After the establishment of Buddhism, the first time it was used by the ruling class was the Mauryan Empire in ancient India. The Mauryan Dynasty was originally the kingdom of Magadha, founded by Chandragupta, who was born in Kshatriya, and passed to the time of the third generation of Ashoka, and its power reached its peak, basically unifying the northern Indian region.

According to Buddhist legend, Emperor Ashoka was originally a tyrant, but after conquering the kingdom of Kalinga, he suddenly repented and believed in Buddhism from then on, sent eminent monks to various places, and declared Buddhism the state religion. It was only after his death that the Mauryan Empire fell apart and eventually came to an end – and the power of Buddhism in India gradually declined.

Of course, Shi Xun only scratched a little bit of into these histories and legends in his previous life, and he didn't know the details, and he also misstated the time of the Mauryan Empire's enjoyment of the kingdom - its kingdom lasted from about 324 BC to 188 BC, with a life span of 150 years. However, it is estimated that Wei Yu is even more confused about this, and the Buddhist scriptures from India will not mention it: In fact, we can't stay in our hometown.

Buddhism is truly "flowers blooming inside the walls and incense outside the walls", and after spreading to the outside world, it soon occupied a dominant position in Southeast Asia, blossomed and fruited in China in East Asia, and influenced Korea and Japan, becoming one of the four major religions in the world. But in India itself, Buddhism was soon overwhelmed by the ancient Brahmanism and the nascent Jainism, and its influence was very small.

So it was Xun who said to Wei Yu, do you think that if Buddhism is made the state religion, the country will be too peaceful and healthy? Don't dream! The Mauryan Empire had long established Buddhism as the state religion, but the country was ruined in less than a hundred years. Nowadays in Tianzhu, there may not be a few people who believe in Buddhism - of course, this is a mouthful. It is not clear in what year and month did Buddhism in India begin to decline.

When Wei Yu heard this, he was shocked on the spot, and immediately asked: "How does the captain know?" ”

Is it strange that I said that I have great power and collect peripheral intelligence for the sake of the country, and naturally I know more than a "fool" like you?

It's just that he hasn't finished answering the weft guy's question yet. The other party has already regained his composure: "Taiwei Wu'er, I don't believe it." Even if it is true, it is not possible to interpret the Tao in Tianzhu. It may not be impossible in China, but the poor monks have traveled to all sides for several years, educating the people, and there are many people who know the Middle Earth and have Buddha nature. If you can make everyone believe it. You will be able to enjoy the country for ten thousand years. ”

Is it Xun Xin who said what is this "Buddha nature"? Can I eat it...... I don't know where you got this self-confidence, and there is no reference, and there is no way to compare, so I insist that China is suitable to become a Buddhist country. When this man becomes a fanatical believer, you really can't reason with him...... Besides, I won't reason with him, I don't have any study of Buddhism. What about Fan Jin? How many years will this man be born? Probably it was only when he came out that he could be said to be defeated--he might not be able to really convince ......

In fact, Xun did not have any prejudice against religion, he knew that it was an inevitable product of historical development, and that Buddhism was theoretically not only good for people. It also contains a profound philosophical thought - bad luck is bad luck in this philosophy, if it is only a simple superstitious confluence. It's not difficult to knock it down with a stick, but if it's a philosophical debate, Jixun can't find a way to win.

Well, I can't wait to knock this stubborn weft scoundrel down with a stick...... Unfortunately, the purpose of his visit was to persuade him to persuade Cao Ang to give up the Dao, not to punish him with a heavy sentence...... Looking at the Wei Gangster, it is estimated that he has also suffered a lot of heavy punishments, but those who have faith and perseverance - whether this faith is reliable or not - are really not so easy to admit.

What should I do? It was Xun who searched his stomach and thought back to the little bit of Buddhist knowledge he had occasionally collected in his previous life, and suddenly, a flash of inspiration flashed in his mind - there is!

So he sneered again and said to Wei Gang: "That is, China can be a Buddha country, but it is not something you can do." Can you become a monk in the middle of the road, can you speak Sanskrit? Have you ever been to Tianzhu? What is the knowledge to dare to speak of this? ”

Wei Yu smiled faintly and said Taiwei, you underestimate me too much-"The poor monk teacher is strict and floating, and he has been taught by the resting monk An Xuanzhen, and has deeply studied the "Dharma Mirror Sutra", "A Han Oral Explanation of the Twelve Causes and Causes Sutra", "The Supreme Pure Separation Sutra of the Bodhisattva", etc., although he does not know Sanskrit, he has not fulfilled the Tianzhu, but he has not met an opponent. The delusions of the past were not without knowledge, but the result of dirt and dirt blinding the mind. It is to change the past and from now on, since the white horse, the monks are not difficult......"

The tone is quite complacent, it seems that the most proficient Buddhist scholar in China at present is only Master Weiyu, unless you take a high monk from Tianzhu now, no one is qualified and capable of arguing with him.

Shi Xun had never heard of any Yan Fu tune, any An Xuan, and the names of those inexplicable scriptures - he almost blurted out: "Do you know the Diamond Sutra? You don't know seventy copies of the Diamond Sutra, and you're not from Shandong, so you're still stunned by what kind of archmage! ”

Well, it seems that there is really no Chinese translation of the "Diamond Sutra" in these years, let alone the "Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra" - probably all of them were translated by Tang Xuanzang later (in fact, the first translation was the Tianzhu monk Kumarosh in the era of the Sixteen Kingdoms, of course Xun didn't know). In these years, the level of Buddhism in China was like this, no wonder Bodhidharma entered China later, and basically fought all over the ...... Well, it's all over the Yangtze River and the north and south of the invincible.

Looking at your virtue, it seems to say, "I have grown up in knowledge, and no one in this kindergarten is my opponent!" "Hey, what do you have to be proud of?

Therefore, Shi Xun twitched the corners of his mouth, showing disdain: "Is there no monk in China, and Yu Jingyi can be longer than Ruye?" Wei Yu hurriedly said that I don't dare to boast about this kind of Haikou, I only said that I was the top three, and I didn't insist on ranking first.

Shi Xun ignored his defense, and sneered: "I also met a Chinese monk in the past, and his virtue is not right, and he does not dare to say that China is a country of Buddha, and he has a grand wish to live alone with a frog, isn't it ridiculous?" The monk once recited four verses of the poem, to practice, if you can understand, I will turn around and go, if you can't understand, and consider yourself, accept its delusions, how? ”

Hearing this, Wei Yu couldn't help but feel interested, so he nodded: "Taiwei please say - if the poor monk can solve it, I hope that Taiwei will help me achieve my grand wish; If you can't solve it, you can't stop it. However, he no longer dared to educate the prince. Can? ”

Yes Xun said okay, all I want is you to say this, and you listen to it-

So he chanted aloud: "The body is a Bodhi tree." The heart is like a mirror. Always wipe diligently, don't make dust. ”

After listening to this short poem, Wei Yu couldn't help but be in awe: "This is really what a great monk does." "And it must have been done by Chinese monks, whether it was a monk from the Western Regions, or a monk from Tianzhu, there was really no one who was proficient in Chinese before that, and then could write poems in Chinese - most of them were just rough Chinese. It is also necessary to have the assistance of the Chinese to successfully translate the Buddhist scriptures.

The meaning of this poem is deep, but it is still difficult for me to say: "Bodhi is the way." The body and the way are connected; The mirror hangs to help the heart. Cultivation is like dust, so that the body does not deviate from the way, so that the heart does not trouble. Wipe it off gradually. Seeing nature with a clear mind is in line with the Tao and following the Buddha. If not? "Am I right?

It was Xun Xin who said, how do I know if you are right...... Looks like this weft rascal does have two brushes, and if I don't have a trick, it really won't work. So he instantly overturned the previous promise: "This poem is easy to hear, there is still a poem, do you want to hear it?" ”

Wei Yu hurriedly said: "I want to hear it." "He was a man who was obsessed with the Dharma, and when he suddenly heard such a wonderful sound, after chewing it, his mouth was full of fragrance. The center is very smooth, I heard that there is a second song. Is there any reason not to want to hear it anymore? I was afraid that Shixun would not recite it, so he reiterated his previous promise: "If the poor monk can't solve it, he will no longer dare to educate the prince." "Don't talk nonsense, just talk about it.

Shi Xun smiled faintly, so he chanted: "Bodhi has no tree, and the mirror is not a platform." There is nothing in the first place, where is the dust? ”

Buddhism can become one of the four major religions in the world, and the focus is not on creation, but on reproduction. For people like Shixun, who are basically materialistic and do not believe in ghosts and gods, they do not believe that an omniscient and omniscient Buddha will be born in the ancient slave society, even if he is really a natural saint, a great philosopher and religious scholar who has never come after, it is impossible to explain the future of a hundred years or a thousand years in one sentence and understand the true meaning of the universe. Buddhism, if it had stopped at what Shakyamuni had said, would have been no better than the primitive shamanism. The key is to pass it on from generation to generation, constantly improve and evolve, and through the contributions of the great monks of the past generations, Buddhism can become a mature religion that still has a certain vitality in modern society.

In particular, after Buddhism spread to the east and entered China, combined with traditional Chinese philosophical thoughts, it opened up a splendid and dazzling wonder -- that is, Zen Buddhism in the Middle Earth. Monk Wei Yu sat in the well and watched the sky, where did he know this, let alone Zen Buddhism in Middle Earth at this time, it is not easy to say whether Tianzhu Zen Buddhism really originated - Bodhidharma calls himself the twenty-eighth generation of Zen Buddhism, but it has a lot of water.

The two poems recited by Xun are not actually poems, but the "sons" of Zen Buddhism, which are known to many in later generations. The author of the first poem is Shenxiu, the sixth generation of Zen Buddhism in Middle Earth and the ancestor of the Northern Progressive School, and the author of the second song is Huineng, the sixth ancestor of Zen Buddhism in Middle Earth and the ancestor of the Nanton School. It is said that the five ancestors of Zen Buddhism in the Middle Earth called the door one day, asking the public to make a side, if they really comprehended the Zen, they would hand over the mantle, play the court, and order it to be the sixth generation of suzerain. So the first disciple Shenxiu first made a side of "the body is a Bodhi tree", and everyone was amazed, thinking that it would be true.

However, Hongren was not very satisfied, and said to Shenxiu: "You have done this, and you have not yet arrived...... If you find the supreme Bodhi, you will not be able to get it...... "Go back and make another song."

Why is it "when you see it"? Naturally, Shihoon couldn't understand the truth. He just guessed that Zen Buddhism theoretically speaking, although it has made great changes to traditional Buddhism, it is also based on traditional Buddhism, and only after the Mahayana can it dare to blaze a new trail, so although it is not at the same time, although it is not the same way, it is the same origin, Bodhidharma must be more proficient in Buddhism than the weft in front of him, and the Hongren passed on by the mantle of Bodhidharma must not be comparable to the weft. Shenxiu was the first disciple of Hongren, and later opened a separate faction as his ancestor, maybe he was stronger than Wei Gang. That's why he chanted Shenxiu's words first and asked Wei Yu to solve them.

Hey, don't say it, Monk Wei has really solved it - even if it's Xun, I don't know if it's the right one. In desperation, he had to sacrifice the son of the sixth ancestor Huineng.

Huineng was just a small walker in the temple at that time, and he didn't know how to read big words, and he had never read Buddhist scriptures, but only saw Tian'er eavesdropping on Hongren's teachings. But Shenxiu went back and meditated for several days, but he couldn't make a better poem, and after Huineng heard about it, he made a new song "Bodhi Ben No Tree" based on his old verse.

Huineng later put forward the theory: "The nature of the world is self-purifying, and all laws are in self-nature." "Cultivation is only a means, not the true meaning of seeking Buddhahood, but to become a Buddha by understanding one's own nature and seeing one's nature. He got the approval of Hongnin and passed on the mantle of six generations.

Wei Gang, you can understand the Shenxiu side, so let's try Huineng's side again. (To be continued......)

PS: I have a limited understanding of Buddhist teachings, so I can only taste it, and I can't help but laugh and be generous, I hope readers and friends will forgive me - by the way, how about giving a monthly pass?