(a)

Ever since I visited the temple in Yokogawa with Nakamura, I've been a little addicted. So www.biquge.info later, intermittently, I also visited some Japanese temples. Get some impression of a half-clawed scale.

Once, together with Mr. Yichen, I went to visit a temple called the Holy Congregation Lai Ying Temple, which was previously a temple built and enshrined by the royal family, and there was a very famous group of paintings painted on the shadow wall called "Six Ways of Painting". The endless scrolls show the ups and downs of sentient beings in the six realms of heaven, asura, human, beast, hungry ghost, and hell.

I was so fascinated by this group of paintings that I couldn't help but stop in front of it.

Isn't that what happened to us in our past and present lives? Trapped between life and death, when embracing each other is like being in heaven, when preaching and teaching, when you are in the world, when you are in a coma and confused, when you are in a daze, when you are in love, when you are in a hungry ghost, when you are separated from life and death, like you are in hell. 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, isn't it just a cycle of these six mindsets, going round and round, and there is no liberation.

The six realms clearly exist in the world, in everyone's present life, where do we need to travel through life and death to see and experience?

There are so many people who think that the six realms of reincarnation are superstitions, and that is really because of their lack of insight into their own lives.

People who believe in the existence of the six realms of reincarnation are already so rare, and even fewer people can think of freeing themselves from them and stopping this endless cycle. As the saying goes, there are as many cultivators as a cow's hair, and as few as a linjiao.

In this group of six reincarnation diagrams that show "truthful view", there is a group of continuous paintings, called "Pictures of the Dead Remains of Beauty". 、

According to Mr. Yichen, it was painted with the empress of Emperor Saga as a model, and the details vividly reproduce the process of the extremely filthy decomposition of the body of a beautiful woman who once fascinated many men.

Mr. Yichen has seen this group of paintings many times, and he explained to me: The empress of Emperor Saga was a wonderful woman, she was virtuous and wise all her life, believed in Buddhism, taught her husband and children, and was a good family keeper, and was deeply loved by the people. After the death of Emperor Saga, she became a monk as the Empress Dowager, signaling the return of life to its original destination.

Mr. Yichen said that our human body is composed of 360 bones, supported by many bone joints, which penetrate blood vessels and place internal organs. The filthy internal organs are also crawling with filthy maggots.

While life is still there, these things are obscured by the brilliance of life, and when people are buried, within a day or two, the body swells up and turns blue-black. Then the skin ulcerated, smelled, pus and bleed. If the corpse is abandoned in the wilderness, there will be many birds and beasts to peck and bite at this time. Then, countless maggots were born. Then it turns into bones. Finally, the joints are broken, and the hands, feet, and skeletons are separated. Soon it completely decayed and turned to dirt.

Before her death, Empress Saga taught her to paint this group of paintings, and instructed the painter to show the disgusting process of the decomposition of her body after her death to the public, and to educate the public about the truth of life. Whether you are beautiful like a flower, high or powerful, there is nothing to envy and desire, and after a few decades, everyone's fate is the same.

Empress Saga said to people, take a good look at every part of this body, which one will not decompose? Which one is clean and smooth? Which one is cute and charming? Which one isn't stinky and bloody?

She said, "The beauty you love is made up of the parts in this painting, and you can't find anything lovely and charming in it, and all the components are disgusting and smelly." None of the same, you'll love it. Why do you get obsessed with putting all these ugly things together?

She also said, "Actually, your own body is the same, it is all made up of these flesh and mucus and white bones on the ground, and when you put these dirty things together and put them in a leather bag, why do people give up on them?

She said, don't always think about getting the world's false wealth, but think more about it. I dedicate this body after death to show you the truth of life. You have to observe truthfully, think deeply, and see through as soon as possible. This pile of things on the ground, no matter how much you cherish them, will sooner or later be separated from you, abandoned by others in the wilderness, or buried in the ground, to be devoured by maggots. If you can't give up, you have to give up, and if you can't let go, you have to let go.

Mr. Yichen's introduction made me feel deeply shocked.

This wise and understanding queen should be the incarnation of Guanyin Bodhisattva. Such earnest teachings awaken all living beings in dreams, how compassionate, what wisdom!

I think of you again. After you were diagnosed with the disease, all the persuasions, comforts, and teachings you gave me during your lifetime were not as shocking as the way of Empress Saga, but the main purpose of your words was not so much different from this.

I stared at the details of the picture for a long time, unable to move my feet, as if I had been dragged by something from the painting.

It is also a disguised picture of your body after death, and it is also a disguised picture of my body after death, and it is a picture of all of us.

I suddenly understood why the lamas of Tibetan Buddhism and the monks of Southern Buddhism often went to the cemetery to practice in front of human skeletons.

They are here to face the truth of life and learn to see the truth of life.

(c)

After visiting the "Six Paintings" group of paintings, Mr. Yichen and I went to the main hall to pay homage to Amitabha Buddha.

The temple is a temple of the Pure Land sect, and the main hall is dedicated to Amitabha Buddha, next to Amitabha Buddha, one left and one right, respectively, the Great Trend Bodhisattva and Guanyin Bodhisattva. The side hall is dedicated to a statue of a Chinese monk.

Mr. Yichen said that Amitabha Buddha represents a complete enlightenment of life. The Bodhisattva represents supreme wisdom, and Avalokiteshvara represents endless compassion. A person who is fully enlightened of life will inevitably manifest supreme wisdom and will naturally be filled with endless compassion for all living beings.

He said that the Chinese monk enshrined in the side hall was a patriarch of the Pure Land sect, Master Shandao. The Pure Land sect in Japan was inherited from Master Seondo. To this day, the Japanese attach great importance to the way of the patriarch, and all temples respectfully enshrine the statue of the patriarch to express the ambition of the patriarch and not forget the kindness of the patriarch. There are many temples of the Pure Land sect, which are directly called Zendo Temple, and the temple is named after the patriarch's name.

Mr. Yichen said with some regret that after hundreds of years of turmoil, this spirit of respecting teachers and respecting the way has greatly declined in Chinese mainland, and is not as well preserved as Japan.

I deeply believe that Mr. Yichen's point of view is true.