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

After saying that, Mrs. Hong stood up.

Her knees were covered in mud, and her skirt clung wetly to her legs. She didn't brush off the mud or even lift her hand to fix her hair.

Because she doesn't care.

She used to care about the mud, but she doesn't care about it now.

Her steps became much lighter.

By the time they returned to the Niu residence, the sun was already setting.

The setting sun bathed the blue bricks in the courtyard in a warm orange-red hue, and wisps of smoke rose from the kitchen chimney, drifting away in the evening breeze.

She walked through the front hall and down the corridor, and from afar she could hear the clinking of bowls and chopsticks coming from the side hall.

Niu Lanshan was sitting at the table eating.

He was holding a blue and white porcelain bowl, but his chopsticks weren't very skillful, and a few grains of rice fell onto the table.

His eating manners are not very elegant, or rather, he simply doesn't care whether it looks good or not.

He just shoveled food into his mouth like a child, his cheeks bulging, chewing with great effort, like someone who had been starving for a long time finally getting a full meal.

There were five or six dishes on the table, both meat and vegetables, all prepared according to her instructions, making Niu Lanshan's favorite foods.

Mrs. Hong sat down opposite him, watching him quietly across the square table.

Niu Lanshan looked up at her, still chewing something, and mumbled, "Mom, you're back."

Hong didn't correct him. She reached out and pulled Niu Lanshan's hand, which was still holding chopsticks.

“I am your wife,” Mrs. Hong corrected, “We have known each other for many years and have walked many roads together.”

Niu Lanshan stood there, bewildered, forgetting to swallow what was in his mouth.

What happened?

I've become a lady?

This is totally wrong!

"You are ill, just like me, sinking into an endless sea of ​​suffering," said Hong. "But I have already heard the bells and seen the sages."

"The sage said, 'The sea of ​​suffering is boundless; we must save ourselves.' Now, do you hear the bell?"

Bells, what bells?

In his bewildered state, Niu Lanshan vaguely heard a bell ringing in his heart.

Amidst the tolling of bells, he arrived at a mysterious and beautiful place.

That place has a rainbow-colored sky, a golden city, and fairies that flutter like butterflies.

The fairies hovered around him, showering him with golden light, like a never-ending, warm, golden rain.

He stood in that radiant light, and those scattered, lost, and fragmented memories, like leaves blown apart by the wind, returned to their places one by one.

He remembered.

He remembered who he was, who the Hong family was, and the roads they had walked together, the words they had spoken, and the days they had laughed together over the years.

He remembered the day he married her; she was wearing a bright red wedding dress, and the wind lifted a corner of her veil, revealing her blushing face.

He remembered the first time she learned to cook, she burned the kitchen until it was a smoky mess, and then served a plate of blackened scrambled eggs. He ate it and said it was delicious.

I remembered her arguing with him...

He remembered everything, those ordinary, insignificant days that he could never go back to.

He turned around.

Mrs. Hong stood behind him, still holding his hand, and never let go.

Her face was covered in tears, but she was smiling, just like when she married him that year, her face flushed, her eyes crinkling, she looked absolutely beautiful.

Niu Lanshan's eyes reddened.

He wanted to say so much, but in the end he only said, "Thank you for your hard work, my wife."

Hong's tears finally broke free.

She rushed over and hugged him tightly, her forehead pressed against his shoulder, crying like a wronged little girl.

All the fatigue, grievances, fear, and loneliness that had accumulated over the past two years were washed away by these six words at this moment, like a long-lasting rain finally giving way to sunshine.

Niu Lanshan put his arm around her and gently patted her back with one hand, just like before.

The bells rang again.

This time, it wasn't just one person who heard it, but two people who heard it simultaneously.

The voice echoed in their hearts, making them unable to distinguish one another.

They have escaped the sea of ​​suffering; they are no longer sinking into it. But many more are still sinking into it, and those people need them!

Alaya needs them!

That golden city, that silent bell, those dancing spirits—they wait there, not for the two of them, but for all those still suffering in the sea of ​​misery.

All beings help all beings, one person helps another, but the help is endless and inexhaustible.

But every additional person who gets ashore makes the shore a little wider; every additional hand that reaches out gives those in the water a little more hope of survival.

They knew their mission, and so, as the bells tolled, they spoke in unison:

"Following the great vow, we will deliver all those suffering in the sea of ​​misery."

In Sanshan County, there are Niu Lanshan and the Hong family.

But on the vast land of Min, there were many more people: beggars, peasant women, merchants, scholars' wives, novice monks sweeping the floors of temples, farmers planting rice in the fields, and clerks copying official documents in government offices...

They were found by one "great vow to save the world" after another, pulled out of the sea of ​​suffering one after another, and heard the bell ringing one after another, only to turn around and wake up to the next moment.

Zen can save one person, and that person can save another.

The Zen master converted one person, and that person then converted another.

The other Ksitigarbha Bodhisattvas converted one person, and the person converted also converted one person.

The sound of bells travels from one city to another, from one village to another, and from one person's heart to another.

Soon, the sound of the bell resounded in the hearts of the people of Fujian.

That strange spiritual space grew larger and larger, and more and more people entered it.

They wore different clothes, spoke different dialects, and carried different pasts and scars, but when they entered this city, everything changed.

In this city of Alaya, the wisdom of an individual is insignificant; they cannot even fathom the concepts of "emptiness" and "form."

However, by combining their individual wisdom, they have created a "great wisdom" that is a collection of countless people. This "great wisdom" allows them to see the Amala of all beings, and to see the true nature, purity, original enlightenment, and Buddha-nature of all beings.

That is the basis for the equality of all beings, which leads to Buddhahood!

Therefore, all beings in this city of Alaya have transcended the sea of ​​suffering, seen Amala, and become "Buddhas".

They are free from birth, old age, sickness, and death, and free from greed, anger, ignorance, hatred, separation from loved ones, the burning of the five aggregates, and all kinds of afflictions and suffering.

After attaining Buddhahood, they experience joy and peace in their hearts, and have only one wish, or one grand aspiration.

Thus, a voice arose simultaneously in the hearts of countless people, determined by their "great wisdom," and it was what they would do after seeing Amara.

"Following the great vow, we will deliver all those suffering in the sea of ​​misery."

"Following the grand aspiration, we will deliver all those suffering in the sea of ​​misery!"