so naturally he did not dare to be worshiped by the villagers.
This acquired human seed bag is worthy of being the treasure of Maitreya Buddha, and it can indeed contain the filth of this mountain.
Shaking——
With a casual move, Fahai caught the human race bag filled with Dengdeng, felt it for a while, and then sent some mana into it, and then a spiritual power was generated inside to refine the filth.
Wukong immediately cast a wind spell to blow away the stench in the mountains and rivers.
Even if the difficulty of Qijue Mountain was solved, it did not cost much effort.
It can be said that "the persimmons that have been rare for thousands of years are now clean, and the Qijue alley is opened today." It is said that these three Tibetan masters and disciples wash away the dirty alleys and embark on the road of freedom. Time flies quickly and it is a hot day.
Not long after, I saw a city in front of me.
It was also a hot summer day, and everyone was about to take a rest when they saw the city in front of them.
A little white dragon came back from exploring the road and said: "Master, ahead is the Zhuzi Kingdom."
Fahai nodded and said: "Since it is the throne of the Western Kingdom, Guan Wen is about to be replaced. Disciples, please go to the city first."
As everyone moved forward, they saw an apricot-yellow flag fluttering at the top of the city, with three big characters on it called "The Kingdom of Zhuzi". Not long after, they got off their horses at the city gate, crossed the bridge, and entered the third-story gate.
I looked around for a while, but it turned out to be a really good imperial state.
The Sixth Street and Three Markets have a lot of goods and supplies, and thousands of households are prospering in business.
It is this kind of imperial capital, the great capital of Tianfu.
The master and his disciples were walking in the city's main streets, and they saw dignified figures, neatly dressed, and clear speech. They were not much different from those in the prosperous cities of the Tang Dynasty.
The traders on both sides were not afraid when they saw Bajie's ugly appearance. They were afraid that they would not look carefully and came closer to take a look. Wu Jing and the Great Sage were also attacked.
On the contrary, Fahai and Xiaobailong, who have always attracted attention, have lost their "favor" at this time.
Seeing that there was going to be a commotion, Bajie immediately covered his face.
"Go, go, go -" The Great Sage felt bored with them and rushed them away.
After a knowing smile, it passed. Some local ruffians were not afraid of trouble, but came up to play with the great sage... The little white dragon had already found the path and led the way to the Huitong Hall.
This joint pavilion is where the country receives envoys from other countries.
The so-called Huitong Pavilion is a place where everyone in the world can communicate... Even if their masters and disciples are not the envoys sent by the Tang Dynasty to the Zhuzi Kingdom, it is okay to settle here.
Seeing the five masters and apprentices entering the Yamen, the people who were cheering naturally gradually dispersed.
Although the Zhuzi Kingdom is in the realm of Buddhism, its Buddhism cannot be considered prosperous, it can only be said to be of an ordinary level.
Along the way, everyone has never seen even a larger Buddhist temple.
But I heard from Xiao Bailong that the leader of the Zhuzi Kingdom worshiped a Guanyin Temple and was very pious.
When everyone heard that the king was a worshiper of Bodhisattva, they felt a little good in their hearts...
The ambassador heard the report from the Yamen servant that a group of monks had entered, so he quickly walked out and stopped the master and disciples. He looked quite arrogant. After all, their Zhuzi Kingdom was a big country around them, and those who came here were usually tribute from vassal states. As ambassadors, they are naturally quite tough.
Not to mention a few monks.
Xiao Bailong immediately said: "My master is Master Sanzang, the disciple of the Emperor of Tang Dynasty in Zhongzhou, East China. He went to the West to learn Buddhist scriptures according to the decree of the Emperor of Tang Dynasty... Your country is about to change the official document, and the authority is high." The office will take a break."
oops!
Maybe other families don’t know what the boundaries of the Tang Dynasty are. How could they, the envoys of the Ministry of Rites, not know?
After listening to Xiao Bailong's words, he quickly put on his girdle and went down to meet us in the hall. He immediately ordered the yamen servant to clean the guest room and personally led the master and apprentice to have a rest.
After the master and apprentice arranged their luggage, when the envoy was about to leave, Fahai asked him: "Can the king go to court today?"
"Our country has been ill for a long time and rarely goes to court. However, today is a good day in the zodiac. We are discussing matters with civil and military officials in the court..." The ambassador said to Master Sanzang: "Master Shicai said that the official documents will be changed. Take advantage of this opportunity. If you go in a hurry, you can still catch up. If it's tomorrow... then it will be too late. I don't know how long it will take to go to court."
"If that's the case, we really can't delay it." Fa Hai stood up and said to Wu Jing, "Wu Jing, get the Guanwen."
Wu Jing fetched Guan Wen and delivered it to the master.
"Come back as soon as you go as a teacher. You can just wait and see...remember, don't cause any trouble."
"Don't worry, Master." Bajie said with a smile, "It's not the first day we go out... When the disciple goes out later, he will use a change to cover his face..."
Entering such a big city, this was Bajie's favorite. Just when he was on the road, he smelled a lot of local specialties, which made his mouth water.
If he hadn't kept in mind Master's advice to control his appetite and not be influenced by it, he would have been tempted to indulge in food.
Wu Jing also wanted to record the local customs and customs so that after he succeeded in learning the scriptures, he could compile them into a book and pass it down to the world, so that the world would also know what he and his disciples saw when they traveled westward.
Fahai walked quickly and soon arrived in front of the Five Phoenix Tower. The Five Phoenix Tower here was taller than Chechi and Baoxiang Kingdoms, and was almost as big as the Jisai Kingdom.
It can be said that the palaces and pavilions are majestic and the towers are magnificent.
Fa Hai arrived outside Duanmen and asked the official to convey it to the Heavenly Court, hoping to verify the customs document.
The Huang gate official did not dare to neglect, and hurriedly went to the jade steps and announced: "Your Majesty, there is a monk sent by the Eastern Land Tang Dynasty outside the imperial gate to go to Xitian Leiyin Temple to worship Buddha and seek scriptures, and wants to exchange the customs clearance document. "
"Oh." The king's originally still expression seemed to be filled with joy, "I have been ill for a long time, and now I am looking for a doctor, and an eminent monk comes to the country... but it is not auspicious sign? "
"Quick!" The king braced himself and said, "Quick, let the eminent monk enter the palace!"
