Speaking of the incense rice mentioned last time, Ananda Buddha said: "World-honored, the incense you smell today has never been seen in the past, why is it fragrant?" ”

At this time, Ananda said something next to him, and he asked the Buddha, "Now I smell a fragrance that I have never smelled before, what kind of incense is it?" ”

The Buddha said to Ananda: "It is the fragrance of the pores of the Bodhisattvas, and it is the physical energy that comes out of the bodies of these visiting Bodhisattvas. ”

So, Sariputta said to Ananda: "I wait for the pores to come out of the incense, you don't have to look at the Buddhist scriptures too rigidly, they are so solemn, you can imagine the scene at that time." ”

Sariputta touched Ananda and said, "Hey, smell it, we have this fragrance on us!" ”

Ananda smelled it, it was strange, where did this fragrance come from?

"It is the elder Vimalaya, who takes the Buddha's surplus food from the country of incense, and all the pores are fragrant like this." Sariputta told him that this was our morning visit to the Vimal Monk's house, and when it was time to eat, the Vimal Monk used his supernatural powers to bring back a bowl of leftover rice from the incense kingdom above for us to eat, and after eating, this fragrance came out of the pores of our body.

Ananda asked Vimalaya, "Is it the fragrance that stays for a long time?" ”

We don't know if Ananda was tempted to ask for this smell, but he at least asked Vimala how long the fragrance would stay on his body.

Vimala said, "This is the end of the meal. ”

Now the point is again, and it's a matter of eating.

Vimal said, "When the rice is completely absorbed by the human body, the fragrance will be gone. ”

Ananda asked again, "How long does it take for this rice to be fully digested in the human body?" ”

"The power of this meal shall be seven days, and then it shall be extinguished."

Vimal replied, "After ordinary people eat this meal, they don't need to eat anymore, and it takes seven days and seven nights to fully digest it." People will ask, I don't know what kind of rice this rice is cooked. ”

Vimala went on to say that if they are not ordinary people, but people who have reached the realm of shravaka (i.e., people who take the Hinayana route, such as those who practice the Buddha, who keep the precepts strictly, and only practice on their own, regardless of the Mahayana merits), and those who have already practiced but have not yet attained the fruits, this meal will not be digested until they have attained the positive fruits. Look weird! For those who learn the Tao, the firepower of the stomach should be a little bigger, and the digestion should be faster. But after eating this meal, you don't need to eat it anymore, and you don't digest it until the fruit is certain.

"Those who have entered the right position, and those who eat this meal, will be liberated, and then they will be eliminated." People who have already obtained the first fruits of the Arhats, or even the second-fruited, three-fruited, and fourth-fruited Arhats, have eaten this meal, and they have to wait for their hearts to be liberated before the meal is digested.

There are several questions here. First, the higher the level of cultivation, the longer the meal will last. Second, those who have already entered the right position still need to be liberated from their hearts before they can digest their meals.

Liberation is the end of the Dharma, so how can liberation be attained? You have to have concentration, and you have to think about purity in the realm of emptiness, and you will attain fruition, but this is not liberation.

For example, a person who learns the Tao can refine and refine qi, refine qi and transform gods, refine gods and return to emptiness, and only by returning to emptiness can he truly attain emptiness.

Engaging in qi veins in front of you is only regarded as refining and refining qi, and refining qi and transforming gods is still very early. Therefore, the four meditations and eight determinations, in the Mahayana and even the outer paths, must be cultivated, but do not take the four meditations and eight determinations as the end.

If you can cultivate to the four meditations and eight concentrations, and when you can study the heavens of the human world, you can go beyond the realm of desire, which is the state of attainment, but you may not be able to attain the Dharma to the end.

The third question is, there are also people who study Buddhism, their minds have been liberated, but they have not attained fruition, what is the reason for this? The answer is that the concentration is not enough, and the practice is not perfect.

"If you don't have Mahayana intentions, those who eat this meal will be dissipated from their intentions." People who study Buddhism in the East land claim to be the Mahayana Bodhisattva Path, but have they set their hearts? None of them. ”