In the end, Li Xiuyuan left the matter of Gao Yueer's swordsmanship to Shuzi.
It took two days to cut a purple bamboo sword for her, which was an explanation to Xiao Hei.
When leaving, Li Xiuyuan said to Shuzi and Xiaohu: "It is easy to meditate on the mountain, so you can practice here for a few days. I will go to Xilin Temple to have a look, and then return to the imperial city."
Xiaohu had listened to his husband's arrangements before and knew that he was worried about the cultivation of the two of them, so he no longer bothered to go to Xilin Temple with him.
The gentleman is a scholar of Buddhism. He and Shuzi know nothing about Buddhism.
After much deliberation, this is all I can do.
Shuzi had the same idea. Since her brother was going to see the Buddha, there must be some reasons why it would be inconvenient for her to go there.
Fortunately, she had become familiar with Gao Yue'er these days, and they had something to say together.
After arriving at the intersection, looking at Li Xiuyuan in the wind, Shuzi couldn't help but ask: "Brother, will you meet Xiao Hei when he goes down the mountain?"
Waving his hand, Li Xiuyuan replied: "If Xiao Hei comes back, I will ask him to come to the mountain to pick you up."
After hearing this, Shuzi felt relieved.
The queen of Da Zhou has been canonized, and Xiao Hei will also be returning from Northern Qi in a few days.
Li Xiuyuan walked along the mountain path. He didn't know how long it took him, and finally arrived at Xilin Temple.
From a distance, he could see hundreds of monk soldiers practicing in the square, and their posture was no weaker than when he was training troops in the Southern and Southern Borders during the Five Domains Dynasty.
Xindao: A Buddhist temple privately has so many monks and soldiers. What does it want to do?
Or do you want to one day overthrow Emperor Wu of the Great Zhou Dynasty and replace him with the abbot?
Or is it that the abbot of Xilin Temple is afraid that one day, the generals of the Great Zhou Dynasty will send troops into the temple and attack the temple?
As I strolled along, I unknowingly came to the Buddhist hall where I met Huiming.
After lighting a stick of incense, Li Xiuyuan sat down in front of the Buddha and recited half a volume of Buddhist scriptures.
I don't know how long it took, but Li Xiuyuan stopped chanting, looked at Ksitigarbha on the Buddhist altar and said, "Bodhisattva, your Buddhist temple is no longer what it was yesterday. Why don't you clean up the Buddhist hall?"
Ksitigarbha ignored him last time, but today he slightly twitched his lips and replied, "So what?"
Li Xiuyuan was shocked when he heard this and blurted out: "Your disciple owns thousands of acres of fertile land. Why bother to practice hard if you are so rich that you can rival the country? When does a Buddhist temple need to have thousands of monks and soldiers privately?"
"Is it possible that there are demons in the world and your monks and soldiers are needed to go down the mountain to eliminate demons and defend the way? In this case, why does the world need an emperor? Why don't you be the emperor?"
After chattering for a while, Li Xiuyuan sighed and said, "I don't like this kind of Buddhist temple."
Ksitigarbha said quietly: "Are all the things you see in Buddhist temples Buddhas?"
Li Xiuyuan was slightly shocked when he heard this, thinking that everyone in the world knows that entering a temple is to see the Buddha. If he really listened to what you said, who would come to the temple to worship the Buddha in the future?
After thinking about it, he could only smile bitterly and said: "Even if the demon is in the Buddhist hall, it is also the cause and effect of the Bodhisattva and the Buddha."
Whether it is the Buddhist temple in the Northern Qi Dynasty or the Buddhist temple in the Great Zhou Dynasty, in the final analysis, there is no causal connection with him, and Li Xiuyuan does not want to be infected with the causal relationship of the Xilin Temple.
His cause and effect back then had died in the hearts of the Zhou officials, but no one knew about Emperor Ming who was practicing in the desert grottoes.
Perhaps in his opinion, only the Buddhist cave in the desert is the true Buddhist temple.
At least the fat monk back then and the Huiming monk now have a clean, peaceful and compassionate heart.
Ksitigarbha looked at Li Xiuyuan who was sitting in the Buddhist hall and sighed, and said: "Now that you have come to the Buddhist hall, offer three cups of your spiritual wine in front of the Buddha, and we will talk again."
After saying this, a gust of wind passed by, and three wine glasses appeared on the Buddhist altar.
Li Xiuyuan sighed, took out a pot of new wine, stood up and walked to the Buddhist altar, carefully pouring it into the cup.
A faint fragrance spread, and Li Xiuyuan said: "This is a new wine just brewed this spring. Bodhisattva, try it. You must remember that there are demons in the world."
Smelling the faint fragrance, Jizo sighed helplessly and said, "How about you come and save this world?"
Shaking his head, Li Xiuyuan smiled and said: "I am just a passerby, neither an emperor nor a Bodhisattva. Don't push this matter to me. It has nothing to do with me."
Ksitigarbha laughed angrily when he heard this, and replied: "Since you think you are just passing by, then give these causes and effects to the emperor of this world. The emperor knows how to clean up this world."
Li Xiuyuan frowned and said, "I said, what if the emperor was angry and pushed these Bodhisattvas flat?"
After speaking, he muttered: "There are four hundred and eighty temples in the Southern Dynasties, and there are so many towers in the mist and rain... If one day, the emperor knocks down all these towers, what will you do, Bodhisattva?"
Under Li Xiuyuan's gaze, the spiritual wine in the glass rose gradually, and finally disappeared into the Buddhist temple.
Li Xiuyuan held the wine flask and filled the cup with wine, and quietly stared at the Bodhisattva on the Buddhist altar.
At this point, Ksitigarbha showed a sad face, looked at Li Xiuyuan's gloomy expression and said: "Buddha said that all appearances are not appearances. If that day comes, dust will return to dust, and dust will return to earth."
Li Xiuyuan was silent for a moment and then said: "Bodhisattva, you are doing nothing and letting these devils in monk robes do whatever they want."
A gust of wind blew into the Buddhist temple.
The prayer flags on the main hall were fluttered, and the bells under the prayer flags jingled.
Ksitigarbha thought for a moment, looked at the prayer flags on the Buddhist temple and asked, "Do you think it's the wind or the prayer flags in the Buddhist temple that are moving?"
Li Xiuyuan laughed when he heard this and said, "This doesn't trouble me... That's the Bodhisattva's heartbeat."
"I don't know how many years have passed, but some things have also changed. Bodhisattva, if your thoughts are extinguished, the Buddhist temples in this world will be in ruins..."
Li Xiuyuan looked at the gently swaying prayer flags above his head and frowned slightly.
He didn't know how long it would take before both the temples in Northern Qi and the Buddhist temples in Dazhou would experience a disaster.
But this disaster was unfolding right before his eyes.
It will also be staged in front of the Buddhas. I'm afraid that when that day comes, not even the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas can stop Emperor Wu's determination to destroy the Buddhas.
Thinking of this, Li Xiuyuan couldn't help but murmured: "In my opinion, the person who destroys the Buddha is not the emperor, but the person who worships the Buddha every day."
Having said this, Li Xiuyuan added three more cups of spiritual wine to the cup on the Buddhist altar, and then returned to sit on the futon.
Even though he knew the final outcome of the matter, he still couldn't help but complain.
Ksitigarbha on the Buddhist altar moved the corners of his mouth and said a Buddhist sutra that only Li Xiuyuan could understand.
Li Xiuyuan's expression changed upon hearing this, and then he shook his head.
He smiled bitterly and said, "I didn't come to see you just to complain. I still had some moral principles that I didn't understand last time."
"tell me the story."
Upon hearing that Li Xiuyuan wanted to discuss Buddhism with him, the Bodhisattva immediately became interested.
He can ignore the cause and effect of Buddha and Tao in this world, but he cannot ignore Li Xiuyuan, a person in the future.
The mountain breeze blew the prayer flags lightly, and the bells rang softly, but it did not disturb the Buddhas in Xilin Temple. The ringing seemed unreal, as if it was hidden in the misty water.
The Buddhist temple was still quiet. Li Xiuyuan, who came from the mountains, came again, but did not disturb the abbot of Xilin Temple.
Some people originally wanted to ask the abbot something.
After he met Ksitigarbha, he no longer wanted to ask about the Buddha. Perhaps this was fate.
Li Xiuyuan was still thinking about the fish released by the merchant.
He has always had an illusion between heaven and earth, between the old Taoist priest and the old monk, between Wuhua in Tianluo City and Wuhua, the old monk on Mount Xumi.
He was the fish that was frozen in the water tank of the inn in his dream.
It was a kind-hearted person who extended a compassionate hand, fished out the frozen fish, and placed it in the pond outside the inn...
And the fish accidentally discovered a secret passage at the bottom of the pond, leading to a wide lake. Finally, he could swim in a vast world without having to worry about being frozen one day.
It’s just that the tranquility of the years was so short-lived. Not long after, the fish was caught by a sudden water bird flying across the water and flew into the sky...
Dead, this was Yu'er's thought at the time.
Unexpectedly, before the waterfowl swallowed the fish...
A cold arrow flew and hit the waterfowl's chest, killing it with one arrow and becoming a delicacy on the hunter's plate...
Amid the whine, a gust of wind passed by, carrying the fish to the rushing stream in the distance.
The stream keeps running day and night, just to pass through the mountains, bypass the boulders, and head towards the big river in its heart...
Even so, the fish hasn't grown up yet.
They have not been caught by fishermen and taken to the market to be sold to compassionate merchants...
"Is this the life of a fish?"
Looking at Ksitigarbha in front of him, Li Xiuyuan sighed and quietly spread out his many years of reflections on the ground for the Bodhisattva on the Buddhist altar to examine.
Ksitigarbha remained motionless, looking up at the prayer flags above his head.
Listening to the gentle ringing of bells in the wind, he murmured back: "In all the worlds, who is not a struggling fish?"
"Bodhisattva, why do you say this?" Li Xiuyuan asked quietly.
Ksitigarbha looked at the Sutra above his head, as he looked at the vast starry sky, and murmured: "If the world where you were born was just a water tank, and you later went to big lakes, streams or even rivers..."
Ksitigarbha smiled slightly and said: "That is not the place you will eventually go to. If one day you set foot on the stars in the sky..."
Li Xiuyuan was startled when he heard this and asked, "Is the sea of stars and the sea our final destination?"
Shaking his head, Jizo said quietly: "I don't know who is the fish and who is the fisherman in the sea of stars..."
Lowering his head, Li Xiuyuan remembered the three thousand worlds that Ksitigarbha told him.
Think about it, maybe I thought too far.
Just like what he said to Gao Yue'er and the old Taoist priest, how can he talk about putting it down if he has never picked it up?
Thinking of this, I couldn't help but say: "Is it possible that this disciple will be caught again and again, and then try his best to break free again and again?"
After hearing this, Ksitigarbha showed compassion on his face, and his expression gradually froze.
Said: "If you think so, I think your master will also be pleased. Being caught is not a shameful thing. What is difficult is that you can escape from the fishing net again and again."
Ksitigarbha looked at him and said: "You can try to think of it this way. Every time you break free, you grow up and get closer to the man who fishes in the world..."
Li Xiuyuan instantly understood the meaning of this sentence.
He thought to himself that his master was really a hands-off shopkeeper, and he didn't want to say a few words to him no matter what.
You have to think hard about everything on your own before asking others for advice.
Just like Li Xiuyuan didn't understand what the three thousand worlds were back then, he finally understood some of the truth from Ksitigarbha's mouth and Meng Po's mouth.
Ksitigarbha looked at the silent Li Xiuyuan and said: "Buddha said that there is no omniscient person in this world. If you can meditate and search again and again, one day you will realize the great truth."
Li Xiuyuan couldn't help but smile bitterly when he heard this.
If you want to learn about the Great Way, the first prerequisite is to complete the cause and effect of Mount Sumeru.
However, he has not yet finished his ordeal of becoming a mortal, and has not yet embarked on his journey to heaven. In his opinion, that day is still far away.
Thinking of this, Li Xiuyuan couldn't help but said: "Bodhisattva, sometimes I feel tired and feel that the road ahead is so long."
After a moment of silence, Ksitigarbha said: "The road to practice is long, why are you so anxious?"
Li Xiuyuan was shocked when he heard this, and thought to himself, wasn't this what he had been saying all those years ago? Having just seen two dynasties, are you a little impatient?
After thinking about it in his heart, he couldn't help but smile bitterly and said: "Sure enough, we must keep our original intention in practice."
Ksitigarbha smiled: "What is your original intention?"
