From Under One Person: Sincere Journey Through the Heavens

One root, one stem, one flower.

The flower stem is as thin as a hair, its color is like jade, as white as the snow in early winter, its shape is like an ancient bell, surrounded by a halo, and its fragrance is like the rain in warm spring.

Before the Buddha, there is a flower called the Ephemeral Flower. It takes a thousand years to sprout, a thousand years to form a bud, and a thousand years to bloom. It withers in the blink of an eye, its beauty fleeting.

A flower blooms once every three thousand years—

It is a misrepresentation.

In fact, this plant blooms every year, but the flowers are small and the blooming period is short, so ordinary people rarely see them. This is why there is a legend that it blooms only once every three thousand years.

Zhang Zhiwei used to study Taoism on Longhu Mountain, but he also knew Buddhist stories.

Without him.

Whether it's harmonious exchange between the two religions or open and covert struggles between them, they all need to understand each other's teachings... It's just that Zhengyi doesn't openly declare itself as a fusion of the three religions like Quanzhen does.

The Udumbara flower also exists in the Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan regions of China. In Buddhism, it symbolizes the preciousness of Buddhist teachings. If it is not cherished, it will quietly disappear and never be obtained again.

Zhen Yuanzi said this to tell Zhang Zhiwei the reason why he used the pseudonym Hua Youtan—to use the Udumbara flower as a metaphor for "the right path" and "the right Dharma," in order to enlighten Shi Jianna's heart that was gradually abandoning the right Dharma without realizing it due to anger.

Why not just say it?

The reason is simple, and also quite unfortunate.

The other party has already formed a prejudice and cannot even listen to his master's teachings, let alone outsiders.

Zhen Yuanzi could only offer indirect guidance.

After all, Shi Jian also came from the Zhengyi Shangqing Maoshan School. In addition to his own methods, he must have also learned some Buddhist stories. He would not be unaware of the origin of the story of "a flash in the pan". The key is whether he wants to continue to deceive his conscience.

if--

That means even immortals and Buddhas cannot enlighten them.

Such as:

The emperor of Wuji Kingdom.

Because he was kind and generous to monks, the Buddha of the Western Paradise asked Manjushri Bodhisattva to guide him to the Western Paradise so that he could attain the golden body of an Arhat.

But what did Manjushri Bodhisattva do?

He was disguised as a monk and said a few unpleasant things, so he was ordered to be tied up and thrown into the river to soak for three days.

If an ordinary person were insulted by a monk, they would at most curse a few times and that would be the end of it; they wouldn't have the strength to tie the monk up.

But the emperor of Wuji Kingdom did have one.

He didn't rely on his own military strength, but on the power of the supreme ruler!

This is anger!

Then, Manjushri Bodhisattva sent the Lion King to transform into a Taoist priest to conduct a second test.

Yes, this is also a test.

If the initial intention was truly to keep the emperor submerged in the well for three years, why did the lion king, disguised as a Taoist priest, wait two years before proceeding?

When night falls and people are in the human world, use magic to throw him into the well.

The king of Wuji Kingdom, impressed by the Taoist's ability to summon wind and rain, immediately swore brotherhood with him.

This is greed!

It should be noted that even if the emperor of Chechi Kingdom was incompetent, he still maintained the dignity of an emperor and did not lower himself to become sworn brothers with those three "great immortals" who knew the Five Thunder Orthodox Method. He only appointed them as national teachers!

Even at this point...

Manjushri Bodhisattva did not give up completely, wanting to see if the emperor of Wuji Kingdom could understand where he went wrong after dying once.

And coincidentally, the four pilgrims happened to be passing by, so they were temporarily included in the investigation of the King of Wuji.

However, after the emperor was resurrected, although he had gone through a brush with death, his character did not improve in the slightest. Instead, he thought about becoming a monk and lost all his ambition.

what is this?

One word:

痴！

He possesses all three poisons of greed, anger, and ignorance. The only difference between him and ordinary people is that he is the emperor and has power. In other aspects, especially in terms of his temperament, he is no different from ordinary people. In fact, because he is the emperor, he does not have to be subservient to others and is surrounded by officials who flatter him. His temperament is actually worse than that of ordinary people!

Otherwise, having experienced a terrifying brush with death, his character would not have improved; instead, he would have lost all ambition and wanted to lead his whole family to become monks.

of course.

This is also somewhat related to the fact that he wasn't the founding emperor...

In short.

This is a case of a celestial being or Buddha failing to save a mortal.

The same reason.

One of Jiang Liu's divine bodies, Zhen Yuanzi, transformed into the flower Youtan and even adopted the Daoist name "Weituo." Although it was incongruous, it was still a clear indication to Shi Jian!

He even set an example by burning those six "human stools" and explicitly stated that returning the remains to the world was the right way.

But Shi Jian remained unchanged and did things his own way.

Jiang Liu-Zhen Yuanzi did not compare himself to a true immortal or Buddha, much less Manjushri Bodhisattva. He was not that idle, and the world needed to be stabilized quickly. Therefore, he would not waste his "five years" of his life for Shi Jian.

Needless to say, Shi Jian was a Taoist priest who also understood Buddhist scriptures. Despite such clear guidance, he remained obstinate and later went astray. No wonder Shi Jian was ruthless in his treatment…

# Chapter 1115 Wuxia Coffin Mountain (15) Deep Affection Without Regret is the Beauty of Life

"The fleeting beauty of the ephemera is what I understand your purpose now, but what does it mean to say that deep affection is like the ephemeral beauty of the ephemera?"

Zhang Zhiwei then inquired about the purpose behind Jiang Liu's remark.

"The phrase 'the ephemeral beauty of the epiphyllum' is not only found in the Lotus Sutra, but also contains a Buddhist myth."

Zhen Yuanzi then recounted the story:

The epiphyllum was originally a celestial flower goddess, blooming in all four seasons.

Because she fell in love with the young man Wei Tuo who watered her every day, she angered the Jade Emperor and was thus demoted to the epiphyllum, which blooms only for a fleeting moment each year.

Wei Tuo, on the other hand, had his memory erased and became a monk.

The Flower Goddess knew that every late spring, Wei Tuo would descend the mountain to collect dew, thus gathering the essence of the entire year to bloom, hoping that he would remember her.

But Wei Tuo has never stopped there for thousands of years...

Until Yuming arrived, he asked the Flower Goddess three times.

The first time, the goddess of flowers said, "You can't help me."

The second time, when Yuming was middle-aged, the Flower Goddess said, "You may not be able to help me."

The third time, Yu Ming was already old, but the Flower Goddess was moved by his persistence and revealed the cause and effect.

After the old man Yuming said, "When conditions begin and end, all things come to an end; when flowers bloom and wither, they return to dust," he led the Flower Goddess to the Buddhist Kingdom to pay homage to Weituo, which led to the Flower Goddess and Weituo being reunited.

However, the old man Yuming was punished by the Jade Emperor for this, and his soul was sent to wander...

In Buddhism, Saha refers to the world of endless cycles of birth and death, that is, the mundane world.

What is the ultimate, fundamental, and core purpose of spiritual practice?

power?

that power?

None of them.

These are merely side benefits that come with the process of spiritual practice.

The true purpose is to escape the Saha world and transcend the cycle of birth and death.

But can one truly escape this Saha world?

You can't jump out.

As long as one's emotions are not extinguished and one's will is not completely dominated by reason, then even if one ascends to the so-called immortal realm or Buddha realm, it is merely jumping into another, larger world of mortals and suffering.

Meaningless.

Therefore.

To transcend the cycle of birth and death and attain Nirvana, Jiang Liu had only one thought: to attain the ultimate Dao.

In other words, one should not pursue so-called ascension, but rather cultivate oneself through inner contemplation and self-cultivation, while also observing the world and entering into samsara, gradually transforming the world one inhabits into the ideal world of great harmony that one desires to see.

The mind is in a square inch.

Lingshan Sacred Realm.

They're all up in the mountains.

No matter how tall a mountain is, even if it reaches into the clouds and pierces the sky, its roots are still closely connected to the mundane world below, rather than being above the clouds.

But now—

Some people want to transcend reincarnation and become immortals by climbing to the top of the mountain!

"Sun Xuewu..."

Zhang Zhiwei instantly identified the "mountain climber" that Zhen Yuanzi was referring to.

That guy initially asked Feng Tianyang to find traces of the Wuxia Coffin Mountain, but his appearance as "Marshal Tianpeng" led him to join the team on his own initiative. He also revealed the second half of "Guanshan Zhimi Fu" - which is most likely not the content left by Feng Shigu, but the corresponding textual descriptions left by Feng Shiqi and his descendants, that is, Sun Xuewu's ancestors, after exploring the Wuyang King's tomb, which he then fabricated into the second half.

Later, Zhang Zhiwei, guided by the masked vendor disguised as Zhen Yuanzi, went to investigate the Feng family. There he happened to run into Sun Xuewu and Feng Tianyang leaving, and got involved...

Then Sun Xuewu took the initiative to join the team.

And from his observations along the way, Sun Xuewu seemed to be intentionally guiding them, but he also constantly revealed a sense of urgency.

What is the urgency?

Prior to this, Zhang Zhiwei had made many speculations:

Fearing that this obsequious "elder" might misbehave...