When it comes to "asceticism", some people will naturally associate it with foreign ways, attachments, and aliens, and they have not analyzed and delved into their origins and connotations, and often inadvertently commit the crime of blaspheming the law.

She can see the ripples of water very clearly, perhaps this is where Yangliu Bodhisattva teaches properly, she looks at these people with a normal heart.

In fact, asceticism is divided into "outer path" and "right path", the right way is the so-called Buddhist "asceticism", it is aimed at worldly pleasures, but it is the practice of Buddhism to discipline the body and mind, it is the inevitability of returning to the light and getting rid of life and death, and it is the law of the middle way, and it is not Buddhism without this.

Nowadays, there are billions of living beings in the Buddha country, whether they are Buddhist cultivators or ordinary people, they all have their own beliefs, and these ascetics are precisely because of their successful deeds, one day, they will shed their mortal wombs and become Buddhas.

In this region where Buddhism is strong, just like the outside world, everyone aspires to become a god, and everyone in the Buddhist country aspires to become a Buddha.

"Asceticism" is labeled as a foreign way and a different kind of way, when it originated from the Buddha's six-year ascetic practice in the snow-capped mountains after he became a monk. The Buddha practiced asceticism for 60 years before enlightenment, and then gave up the suffering of the outer paths, bathed in the Nilian Zen River, received chyle offerings from the shepherdess, and sat under the Bodhi tree to become a Buddha.

These 60 years of austerity are called outer asceticism. Therefore, in later generations, some Buddhist disciples mentioned "asceticism" and often said that the suffering of asceticism is unbeneficial, and the Buddha gave up it and classified it as a foreign way.

As everyone knows, in Buddhist scriptures, the word "asceticism" sometimes refers to extreme "outer asceticism" and sometimes refers to "righteous asceticism" in the practice of Buddhism, and the two are completely different.

Outer asceticism refers to all kinds of unhelpful and extreme sufferings that are practiced by self-grasping "greed for the happiness of the world." For example, being naked and unclothed, taking the bull and dog vows, doing fire, lying on the stabs, and so on, this is not the Dharma.

Jingyun: "This kind of hard work is a cheap karma. To the bitter to the poor, what mortals do. It is not the holy word. ”

As described in the Sutra of Zengyi Aham, I have been diligent in seeking the Tao for six years but have not attained it, or lying on thorns, or lying on wooden nails, or hanging on the body of a bird far from the ground, with my feet on top and my head facing the ground...... Or the sun is blazing, or the winter is on the ice, and the body is not watered.

In the "Fang Guang Solemn Sutra", I am now from the five turbid and evil worlds, and I see the inferior beings and all the outer paths, etc., and I see those who practice all kinds of asceticism, and the ignorance is covered by vain pushing, and I use my own suffering body and mind to seek liberation.

"The Great Treasure Accumulation Sutra" cloud: "If you come to say, you always say ten karmic karma. It's all for ease of display, not karma. "The life of a Buddha, whether he became a family, became a monk, became a monk, practiced asceticism, attained enlightenment, was slandered, suffered from illness, and so on, all of them were for the convenience of manifestation, and they were by no means retribution, and their deeds were useless.

"The Buddha Says that the Sutra of Generosity, Skillfulness, and Convenience" says: "Six years of asceticism and hardship, but in order to subdue all foreign ways, and to make all sentient beings improve, one hemp and one wheat for the food, want to make the body pure." ”

It can be seen that the Buddha's six years of asceticism were to manifest and subdue the outer paths, to make sentient beings diligent, and to purify the body. It is not in vain. Later generations of disciples only believed that the Buddha had "renounced useless asceticisms" with a worldly and comfortable mind, but they ignored the profound teachings of the Buddha's teachings.

"Subduing the outer paths" is to manifest "the evil view of seeking the blessings of heaven and the world, extreme asceticism and non-liberation methods", such as being naked and unclothed, receiving ox vows, and lying on fire and stabbing in the fire.

"To improve all beings". That is, to manifest the "non-liberating method of indulgence and slackness in coveting worldly pleasures", such as letting go of the six roots, being willful, and being lazy to eat.

"Purifying the body" means showing that "the covetousness of eating and drinking is retribution, and the coarse and impure body is not liberating." All sentient beings are reincarnated in life and death due to gluttony, such as gluttony, eating meat, eating multiple meals a day, etc.

That's why the Buddha revealed the path to Buddhahood. It is the method of abandoning the middle way of the two sides. He became a monk in the city, practiced asceticism for six years, and renounced the pleasures of worldly greed and the extreme suffering of evil views. "In addition to the two sides, the interest is in the way".

The scripture describes "renunciation of suffering and happiness in the middle way":

Those who are suffering in the form will be troubled in their hearts, and those who are happy in their hearts will be happy. It is bitter and happy, and the two are not the causes. For example, if you drill into a fire and pour water on it, there will be no light that breaks through the darkness. Drill the fire of wisdom, and the same is true.

There is bittersweet water, wisdom and light are not born, and they cannot be destroyed in the black obstacle of life and death. If the present person can abandon suffering and happiness and walk in the middle way, his mind will be calm, and he will be able to cultivate the Eightfold Noble Path, and be free from the troubles of birth, old age, sickness and death.

There are two kinds of obstacles for a monk. One is the cause of ignorance,

The two are not thinking rightly, seeking renunciation from their own suffering, and suffering in the present and future. Bhikkhus, you should be on the two sides, and I will speak for you in the middle way, and you should listen to the truth and practice diligently.

At that time, the Buddha knew that the five people thought that asceticism was the right way, and the Buddha said that the five desires were the right way, and the asceticism was also the right way, except for the two sides of the middle way.

The purpose of studying Buddhism is to get rid of life and death and achieve the Buddha's path. To study Buddhism and Buddhism is to learn the wisdom of the Buddha's words and deeds, and the Buddha's teachings show how to do it, and the scholar should do it, so that he can be called a person who learns Buddhism and cultivates the Tao.

The Buddha manifested the ordination, asceticism, enlightenment, and contentment of few desires, and formulated various precepts for the four disciples, so that the Venerable Kasya, who was half-seated and transmitted the Dharma to the head of the ascetic, taught the disciples of later generations to be pure and upright, to abandon greed, and to practice asceticism on the right path. "Shave off your hair and become a shaman, and those who receive the Dharma pass away, beg for money, eat once a day, stay under a tree, and be careful not to do it again. ”

Asceticism on the righteous path refers to the practice of the middle way of selflessness by abandoning worldly greed such as good clothing, three meals, and sleeping too much. These are all Buddhist disciples who follow the Buddhist edicts, check their bodies and minds, work hard and diligently, and practice with precepts.

As mentioned in the scriptures, monastic asceticism, head asceticism, etc. In addition, the Buddha's act of sacrificing the bodhisattva's body for the Dharma is also called asceticism.

Becoming a monk is to get rid of the house of the five desires, break the obstacle of the five covers, and achieve the method of pure inaction, which is naturally different from the secular life at home, otherwise there is no excessive eating and sleeping, and the daily behavior is the same as that of the laity, so why should you become a monk?

How dare you call a person who cultivates the Tao and is the respect of heaven? The "Law of the Sangha" says: "If you want to become a new monk, you must not say that you are a monk, but you should say that you are a monk." ”

Although Lan Jiechen heard it in the rain and fog, Lan Jiechen also knew what the water ripples wanted to express, there was no distinction between the outer way and the right way in cultivating Buddhism, and some were just his own comprehension of the truth of heaven and earth. Many outsiders do asceticism, but because of profit. Greed leads to a very bad reputation for asceticism in the outer way.

It is very common for many ordinary people to be deceived. Those exaggerated austerities don't actually have any effect, but they can turn those ignorant people around, and they don't even know the most basic asceticism, how can they become Buddhas.

In fact, the core of the so-called asceticism in Lan Juechen's view is to fight against all the desires in his heart, and finally eliminate the demons in his heart and suppress human nature, and finally the divinity is completed, igniting the fire of divinity, and becoming a Buddha on the ground.

"The people of the Buddha country are really miserable. Murong Qing sighed and said.

"Haha, silly girl. If you think it's suffering, why don't others think we're suffering. In the eyes of us outsiders, there are two kinds of sufferings in the Buddha country: one is the suffering of cultivation.

The suffering of monasticism is that it does not conform to the world, and people think that they cannot enjoy the five desires - the five desires are not done by the monks, and the five desires are the image of depravity, the standard of depravity.

There is also a kind of outer asceticism, sleeping on an ice bed, eating ****, and sleeping on the dirty ground, he thinks that he can become enlightened by constantly torturing his body in this way. This is an asceticism. ”

"You can see through it at a glance, but many people here can't. Water Ripple spoke.

"This is because the Buddha kingdom is so closed, they think that all living beings are suffering, but they don't know that they are right. But the practice is wrong, and it is often said that all sentient beings are suffering, and even sentient beings have not seen all of them. How can they really appreciate other sufferings?

Most of them are in their own imaginations, imagining how others are suffering. Sitting in a well and watching the sky like this. How is it possible to become a Buddha. The Buddha kingdom is too closed to the outside world, and if these ascetics go out for a walk, they will find that the world is very different. Lan Juechen said with a smile.

"You're right. How many of the billions of ordinary people in the Buddha country have the opportunity to go out?" said Ripple Water.

"So this is the knot of death, this is the cause, coupled with the system of the Buddha Kingdom itself, indulging those evil monks in the mortal world who are not skilled in their studies and tricks to do nonsense, swaggering and deceiving, so they have the current situation.

And they also have a sense of superiority, a kind of conceit that everyone is drunk and I am alone, and I see that they are all so ugly.

To go out and accept different things is asceticism. Lan Juechen sighed.

At this time, the old lady on a porridge shop beside Lan Jiechen and them slowly spoke: "Young man, why don't you look at things with your own conceited eyes. In fact, this suffering has existed before. What was the reason in the first place?

It's because we don't know where the cause of suffering is.

Later, I found out: it turned out to be greedy. From food, from sleep—sleep is also bitter, wealth and fame eat and sleep, they are all bitter causes. Therefore, we work hard here, not to be greedy for sleep, not to be greedy for money, not to be greedy for money, not to be greedy for fame and food, this kind of behavior is called "asceticism". ”

Lan Juechen and the others stopped, following the prestige, the old lady was originally the owner of the porridge shop, she was dressed in tattered linen clothes, sloppy, and exuded a faint sour smell, but the white porridge she sold was surprisingly fragrant.

What the old man said is very true, greedy for "wealth, fame, food and sleep", can give birth to immeasurable suffering, then we will do the opposite, not greedy. We do "stop". For example, sleep, sleep for four hours, eat and drink, eat one meal, don't touch money, don't touch the opposite sex, and so on.

Using these actions to stop the arise of suffering is called "austerity." As a result of this asceticism, nectar is produced. Lan Jiechen smiled, having said that, what Lan Jiechen disliked the most was that many religions regard the seven emotions and six desires as beasts, and those who really got Buddhism have never restricted disciples from choosing Taoist couples or even weekends.

This outer ascetic practice is really too deformed.

"Little brother, you seem to have something to say, I think in your heart you don't think people should be so ascetic now?" the old lady's narrowed eyes looked directly at Lan Jiechen, and slowly spoke.

At this time, Lan Jiechen and they had gathered a lot of ascetics, they were very interested in the debate between Lan Jiechen and Lao Tiantai, Lan Jiechen and they had an incompatible temperament from the beginning, how could they not attract the attention of others.

Seeing that Lan Jiechen seemed to ignore the ascetics around him, he smiled slightly and said, "No, people need this kind of cultivation more now, and all sentient beings want to find his path to liberation." Because people nowadays are confused and distressed by cultivating Buddhahood, and are afflicted by becoming Buddhas, and there is no way out.

They were in great need of this practice, but they didn't find it. If they knew the way, he would rejoice greatly. ”

Lan Juechen's words were very ingenious, and there were words in his words, which made people think deeply.

In the eyes of the younger generations, the sufferings of asceticism are divided into beneficial sufferings and unhelpful sufferings, and there are standards for these two kinds of suffering.

Unhelpful suffering: sleeping on a nail bed, eating ****, nudity, self-harm, etc., all belong to the unhelpful suffering of deviance. Beneficial hardships must be done, or you will sometimes be inferior to the people of the world.

In the world, for the sake of small profits, even if you are sick, you have to support your body to earn money and support your family. For the sake of the Supreme Dharma, how can we let go of such a big thing? We have to work hard. The so-called penance is hard work, and the outside of the hard work is not bitter.

So we must work the precepts. It seems to me that how many people here are actually trying to avoid real asceticism, they have already deviated from the scriptures, they have come for the Buddha, but the Buddha has become farther and farther away from them. ”

"How can I tell the difference between unhelpful and beneficial, and how do I know if what you say is true?" asked an ascetic.

"So you have to do asceticism, and austerity is to correct yourself in the process of making mistakes, and how to correct yourself if you don't make mistakes, first of all, you have to understand where you are wrong.

So you eat ****, do you have any feelings? Your perception should not be, this **** is very bad to eat and smell, I actually ate ****, I'm so good, this kind of feeling, right?

Whether it is becoming a god or becoming a Buddha, the ultimate way of practice is to perceive the avenue of heaven and earth, do you think that eating **** can make you understand the way and reason of heaven and earth? Not to mention whether you can leave the Buddha country to see the world, but then Buddhism can allow you to study well.

It's not your fault that you're ordinary, it's not your fault that you want to change yourself, you don't have the ability to distinguish right from wrong, that's your problem. Lan Jiechen said.

"It is impossible to attain enlightenment in greed, and you have to overcome greed so that you will have a correct view and will correspond to the precepts. Penance and the precepts are the same, not two, and if you want to keep the vows well, you must do penance.

The bodhisattva vows also say that you must first practice penance, and you must also burn your fingers and arms to support the Buddhas, which is the requirement for beginners to practice the Bodhisattva path. So do you think it is beneficial or unhelpful to burn your fingers and arms to make offerings to the Buddhas?" asked another ascetic.

"If you want to become a Buddha, why do you need to burn your fingers and arms to make offerings to the Buddhas? What do you understand with your burning fingers and burning arms? Actually, ordinary people should face themselves squarely and not aim at becoming a Buddha, because the Buddha is too far away from you.

You should aim to live a healthy life for yourself and your family, and to live a happy life. Your purpose has changed, your faith is correct, and soon you will find that the Buddha is all around you.

The gods and Buddhas will not save you from suffering, and it is always yourself, your family and friends who will save you in any time of crisis.

In fact, you are so fanatical because of greed.

Isn't that also contrary to the core of what you now call asceticism?" )