The Lord of the Laws of Heaven

Chapter 345

The entire Great Qian Dynasty seemed to be experiencing a slight uproar!

Rumor has it that the remnants of the Great Zen Temple are actually trying to spread the legendary Vajra Prajna Paramita, which is the highest crystallization of Buddhism and Taoism established by the Holy Emperor Yuan Tong after leading the people to understand the truth.

The meaning of "paramita" is to reach the other shore.

This is the ultimate achievement of the ancient legendary Holy Emperor in exploring the realm of the other shore!
The remnants of the Great Zen Temple... no... the masters of the Great Zen Temple actually have such courage to spread the Paramita Path of the ancient Holy Emperor!

Many people received this message.

However, in the Great Qian Dynasty, people did not have a good impression of Buddhism, because Yang Pan himself started his power by destroying the Great Zen Temple, and now the remnants of the Great Zen Temple have appeared openly, which is not in line with the correctness of the Great Qian Dynasty.

Many scholars began writing various defamatory articles, dredging up all the past criticisms and ridicule of Buddhism, and using them as material again, as if Jingren were some untouchable filth.

Some scholars even openly shouted insults in front of the Great Zen Academy where Jingren was located, and even took pleasure in it.

Upon closer inspection, these scholars were all lazy and unproductive, mere bookworms. Therefore, Jing Ren felt no anger whatsoever; in fact, looking at these scholars, he even felt a sense of amusement and sorrow. These scholars, no matter how many books they had read or how high their scholarship, were nothing more than dogs leashed by the Great Qian Dynasty.

The Great Qian Dynasty was founded on military might. Unless they were true Confucian scholars, these literati were nothing more than chickens and ducks that the Great Qian Dynasty could easily catch and kill. These scholars not only lacked the wisdom and spirit of true Confucian scholars, but also exuded a kind of pedantic and pedantic air.

This group of people could never possibly recognize the value of the Mahayana Prajnaparamita. Those who truly recognize the value of the Mahayana Prajnaparamita are all people with profound family backgrounds.

"I see this Grand Zen Academy is quite something! The Buddhist community actually dares to imitate the style of traditional academies! What, is the Buddhist community starting to follow the path of us scholars?"

"He's nothing but a fame-seeker!"

"Hey, you've all read 'The Scholars,' so you probably know that even Buddhist temples aren't exactly pure places..."

Many words were spoken, mocking and ridiculing.

Suddenly, a middle-aged man dressed in fine clothes and carrying a jade pen slowly walked past the group of scholars who were teasing the Great Zen Academy.

This middle-aged man walked step by step up the mountain to the site of the original Great Zen Temple, now the location of the Great Zen Academy.

The middle-aged man walked across the moss-covered, broken stone steps. Although he looked like a refined scholar, his steps were steady and powerful, and his posture was extremely proper.

After a long time, a building in the style of an academy appeared, its doors wide open.

The middle-aged man walked in and heard a clear, crisp sound of a wooden fish accompanied by chanting. This chanting had an unimaginable, wondrous rhythm that seemed to make anyone who heard it forget everything in the world and begin to completely calm their mind, recalling everything they had done in the past.

The sound of the wooden fish and the chanting of scriptures will naturally inspire self-reflection in others, prompting them to examine themselves, thereby achieving a kind of spiritual cleansing. Even those who do not understand the meaning of the scriptures can become pure in thought and gradually increase in wisdom.

"Excellent Zen chanting, excellent methods, excellent merit!" The middle-aged man nodded, not holding back his praise, and unlike most scholars, he did not criticize this great Zen academy.

After a while, the chanting of the scriptures ended, but it seemed to still echo in the building, lingering there as if unwilling to dissipate.

“Jingren was originally one of the 108 Bodhisattvas of the Great Zen Temple. He went to the desolate land, colluded with the Witch Ghost Sect, became a Martial Saint, and then achieved the Human Immortal realm!” the middle-aged man said with a smile.

The only response from the middle-aged man was silence. He initially smiled, but soon realized that the silence persisted. Feeling somewhat bored, he shook his head and seemed about to leave.

But in the blink of an eye, the middle-aged man's expression suddenly changed. The scenery before him seemed to shift and change. The world was dark, and the darkness around him was thick and unyielding, as if it had lasted for thousands, tens of thousands, or even countless eons!

But then, a point of light appeared, followed by a ball of light, and finally, it suddenly appeared like a firework.

The darkness that could not be dispelled for thousands, tens of thousands, or even countless eons was instantly transformed into light. No matter how dark it was before dawn, the darkness vanished the moment the sun appeared, and there was nothing that could stop it.

A room that has been dark for a thousand years can be illuminated by a single lamp!
All ignorance, delusion, suffering, and darkness seem to vanish instantly the moment a ray of light is lit. Darkness is illusory; when light arrives, everything is illuminated. Even if a person is mired in darkness and suffers through countless cycles of pain, once the light of wisdom is lit in their heart, all the calamities and seas of suffering instantly become illusory.

The light of that lamp is wisdom, is prajna, is great liberation, is... the path to the other shore.

The middle-aged man suddenly felt a sense of disorientation, as if all his past desires had become meaningless, and that only by escaping the sea of ​​suffering could all his pursuits be considered the ultimate goal.

As various changes occurred in the middle-aged man's mind, he realized something was wrong and began to silently use calming techniques to stabilize his mind. Then, the middle-aged man realized that the so-called light and flame, the so-called ignorance and darkness, had all turned into nothingness, as if he had just woken up from a dream.

'This method is terrifying!' the middle-aged man thought to himself, and immediately realized that he might have made a mistake.

"Qian Daozi, you've come to my Great Zen Academy, do you perhaps want to debate the Dharma?" Accompanying the words was a surge of energy, as vast as the sun, accompanied by an unimaginable aura!

The middle-aged man was none other than the legendary Qian Daozi, a figure akin to a painting saint.

Just now, he seemed to have fallen into an illusion. No... this was not an illusion, but rather Jingren's martial will directly enveloped Qian Daozi, making him face Jingren's martial will and the world as Jingren saw it.

The will of a Human Immortal is so vast! The will of a Human Immortal is almost equivalent to the will of a Ghost Immortal who has undergone a fifth or even sixth tribulation of lightning! Qian Daozi's cultivation is also quite profound; he is a Ghost Immortal. However, he is still too arrogant in the face of a terrifying Human Immortal.

When Qian Daozi arrived at this Great Zen Academy, he didn't sense any particularly powerful force. This was simply because Jing Ren didn't want to put pressure on others, focusing on his own vital energy and will. Now, however, he was fully displaying the power of a Human Immortal. If Jing Ren wanted, slaughtering a Ghost Immortal would be as easy as killing a chicken or duck.

"So it's Master Jingren! I've been rude!" Qian Daozi's expression turned solemn as he respectfully bowed to the voice coming from the depths of the academy.

"Qian Daozi, what brings you here?"

"Naturally, I want to borrow the legendary visualization diagram of the 'Past Amitabha Sutra' from the Great Zen Temple! Legend has it that the Great Zen Temple possesses three scriptures—past, present, and future. If one can study them all, one can understand the path of the Maha Vajra Prajnaparamita and attain the other shore!" Qian Daozi said. "Master Jingren is compassionate and wishes to spread the path of the Maha Vajra Prajnaparamita, which naturally makes me eager to observe the form of the Past Amitabha!"

The image of Amitabha Buddha in the past can be considered the supreme visualization, profound and mysterious, suppressing all inner demons and ignorance. If one can visualize it, one can obtain great concentration, great wisdom, and great supernatural powers. However, the use of this visualization for Qian Daozi is even more extraordinary than for ordinary practitioners.

Qian Daozi was revered as a master painter. If one could comprehend even a trace of the Dao of painting within a supreme visualization, it would elevate his cultivation to an unbelievable level.

Secondly, he had a good relationship with the Great Zen Temple in the past. The Great Zen Temple often paid a large sum of money to Qian Daozi to paint portraits of Bodhisattvas and Arhats. Some of these portraits became visualization paintings, while others were framed and worshipped. Now that the Great Zen Temple has been destroyed, this relationship is no longer of any use. However, with the sudden emergence of the monk Jingren, and the powerful family behind Qian Daozi, they sent him to use up the last bit of goodwill from the Great Zen Temple in order to test the current Jingren, or rather, the so-called power of the Great Zen Academy.

"You want to obtain the past scriptures from my hands... Unfortunately, I truly do not possess them!" Jingren's voice rang out, then he said to Qian Daozi, "The so-called Vajra Prajna Paramita Path has nothing to do with the past, nothing to do with the present, nothing to do with the future... The Vajra Prajna Paramita Path is merely the Vajra Prajna Paramita Path!"

"Where is the path of the Mahayana Prajnaparamita?" Qian Daozi suddenly asked.

"If you truly wish to understand the path of the Mahayana Prajnaparamita, then please enter the main courtyard and discuss it with us!" Jingren's voice directly invited Qian Daozi.

The invitation from a Human Immortal immediately put Qian Daozi in a difficult position. Everyone knew that the power of a Human Immortal, within arm's reach, could turn an entire nation into an enemy! The existence of a Human Immortal was even enough to suppress the fortune of a region. Could he, a mere Ghost Immortal, really accept an invitation from a Human Immortal?

After a while, Qian Daozi burst into laughter.

"Since Master Jingren has invited me, how could Qian Daozi refuse!" Qian Daozi laughed loudly and strode towards the place where the sun seemed to be formed from scorching blood and qi.

"Have you not heard the saying, 'If I hear the Way in the morning, I can die content in the evening'?"

Soon, after passing through a large courtyard, they arrived at an antique-style pavilion.

Upon entering, one sees a holy statue with all thirty-two marks of a Buddha placed in the very center of the pavilion, dressed in a mysterious long robe, upon which mysterious scriptures appear.

Upon seeing this sacred image, Qian Daozi felt as if the sculpture before him was almost an embodiment of wisdom.

Below, a senior monk, dressed in a kasaya (Buddhist robe), had scriptures appearing on it from time to time, expounding the simplest yet most profound truths, prompting deep reflection.

This senior monk had a wooden fish in front of him.

The senior monk was indeed Jingren, and seemed to possess a hint of the aura of the holy statue above, but compared to the holy statue, he appeared insignificant.

The statue was of unknown origin and so profound that Qian Daozi could not look away after just one glance. He felt that all his answers could be found in the statue.

When the statue was being cast, Jingren called out to Xiao Jun, requesting his blessing!

Xiao Jun once observed the sacred statues belonging to the philosophers. These statues embodied the principles and the righteous thoughts of all scholars in the world. These righteous thoughts became the power for the operation of the principles, just like the condensation of the righteous path between heaven and earth.

Therefore, Xiao Jun imitated the images of the sages of the ancient sages, operated the primordial chaos, and derived the path of the Mahayana Prajnaparamita. All the phenomena in the sculpture were evolving the principles.

That's why such holy images exist.

Qian Daozi was deeply attracted by the sacred image, and the more he observed it, the more profound and mysterious it seemed. Through the sacred image, he felt as if he had obtained the supreme truth of heaven and earth.

This is essentially a matter of the compatibility of principles. Qian Daozi's principles were compatible with a trace of Dao energy emanating from the sacred image. That's why Qian Daozi believed he had seen the supreme truth of the universe.

However, all the phenomena in the world contain principles, are the laws governing the operation of the world, and are the right path. How can there be a distinction between high and low?

After a long while, Qian Daozi suddenly realized that he had broken free from the perception of the sacred image. He suppressed his desire and forced his eyes not to look at the sacred image, but to look at Master Jingren instead.

"What a sacred image, what profound truths!" Qian Daozi looked at the great monk in front of him. He saw that the great monk had stood up at some point, wearing a mysterious long robe-like kasaya, which made him look solemn yet somewhat dashing.

"Is this the path of the Mahayana Prajnaparamita?" Qian Daozi asked.

The monk Jingren shook his head, then said, "The path of the Maha Vajra Prajna Paramita is right there! The path... is right there!"

Qian Daozi was suspicious, wondering what Zen riddle the monk Jingren was trying to get at him.

In fact, Monk Jingren was not using Zen riddles, but speaking truthfully and without falsehood. The path of Maha Vajra Prajna Paramita is not a scripture, nor a sculpture, nor a supernatural power, nor a fixed rule.

Maha Vajra Prajna Paramita is simply the wisdom that all living beings inherently possess; it is their true nature, existing right there without any difference!
This is also the wisdom of Prajna that the monk Jingren gained from comprehending the Prajna path. In fact, he gained nothing; he merely realized his true nature.

The Mahayana Prajna Paramita mentioned by Qian Daozi refers to a sacred image, but the principle is not a sacred image; rather, the sacred image is the principle.

"If the path of the Mahayana Prajnaparamita is indeed there, then... where exactly is 'there'?" Qian Daozi asked with a smile.

"It is this shore, it is the other shore, it is in between, it is neither this shore nor the other shore nor in between, it is neither cause nor effect, it is neither existence nor emptiness... If one were to speak of the location of the Maha Vajra Prajna Paramita, it would be impossible to describe it even after countless eons."

Qian Daozi smiled without saying a word. He guessed that the monk in front of him was probably deceiving him, making the reasoning seem mysterious and incomprehensible.

"What method is there to attain the path of the Mahayana Prajnaparamita?" Qian Daozi truly had the intention to discuss the Dao.

"There is no method to attain the Vajra Prajnaparamita, nor is there a method to lose the Vajra Prajnaparamita... But I have three thousand Prajnaparamita Sutras, each of which is a stepping stone or gateway to the Vajra Prajnaparamita. However, the Prajnaparamita Sutras are not the Vajra Prajnaparamita!"

"Then you dare to say that you have widely spread the teachings of the Mahayana Prajnaparamita throughout the world?"

"It's just a convenient way of putting it!" Jingren shook his head, turned around, looked at the statue of the Holy Emperor Yuan above, and then sat cross-legged in front of the statue again, reciting scriptures.

Qian Daozi chuckled. So the great monk, unable to argue with him, started to run away?

However, as Jingren began reciting the scriptures, Qian Daozi couldn't help but prick up his ears and listen carefully.

……

Meanwhile, the city of Yujing was bustling with activity as many scholars gathered and entered the city.

Looking up from above, one can see the boundless energy of countless literary talents flowing into the city, as if it were contained in a pocket.

(End of this chapter)