Chapter 43: Xuan Ce's Examination of the Old Monk's Story of the Buddha (Part I) (Page 1/1)

With Chen Maocai, read out this engraved text record word by word. Everyone also knew that this record was only about the Buddha's state of Nirvana at that time, and it had not yet been explained that the Buddha died in that year, so Wang Xuance flashed in his mind and casually asked the old monk: "I don't know the Master, do you ever know that this Buddha was Nirvana in that year?" How many years has it been? ”

When the old monk heard him ask, he immediately fell into confusion, the actual situation was because he didn't know, so he could only vaguely reply: "I didn't expect this question to be asked by the old monk, because of the lack of effective historical records, only know that the Buddha was eighty years old, here Nirvana, as for the death in that year, but there is no accurate record, some people say that the Buddha Nirvana has been more than 1,200 years, some people say that it has been more than 1,300 years, and some people say more than 1,500 years, of course, Others say more than nine hundred, but less than a thousand years. In the face of this kind of answer, the old monk has never delved into this question. ”

Hearing him say this, Wang Xuance kept thinking in his mind. I saw him say thoughtfully: "When I was looking at this city of Lumbini, we can know through the inscription at that time that the date of the Buddha's birth was when the King of Pure Rice was fifty years old, and at that time, according to the calendar, it was exactly the seventh year of King Zhou Ling of our eastern land, and the Buddha died at the age of eighty, so calculated, the time of his death should be in the ninth year of Lu Aigong in my Huaxia, so calculated, the date of the Buddha's birth should be 1,223 years from today (565 B.C.), Then the time of his death should be 1,144 years from today. ”

After this calculation, everyone also understood the exact time of the Buddha's birth and death. It is precisely because of his third mission to India that he accurately calculated that the Buddha was born in 565 BC and died in 486 BC through the writings left by Gu Tianzhu. By the way, it also ended the strife in the Chinese history of the Buddha, who was born in the year and died in that year......

Hearing that Wang Xuance inferred so accurately, the old monk also immediately folded his hands and gave a salute: "Amitabha, although the old monk has been here for many years, he has never studied these problems, and he never thought that the envoy of the kingdom had just arrived, and he had figured out such a vague problem, which was really a blessing for my Buddhism." ”

"The mage has won the award, and it is only because in these five Indian lands, we have seen too much and admired a lot, so we have such inferences." Wang Xuance also humbly folded his hands together and returned the salute.

With the completion of this view, the old monk led them to a stupa not far from this ashram. Although the pagoda looks very old, it has also been cleaned. I only heard this old monk say: "This pagoda is called the fire tower, and it was also built during the reign of Emperor Ashoka. ”

Looking at this two-zhang high pagoda, it is all a brick and stone structure. Chen Maocai couldn't help but have doubts in his heart, and then asked: "I don't know master, why is this tower called a fire-fighting tower, does it have a background?" ”

Hearing Chen Maocai's question, the old monk replied humbly and politely: "Since this tower is called a fire-fighting tower, it is naturally the place where the Buddha put out fires back then. Many years ago, it was a dense forest, where birds and animals built nests and burrows, and lived in peace. Unfortunately, one day, when there was a sudden strong wind, and a bolt of lightning struck, and the dense forest was ablaze, and at this time, a pheasant who lived here, full of pity, took the lead in flapping his wings and flew into the nearby Attovardy River to get water, and then flew over the woods, and sprinkled water vigorously, and so on many times. Because the extinguishing of this fire is the most normal phenomenon in nature, when the Buddha saw such a scene, he happily asked, "Why are you so stubborn and vain?" The fire is raging, burning the trees and fields, in fact, your little pheasant can extinguish it? ”

When the pheasant heard this, he immediately asked, "Who is the one who speaks?"

Just listen to the Buddha casually replied, "I am the Buddha"

At this time, the pheasant said contemptuously: "The Buddha has great divine power, and there is no failure in what he wants to do, and it is easy to save the disaster; When I encountered this, I didn't say anything, but said to me that it was in vain, and who was the culprit? The fire is raging, so I won't tell you more,"

After saying this, the pheasant then flew into the river to fetch water to extinguish the fire. When the Buddha heard him say this, he was immediately a little ashamed, so he sprinkled water all over the woods, and the fire was extinguished. Many of the animals in the forest were also spared. In order to commemorate this event, the descendants built this tower and named it the fire tower......

"This incident is enough to show that everything has a good thought, and this pheasant knew that he couldn't reach it, but at this time of crisis, he was willing to contribute his own strength, which is really commendable," Chen Maocai also said with deep feelings.

"Ahem, this is called knowing that there are tigers in the mountains, and biasing towards the tiger mountains, for example, when a few of you are in danger, even if I can't do it, but I still have to work hard to fight like this, if you want to die, we will die together" Zhou Zeng used such an example to illustrate his views on this matter.

"Bah, baba, just your crow's mouth, you die every day, don't bother you" Chen Maocai casually said such contemptuous words to him.

Seeing that the two of them were still ready to continue arguing, Wang Xuance smiled slightly: "After listening to the beginning and end of this fire-fighting tower, I am also deeply touched, in the face of such a benevolent and righteous thing, we should pay more respect." ”

So, under the leadership of Wang Xuance, everyone sincerely picked up three sticks of incense and saluted the firefighting tower. This salute is not only a tribute to this righteousness, but also a tribute to this spirit.

Seeing that everyone also understood the true meaning, the old monk also smiled slightly. Then he led them to another stupa not far to the west of the ashram. Everyone looked at the stupa, which was about two feet high, and only heard the old monk explain to them: "This stupa was built to commemorate the last disciple of the Buddha, Shanxian. ”

When the old monk said this, Chen Maocai said with understanding: "Oh, I know, this Venerable Shanxian was more than 120 years old back then, not only a Brahman, but also a respected and wise elder. At that time, he heard that the Buddha was about to attain Nirvana, so he came to this forest and pleaded with the Buddha's disciple, Venerable Ananda, and said, "I have heard that the Buddha is about to attain Nirvana, but unfortunately there are some questions in my life that have not been answered, and I hope to ask the Buddha for advice."

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