You've only been cultivating for a few years, and you're already talking about cultivating

Zen Kong remained silent for a while, as if wondering where to begin.

His gaze fell on the charred tree stumps in the distance, his eyes somewhat unfocused, and after a long while he slowly spoke:

"Jizo-sou... was originally a member of Zenshin-ji Temple."

"They practice the same Dharma as us, and the transmission is also 'heart-to-heart'. But one day, they suddenly said that all sentient beings suffer, and it is useless to just sit in the mountains and cultivate one's own 'emptiness'."

"They want to alleviate all suffering in the world, and they have made a great vow to empty hell and make all sentient beings become Buddhas."

Qi Fei frowned. "What does this have to do with possessing your senior brother?"

Instead of answering directly, Zenkong asked a seemingly unrelated question: "Do you know what the hardest thing in the world is?"

"To become an immortal?" Qi Fei replied.

"Becoming an immortal is certainly difficult. But what about the next best thing?" Zen Kong asked.

Qi Fei thought for a moment and said, "If everyone can become a dragon, then the path of cultivation for everyone in the world will not be so difficult."

Chan Kong glanced at him and said, "...Benefactor Fu Ye, your idea is very dangerous."

He paused, sighed, and said with a hint of helplessness, "This humble monk once preached the Dharma in the Min Kingdom, attempting to convert a few people."

"But sentient beings are foolish and dull-witted, finding it difficult even to see through 'appearances,' let alone the 'tribulations' that follow?"

Qi Fei thought of Zhu Yixin.

Back in Tianlan City, when he talked about the Shadow God Technique, the other party wouldn't listen to a word he said.

It wasn't until Zhu Yixin went through a series of hardships and suffered setbacks that she finally understood: the world she saw was merely the world she perceived, never the real world.

At that moment, Zhu Yixin stepped into the gate of cultivation.

"It's not that we are unwilling to save all sentient beings," Zenkong continued, "even the Buddha could not save all sentient beings."

"All sentient beings are equal and can all attain Buddhahood. All sentient beings possess the wisdom and virtues of the Tathagata, but they cannot realize it due to their delusions and attachments."

He shook his head, a rare hint of sarcasm appearing on his lips.

"How can sentient beings, so many of whom are ignorant and harbor delusions, be saved? Only those with the potential for wisdom can be saved. If their hearts are corrupted and they are entangled in delusion, even if the Buddha himself were to appear, how could he save them?"

"Those people kneeling before the Buddha, kowtowing and burning incense, are not asking for the Dharma or the Way, but for the Buddha to lend them a hand, for blessings to fall from the sky."

"They are worshipping their own greed, not Buddha."

Qi Fei understood: "Simply put, they don't understand what you're saying, and they're even deliberately contradicting you."

"That's right." Zenkong nodded. "People only want to hear what they want to hear, and only want to believe what they want to believe. Once discrimination arises, how can one be saved?"

Therefore, the saying "I will not become a Buddha until hell is empty" is nothing but the delusion of a fool.

"Then how could this idiot's delusions have possessed your senior brother?" Qi Fei pressed.

Zenkong's expression turned serious, and he said, "The problem lies in the transmission of mind to mind."

"Our Chanxin Temple's practice is based entirely on the transmission of knowledge from heart to heart, without relying on written words. Masters pass on their teachings to disciples, and patriarchs pass them on to their grand-disciples. It is a transmission of knowledge from heart to heart, and of Dharma to Dharma, without being confined to words or written texts."

"This is the fundamental method of Zen Buddhism, but someone suddenly thought: since we can transmit the method of practice from heart to heart, why not go a step further and directly pass on our knowledge and understanding to another person?"

"As long as my understanding is correct, then..."

He didn't finish speaking, but his face showed a look of fear, lingering apprehension, and reluctance to think about it further.

This expression says it all.

Qi Fei couldn't help but blurt out, "Damn it!"

The sword thought to itself, "What is this bald man saying? I don't understand."

Qi Fei did not answer "sword" because he understood.

Forcibly imbuing another person with one's own knowledge and understanding is not teaching, it is covering up.

Instead of planting a seed in the other person's soil and letting it take root, sprout, and grow into its own shape, it's like uprooting a mature tree and forcibly shoving it into the other person's soil.

The tree's roots cannot penetrate new soil, but they will crush, crack, and completely destroy the existing soil.

Moreover, knowledge itself influences a person's behavior and underlying logic.

What books a person reads, what principles they believe, and what knowledge they accept will reshape their way of thinking, value judgments, and behavioral choices.

Although Qi Fei had never met a high-level cultivator, he could imagine what kind of impact the vast amount of information from his two lifetimes would have on another person's cognition if he forcibly poured his life's knowledge and understanding into that person's sea of ​​consciousness.

It's not learning, it's "pollution".

It's not enlightenment, but "coverage".

It's not guidance, but "possession".

Like the whispers of those indescribable beings in the Cthulhu Mythos to mortals!

No, it's more hidden, gentler, and more terrifying than that.

You're not crazy, you're just not yourself anymore.

You think you are still you, but every thought, every judgment, and every choice you make is no longer yours.

Because in the process of learning, knowledge must be digested, absorbed, and transformed into something that belongs to oneself using one's own logic and one's own "innate gifts."

This process requires time, repetition, questioning, making mistakes, and verification, rather than being rudely forced into it like a duck being shoved into a hole.

Qi Fei spoke these words to the "sword" in his heart.

After hearing this, "Sword" suddenly asked, "Then, what am I?"

It is the lingering resentment of two cultivators from a thousand years ago and a hundred years ago, which, after being absorbed by the "Seven Illusion Sword Formation," produced a peculiar existence.

Is it a conscious "sword" that has also been directly covered and instilled by the lingering resentment of cultivators?

Unable to understand, it fell silent.

Qi Fei ignored it and said, "Shouldn't such evil ideas be strictly prohibited at your Chanxin Temple?"

"That's right," Chan Kong said. "This kind of approach will make cultivators unlike themselves. Although it can save sentient beings, it will cause a lot of trouble."

"Such heresies have always been hidden or suppressed by Chanxin Temple."

"But... many years ago, a genius emerged from Zenshin-ji Temple. He came into contact with this heretical doctrine and somehow came to believe in it."

"According to seniority, he is probably my senior uncle. After that, he got into a big fight with the monks of Chanxin Temple, causing quite a commotion."

Qi Fei asked, "That person is Zen Kuang?"

Zen Kong shook his head: "No. That person's Dharma name is Zen Zhi, also known as Zen Wisdom."

"He made a great vow to liberate all beings from suffering in the world. And his followers are the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattvas."

"In the past, they were like rats in the gutter, but now... they are gradually walking around the Min Kingdom."