Donghuang Ziji

Chapter 894: Xiantian Taiyi Dao

"You are also the Fighting Buddha of Buddhism, so you should know the truth of suffering in the world. Do you know what the three kinds of suffering are?"

Chu Tai looked at the Sun Wukong in front of him. At this moment, the monkey wearing golden armor only needed the last remnant of his body to complete everything he had. However, the remaining body did not have much power and was also affected by the empty relic.

From a certain perspective, the Sun Wukong in front of us can be regarded as the reincarnation of the original Sun Wukong, so there is nothing wrong with calling him Sun Wukong.

“Cold, heat, hunger and thirst are suffering.”

"When happiness turns to suffering, it is called suffering."

"Impermanence and change are suffering."

Sun Wukong's answer made Chu Tai laugh and said, "All kinds of troubles and pressures are called suffering. Wukong, do you think that my actions are to prove my own suffering, or to show suffering to all living beings?"

"It is caused by karma that breeds the cause of suffering. Or is it known that if there is birth, there will be death? Suffering is also a conditioned phenomenon, inseparable from the three aspects of birth, residence and death. Knowing that the three aspects are unattainable, the body is empty. Realizing emptiness is suffering. Therefore, when you are awakened, there is no suffering, and there is no suffering to be extinguished. When suffering is extinguished, you see the truth. When you see the truth, there is no suffering, and there is no suffering extinguished..."

Sun Wukong fell into deep thought, Jin Chanzi remained silent, and Maitreya clasped his hands together and saluted Chu Tai.

Zhu Bajie, who had a slightly lower level of understanding, and Erlang Shen, who had not practiced much Buddhism, looked confused and had no idea what they were talking about.

Zhu Bajie looked at everyone and found that Erlang Shen was looking at him. He asked Jin Chanzi embarrassedly.

"Master, what are Senior Brother and this Emperor talking about?"

"They were discussing whether someone should be sacrificed. Your eldest brother felt that instead of sacrificing one person in exchange for a brief period of peace, it would be better to let the Buddha take charge of the current period to ensure that all sentient beings who follow can have a good ending."

When Jin Chanzi expressed this, he had already placed Chu Tai in the position of the Buddha, and his words were full of admiration.

"But the Buddha doesn't think so. When he asked Wukong what the three kinds of suffering were, he was telling him that there are infinite sufferings in the world and that all living beings are suffering when they are alive."

"What the Buddha can do is to tell sentient beings what suffering is and how to maintain oneself in suffering. He cannot teach sentient beings how to suffer or how to endure suffering, because suffering is inherent in all sentient beings and cannot be avoided."

When Jin Chanzi said this, he saw Zhu Bajie's expression of confusion, coughed, and explained in detail.

“The three kinds of suffering are suffering that arises from pain, whether it is physical pain such as birth, aging, illness, and death, or mental pain such as separation from loved ones, failure to obtain what one desires, and meeting with those one hates, all belong to suffering.”

“Suffering from change, or suffering from mutation, refers to all the pain caused by change. The most typical example is the loss of control over emotions that occurs when desires are satisfied and the psychological balance is briefly restored, but then happiness disappears.”

"As for the suffering of change, it is the suffering that arises from the ever-changing world. For mortals, it is the constant aging of the body, which most of the time overlaps with the suffering of pain."

“But when we reach the level of seeing through the color and appearance, the influence of the suffering of action will continue to increase. The specific manifestation is that we can’t maintain our Zen mind, our initial aspiration can’t be stable, and our lotus seat can’t be at peace.”

At this point, Jin Chanzi looked at Chu Tai and said, "As the saying goes, the three realms are a burning house, all living beings suffer, happiness is only a temporary cessation of suffering, only liberation can completely end suffering. The Buddha sacrificed himself to guide Maitreya to sit on Lingshan Mountain, reshape Buddhism, help Zhenwu settle in the Heavenly Palace, and maintain order. This is his way of transcendence, and it is a manifestation of his great compassion, great deeds and great wishes."

"Bah! The three realms are a burning house, and all living things are suffering. That's not a reason for anyone to sacrifice themselves."

Sun Wukong looked at Chu Tai and said bitterly, "You can sacrifice for your ideals, but you should never sacrifice all your power in this world for the reason that all living beings suffer! This is unfair to you, and it is also unfair to all living beings."

"Why should all living beings bear the guilt for your sacrifice? Is it possible that they are able to live because of your death?"

When Zhu Bajie heard this, he frowned and said, "But, Big Brother, according to the current situation, isn't it true that sentient beings can continue to live better only because of the death of the Buddha?"

Sun Wukong shook his head and said, "This is not right. If his actions can completely save all living beings, then all living beings owe him. But if he only prolonged it for a period of time, then how do we calculate if someone else sacrifices later? All living beings owe him two lives?"

"Moreover, if what he did was completely from his heart, then he wouldn't have those unnecessary thoughts. He would have the thought that he was sacrificing for all living beings. Is that really your own thought?"

Sun Wukong looked at Chu Tai and whispered, "Is this idea of ​​sacrifice really not born out of someone sacrificing before you?"

"Brother Monkey, how can such thoughts not be our own thoughts? Can we really live in this world without being influenced by the outside world?"

Zhu Bajie found it even more difficult to understand, but Jin Chanzi, Maitreya Bodhisattva and Erlang Shen had already heard the meaning of Sun Wukong's words, and Chu Tai also understood what he really cared about.

"Interesting. I thought you didn't want me to sacrifice myself, but hoped that I could continue to maintain this fragmented order."

"Now it seems that you don't want me to become a shackle for those who come after me, and you seem to have a purpose."

Sun Wukong heard this and said with a smile: "You helped me solve the problem in my body, so I will naturally repay you a little."

As he spoke, he pointed to the sky and said, "Now, the Great Dao of Taiyi that surrounds the heaven and earth and stands above the universe is your foundation."

"Can you feel it?"

Chu Tai was somewhat surprised. Upon hearing this, Jin Chanzi, Maitreya and the others looked towards the void at the same time, sensing silently. They could all sense the Way of Taiyi between heaven and earth, but it was difficult for them to feel the Way of Taiyi that Sun Wukong mentioned, which surrounded heaven and earth and stood above the heaven and earth.

Everyone looked at Sun Wukong, who raised his head slightly and said, "This is a coincidence. Didn't my body and soul separate before? I met another old Jade Emperor in the dark. He looked a bit like me when I first ascended to heaven. He looked very easygoing and a good guy."

"I ate some peaches from his place and drank some nectar. It was full of spiritual energy. Thinking back on it now, it makes me feel comfortable all over. It was also at that time that I saw your Great Dao of Taiyi."

“In my eyes, the Great Dao of Taiyi is not your Great Dao, or it is not the Great Dao that simply belongs to you. It is the highest, the most supreme, the most true, the most holy, the most vast, the most great, and it encompasses everything, but it does not belong to any one person. It is just like the many principles that already exist between heaven and earth, simply standing there, waiting for people to understand, to drive, and to master.”

"And you are just the individual who opened up the Great Dao of Taiyi, mastered its initial power, and mastered the largest piece of power. You cannot represent the Great Dao of Taiyi as a whole."

At this point, Sun Wukong paused, thought for a moment, and added, "Strictly speaking, your Great Dao of Oneness is actually closer to the product of completely transforming Shintoism into Immortal Daoism. All living beings can master the corresponding divine power and become gods in various aspects. However, the principles of its operation and the origin of its divine power are not Shintoism, but your Great Dao of Oneness."

"Therefore, you who control the original source of the Great Dao of Taiyi can actually be regarded as an alternative Heavenly Emperor."

"That's why you have absolute self-sovereignty. Otherwise, the moment your Dao is formed, you should be like the legendary Supreme Dao Ancestor, a person without thoughts or ideas, hidden in the innate spiritual light of all living beings, the supreme and sacred."

"Of course, it is also possible that your cultivation is not enough. After all, none of us know whether the Supreme Dao Ancestor still has his own thoughts after becoming the innate spiritual light, and whether he can continue to interfere in the human world like you do."

"Perhaps, we are completely unable to detect the means by which he interferes with the human world, and we simply regard his thoughts as our own."

At this point, Sun Wukong smiled and shook his head, looking back at Chu Tai.

"But you are different. Your cultivation is not enough to support you to operate all principles. You seem to be doing nothing, but in fact you can do everything."

"But you are also very smart. You separated your own Dao Fruit. No, it should not be said to be separated. Your Dao Fruit has been one from beginning to end. It seems to be all-encompassing, but in fact it is a whole. It regards the concepts of heaven and earth, Qiankun, Yin and Yang, the Three Talents, the Five Elements, the Six Harmonies, the Ten Directions, the Universe, the Light of the Universe, the Universe, etc. as a whole."

"But within the whole, you also have your own individuality, which means that while the heaven and earth remain one, you also maintain your independence. If I have to describe this state, it's actually somewhat similar to..."

Sun Wukong thought for a long time, but couldn't seem to think of a suitable word to explain this situation.

And Chu Tai already understood what the other party meant.

"What you want to say is that the world itself is a whole, and I am an explorer within this whole. The process of my understanding of the world is also the process of the world understanding itself. My existence is just to provide another perspective for the world?"

Sun Wukong heard this and laughed, "However, this description should be more suitable for other individuals who are influenced by the Great Dao of Taiyi, such as me, Bajie, and Master, but it should not be suitable for you..."

Halfway through the conversation, Sun Wukong suddenly thought of something and looked at Chu Tai and asked, "Is it suitable for you too?"

"It suits me. I am not the original body, nor am I the original ruler and pioneer of the Great Dao of Taiyi. I am his incarnation, the perspective he uses to observe the world, or to observe the operation of the Great Dao of Taiyi. So what you said before, that I made my current choice because of someone's sacrifice, is wrong. If you must say it, it should be that my original body does not want to see the many tragedies in the current time period and the current world, so I am the one who should deal with these things."

Hearing this, Zhu Bajie finally caught up with some of the rhythm. He whispered, "Are you a Xiantian Zhensheng?"

Upon hearing this, Chu Tai was first surprised as to why Zhu Bajie thought he was that kind of person.

But when he thought carefully, he realized that in his current state, the Tao stood outside of heaven and earth, and he himself was just a perspective of the Tao's evolution process. After all the dust settled, he was ready to return to the cycle of heaven and earth and return to the Tao.

From this perspective, it is easy for people to misunderstand that he is a congenital saint.

Chu Tai shook his head and explained.

“Although my current state is somewhat similar to the legendary incarnation of a true saint, my original body has definitely not reached that level.”

"And, personally, I am actually quite afraid of that kind of mentality. There is no self at all, only the laws of the operation of the Great Dao. I can completely give up the concept of self for the sake of the changes of the Great Dao."

Hearing this, Sun Wukong, who was originally a little embarrassed, suddenly smiled.

Apparently Chu Tai's previous state was far beyond his imagination, so much so that Sun Wukong was not sure whether the reward he had mentioned before would be useful.

But now that Chu Tai has expressed his fear of the innate true saint's mentality, his originally unstable emotions instantly calmed down.

"As expected, I said that my previous feelings were not wrong. You actually still care a lot about personal cognition, or you care a lot about the concept of self. This is actually not so consistent with Shintoism, but your path itself covers a lot of Shinto concepts. I even used the concept of Shintoism to describe your [Taiyi] Avenue."

"But when Shinto itself reaches its later stages, it must see the heaven and earth, see all living things. It either comes from all living things and goes to all living things, or is conceived from the heaven and earth and returns to the cycle of the heaven and earth."

"But this ability to empathize with the heaven and earth and all living things is something that the immortals strongly disagree with, and it is also something you are not willing to accept. You don't want your own enlightenment to become a concept that stands in the void and is independent. You think that you are the core, and only your own [one] is the source of all things."

"So, you can't completely ignore things, but you have to put yourself on a pedestal to get to this point. If you don't do it well, you'll be hypocritical and artificial. You're claiming to be working for the benefit of all living beings, but in fact you're stealing their power."

"Therefore, you chose to hang the complete Dao Fruit in the air, while you continued to control the Dao Fruit you already held. On the one hand, you used the perspective of all living beings to observe your complete Dao Fruit. On the other hand, you also took yourself as the center to construct a small Dao Fruit that was differentiated..."

When Zhu Bajie heard this, he became confused again.

"Will the Buddha's fruit of the path not be divided in this way?"

"Will not."

Erlang Shen understood something when he heard this. He looked at Chu Tai and said, "Heaven and man are divided, or heaven and man are united as one?"

"almost."

Chu Tai nodded, Zhu Bajie was still confused, so Sun Wukong could only continue to explain.

"Fool, you should know that most immortal cultivators also have to face the problem of the unity of heaven and man in the later stages of their cultivation. Our Buddha has simply separated his heavenly and human natures, using the essence of heaven to grasp the complete Taiyi Dao fruit, while the corresponding human part grasps the small Dao fruit. The two seem to be separated, but in fact they are one."

"And he will return later, just like he said before. His state is very similar to the incarnation of the Xiantian True Saint. Can you say that those incarnations of the Xiantian True Saint who return to the Great Dao after death are independent?"

Zhu Bajie finally understood the general idea, and then he said stubbornly: "Aren't there some saints separated from the Xiantian Zhensheng?"

(End of this chapter)