Jinshan Temple

One morning, the monks in the monastery had just finished their morning class, and Elder Fa Ming, who had been reciting sutras with his eyes closed, suddenly opened his eyes, his face as calm as before, "It's time to go! It's time to go! Jiang Liu'er, don't forget the oath to learn scriptures from the west!"

On the futon, Elder Fa Ming faced the west and recited: "All the Dharma is like a dream bubble, like dew and electricity, and it should be viewed as such." After the recitation, the nameless fire spontaneously ignites the body. In an instant, the great light shines through the entire Jinshan Temple, and the strange fragrance is heard from afar. After Elder Fa Ming's body spontaneously combusted, more than 100 grains of five-colored relics were left behind, which were crystal clear and clean. Elder Fa Ming suddenly passed away with a miraculous sign, and he entered the realm of the great arhat of emptiness.

Jiang Liu'er, who was far away in Chang'an, didn't know that his master, Elder Fa Ming, had passed away, and he was fighting against his demons.

For several days, whenever he was meditating, three demons came out to harass him: a wild monkey in the mountains, with a face covered in monkey hair, jumping up and down on him, sticking his eyes and nose and scratching his hair, another a mad pig with a pig's head and big ears, trying to pull Jiang Liu'er off his seat, and another angry villain, with a face full of flesh, screaming in his ear and dancing an iron rod wildly.

Every time he entered deep meditation, these three demons would appear in Jiang Liu'er's heart, and they would appear alone or together, all of them showing hideous and terrifying faces, trying to pull him down from the vajra throne.

The so-called "the road is one foot high, and the magic is one foot high". When a practitioner reaches a certain level of refinement, more or less demonic obstacles will appear. There are internal demons and external demons, and the outer demons are easy to retreat, and the inner demons are difficult to fall. If you can't subdue your demons, you'll be enchanted. Not only is the previous work wasted, but it is also very dangerous for the practitioner, with the light ones having auditory hallucinations, hallucinations, and visual hallucinations, and the worst cases causing extremely dangerous actions such as self-harm, suicide, and murder.

One day, when Jiang Liu'er was in deep meditation, his inner demon reappeared.

The monkey-shaped monster twisted Jiang Liu'er's ears, and suddenly said a human voice: "Jiang Liu'er! You see that my monkeys and monkeys live in the mountains and forests, idle wild fruits to satisfy hunger, and white clouds should be covered when they are sleepy; We monkeys live an unrestrained and happy life, unlike you and other monks and laymen in the world, who work hard all day long and are subject to many constraints. Come with me! Let's go to the mountains and be happy monkeys at ease!"

The great evil man with the wand in his hand foamed at the mouth, pointed at Jiang Liu'er and scolded for a while: "Chen Yuan! Do you still remember your biological parents, do you remember your master! You don't remember the kindness of your parents and master, but you meditate here, think about whether you have ever supported your biological parents for a day? Have you ever seen your master for the last time?" After speaking, he hit the wand at Jiang Liu'er's body indiscriminately.

The pig demon also jumped in front of him at once, spoke human words, and shouted loudly: "Jiang Liu'er! Then Li Rong'er has a deep affection for you, and you yourself have feelings for Li Rong'er in your heart, what kind of monk should you be! What are the benefits of being a monk? It's better to be a happy fairy couple with your beloved Li Rong'er, and in the future there will be a full house of children and grandchildren, wouldn't you be happy! Jiang Liu'er! You can't live up to Rong'er's love!"

Jiang Liu'er was shocked into a cold sweat during meditation, and suddenly opened her eyes!

Jiang Liu'er, who woke up, pondered: If you want to subdue the demons in your heart, you must first recognize the demons, if you are enchanted, and when you encounter demons, you don't know that they are demons, then you are easy to be enchanted; if you see through the demons, the demons will retreat by themselves.

So, what is a demonic appearance? Jiang Liu'er thought about it for a while, and suddenly it dawned on him: It turns out that when all lovely, terrifying, and terrifying characters or realms appear, they are all demons......

"The "Lotus of Buddhahood", and the "Lengyan" of subjugating demons. Jiang Liu'er pondered: The "Lengyan Sutra" says that the fifty kinds of yin demons are very detailed, and cultivators must carefully study them, so as not to be unable to distinguish them before the appearance of the demon realm. The "Lengyan Sutra" also says that there are two ways to cure demons:

One is fearless. A practitioner must first have the heart to sacrifice one's life before one can study Buddhism, and a practitioner must first have the courage to see through life and death before one can subdue demons. Even if it is really devoured, it is also the result of the cultivator's long-cherished karma, and I am able to shed his skin and die in bliss, and I have to thank it! Therefore, the practitioner should be fearless, not frightened when he sees the thunder breaking through the mountain, fearless in the face of the wind and the sea, and walking awe-inspiring on the Bodhi Avenue, even though the ghosts and gods stand in the way, there is no advance or retreat!

Second, there is no give-and-take. Before the appearance of the demon realm, I must calm my heart, let him come and go, neither covet him nor dislike him, and think: The demon also has an ethereal nature, the demon is the Buddha, the Buddha is the devil, the enlightened person becomes the Buddha, the lost person is the devil, and the demon is like the Buddha, and there is no two reasons; and I think: The demon is the dependent, and the dependents are the devil, and the demon is by my side, so what harm does it do to me? In short, the devil does not refuse, and the devil does not stay. In this way, the magic skills will inevitably be exhausted, and both internal and external demons will retreat and hide.

Thinking of this, Jiang Liuer himself also summed up a set of methods to subdue demons, whether it was a Buddha or a demon, he gave him a lotus platform, and asked him to recite "Nan no Buddha, Nan can't, Nan no monk" to meditate on the lotus platform. This method is very effective for the distracting delusions that arise when you first enter meditation, but it is not very effective for the three demons that appear when you are deeply meditating.

For this reason, Jiang Liuer sought advice from the eminent monk Master Deyan.

Listening to Jiang Liu'er's story of the Demon Realm, Master Yan pondered for a moment and said, "Those three demon monsters all come from your heart and are hidden in your Eight Senses Heart Field. When you first practice, the little demon level is easy to break, and when your Dao power becomes deeper and deeper, the fundamental habits hidden in the field of the eight consciousnesses will be forced out by Kung Fu, or delusional thoughts will arise, or desires will fly, and their power is very great, extraordinary. ”

"That monkey demon is your delusional desire for freedom, thinking that you can live carefree and unrestrained in the mountains, and cling to the idea of 'being free and easy'; that pig demon is an infatuated man who longs for love and is trapped by lust; and that angry wicked man is the great filial son who slashes your enemies and avenges the blood of your parents!"

"The appearance of these demons is the result of fundamental confusion and karma, and it is a manifestation of greed, ignorance, and ignorance. Buddhism is broad and profound, there are 85,000 methods, there is always a suitable method for you. ”

Finally, the wise and benevolent Venerable Yan earnestly taught, "Xuanzang, all bodhisattva practitioners should practice the Five Wisdoms, namely Inner Knowledge, Medical Prescription Knowledge, Declaration, Skill Knowledge, and Cause Knowledge, so as to become the Great Good Knowledge with the Five Knowledges. Because every bodhisattva must have an immeasurable method to save sentient beings, and boundless sentient beings have all kinds of differences, and they must be saved by all kinds of conveniences, and they must save themselves. Therefore, you must continue to humbly study the five wisdoms of the Bodhisattva, and practice all the worldly and worldly laws, so that you can have a solid cultivation to fulfill the grand wish of learning scriptures from the western heavens and purify the world. ”