The Dharma of Green Tara is a head and two arms, each holding a lotus flower and a seal, and the body is jade blue, slender and solemn.

The green Tara in the box that Teng Yi took is the lotus flower in full bloom in his left hand, and there are two lotus flowers on the lotus, one is not open, and the other is half-open, Liu Yuhao knows that the three lotus flowers mean that the future, the present, and the past three lives are so dependent on the vows of Buddhism.

Looking closely, the tooth tag showed that Green Tara was wearing a small five-Buddha crown on her head, decorated with jewelry, and her body was emitting rainbow light. Her feet are stretched down.

Liu Yuhao pointed to the tooth card and smiled: "Oh, you look here, this means that Green Tara will be ready to save sentient beings at any time, her right hand is on her right knee, palm outward, is with the wish seal and holding the lotus, is the will to give the lotus flower to the world." ”

Fuji Yi nodded as if he didn't understand, and said with a smile: "No wonder that old man said that the woman who practices Green Tara will become more and more beautiful if she sincerely recites the praises." ”

Liu Yuhao shook his head with a smile and didn't say anything, everyone's Buddha relationship is different, what Teng Yi said is not unreasonable, but everything depends on chance.

As far as the meaning is concerned, Tara has become a Buddha before the immeasurable eons, and the Dharmakaya is the origin of all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the three worlds, that is, Prajnaparamita, who is the mother of Vajra Yoga and the mother of the Buddhas of the five directions, and the incarnation is the manifestation of the cause of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the three worlds.

From this point of view, if a woman blesses Green Tara, her heart will definitely become more and more kind.

"I heard Old Man Qi tell a story about Green Tara before, do you want to hear it?"

Liu Yuhao laughed and teased Teng Yi.

Teng Yi really nodded, put down the rag in his hand and sat opposite Liu Yuhao with a curious face, and said, "Say, come and listen." ”

Liu Yuhao smiled and repeated the story that Old Man Qi told him to Teng Yi again.

A Kadampa good knowledge, an old Geshe, who was a little old, one day he had a nightmare in which he dreamed that the sun was going down and he dreamed of death.

He told his teacher about the dream, and his teacher said, "Oh! It's a bad dream, it's a sign that you're going to die, but don't be afraid, I have a special mantra that even if your body is broken and separated, I can still revive you! ”

So, the Guru gave him the Tara method. The old Geshe then followed the Guru's instructions and practiced the profound Tara method, and after 11 months of practice, he met Tara in person and miraculously extended his life by 10 years.

When the old Geshe reached the age of sixty, he hoped to live longer. Therefore, he prayed to Tara again, and at that time, he saw Tara again.

Tara said to him, "If you can make a statue of Tara, you will live longer." ”

After that, the old Geshe painted Thangka of Tara, and the old Geshe lived to be 70 years old. Later, he wished to live longer, so he prayed to Tara.

This time Tara said to him, "If you build another statue of Tara, you will be able to extend your life for another ten years." So he built another statue of Tara. After that, he prayed to Tara, who told him, "If you make another statue of Tara, you can live for another fifteen years." ”

In the end, the old Geshe lived to be ninety-five years old.

"Hahaha, this is also funny"

After hearing the story, Fuji Yi burst out laughing, and finally covered his stomach to make himself more serious, and said, "Brother Liu, according to your meaning, as long as that old Geshe keeps practicing, then wouldn't he be able to live a long life?" ”

"Myths! Is it so funny that the benevolent see the wise and the wise see the wise? ”

Liu Yuhao pursed his lips and laughed a few words before explaining: "Actually, I also asked the old man about your question just now, and there was more than one old man present at that time, but after everyone listened to my question, they all leaned forward and leaned back with laughter." ”

"Why? How did Old Man Qi answer you at that time? ”

Teng Yi was stunned for a moment, his expression became serious, and he could see that Liu Yuhao had something to say.

Sure enough, Liu Yuhao smiled and said: "The old man explained, although the story of that old Geshe is singing the praises of Green Tara, it is not educating us to be kind and hardworking!" ”

"Oh! I see, old Geshe lived so long because he kept exercising. ”

Fuji Yi suddenly realized, and looked at the tooth card on the table happily.

Not really! Old Geshe has done countless good deeds over the decades, and he will naturally live a long life by building a bodhisattva statue for Green Tara with his own hands.

Liu Yuhao smiled faintly, but lowered his head and carefully looked at the delicate tooth card.

Ivory is the strongest part of an elephant's body, and its smoothness, durability and preciousness are comparable to that of precious jade, so ivory has the reputation of being an organic gemstone. The ivory carving artwork, with its solid and fine, soft and smooth texture, and exquisite carving art, is highly cherished by collectors and has become one of the unique varieties of antiques.

In fact, the ivory carving of China has been famous at home and abroad since the Tang Dynasty, and reached its peak in the Ming and Qing dynasties, among which the ivory carving style of the Ming Dynasty is more mellow and delicate, and the ivory miniature carving began to prosper from the Qing Dynasty, and many masterpieces of miniature carving have emerged.

Green Tara is the most compassionate and beautiful Bodhisattva in Tibetan Esoteric Secrets, and it is also another special manifestation of Guanyin Bodhisattva.

There are a total of 21 Tas in the Tibetan Esoteric Secrets, and the 21 Taras are Fenxun Tara, Mighty Tara, Golden Face Tara, Bun Venerable Tara, Singing Tara, Victory in the Three Realms Tara, Enemy Breaking Tara, Demon Breaking Army Tara, Offering the Three Jewels Tara, Subduing the Demon Tara, Relief Tara, Auspicious Tara, Flame Tara, Shengmei Tara, Great Silence Tara, Bright Heart Sound Tara, Victory in the Three Realms Tara, Disinfection Tara, Suffering Removal Tara, Epidemic Eradication Tara, and Achievement Tara.

The twenty-one Tas have six different body colors, namely white, red, blue, yellow, green, and black.

The tooth card carved green Tara has been around since ancient times, and the combination of the two can be said to be a perfect match.

I saw that the piece of ivory carving that Teng Yi took was heavy, the color was yellow, and the willow silk was distinct, which was obviously a natural trace formed after playing for a long time, and the image of green Tara in the ivory carving was more agile and delicate, with plump and beautiful hands and feet, and the facial expression was delicate, which was beautiful and realistic, and people couldn't put it down.

"Brother Liu, is this really carved from ivory? I didn't look closely at it just now, but now I realize that it is so beautiful! ”

Fuji Yi crawled on the table and leaned forward slightly with his forearm supporting his body, his face showing a deep curiosity.

Liu Yuhao nodded with a smile and said: "The material can be seen at a glance to be genuine, and this ivory carving is definitely a large-scale object, it should be from the hands of a famous artist, and it is rare to be able to preserve it intact to this day." ”

Since ivory represents the craftsmanship of the time and reflects the cultural characteristics, the older the ivory collection, the more valuable it is.

At the same time, because another aspect of the value of ivory is reflected in the carving, the level of carving technology also determines the value of ivory carvings.

The same are ivory, the carver is different, its value difference is several times or even dozens of times is not uncommon, in the early years in the Pan homeland, Liu Yuhao saw a set of Song Dynasty eight immortals over the walrus ivory carvings sold for two million sky-high prices.

"Brother Liu, how can you tell the authenticity of ivory?"

Fuji Yi didn't understand the tusks, and asked with a frown.

Liu Yuhao pointed to the green Tara ivory card, and said with a smile: "In fact, it is very simple to distinguish between the authenticity of real and fake ivory, and the important sign is to look at the tooth pattern. ”

Fuji Yi nodded, and said, "Then how can you tell the imitations?" ”

Liu Yuhao said with a smile: "There are three main kinds of modern artificial ivory, the first is a resin artificial chemical imitation, through a magnifying glass, you will find that the imitation ivory pattern is too rigid, and there is a sense of concave and convex.

The second is bone and horn imitations, which are generally thicker and harder than ivory, and bone and horn products do not have the natural texture of ivory, and the overall color is relatively dull.

The funny thing is that there is one of the most inferior imitations made of fish teeth, you know, fish teeth are much lighter than ivory, and the toughness is extremely poor, as long as a little experience people will not be deceived. ”

Putting aside the topic of plundering "bloody ivory", Liu Yuhao personally believes that the authenticity and agility of ivory carving can definitely impact people's visual soul through a beautiful carving.

Fuji Yi shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly: "Hey, those people who forge fakes can think of any way to make money." ”

"By the way, what's going on with that neighbor you're talking about?"

Liu Yuhao replied to the question, frowned slightly, and a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes.

Just when Teng Yi was talking to himself just now, Liu Yuhao secretly urged the ability, who knows, the answer he got surprised him, the green Tara tooth card was really from the hand of a famous artist as he expected.

Ivory raw materials are more precious, non-carving hands can not control, modern ivory carving masters are numerous, among which Yu Shuo and Wu Nanyu are the most famous by the collection industry called "South and North Wu".

The green Tara tooth card in front of me is from the hand of Yu Shuo, a miniature carving master of "South and North Wu".

Yu Shuo, a famous ivory microcarver in the south of the Yangtze River, is good at using blind carving, that is, in the case of unclear sight with the naked eye, all carved by the hand knife movement, the knife is powerful, the intention is the knife first, the priority is urgent, as you like, the knife is like a pen, handy, the words are coherent, smooth and natural, and the depth of its skill is jaw-dropping.

And Wu Nanyu, another miniature carver who is as famous as Yu Shuo, later generations commented that he "can engrave more than 1,000 words on the ivory surface of a five-minute square circle, with a sticky atmosphere." It is unrecognizable with a magnifying glass, and I don't know why. It's the so-called magic work."

It can be seen that the profound skills of the two masters are by no means beyond the reach of ordinary people.

But it is such an extremely precious famous tooth brand, how can anyone say that it will be given away?