(a)

I distinctly remember those two days, and I felt a strong sense of restlessness.

The night was long, and there was silence all around, and I sat beside Ann in my pajamas, with my knees crossed, watching her snoring sweetly, my eyes wide open, and I didn't feel sleepy at all.

Thinking back to the day's work, it seems that everything is going well, and I can't find anything that makes me uneasy.

After sitting stupidly for a while, I got up and looked for a book to read. Anyway, I can't sleep, so it's better to read some books and don't waste a lot of time.

On that day, the book I picked up was the newly published thread-bound book "Naxian Bhikshu Sutra" by the Jinling Engraving Office in Nanjing. It's been a long time since I heard about this sutra. The sutra records a wonderful dialogue between King Miran, a philosopher from the Greek civilization, and Nathan, a Buddhist monk in India, vividly showing the spark of wisdom that flashed when the two major human civilizations collided.

After reading the scroll for a while, I couldn't help but be deeply attracted by the fierce confrontation between King Milan and the monk Naxian, and the conversation between the two sides was constantly sharp, you come and go, there is no room for hair, splendid, dizzying, I can't help but selfishly envy the harem dependents and the ten bhikshus who were present at that time, what a blessing it is to be able to listen to such a wonderful discourse!

After King Milan invaded India, he heard for a long time that India had a long history of civilization and the profoundness of Buddhist teachings, so he challenged the monks with a debate, hoping that the Buddhist community would elect a high-ranking monk with whom he would discuss Buddhist teachings and analyze the truth of Buddhist teachings. After deliberation in the Indian Buddhist circles, the recognized monk Nasan Bhikshu was elected to enter the palace to meet King Milan.

After the first bhikshu entered the palace, he was respectfully received by King Miran. After the two sides had finished their courtesy, they went straight to the point and entered the confrontation of ideas.

King Milan first asked questions about the motivation for becoming a monk and the basic definition of Buddhism.

Judging from the professionalism of these issues, King Milan is worthy of being a generation of philosophers, not only with confidence in classical philosophy, but also with a wide range of knowledge of Buddhist teachings.

(b)

The first question of King Milan was: Why do you want to become a monk at a young age? What's wrong with living a good life at home?

The first bhikkhu replied, "The so-called shamun is a person who seeks the truth with all his heart and soul in order to be free from all afflictions, without distractions or distractions. Of course, there are also people who have become monks for various other reasons, but the "sand gate" I just mentioned refers to the above kind of people. As for the beginning, I became a monk at a young age because I was determined to get rid of all the troubles in my life, and I was determined to become a monk in order to break all the troubles in my life.

King Milan asked again: The six animals, cattle and horses also have intelligence and intelligence, why can't they live and die like us humans?

The first bhikshu replied, "An enlightened person who is able to cut off birth and death is like a wheat harvester, who holds wheat in one hand (to understand the causes of suffering with wisdom) and a knife in the other hand (to cut off the causes of suffering with wisdom). Although the six animals have intelligence, they cannot cut off their lust, so they cannot be liberated from life and death.

King Millan asked: What is integrity? What is your Buddhist interpretation?

The first bhikshu said, "Seeing the reality and acting in accordance with the path is sincerity." Belief in Buddhism, Dharma and Sangha, belief in the reincarnation of cause and effect, belief in good and evil will be rewarded, belief in pure enlightenment, and belief that all evil can be eliminated can make people and I have no doubt about this, this is faith.

King Miram asked, "What, then, is filial piety?"

Let's start by saying: Do not do all evil, practice all good, do not harm and reject all sentient beings, and always have compassion and flattery for all sentient beings, that is, great filial piety and great obedience to all sentient beings.

King Milan asked step by step: What is diligence?

The first bhikshu replied like a stream: Helping all good and stopping all evil is diligence. Evil that has been born has been destroyed, evil that has not been born has been destroyed, good that has not been born has been born, and good that has been born has been extended.

King Millam asked: What does it mean to "remember all good deeds"?

Then the first bhikshu said, "Be a good gatekeeper and gatekeeper of your thoughts." Contemplating the beginning of the mind, shining with the torch of wisdom, knowing the good and evil in black and white, and choosing the good and following it. If evil thoughts arise, they will turn into them immediately and will not be allowed to enter the heart. "Stick to its will, hold on to it, and have a degree."

King Milan asked again: What is wisdom?

The first bhikshu said, "Wisdom is the ability to know evil and cut off evil in the present moment."

King Milan said: Everyone says that the Buddhist scriptures teach people to cut off everything**? Cut off everything**, what is the meaning of life?

The first bhikkhu replied, "You have misunderstood, O king. The Buddhist scriptures teach people to stop all evil thoughts and "all evil." A life that has cut off all evil thoughts of self-harm, self-destruction and destruction is a truly meaningful life. Don't you think, O king, that a life free from evil thoughts will be of a higher quality than a life full of evil thoughts and driven by evil thoughts? Or, do you think a life that is often entangled in all kinds of evil thoughts is an interesting life?

King Milan said: If karma can be passed on from the previous life to the next, then there must be a spiritual medium that spans two lifetimes, and what is the "spiritual" that spans the previous and subsequent lives? Is that the Dongdong of the later life the original Dongdong of the previous life, or the Dongdong of the new generation?

The first bhikshu said, "Great King, the "Dongdong" you are talking about is called Nyolai Tibetan Consciousness in the Buddhist scriptures. The answer to your question is: not the spirit of the past, nor the spirit of the past. It's like your main hall, where candles are lit all night, and when one candle burns out, its flame is passed on to another candle by the maid who replaced the candle, and now the light in the room, although it cannot be said to be the light of the previous candle, cannot be said to be separated from the light of the previous candle. Why do Buddhist scriptures say that there must be continuity after death? Because nothing can exist in isolation. In terms of time, the "present" exists relative to the "past" and "future". The reason why the "moment of death" exists is relative to the previous "stage of life", since there is a relative before, then there must be a relative after, that is, since there is a past, it can be said that there is a present, and therefore, there must be a future because there is a present. The "moment of death" cannot exist in isolation from the past and the future. Every "moment of death" must have a "after" corresponding to it, so Buddhism does not say that "death is the cessation of everything".

If there is no such thing as "after death", then there is no "present death" or "previous life". Nothing, nothing.

King Milan went on to ask: How can an arhat know that he is not subject to afterlife since he is "not subject to afterlife" after this life? What is the one who can prove that he has not received an afterlife after this life?

The first bhikkhu replied, "Great King, an arhat does not need this to prove that he is not subject to offspring." An arhat knows that he has no attachment to all phenomena, no greed and hatred, and that he is free from all kinds of evil thoughts and all kinds of evil deeds in this life, and he will naturally know that "there is no afterlife." This is like a farmer who harvests all the wheat that used to grow in the field of bad karma, and stores all the seeds in the storehouse, so that he no longer sows seeds into the field. Now that the seeds of the past have been sealed and no new seeds have been sown in the fields, the farmer will naturally know that there will be no more wheat in the field next year, and he will not have to wait until next autumn to harvest. When an arhat no longer sows and sows his karma and sows in the field of eight knowledges, he naturally knows that "there will be no aftermath."

King Milan said, "Excuse me, is there a difference between the "Ming" of an arhat and the "wisdom" of ordinary people?

The first bhikshu said, "In the end, there is no difference between "wisdom" and "wisdom", but on a relative level, there is a difference. The "clarity" of an arhat consists in knowing what seeds will produce what fruits. The "wisdom" of ordinary people can only see the good and bad of the fruit, and cannot follow the cause of the effect.

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