I stole divine power in Daxia

Chapter 596: The Sage is Unkind and Treats the People as Straw Dogs

In the pure land of equality in the underworld, lotus flowers are blooming one after another, and among them sit Buddhist ghosts and gods of the underworld.

In the center of the lotus pond, Mo Jian, the Equal King Buddha, wears tortoise-shell glasses and looks at the lotus pond in front of him with compassion. The pond water reflects the current situation of temples in the nine western provinces that are eating up the dirt.

Around him, Buddha's light shone brightly. The twenty-four Buddha Lords also looked at the lotus pond, but some of them smiled and praised Maitreya Buddha, "Maitreya Buddha really has incredible merits. This mantra can save people from difficulties. It is the supreme mantra."

The praised Maitreya Buddha was all smiles. He had a cloth bag on his waist. At this moment, the bag was opened, and the merits and wishes of humanity gathered together, making the Buddha light around his body increase greatly. It also allowed him to take this opportunity to fulfill his great wish and achieve the status of Pratyekabuddha.

Although he had gained a lot, Maitreya Buddha still showed humility, clasped his hands together and said, "No one in the world is innocent, I just happened to be there."

The more Maitreya Buddha said this, the more the twenty-four heavenly Buddhas around him praised him.

When it comes to the so-called ways of the world, Buddhist masters must be more proficient in them than ordinary people, otherwise there wouldn’t be so much mutual flattery and praise in the Buddhist scriptures.

Seeing this situation, Mo Jian suddenly raised his head and sneered, "If Buddhism is only this level, it will be destroyed in a hundred years. I don't know what you are praising?"

Mo Jian was so disrespectful that he revealed the core of Maitreya Buddhism, and the Buddhas also looked embarrassed.

They also know the shortcomings of this [Maitreya Savior Mantra]. After all, soil is still soil and cannot truly turn into flesh. If Buddhism could do this, the world would have long been filled with people practicing Buddhism alone.

The reason why [Maitreya's Savior Mantra] can turn soil into flesh has to do with the [Taiyi Sanguan Zhenlu Sword Sutra] passed down by Zhou Tieyi. Zhou Tieyi explained this method in Taiyi Temple with the aim of helping the ghosts and immortals in the world complete the transformation of essence, energy and spirit, to return spirit to energy, and energy to essence, and to reshape the flesh.

Maitreya Buddha also heard this teaching, but he realized a different truth. Now the people in the nine western states are not getting enough food, which is essentially the human body absorbing the essence in the food.

Since essence, energy and spirit can be transformed into each other, can the human body skip absorbing essence and energy and directly absorb spirit?

Therefore, Maitreya Buddha combined the Buddhist method of [Purifying Mouth Karma Mantra] and his own aspiration to save the world, and deduced this [Maitreya Savior Mantra]. People chanted this mantra to connect with Maitreya Pure Land and provide faith, and the faith was fed back to the people and turned into divine power. This divine power was directly manifested through the refined soil, so that the soil could be turned into "meat" and directly feed people.

As soon as this method came out, all Buddhists were amazed. However, after careful study, they also discovered the weaknesses of this method.

Although [Maitreya's Mantra of Saving the World] looks the same as [Taiyi Three Lights Sword Sutra], both are methods of transforming essence, energy and spirit, but the biggest and most core difference between the two is that [Taiyi Three Lights Sword Sutra] complies with the basic law of energy loss, while [Maitreya's Mantra of Saving the World] is like a perpetual motion machine.

The ghost immortal develops a physical body by using the power of all living beings to nourish one person. A ghost immortal who has practiced for a hundred years has wasted a hundred years of practice, only to gain a physical body. In terms of quantity and time, it takes to complete the transformation of essence, energy and spirit, and there is a huge loss in the process of energy conversion.

However, the [Maitreya Savior Mantra] wants to use the faith of all living beings in the world to feed all living beings in the world. In the future, everyone only needs to chant sutras to support themselves. This does not take into account the loss problem and is nothing but a foolish dream.

In addition, ghost immortals are the elites among practitioners. Their transformation requires the power of thunder and the power of their family to complete the key transformation of yin and yang. How can ordinary people chanting spells be compared with ghost immortals?

Therefore, this [Maitreya Savior Mantra] will lead to a serious consequence. The people absorb a large amount of divine power that does not belong to them. These divine powers accumulate in the people's bodies and begin to transform the people's "essence", that is, their bodies. On the one hand, it makes up for the consumption, and on the other hand, it allows the transformed bodies to adapt to Maitreya's divine power and become non-human beings.

Based on the two-month experiment, this transformation has three major disadvantages and one major advantage.

One of the disadvantages is that if you use the Maitreya mantra excessively, your body will eventually be transformed into a mud structure. Although it is better than a ghost, you will still be a native in the future and will completely lose your fertility. This is what the Equality King Fomojian criticized. If Buddhism is so complacent, it will be destroyed in a hundred years.

This is truly eliminating the reproduction of the lower-class people in a practical sense. If the people do not give birth and do not create a large number of new population to practice the Maitreya Mantra, then this mantra along with the Buddhist tradition will only perish.

The second disadvantage is that the people who do not practice Buddhism absorb the Buddhist power. These powers accumulate in their bodies and involve the transformation of essence, energy and spirit, which will make their spirits become extreme. The most direct manifestation is that they will not tolerate others saying anything bad about Buddhism. Their spirits will also become dull and lack creativity.

The third disadvantage is that the native bodies combined with the Buddhist divine power accumulated in their bodies mean that these people can only practice Buddhism in the future and cannot switch to other ways of practice. At the same time, their lifespan is greatly reduced.

However, these three major disadvantages also created a major advantage, that is, these people are really like the gods who have been baptized in the pool of merit in the Buddhist scriptures, they all have the "appearance of a real man", they can practice Buddhism, are not afraid of pain, and are loyal to Buddhism. These are the best monk soldiers.

As long as they could make good use of these monk-soldiers to expand territory, and use the captured people and territories to support these monk-soldiers, this method could also be sustained for a long time. Therefore, after knowing the advantages and disadvantages of this method at the beginning, even King Equality Fo Mojian did not directly oppose it, but only expressed dissatisfaction.

Several Buddha Lords heard Mo Jian's dissatisfaction and laughed, saying, "This method is just a stopgap measure. Wang Buddha's ambition is beyond our reach. But Wang Buddha has been practicing for so long, why did he leave the Mohist school? Isn't it because he realized that in order to achieve his ambition, the whole process requires sacrifice? As the saying goes, heaven and earth are unkind and treat all things as straw dogs. If our way can prosper and the world can be peaceful forever, this [Maitreya Savior Mantra] can be put aside."

Mo Jian closed his eyes and chanted the Buddha's name for a long time, "Amitabha."

He was unable to resolve the current predicament of Buddhism, nor could he watch so many people starve to death, so he could only grumble a few words to express his dissatisfaction.

Maitreya Buddha changed the subject and turned to look at the Buddha next to him. This Buddha seemed out of tune with the twenty-four heavenly gods around him. There are many schools of Buddhism, and there are many extreme people among them. For example, the Huanxitian lineage that plotted against Zhou Tieyi were one of these people who practiced extreme methods. That's why they separated from Buddhism, united, and secretly formed the twenty-four heavenly gods.

The Buddha before him was covered in blood and murderous aura. He was wearing the simplest monk's robe and carrying a black weapon that looked like a stick and a sword on his back. This was the last and most important of the three treasures of the Fahua Temple, the peerless divine weapon, the Buddhist certificate of breaking the precepts.

This sword is not sharpened. When it was in the hands of Buddha, it was used to cut off karma but not people, and to save all living beings in the world. But even for Buddha, it was difficult to truly cut off karma but not people. Once in a great war with Shinto, Buddha's sword was plotted against by Shinto, and was stained with blood due to killing. Buddha regarded it as an ominous sign and abandoned it.

But how could the monks be willing to give up such a powerful and peerless divine weapon? So the abbot of the Fahua Temple obtained the Buddhist certificate of breaking the precepts by chance, and based on the Buddhist certificate, he established the Fahua Temple, which is now one of the four major holy places of Buddhism.

After that, in every generation of the Fahua Temple, there was one person who practiced the method of cutting off karma and became the sect's guardian. Unfortunately, it took great luck for a peerless magic weapon to appear in the world, so not every generation of monks who cut off karma in the Fahua Temple could inherit the Buddhist certificate of breaking precepts.

Therefore, the Buddhist certificate of breaking the precepts was shelved most of the time and was unknown to people until a major event occurred thirty years ago, when half of the eminent monks in the Fahua Temple passed away overnight. Afterwards, news came out that a fire-burning monk inherited the Buddhist certificate of breaking the precepts, broke the precept of killing, and was expelled from the temple, and his whereabouts are unknown.

Moreover, the Fahua Temple was extremely taboo about this matter, and no details were disclosed. Later, it was left unresolved, which only confirmed that the Buddha had abandoned the practice of cutting karma. Now this monk who cuts karma has become the killing Buddha of Buddhism. It is natural for him to lead the Buddhist monks and practice the method of cutting karma. However, the method of cutting karma in his hands no longer cuts karma and does not kill people, but kills to protect life. Even many people in Buddhism are reluctant to get too close, for fear of responding to the Buddha's "ominous" words.

"Killing Buddha, Daxia is now aggressive towards us. This is not a solution. Buddha, do you have any way to deal with it?"

Zhou Tieyi and the Lord of Daming Palace had formulated a method to deal with the Buddhist rebellion in the west several months ago. That was to not take the initiative to attack, but to block the food routes of the nine western provinces and the central plains of Daxia, and use the severe drought to let the people escape famine slowly on their own. This would effectively control the situation on the battlefield and prevent Daxia from sending troops in all directions and having difficulty maintaining its own food supply.

If we wait until industrial reform is completed and immortals and gods merge, Daxia's national strength will surge and we will be able to calmly clean up the mess in the west and the north. This plan was very pertinent at the time, and even the Emperor of Daxia thought it was reasonable. Otherwise, Daxia would be caught in a chaotic war with Buddhism. Even if we won local battles, we would have to bear the burden of a large number of victims and send a large number of soldiers to garrison. The food loss would be an astronomical figure.

On the contrary, as it is now, due to Buddhism's own ideological problems, Daxia did not send troops to fight on the battlefield, but only blocked the main roads. Then, Buddhism would rarely take the initiative to attack, and could only rely on refugees to attack, but would have to bear the problem of food and drink for the people of Kyushu. This would only make the many Buddhas anxious, after all, chanting scriptures could not bring about a peaceful and prosperous era.

Zhou Tieyi can conjure up "money" because money is essentially the ability to transport goods across the world, but Zhou Tieyi cannot directly conjure up grain, so in the early days of reform, he was actually the biggest appeaser in the Great Xia court. If it were possible to avoid sending large-scale troops to occupy the country, Zhou Tieyi would absolutely support it.

Therefore, on the issue of Buddhism in the west, Zhou Tieyi's goal was not to win a few battles, that was the idea of ​​a military strategist. Governing the world required strategic victories. In the early days of reform, the agricultural population was transformed into an industrial population and was already short of food. Buddhism could help Daxia bear the burden of the poor population in the nine western provinces and slowly deliver to the reformed areas the kind of excellent labor force that would work as long as they were given a bite to eat. In Zhou Tieyi's view, that was a real living Bodhisattva. As for how these people lived under the rule of Buddhism, that was the burden of Buddhism, not Zhou Tieyi's.

After Maitreya Buddha said this, all the Buddhas also looked over. The essence of [Maitreya's Savior Mantra] is to rush to recruit soldiers. Almost all the development potential is invested in this wave of monk soldiers. If the external expansion cannot be completed and it really drags on for ten or twenty years, the hinterland of Daxia will see things getting better and better. But if this group of monk soldiers run out of life and return to the Buddhist country, then by then the Buddhism in the nine western provinces will be nothing but an empty shell.

"Yes, Zhou Tieyi is so overbearing that we have no choice but to resort to the worst possible strategy. At least we have to send troops to make him agree to transport the grain to the west. All the people in the world are common people. Why can't we, the people in the west, eat grain but only dirt?"

They waited for several months, hoping that Daxia would take the initiative and come to their base camp in the western province to fight a fierce battle with them. The Lord of Daming Palace and Zhou Tieyi did not move, but these Buddhist masters could not sit still.

The Killing Buddha sneered, "You know this is a bad idea, but you are still so stupid. I have an even stupider idea that suits you. Why don't I send you to Taiyi Temple to fight Zhou Tieyi? If you lose, you will die for your religion. If you win, you will become the master of the twenty-four heavens. How about that?"

The Buddha was scolded so bluntly by the Killing Buddha and looked angry, but facing the Killing Buddha, he dared not say anything.

Mo Jian sighed softly in his heart. Now that he thought about it, his move to Buddhism was a big mistake. However, since things have come to this point, regretting is useless. Mo Jian asked, "Does the Lord of Killing have any other good ideas?"

The Buddha of Killing glanced at Mo Jian and said, "I'm just thinking about it."

The other Buddhas were about to make a few sarcastic remarks, but unexpectedly, the Buddha of Killing directly disconnected, and his Buddha figure disappeared into the dark lotus pond.

An abandoned courtyard backed by a mountain in Huangtingzhou.

The Killing Buddha opened his eyes from his meditation. A malnourished little girl in front of him said in surprise, "Second Master is awake. The wild vegetables are ready. My brother also picked some wild fruits and killed a roe deer."

The Killing Buddha nodded and stood up. An old man's full-throated voice came from outside, "Little girl, hurry up and eat. I've long said that the monk can just eat dirt. You insisted on waiting for him to finish his meditation before serving the meal. I'm so hungry!"

The little girl said quickly, "Here it comes, here it comes!"

The little girl pushed open the door excitedly. There were chairs outside, with two people, one big and one small, sitting on them. The big old man looked to be between sixty and eighty years old, with half black and half white hair, making it difficult to tell his age. However, his face was ruddy and he looked like a master.

The younger one was a teenager of about sixteen or seventeen years old, and was the little girl's brother.

The Buddha of Killing did not say much. He sat down. The little girl brought a bowl of wild vegetables, some wild fruits and two pieces of roe deer meat from the stove next to him. The Buddha of Killing only scooped a spoonful of porridge. The old man was not polite at all and wanted to put both pieces of roe deer meat into his bowl.

The little girl complained, "Master, there is a piece of meat that is for my brother."

The old man laughed, "If you follow this monk to practice for a few more days, we will eat dirt together and won't have to eat meat. Only if you follow me can you eat meat every day!"

However, he still handed a piece of roe deer meat from his bowl to the boy.

The little girl suddenly asked, "I heard that in the temple, soil can really be turned into meat."

Then he whispered, "Now the wild vegetables are almost all dug up, it's hard for me to dig them up..."

The Buddha of Killing took a sip of the wild vegetable porridge, which tasted bitter and astringent. He said, "Soil cannot be turned into meat."

The young man asked, "I heard that if we escape to the south, there is a Zhou Tianzun there. Although he can't turn meat into meat, he can feed everyone in the world. Is this true?"

The old man sneered, "If he can really feed everyone in the world, why doesn't he let you eat as well?"

The boy was speechless for a moment.

The Killing Buddha finished the vegetable porridge in his bowl, put down his bowl and chopsticks, and said, "The saint is not benevolent, and treats the people as straw dogs. He wants to fight for the orthodoxy, so he can't let the people of the world eat their fill, at least he can't let those who don't obey his orthodoxy eat their fill."

This sentence was so profound that neither the boy nor the little girl understood it. They could only remember it silently.

The old man thought for a moment and nodded, "That makes sense. So you eat dirt and I eat wild vegetables. We are brothers in distress. I just envy the food in his bowl."

(End of this chapter)