569: Visit Buddha

In modern times, Damo Cave on Shaoshi Mountain is a very famous tourist attraction!

Legend has it that Ancestral Master Bodhidharma once faced the wall here for nine years without eating or drinking, achieving Dao in a single moment, and even imprinting his own shadow onto the wall; it was also then that Zen Buddhism took root and spread throughout the Central Plains, becoming the most important school of Buddhism in our China.

The place where Tang Ku was sitting cross-legged at this moment was inside Damo Cave, facing the very wall that Old Ancestor Bodhidharma once faced, and he was sitting directly opposite the shadow that Ancestral Master Bodhidharma had left behind.

Attending to his side was his female Disciple, Wu Zhen!

Meditating on Zen to calm the mind is a mandatory course for Disciples of Buddhism, and it is also something that Tang Ku has often done in both his past and present lives.

However, this meditation was different from the past; he had to sit here until the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, the day for debating Dao with the Western Paradise Buddhas and immortals.

Meditating on Zen and realizing Dao is the best way to improve one's cultivation of mental state, and it is also the safest way; purely in terms of mental state, it is the method with the fewest side effects and the weakest Heart Demon.

Ancestral Master Bodhidharma was a person of great wisdom; he dedicated his life to the spread of Buddha Dharma, endured many hardships, and finally achieved the ultimate fruit, as the saying goes: "One flower opens with five petals, and the fruit forms naturally."

Bodhidharma was the First Ancestor of Zen Buddhism, later Zen Master Huike severed his arm to seek the Dharma and became the Second Ancestor of Zen Buddhism; in between were the Third Ancestor Sengcan, the Fourth Ancestor Daoxin, the Fifth Ancestor Hongren... ending with the Sixth Ancestor Huineng, by which time Zen Buddhism had already spread throughout the land of China, with followers of Zen Buddhism's philosophy everywhere, which led to the many legends about the ancestral temple of Zen Buddhism, Shaolin Temple, in later generations.

In his previous life, Sanzu Temple, where Tang Ku practiced, was the place where the Third Ancestor Sengcan cultivated Dao, and the temple was named after him!

Coincidentally, Tang Ku actually witnessed the commemorative scene of Huineng inheriting Zen Buddhism, which was what made him happiest in his heart.

Casting aside all distracting thoughts, he sat in this cave for more than ten days without moving; in his mind, apart from Buddhist scriptures, there were his past experiences, from the Golden Cicada period to his Transmigration into modern society, the days of practicing at Sanzu Temple, plus all the experiences of Tang Sanzang's pilgrimage in this life up to now, all constantly swirling in his mind like a movie.

"...If the heart is not calm, how can one meditate on Buddha?"

A question suddenly lingered in his heart; this question arrived abruptly, without root or cause, appearing directly in his mind just like that.

All the distracting thoughts that prevented his heart from calming down began to be eliminated one by one from his mind, as if he were erasing his own memories...

Until... everything returned to peace, leaving only this one question in his mind!

"Having a question... is still a distracting thought!"

Tang Ku pondered painfully, but he was unable to eliminate this last question!

"What is a distracting thought?"

A voice suddenly came from the outside... no, it seemed to come from the Universe's Void Realm, yet it also sounded like it came from the shadow of Bodhidharma in front of him.

Tang Ku tilted his head and thought for a moment, then suddenly said: "Anything that disturbs my purity is a distracting thought!"

"What is purity?"

The voice asked again.

"When the environment follows the heart, and the heart vanishes along with the environment, that is purity!"

Tang Ku replied.

"Since the environment follows the heart, why struggle with distracting thoughts?"

The voice asked again.

Tang Ku suddenly fell silent, then suddenly clapped his hands and laughed: "Senior is right, since the mental state is at peace with whatever happens, then so-called distracting thoughts are also just one of the circumstances; I only need to be at ease with them, and that is purity!"

"Excellent, excellent..."

A phantom of a big-bearded, curly-haired monk suddenly appeared in front of Tang Ku, hands pressed together, also sitting cross-legged in front of Tang Ku, and laughed: "For Senior Brother to call me Senior is really a bit awkward. Since I am a Buddha, and you are also a Buddha, we can just address each other as Senior Brothers!"

Tang Ku laughed: "Are you Senior Brother Bodhidharma, the Great Master?"

"I dare not accept the name of Great Master, but spreading Buddha Dharma is the primary duty of us Disciples of Buddha; the original intention is to be able to help people clear away all troubles. To be able to help one person is to help one person; this is Karma. So-called propagating the Dharma is propagating virtue, nothing more!"

Bodhidharma laughed, "Actually, your heart is very calm, it's just that you need a reason to make this calmness of yours reasonable, that's all. And I pointed this out and gave you this reason... Hmm, you mentioned the pragmatist school to Hongren before, and I think it makes a lot of sense. Actually, how can Buddha Dharma be so profound? It just points out truths that people should have known, but everyone is blinded by the prosperity of the secular world, their hearts covered, unable to see through these ordinary truths!"

"Therefore, what Buddha Dharma calls 'saving all sentient beings' is actually to awaken the wisdom deep within people's hearts, to polish the eyes of the world, so that everyone can have peace of mind. When there is peace of mind, there will be no more suffering in the world!"

Tang Ku smiled, "Buddha Dharma... is actually just a tool!"

Bodhidharma pressed his hands together and smiled strangely: "Looking at it this way... is actually not wrong, just a bit too utilitarian. In fact, sometimes, many things can only be done with peace of mind when wearing the cloak of Buddha Dharma... punishing evil and promoting good, helping the world, upholding the Dao, and even imparting knowledge and teaching people to be kind are things everyone can do, all upholding good thoughts, which is no different from Buddha Dharma. However, with Buddha Dharma, it can make people more easily believe in these things. Under the right guidance, people gradually move towards goodness and eradicate evil thoughts, then whether there is Buddha Dharma in the future is not that important!"

Tang Ku's expression became solemn, he pressed his hands together, bowed deeply to the person in front of him, and said in a deep voice: "Bodhidharma, the Great Master, you are worthy of the name Great Master; just for this last sentence, you are worthy of it! In my opinion, all these Western Paradise Buddhas combined are not as great as you!"

Bodhidharma laughed: "Whether it's great or not is another matter..."

He paused, then laughed: "You will soon be debating Dao and discussing Dharma with the Buddhas. Do you think you can win against them?"

"I can!"

Tang Ku said solemnly.

"Good!" Bodhidharma laughed, "Then vent my share of Qi as well... Back when I propagated the Dharma to the Central Plains, I suffered countless hardships, which I won't even mention, but eventually the propagation was successful, allowing Zen Buddhism to spread in the Central Plains, yet I had no credit at all. I have the cultivation of a Buddha, the Karma of a Buddha, but not the name of a Buddha... If you can defeat them in Zen principles, gain the upper hand in Buddha Dharma, and let my philosophy reach the ears of every Buddhist Disciple, I will be satisfied!"

Tang Ku laughed: "You monk, my Buddhism teaches us not to have a vengeful heart; you are violating the Buddha!"

Bodhidharma narrowed his eyes and said: "Where is the Buddha? Where is the Ancestor?"

Tang Ku pressed his hands together and said solemnly: "Excellent, excellent, the head is the Buddha, seeing one's nature and heart is the Buddha, burying evil and saving the good is also the Buddha. Namo Amitabha, Namo Guangdu Xin Buddha, my Buddha is merciful!"

His eyes suddenly opened; everything was like a dream, like an illusion, like a bubble, like a shadow, like dew, like lightning... Although it was a dream, it allowed Tang Ku's Buddha Dharma cultivation to reach an unprecedented peak.

This day was the ninth day of the ninth lunar month... he broke out of seclusion.