Hearing Zhang Yao's self-deprecating remarks, Tongxing Arhat shook his head and said solemnly:
"It's not the layman's fault."
"If you don't live in a large swamp, it's hard to recognize the shape of a dragon and python; if you live in the mountains for a long time, you'll know the shape of a tiger and leopard."
"Since we monks have chosen the path of spiritual practice, we cannot live in the secular world for a long time. Lay people do not need to blame themselves."
Zhang Yao nodded slightly, pondered for a moment, and then said:
"The master reminded me and made me discover the fundamental problem of the good merit system."
"And I have also heard rumors that the master has been trapped in his heart for many years and has not been able to advance to the realm of a great Arhat. Is it because of this?"
Just imagine:
The moment the truth was revealed, it was discovered that Mani Temple, who gave birth to her and had deep feelings for her, was actually a group of male thieves and female prostitutes, dressed-up beasts who said one thing and did another.
The teachings he had received in the past and the life creed he followed had completely collapsed, and his amiable teacher turned into a monster with a ferocious face. Who could bear this?
Just thinking about it, Zhang Yaoguang felt that many people might not be able to bear it on the spot and would collapse. It was normal for Tongxing Luohan to have knots in his heart.
"Yes and no."
Facing Zhang Yao's question, Tongxing Luohan nodded first, then shook his head and sighed:
"If the truth were so simple, then I wouldn't have any worries at all."
"According to my fiery temper back then, after I took charge of the Great Enlightenment Hall and learned the truth, the worst I could do was to go out to Mani Temple and beat him to pieces, and I wouldn't let these hypocrites and dogs and bald donkeys have an easy time!"
"If I really want to fight hard, I might have reached the status of a great Arhat long ago, and I wouldn't have to worry about it for so many years."
Hearing this, Zhang Yao laughed and said:
"The master's words really spoke to my temper, and they made me admire the master with admiration!"
As he spoke, his smile faded, revealing a hint of caution:
"Then what is the truth that the master said?"
"Why……"
Tongxing Arhat sighed heavily, and then slowly revealed the truth of that year:
"Back then, demons were in chaos in the world, and all sentient beings were suffering unspeakably. It was a living scene of purgatory."
"During the reign of demonic cultivators, ordinary people were reduced to pigs, sheep, cattle and horses. They had to provide for the monks' daily life, provide for the monks' sexual pleasures, and sometimes even sacrifice their wives, children, and even their own flesh and blood souls..."
"As for the common people, as long as they have birth spiritual roots, they will immediately break away from the life of slaves and livestock and be promoted to man-eating wolves, tigers and leopards. Throughout the territory, there will be monsters wreaking evil deeds, and there will be no end. The cycle of hell."
"You kill me today, and I will kill you tomorrow. Ordinary people will not blame the superior demon cultivators, but resent themselves and their families for why they failed to have spiritual roots and become demon cultivators."
When he said this, he paused for a moment before showing a hint of reverence:
"This cruel and terrifying purgatory lasted for tens of thousands of years, until a great man descended from heaven, the 'Infinite' Patriarch who founded our lineage of Mani Temple, came to Mani Kingdom."
"The Infinite Patriarch has vast supernatural powers and boundless magic power. He subdued the five most prestigious demon sects at that time. He single-handedly conquered the world and suppressed the demon disaster that had been rampant for thousands of years."
"Although our ancestors' Dharma is boundless, manpower is sometimes limited and cannot resist the mighty power of nature alone."
"Under the Mani Temple, as long as the earthly turbid energy accumulated for hundreds of millions of years is not eliminated, the evil disaster will never subside. No matter how hard you work and sacrifice, it will be in vain..."
Zhang Yao nodded slowly and asked:
"What happened next? How did Patriarch Wuliang solve this problem?"
What he wants to know more is, what kind of power can resist the natural power of heaven and earth?
The answer is simple:
"The power of all sentient beings' wishes!"
Tongxing Luohan said every word in a clear and resounding voice:
"As the saying goes, man can conquer heaven. Only by uniting the beliefs of hundreds of millions of sentient beings and gathering the will power of sentient beings like mountain torrents and tsunamis, coupled with the vast aura of the Mani Kingdom, can we fight and suppress the endless turbidity of the earth!"
"The spiritual energy of heaven and earth is the foundation, and the will of all living beings is the pillar."
"The rest promotes Buddhism, punishes evil and promotes good, the inheritance of Mani Temple, planning the location and area of demon caves, powerful formations to seal and channel demon energy...etc., these are the bricks and stones of the washer, paving a framework .”
“Ultimately, it all makes up the same thing—a system of good deeds!”
Zhang Yao finally understood after hearing this.
The foundation of the system of good deeds, including promoting Buddhism and performing good deeds, is to collect the will power of all living beings to coordinate and guide spiritual energy to suppress turbid energy.
So why is there such a thing as a "black prison"? Why is Mani's kingdom still trapped in the cycle of good and evil to this day?
"Why……"
As if seeing the confusion in Zhang Yao's eyes, Tongxing Arhat sighed again.
He sighed three times today, each one heavier than the other, and now his face looked even more miserable:
"Remember what I said?"
"Everything in the world has light and darkness, and light and shadow."
"If there is no cruelty and violence, how can there be compassion? If there are no sins, how can the Buddha's Dharma be boundless?"
"Without evil, there is no good!"
Hearing this, Zhang Yao was silent for a moment, then nodded slightly and said:
"I practice Taoist Xuan Gong, and I also know that all things in the world can be divided into yin and yang, which are mutually dependent and in opposition to each other. Everything is in the opposition and change of yin and yang."
"If there is no shortness, there is no longness. If there is no height, there is no lowness. If they are not in opposition to each other, many things will lose their meaning."
"The original attempt of Patriarch Wuliang to abandon evil and embrace good must have failed, right?"
After hearing his words, Tongxing Arhat looked at him deeply and then said in a low voice:
"Yes, he failed."
"As you expected, layman, after the first few generations, Mani's country became a pure land of bliss for good deeds, and the turbid air was suppressed for a while and almost disappeared."
"But the good times did not last long. After just a hundred years, the situation gradually got out of control."
"A very simple truth is that people who eat with a round and bloated belly will feel like eating delicacies from mountains and seas, and will feel nauseated after hearing them; while people who have been hungry for three days will eat rotten grains, but they will also feast on delicious delicacies."
"Grandmaster Wuliang suddenly discovered that because no one was doing evil anymore, many good deeds and good deeds had disappeared."
"Without thieves, there would be no officers to arrest; without cutting paths and strong beams, there would be no wandering knights; if no one would commit indiscriminate violence, no one would be brave enough to do what is right."
He took a deep breath before continuing slowly:
"More than that, blindly abandoning evil and embracing good has also brought more terrible consequences."
"At first, Mani Kingdom was ruled by a huge empire. With the support of countless ancestors, it was very prosperous. But just a hundred years later, everything changed."
"The emperor, the clan, the ministers, the nobles... because everyone wanted to do good things, everything was in chaos. The empire was almost on the verge of collapse, and the secular order was almost on the verge of falling apart."
"Finally, after painful experience, Patriarch Wuliang realized that both good and evil are indispensable."
"If you want to maintain a steady stream of will power of sentient beings and suppress the turbidity of the Mani Kingdom forever, then you can only actively create evil people who do evil and give birth to good people who do good."
When Zhang Yao heard this, his eyes became much deeper and he said:
"Is this the source of those 'dark prisons' in the twenty-four devil's caves?"
"right."
Tongxing Arhat lowered his eyebrows and said:
"The power of all sentient beings' wishes can actually be divided into two parts: virtual and real."
"The weakness of the wish lies in placing great thoughts on it. It is an unattainable vision. It cannot be decided or interfered by oneself, so it is necessary to worship the gods, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas for the protection of great power."
"This part of the wish power has been collected by the Mani Temple and used as the main force to fight against the turbid air."
"The reality of willingness lies in one's own situation. It is the desire to change the reality. One's own actions will take the lead, and this part of the willingness often rests on those around you who can actually change your situation."
"Most of them are people with high reputation, respected status, and huge influence. They can change the fate of many people, and they have a lot of wishes."
Zhang Yao understood in his heart and said:
"And these people, under the good merit system of the Mani Kingdom, are often very kind and good people."
"good."
Tongxing Arhat's face was full of sorrow:
"So, after the death of these great virtuous people and good people, their souls will be harvested and used to deprive them of the power of their wishes."
"This part of the wish power is used to influence the turbid air and induce evil thoughts in people's hearts."
"You must know that the turbid air itself will not affect mortals, but will only lure monks with magical powers to become demons. After thousands of years of practicing the system of good deeds, evil people and evil deeds can still exist, because of the influence of the power of vows!"
"In order to achieve this goal, these good people who have done good deeds in their lifetime and thought they could ascend to the Western Paradise have to endure endless pain and torture to guide their evil thoughts and spread the turbid air throughout the country. .”
"It can be said that in Mani's country, the more the system of good deeds is respected, the more good deeds and good people are done, the more miserable the end will be!!"
He raised his head, tears streaming down his face:
"But unfortunately, the source of all these sins is to end even greater sins!"
"The battle between good and evil is never-ending. Mani Temple has inexhaustible power of all sentient beings' wishes, which can always suppress the turbid energy and prevent the recurrence of evil disasters, so that most people can live and work in peace and contentment."
"And the price must be paid by those good people."
"Not only that, after the Infinite Patriarch achieved perfection and ascended to the upper world, for thousands of years, the temple has been secretly spreading the inheritance of demons, refining small demon caves to spawn demons, guiding the turbid energy of the earth to wreak havoc in the city, and even actively Create natural disasters..."
"So, we have endless demon cultivators to hunt down, endless demons to slay, endless punishment of evildoers, and endless good deeds to perform!"
"While harming people, you are protecting them at the same time; while killing people, you are saving people at the same time."
"It was like this in the past, and it will be like this in the future; life after life, there is no way to escape."
Tongxing Arhat clasped his palms together, his face was expressionless and numb:
"This is my knot."
"This is the root of Mani's disease."
(End of chapter)
