574: Shut-up Zen

"Everything that we think and contemplate, as long as it has a positive and correct orientation, can be called Buddha Dharma!"

Tang Ku said, "Buddha is omnipresent, all-encompassing, and all-inclusive. Everyone in the world wants to become the Buddha, not knowing that the Buddha is me!"

All the Buddhist Disciples in the heavens couldn't help but have a thought arise in their hearts: "So, what we think and contemplate is also Buddha Dharma!"

"Our Eastern Buddhism, led by Zen Buddhism, has a philosophy of 'seeing one's nature to become a Buddha'. What is meant by seeing one's nature? It means that everyone's opportunities, everyone's thoughts, and everyone's actions are different; therefore, wherever the mind reaches, the heart becomes Buddha..."

Tang Ku said, "Since the heart becomes Buddha through thought, then Buddha Dharma has no right or wrong, because as long as it can be called Buddha Dharma, it is walking on the correct path!"

Manjushri Bodhisattva sighed and said, "You truly have wisdom roots... I have finished my questions!"

He had to admit that in the study of Buddha Dharma, Tang Ku was more than a notch above him.

In the heavens, Compassionate Guanyin couldn't help but slightly frown: "Bringing modern concepts into the Buddha Dharma... Tang Sanzang, you are remarkable!"

The Buddha Dharma concept that Tang Ku spoke of was vastly different from what people in the world knew today. Under the thinking of modern people, this kind of Buddha Dharma concept was actually the right path.

Buddha Dharma is not some ethereal grand theory, but covers every aspect of life, even from eating, drinking, and relieving oneself to the great Dao of governing a country; all can be covered within Buddha Dharma... But there is a prerequisite, which is that the so-called Buddha Dharma must be positive energy and have a correct value orientation!

Compassionate Guanyin glanced at her benevolent Clone, but heard Holy Heart Guanyin say, "Sanzang's philosophy coincides with mine. Even if I go up there, it would only be adding fuel to his fire!"

Maitreya, twisting his prayer beads, rode a cloud down. He looked at Tang Ku and suddenly smiled: "Sanzang, do you still remember me?"

This time, Tang Ku finally stood up and bowed... Previously, when he encountered disaster at Little Leiyin, it was Maitreya who intervened, eventually subduing the Yellow Eyebrow Monster, allowing him to continue his journey west... Although many demons on the journey west were arranged by the Immortal Realm and the Western Paradise, these guys like the Yellow Eyebrow Monster didn't know this when they were demons; they really intended to cook and eat Tang Seng's flesh!

Therefore, he was always very grateful to these Immortal and Buddhist Bodhisattvas who had saved him.

"What instruction does the Buddha have?" Tang Ku said in a deep voice.

"Nothing much, just to see you..." Maitreya Buddha sat cross-legged and looked at Tang Ku with a smile.

Tang Ku frowned slightly; he knew that the so-called debate on Buddha Dharma earlier was just a warm-up. This was the time when things would truly become tense.

After thinking for a moment, he sat cross-legged on the ground, face-to-face with Maitreya Buddha.

"Sanzang, from the time of Golden Cicada until now, how long have you been a Buddhist Disciple?" Maitreya Buddha suddenly asked.

"I do not know the days, I do not know the months or years; over the long passage of time, I have long since forgotten!" Tang Ku said in a deep voice.

"Hehe, forgetting is good, forgetting is good..." Maitreya Buddha, with his belly protruding, just looked at Tang Ku with a smile and said nothing more.

Frowning slightly, Tang Ku suddenly smiled and closed his eyes. Maitreya Buddha did the same, slowly closing his eyes, and the scene became instantly silent enough to hear a needle drop.

The Buddhist people stopped talking, and the people of the Immortal Realm also held their breath; they felt that an earth-shattering debate might occur next.

But soon, everyone noticed something was wrong, because although both closed their eyes, there seemed to be a kind of energy connecting them, as if their Qi were connected together.

"Are they fighting with magic? No more debating?" The Daoist asked, confused.

"This... perhaps the Holy Monk has another trick up his sleeve!" Li Chengqian looked at Tang Ku, who had sweat on his forehead, and thought to himself, "Holy Monk, you absolutely cannot have any trouble, absolutely not!"

Half a stick of incense, a stick of incense... Half an hour, an hour, two hours...

Suddenly, both opened their eyes almost at the same time. Maitreya Buddha extended a finger, pointing to the sky, with a smile on his face.

Tang Ku, however, seemed to have changed into a different person; he suddenly lay down on the ground, supporting his head with his left hand, and actually fell into a deep sleep just like that... That's right, he fell into a deep sleep and even started snoring!

Maitreya Buddha was stunned, then shook his head with a wry smile, stood up, stuck out his big belly, and returned to his own camp without saying a word, shrugging his hands.

"Amitabha..." Everyone in the Western Buddhist Realm instantly understood what had happened and folded their hands, chanting the Buddha's name...

"What the hell, what happened? Why... why don't I understand this?" Li Chengqian said, confused.

"Don't ask me, I don't understand either..." The old Daoist tilted his head, "Could it be that the Holy Monk is tired after debating for so long?"

Looking at that little nun, it turned out she had long since fallen asleep against the stone wall, treating the events happening before her as a lullaby.

"Did you understand?" Grand Tutor Wen asked Xin Huan, who was following beside him.

"No, but I know those guys from the Western Paradise have chickened out!" Xin Huan laughed.

"Hmm, that's half right!" Grand Tutor Wen smiled wryly, "This Tang Sanzang is indeed powerful... He was competing with the Buddha of the East in Silent Zen, but... Maitreya lost!"

Xin Huan seemed to understand but also not, glanced at the sleeping Tang Ku, and said helplessly: "Do we have to wait for him to wake up before we continue the discussion?"

"No need, he will wake up soon..." A sharp glint flashed in Grand Tutor Wen's eyes.

Beside Li Jing, a young man with delicate features said to him: "Father... actually, it's not as complicated as you think... Silent Zen is about who can keep their composure... The two sitting opposite each other were waiting for their own Qi to completely calm down, and the moment they opened their eyes, the winner would be decided... Maitreya opened his eyes, pointing to the sky and the earth, just like the Buddha back then, meaning 'In heaven and on earth, I alone am honored!'"

"And Tang Sanzang was disdainful of the so-called 'I alone am honored' statement..." Li Jing suddenly realized, "He doesn't care about that position of being the only honored one at all... So Maitreya's action was already attached to appearances, and thus he fell behind! Good child, sending you to the Western World to study Buddha Dharma was the right thing to do! Sigh, I wonder how your third brother is doing now..."

The young man was exactly Hui'an Xingzhe, who was also Li Jing's second son, Mu Zha.

Putting aside the conversation between father and son, Tang Ku seemed to have slept enough, suddenly stretched again, and looked at the Western Paradise Buddhas with sleepy eyes: "Who else has something to say... let's chat some more!"

"If you cannot save yourself, how can you save others?" Bhaisajyaguru suddenly stood out, looking at Tang Ku from mid-air, and said, "Your ability... can it save the people of the world?"

Tang Ku folded his hands and squinted at Bhaisajyaguru, saying: "Excellent, excellent, who says that a person who cannot save oneself cannot save others?"