Taiping Inn

After the middle-aged Confucian scholar retired, the Confucian scholar walked alone towards the pagoda forest deep in the back temple.

Dabaoen Temple was built by Emperor Taizong of the Great Wei Dynasty to commemorate Emperor Taizu and his biological mother. It took nineteen years and cost three million taels of silver, one hundred thousand military service and civilians. It was built completely according to the standards of the palace. It is magnificent, bright day and night, and has a total of There are thirty halls, 150 monasteries, 120 wing rooms, and 38 sutra rooms, which are the leaders of hundreds of temples. The entire body of the glazed tower is made of glazed glass, and there are 146 eternal lamps inside and outside the tower, which is the tallest tower in the world. In recent years, the court has built a statue of Guanyin in the temple in the name of Emperor Tianbao. Its face is almost exactly the same as that of Empress Dowager Xie, and the upper and lower levels flatter it. This is due to His Majesty's filial piety.

For this reason, Dabaoen Temple is not a Buddhist temple and has nothing to do with Buddhism among the three religions. It is actually a royal temple, but it is closely related to the Confucian school. Most of the monks in this temple are also people who escape from Zen.

The so-called "escaping from Zen" refers to escaping from Zen Buddha. Yasheng said: "If you escape from Mo, you will return to Yang, and if you escape from Yang, you will return to Confucianism." Mo is the Mo family, Yang is the ancestor of the ten sects. The Neo-Confucian sages explained that the reason why Yasheng said this is the connection between escape from Mo, escape from Yang and returning to Confucianism. Relationship is because "Yang and Mo are both evil sayings, and there is no major or seriousness. However, Mo's theory is particularly false and unfair and difficult to act without being in line with human feelings. Therefore, the words of the sub-sage saint are not considered as Yang." Therefore, the saying of escape from Mo and Yang refers to avoiding Mo and Yang's sayings and returning to Confucianism, which contains the meaning of "get rid of evil and return to the right". Therefore, later, those who later abandoned the Buddhist teachings and returned to Confucianism called escape from Zen, escape from Zen to return to Confucianism, and became fake to seek truth, that is, escape from Zen and returned to Confucianism.

When he was young, this Neo-Confucian sage also paid attention to Zen and read Confucian books, thinking that he was in harmony with Buddhism, but what he finally made was the choice to escape Zen and return to Confucianism. As the poem says, "Don't escape from Zen, and you will get to know the middle ground." Therefore, in this way of learning about Buddhism and Taoism, those who avoid Buddha and escape from Zen are called "escaping from Zen".

However, in order to eliminate the influence of escape from Zen, Buddhism later confused the Confucianism's views and called escape from Zen as learning Buddhism.

The monks in Dabaoen Temple can use both the former and the latter. According to Buddhism, they are Buddhists who escaped from Confucianism to Buddhism. According to Confucianism, they only temporarily entered Buddhism and eventually abandoned Buddhism and fled back to Confucianism. No matter which statement is, these monks have a deep connection with the Confucian school.

The palin is behind the world-famous glazed pagoda. It is the storage of relics of the remains of the eminent monks of Dabaoen Temple. Several ascetic monks stayed here on the wall to practice Zen, and they also meant to protect them. Therefore, this place is a forbidden area in the forbidden area. Not to mention ordinary pilgrims, even monks in the temple are not allowed to enter. Only the abbot and several elders are qualified to enter. Because of this, this place seems extremely deserted on weekdays, making the crane marquis who walked into it alone very dazzling and conspicuous.

The Confucian scholars who were squatting were like entering a state of no one. They had not seen any monks stop him, nor did they see the rumored ascetic monks appear. There were only stone pagodas that worshipped the relics of the monks, standing silently.

After passing through the Tallinn, I suddenly realized that it was a very large open land. The mountains here were quite smooth, and you could see Jinling City. No one knew that there was such a green grass and flower field after the cold and gloomy Tallinn.

There is a thatched hut here, and there is a colorful insect lying outside the hut, twice as big as an ordinary tiger, but it is not very resentful. It lazily lay on the grass and basking in the sun, looking listless, as if An old cat looks like a monk who has entered a state of meditation.

Seeing a visitor visiting, the tiger just slightly slids and roared softly, not as if it was intimidating the visitor, but as if it was reminding the owner of the house.

This beast actually understands human nature, and maybe there is Buddha nature.

Hearing the tiger's roar, the door of the hut was opened, and a skinny old monk walked outside the house. The old monk was wearing a gray monk's robe and did not wear a cassock. He was almost skinny and bone-like. When he saw the crane and cloak. Afterwards, he frowned and slowly spoke, "Tan Yue, you are here again."

The Confucian scholar stopped three meters away, carried his hands on his back, and said casually, "Tan Yue, this is a strange name. Where did the scholar who talked to me about Neo-Confucianism and Mind Science?"

This old monk, who is both experienced in Buddhism and Confucianism, began to turn the rosary on his wrist, with a little clarity in his words and said softly: "Tan Yue, I am no longer the poor man I used to be back then. Monk."

"Mencius should not lie." The Confucian scholar said without rushing or impatience.

The old monk said together: "I am not a lie, but a move with the world. When I promised Tan Yue, I was a Confucian scholar. Now when Tan Yue came to see me, I am just an ordinary Buddhist disciple. , the situation cannot be compared with each other, and the reason naturally cannot be generalized."

The Confucian scholar waved his hand and said, "Whether Confucianism or Buddhism, it's just an identity. People are still this person. I won't play sophistry with you, I have a serious matter."

The old monk asked back, "Over the years, the Tan Yue Gong has met me more than once, and no time has it been serious?"

The Confucian scholar said, "Didn't you agree to me every time? You know in your heart that since the Taoist sect is reviving, Buddhism and Confucian sect can only wither. Look at the current situation, whether it is good or evil in the Taoist sect, it will be out. After four earthly immortals, how many are there in Buddhism? How many are there in Confucianism?”

The old monk was silent for a long time and sighed softly, "I met Zhang Xiang back then. At that time, Zhang Xiang had just become the prime minister and was full of great ambitions. I advised Zhang Xiang to walk slowly and slowly, and to govern a big country like cooking fresh food. But Zhang Xiang replied to the monk that the vassal kings do not pay taxes, and officials and gentry do not pay taxes. The taxes of the court are all on the common people, and the people are overwhelmed, so they can only sell the land to the vassal kings or officials and gentry, and thus merge them. If the land was settled, the fields that were annexed by eunuchs and officials at all levels in the palace occupied half of the world and did not accept taxes. The fields that ordinary people could cultivate were less than half of the world but they had to pay taxes on the world. As a result, the national treasury was empty and the people were He is also penniless. If he doesn’t change the system, he will change the dynasty.”

The Confucian scholar laughed and said, "Measure the land in the world, separate taxes, calculate the acres of grain, spread the vacancies into the acres, and pay taxes together. The idea is good, but how many people have cut off their wealth. Cutting off their wealth is like killing their parents. The empress dowager who was fighting for power would kill him, and the vassal kings, gentry, officials, and powerful men who had their way out of wealth would also kill him. To be enemies of the world, how could Zhang Suqing not die? "

The old monk said calmly: "The people in the Confucian school say that the overall situation is the most important thing, but they don't know that the reason why the situation today is corrupt is because they take the overall situation into consideration. If they take the overall situation into consideration, they dare not touch the major disadvantages of the world, and they can only practice it. Just repair and be a papermaker. When the building is about to collapse, these paper-paste things will fall down as soon as the wind blows."

The Confucian scholar of the Crane Massacre was silent for a moment and said, "Although the Asahi once said, 'Where is righteousness, even if millions of people are gone,' but things still have to be looked at separately."

The old monk sneered: "I am a person who escapes from Zen. I have been outside the country for many years, but I can see more clearly. The Confucian sect has dominated the world for so many years, but in fact it has long been corrupt and collapsed. The reason why it can be maintained is only five hundred. In 2018, there was a saint who came out, whether it was Neo-Confucianism or Mind studies, there was always a saint who rose up to the sky. When Emperor Shizong practiced Taoism and practiced mystery, he did not attend court for decades, and the government was corrupt, and there were signs of decline from prosperity to decline. Zhang Suqing finally came out and wanted to do something, not only for the people of the world, but also for the Confucian school. But in his most difficult time, you who talked about your heart and mind were unwilling to reach out and pull him. Now there is another Liaodong Zhao Zheng and a young man. You even regard it as a hatred. Even these people cannot tolerate it. It can be seen that the Confucian school has been exhausted. From now on, it will be only to have broken the backbone. Just a pseudo-Confucian who kowtowed."

The Confucian scholar stared at the old monk and said slowly, "You are arrogant and ruthless. With your words alone, I can kill you and leave you with a reputation for eternity."

The old monk was unmoved. The tiger beside him seemed to sense the hostility of the crane flaming scholar, slowly opened his eyes, stood up, and stared at him.

The Confucian scholar looked away and said calmly: "I am a hidden person. What is the world and the people, what does it have to do with me? I am free and carefree. I am leaving the secluded place to work hard, is it for peace in the world? How are the people healthy? To save all living beings? I am not a saint, nor Zhang Suqing, and I don’t have that great ambition.”

The old monk lowered his eyes and said softly, "Please go back. No matter what Tan Yue does this time, I can do nothing."

The Confucian scholar of the Crane Flying Confucian said calmly: "If you can do it, you still can't do it. What you say doesn't end."

The old monk stopped talking, but just recited the Buddha's name for a long time.

The Confucian scholar of Hefei calmed down slightly and said, "Mr. Hengqu, the previous dynasty, said: 'Building a mind for heaven and earth, establishing a destiny for the living and the people, inheriting his unique knowledge for the past sages, and opening peace for all generations.' This is the Four Hefei Qu The first sentence of these four sentences is that I cannot do it. This is done by the Yuansheng, the saint, and the sub-saint. The second sentence is that I cannot do it, either for the people to establish my destiny. These are the three immortals. The fourth sentence: To bring peace to everything is done by Zhang Suqing and others who want to make contributions for thousands of years, but I still can't do it. All I can do is to inherit the unique knowledge of the past saints. ? That is the Confucian Sect. Confucian Sect, I am a gatekeeper, I cannot let the Confucian Sect break down, I have to keep an eye on this family. What do they want to do if Li Xuandu and Zhao Zheng? We must dig our roots, dig our graves, and let us cut off our roots."

The old monk closed his eyes like a clay puppet.

The Confucian scholar of the Crane Flying Confucian said, "'How many things are going on in the world, it's endless. The rivers are rolling.' Can the rise and fall of a moment be comparable to the inheritance of thousands of years? You have to think about it."

After saying that, the Confucian scholar waved his sleeves and turned around and left.