I was a charlatan in India

Upon hearing this, Shenhe was slightly tempted.

Mahata's answer was "I think it is inappropriate," meaning that, unlike most believers, he would not blindly follow the commands of gods and Buddhas.

He didn't even feign compliance; he openly refused.

"Please explain your thoughts in detail."

Shenhe remained aloof, wanting to hear Mahata's opinion.

"Yes."

Mahata sat down cross-legged, adopting an extremely upright posture.

This is a Buddhist etiquette for discussing scriptures and doctrines with peers of the same level.

In other words, this guy truly believes in the equality of all beings.

He was no different from gods and Buddhas.

As for the attitude of respect towards Shenhe or Buddha, it may simply be like that of a student towards a teacher, or like that towards the ascetic monk Denis—it is the respect one would show to a sage.

Perhaps on that day at the swimming pool, he treated all the merchants who were competing to cross the river the same way.

Otherwise, it wouldn't have appeared in the pool of the untouchables.

Given his status, he should be chatting and laughing with noble Brahmins.

"The Buddha once said, 'If one seeks me through form or sound, that person is going astray and cannot see his true nature.'"

(Unfortunately, the last two sentences couldn't be posted, so I had to change them. I didn't mean to arrogantly distort the classics. Thank you.)

Shenhe thought to himself, "What nonsense are you spouting? I can't understand you."

He has absolutely no Buddhist knowledge whatsoever.

But clearly, as a deity, he could not allow Mahata to look down on him.

After a moment's thought, he said in a pretentious manner.

"I want to hear your own thoughts, not wisdom learned from others."

Mahata was slightly taken aback.

He never expected that the great black god would care about the opinion of a believer like him.

This newly worshipped deity is indeed extraordinary.

Of course, if he knew that Shenhe couldn't understand the scriptures at all, I wonder what he would think.

"In my view, religious communities are often divided into external forms and internal wisdom."

The Mahakasyapa River dismantles the structure of the Sangha.

This is exactly the kind of knowledge that Shenhe urgently needs.

"The external form may initially originate from the founder's ideas and pursuits, and the dogma is formulated based on these."

"But as time goes by, these dogmas will inevitably undergo a lot of adjustments and changes, often in order to deal with the specific phenomena of a particular era."

"Therefore, when I come into contact with a religious group, I often try to infer the underlying principles and causes of their behavior, rather than simply following the doctrine itself."

"This is what I mean by the inner wisdom of the Order."

This is easy to understand.

For example, during times of rampant plague, many religious groups seeking to expand and grow would take in refugees, and in order to reduce the spread of infection, they would wear crow masks.

However, when later generations refer to the religious clothing, they often overlook the actual function of the mask and simply follow it in a vague way.

Even though there was no longer a plague at that time, they had already trapped themselves inside for nothing.

Some dogmas are like this; perhaps they were born out of a specific historical context, or even to deal with certain extraordinary figures.

However, if later generations blindly follow suit, they will either waste their energy or, in severe cases, experience a chain of negative consequences.

For example, the group that wore raven masks were considered eccentric because of their terrifying appearance, which once made it extremely difficult for the Order to develop.

Even worse, it could lead to tragedy, such as the Cross Barbecue Carnival, or even distort the original doctrine.

In the realm of faith, this could potentially drastically alter the nature of the deities affected, rendering them unrecognizable.

Mahata's attitude had both positive and negative implications for the deities.

The advantage is that it won't pollute the gods too much, and it can even remind them from a certain perspective that their gods are not perfect.

The downside is that it is uncontrollable and also hinders the expansion of the religious order.

You know, smart people with their own ideas aren't easy to fool. If you want to expand your audience, you have to find those simple-minded fools.

Ideally, it should be the kind of fanatical madman who shouts "God!" while hitting whatever he points at.

Ok……

From the perspective of consolidating divinity, Agni is not bad.

While Shenhe was lost in thought, Maha Tathagata calmly and deliberately explained what he had seen and thought.

"...Buddha's order to infiltrate the religious order and spy on its secrets is undoubtedly the wrong path he spoke of."

"I think this was not his intention, but a test sent by my Lord Buddha to see if I could keep my true self in the face of his power, and whether I had truly learned his wisdom."

"My Lord Mahakala, do you agree with the answer I have given?"

After Mahata finished speaking, he looked up at the traces of faith that connected to the Shen River, like a student waiting for a teacher's judgment.

Shenhe didn't rush to comment, nor did he have the qualifications to do so.

When it comes to philosophy, he was as ignorant as a primary school student in front of Mahata.

Of course, he holds the truth in his hands.

One powerful beam of light, and all philosophy will evaporate.

Shenhe wondered if the light cannon was emitted by a deity. Recalling the scene from that day, he felt that the giant eye looked exactly like a deity.

If it originated from divinity, and he hasn't recovered yet, can he still mobilize this power?

He was still lost in thought.

Sure enough, this guy has no Buddhist nature at all and is very unsuitable for debating scriptures.

Seeing that Mahata had finished speaking, Shenhe quickly steered the conversation back to the main topic.

"Mahayana, if you were to form a religious order, how would you teach your followers?"

Upon hearing this, Mahata pondered for a long time before giving a solemn reply.

"My Lord Mahakala, I have previously taught many disciples, each of whom has tried different paths."

"In summary, they can be broadly divided into three types: no constraints, no interference, and waiting for it to actively seek its own path, but each has its shortcomings."

"Initially, I abandoned the strict rules of Buddhism and only taught skills, that is, I did not impose any restrictions."

"The result was that he trained a group of villains who were capable but lacked virtue, causing havoc in all directions. In the end, he had no choice but to personally take action to suppress them."

At this point, Mahata's tone became somewhat somber.

He thought of one of his favorite young disciples, who was polite, kind and gentle when he became his disciple, but quickly turned into a wicked monk who bullied and tyrannized the market after entering the world.

This is quite natural.

Human nature is inherently evil. Once people have power, how many would not want to tyrannize others? And who can remain refrain from harming others indefinitely?

"Next, I will try to teach both virtue and skills, but without interfering with their implementation."

"This time it was an even bigger failure. The quality of the students was uneven even in the teaching stage. Many gave up halfway and few became successful."

"Moreover, although the former are not very capable, they mostly flaunt my name until they are killed by those who possess both skill and courage."

"And the latter..."

Mahata paused, his tone quite disappointed.

"When they first entered the world, they were all virtuous men in their respective regions, but as their power grew and they were entangled by political parties, their virtues eventually faded into the ordinary and they became a menace."

Shenhe thought to himself, "Judging from what Mahata said, he has taught more than one batch of disciples, but they all look very young."

Could he, like Araki, be some kind of ultimate being that never ages?

As for the reasoning behind it, he didn't listen to more than a few words.

In Shenhe's view today, humanity is simply not trustworthy.

Moral education is unimportant; power can suppress everything.

So-called education requires absolute violence to control the situation, to set rules and minimum standards, and to shoot anyone who dares to disobey.

It can be said that Shenhe's educational philosophy was completely contrary to that of Mahata, a follower of the same faith.

"After these two experiences, I realized that I do not have the talent to teach disciples."

"I'll simply go with the flow. If someone seeks a certain answer and finds me, and I happen to know a little about it, I'll communicate with them, but I won't form a master-disciple relationship."

"In this way, all is well, as for the reason why..."

"This disciple is dull-witted and guesses that it is only because those who seek clarity only seek answers and not anything else that they have not yet encountered any trouble."

He said frankly.

Ultimately, the disciple was not a good teacher.

Shenhe nodded slightly from the shadows.

This Mahata clearly agrees with the Buddhist concept of predestined affinity, but he has practical experience and has encountered setbacks, so perhaps he can be used to deceive people for his own purposes.

So Shenhe probed, "So, Mahata, in all your previous teachings, you always hoped that your disciples would maintain good moral character and conduct."

"Is it still the same today?"