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

But what is Qi Fei saying now?

All consciousness originates from the physical body.

He can't understand it.

The wind blows through the trees, but it is not the wind that moves, nor the trees that move; it is the mind that moves. This is the principle he understood from the very first day he entered Zen meditation.

It's not just about Zen emptiness.

Many people in this space shared the same question. Some frowned, some shook their heads, and some whispered among themselves.

Just then, the golden city stirred.

The city gates opened.

A Buddha statue emerged from the city.

He was entirely golden, of medium height and build, and walked out of the city gate. Step by step, he grew larger and larger until he was about the same size as Qi Fei.

He came to Qi Fei's side and sat down face to face across a river of light.

Two giants, one gold and one silver, sit facing each other across the river.

Golden and silver light converged on the river surface, pushing and yielding, neither willing to take more or give way, like two streams of water of different colors merging together, tangled and inseparable.

The entire Alaya realm fell silent.

The golden Buddha slowly spoke: "We meet again."

His gaze fell on Qi Fei. There was no surprise or astonishment in his golden eyes, only a faint, indifferent calm.

"I never imagined you had such profound moral cultivation."

Qi Fei stared at him for two breaths.

He recognized that aura.

"It really was you," Qi Fei said.

Although the golden Buddha before them was completely different from the beggar in the ground, covered in mud and with disheveled hair, his aura remained unchanged.

Gentle and compassionate.

The golden Buddha did not deny it, nor did it show any surprise at being recognized.

He spoke first, "You are very good. Would you be willing to join the Alaya consciousness and help all sentient beings transcend the sea of ​​suffering?"

Qi Fei shook his head and said, "This goes against my laws and my principles."

The golden Buddha sensed surprise and asked in a gentle tone:

"Can you bear to see all living beings suffer?"

He raised a golden palm and gestured slightly towards the city.

The city gates were wide open, and people were coming and going; some were laughing, some were crying, some were meditating, and some were walking.

But no matter what they were doing, they all wore the same expression: peace.

It's not the kind of tranquility that's forced or contrived, but a tranquility that grows naturally from the heart, like grass in spring.

"Within this Alaya consciousness," said the golden Buddha, "all beings are equal, and those who see Amala experience joy and peace."

"There is no birth, old age, sickness, or death; no greed, anger, or ignorance; no encountering with those you hate; no separation from those you love; no burning of the five aggregates. All kinds of afflictions and suffering do not exist here."

Qi Fei didn't look at the city, nor at the figures; his gaze remained fixed on the face of the golden Buddha. He asked:

"And what about reality?"

The golden Buddha looked at him.

"Aren't people in real life still suffering?" Qi Fei said.

The golden Buddha calmly replied, "True peace can only be found within the Alaya consciousness. The physical body is illusory; the suffering of the flesh is unimportant."

When he said "it doesn't matter," his calm tone contained no indifference, no cruelty, and not even a condescending look.

He truly believed this, from the bottom of his heart, from the very core of his being, from every single thought in his mind.

Qi Fei shook his head again and said, "Contradictions exist in the development of everything. This is my law. Your actions have violated my law."

Conflicts cannot be resolved by external forces. They can only be mitigated or masked by new conflicts.

The two sides of a contradiction are both mutually exclusive and interdependent, and under certain conditions, they transform into each other, which is the fundamental driving force of the development of things!

On his journey, if he encounters someone in need of help, he will assist them if he can. If he truly cannot help, there's nothing he can do; it's simply beyond his capabilities.

But all beings suffer. What answer does the golden Buddha offer?

It's about creating a spiritual space, putting people inside, and letting them numb themselves in a false sense of peace.

Let things stop developing, let the world stand still. When things develop, contradictions arise; if things stop developing, if they stand still, then there are no contradictions, right?

In Qi Fei's view, this was not really an answer!

He couldn't accept this answer, nor a virtual world.

The golden Buddha did not mention the matter again.

He rephrased it, mentioning Qi Fei's earlier statement about "materialism."

"Everything arises from the mind, and everything is interconnected," he said. "The mind is greater than everything."

He paused, his golden eyes falling on Qi Fei, not as if looking at an opponent, but as if looking at an old friend sitting across from him drinking tea.

"Within this Alaya consciousness, it is also through the mental power of sentient beings that they liberate themselves. Why is it called 'materialistic'?"

Qi Fei smiled and said:

"The fundamental difference between 'materialism' and 'mind' is whether matter produces will or will produces matter."

"Sentient beings experience suffering because the physical body generates consciousness. With consciousness comes suffering. With suffering comes the Alaya consciousness."

"The process of generating consciousness, from beginning to end, requires a physical body as a vessel. If this isn't 'materialism,' then what is it?"

The body gives rise to consciousness, consciousness gives rise to suffering, and suffering gives rise to the Alaya consciousness.

All productions without conscious intent are preceded by material existence.

The golden Buddha did not respond immediately after hearing this.

He had never thought about this issue from this perspective.

He spent his whole life cultivating the concept that "all phenomena are empty," the concept that "everything is mind-only," and the concept that "the mind is greater than everything, and the mind transmits the message."

After a while, the golden Buddha spoke:

"However, sentient beings first have great aspirations, and then generate the Alaya consciousness. Isn't this having a 'mind' first, and then acting on it?"

Qi Fei was not fooled by him.

"Then where does this 'heart' come from?" he countered. "It can't just appear out of thin air, can it? Doesn't it need a physical body as a vessel?"

The golden Buddha said, "It comes from me."

Qi Fei didn't laugh, didn't shake his head, and didn't even show any disapproval. He simply followed up with a question.

"Then where did I come from?"

"Didn't it come from this body?" Qi Fei continued, "When babies are small, they have no awareness of 'me' at all."

"He doesn't know who he is, who others are, or what belongs to you or me. He cries when he's hungry, fusses when he's in pain, and laughs when he feels comfortable."

"But he didn't know that the 'thing' that was crying, making a fuss, and laughing was 'me'."

"He needs to grow up slowly, gradually understand the world, and slowly separate himself from the things around him."

"Someone has to call his name, someone has to point at his nose and say 'This is you,' someone has to tell him over and over again that you are you and I am me."

He looked up at the golden Buddha.

"Isn't it that matter came first, and then consciousness arose from matter?"

The golden Buddha pondered for a long while before saying, "Even without a physical body, consciousness can still transcend. Just as the Alaya consciousness is the eternal home of all beings."