Donghuang Ziji

Chapter 895 Bajie Meets Chu Tai

"As a result, can those individuals separated from the Xiantian True Saint possibly withstand the cycle of heaven and earth? Moreover, how can we be sure that the independence we think of is also independence for the Xiantian True Saint, and not some special manifestation?"

Hearing this, Zhu Bajie could only mutter: "Brother Monkey, you can't continue talking about this. Haven't I told you everything, good or bad?"

"But this is also true. Just like many of the principles we now understand are simply incomprehensible to mortals, we are also unable to determine how unreasonable the power held by those innate true saints is."

Finally, Sun Wukong gave a less appropriate explanation.

"If it really doesn't work, you can regard this person's Dao fruit as a combination of heaven and man. Normally, heaven includes man, and heaven hangs high above. When he is not moving, he is the master and supreme ruler of this Dao fruit."

“But the moment he made his move, he was separated from the sky. At that moment, he could no longer represent this complete Dao Fruit and could only use his own strength.”

“But because the heavens include man, as long as the fruit of the Tao has not disappeared, he, as a man, can continue to manifest from the perfect fruit of the Tao.”

Zhu Bajie laughed when he heard this and said, "Now I understand."

In response, Erlang Shen, Jin Chanzi and Maitreya all shook their heads, knowing that the Altar Cleansing Messenger still had not fully understood Chu Tai's condition.

Chu Tai looked at Zhu Bajie happily and said, "You called me the World Honored One earlier, so I must help you solve some of your doubts. It just so happens that I have a few Buddhas who can help people keep precepts, calm their minds, and increase their wisdom. Once you master them, you will be able to understand the subtleties of them. I wonder if you are interested?"

"Hehe, Buddha, please be merciful. I wonder if I, old pig, can first hear which honorable positions there are?"

"Of course you can. One of them is called taming demons. Through various ascetic practices and keeping the precepts, you can tame the inner and outer demons, gradually grasp the cause and effect, understand Prajna, see through the cycle of all phenomena, and know the true meaning of all things."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Bajie asked, "How is this different from normal asceticism?"

"Generally speaking, asceticism is a form of self-discipline. Although it can improve oneself, it is difficult to perceive."

"And under my blessing of this fruition, you can immediately receive feedback from your ascetic practice. The more precepts you observe, the stronger the blessing. Take your name as an example. If you can really observe the five pungent and three disgusting foods, you will receive pure blessings, and the worldly filth will no longer be able to harm your body."

"If one can observe the ten precepts of killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, slander, bad words, flattery, greed, anger, and respecting the Buddha, one can stay away from many evil practices, nourish one's own good practices, and obtain the supernatural powers and blessings that are no less than those of ordinary great bodhisattvas."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Bajie immediately said, "Although this magical power is wonderful, it is too difficult to keep the precepts. I can't bear it. No, no, no."

"The second one is called Shari, which can turn your concentration into substance, open the six senses of eyes, ears, mouth, nose, tongue, and body, and give you the gift of not being disturbed by the changes of the five colors, not being biased, not being disturbed by poisonous gas and dust, and being able to distinguish the nature of all kinds of food. Then you will give rise to all kinds of incredible supernatural powers such as the heavenly dragon chanting and the dragon and elephant strength."

"Finally, I will open your seventh consciousness, allowing your 'concentration' to fully materialize and become a relic that can contain all the Dao Fruit magical powers, and ultimately sublimate into a golden body."

Zhu Bajie was quite excited and asked, "Are there any prerequisites for this method?"

"Since this method is derived from concentration, you naturally need to work hard on meditation. You need to enter the state of detachment and joy to have the foundation for opening the six consciousnesses. If you want to master the six consciousnesses, you need to reach the state of concentration and joy. The foundation of the seventh consciousness is the state of detachment and joy. The golden body Dharma image requires the state of detachment and purity."

"The Four Dhyana Heavens Dharma?"

Zhu Bajie sighed and said, "In the first heaven of meditation, one must restrain desires and obtain happiness. In the second heaven of meditation, one must get rid of inner troubles in order to obtain happiness. In the third heaven of meditation, one must be free from joy and happiness, and even the thought of joy must disappear. In the last fourth heaven of meditation, one must give up thoughts and be pure, and cultivate merits. How is this different from asceticism? No, no, no!"

"Then I have a third Dharma door, called Venerable, which is the fruition of protecting and spreading the Dharma. It can open the light of wisdom and gain the four abilities of pacifying disasters, increasing benefits, blessing, and subduing."

"Turn on the light of wisdom?"

Zhu Bajie was somewhat tempted, but the previous two questions made him hesitate, so he asked, "What are the restrictions?"

“It is the simplest to enter this stage. You only need to read the Buddhist scriptures and feel the blessings of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Then you can gradually gain a little wisdom from the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. With this wisdom, you can illuminate yourself, illuminate your own shortcomings, and gradually understand the truth of the Buddhist scriptures.”

As soon as Chu Tai finished speaking, Zhu Bajie's eyes lit up and he asked in surprise, "So good? There is no harm at all?"

"Naturally there is."

Zhu Bajie felt a little disappointed when he heard this: "I knew I didn't have such a good life!"

"Please listen to me. The level above this venerable fruition is called Arhat. One needs to know suffering, stop the causes of suffering, desire extinction and cultivate the Way. To achieve this state, one needs to be protected by the light of wisdom. If you simply rely on the blessings of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to stabilize your fruition, the truths of the Buddhist scriptures you understand also come from the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and you don't have much self-realization, it will be difficult for you to achieve the status of Arhat."

"It sounds like you don't sound like the Arhat of Lingshan, but more like the Arhat in the Buddhist scriptures."

Zhu Bajie muttered something, which made Jin Chanzi a little unhappy. He whispered, "Bajie."

Hearing this, Zhu Bajie was a little unhappy. He muttered again: "I'm not wrong. Since the journey to the West, the Buddha has conferred titles on many monks. The status of Arhat has long been worthless. Only the Eighteen Arhats still have some ability. The rest are..."

Before he could finish his words, Zhu Bajie gradually shut up under Jin Chanzi's gaze.

He also quickly found a new topic and shifted the conversation back to Chu Tai.

"If there are no other problems, I am willing to accept this level of enlightenment. Please be merciful and bless me!"

As he said this, Zhu Bajie clasped his hands together and knelt in front of Chu Tai.

Seeing this scene, Chu Tai stretched out a hand and silently sensed the power of the Three Worlds Buddha Fruit System in Lingshan, while remotely sensing the power of the Donghuang Bell outside the sky.

In an instant, rays of glazed Buddha light flowed through the void, evolving into sacred Buddhist objects such as lotus, bodhi, relics, and stupa. Layers of pure lands were also derived, and in each layer of pure land there was the phantom of a Buddha or Bodhisattva.

Jin Chanzi, Sun Wukong and Maitreya each saw their own shadows, and even felt some of the Buddhist concepts in themselves being drawn out and integrated into the Pure Land.

The shadows of the Bodhisattvas and Buddhas in the Pure Land became much more solid, and the three people also gained some insights from the other Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. A ray of perfect light unconsciously emerged behind their heads.

The three of them looked at each other and saw some shock in each other's eyes.

When he looked at Chu Tai again, he admired him even more. It was not an easy task for the Tathagata Buddha to mobilize the power of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to confer the title.

In fact, most of the time, he could only do this in Lingshan.

But Chu Tai can do it easily at Sun Wukong's dojo at this moment, which has demonstrated his great strength and control over Buddhism.

At the same time, Sun Wukong also felt a little bit of the shadow of the Taiyi Avenue he saw outside the sky in Chu Tai's hand.

Even the so-called [Venerable] fruit position in Chu Tai's palm and the Three Buddhas system of the Western Lingshan are somewhat similar to his relationship with the [Taiyi] Avenue.

The difference is that Chu Tai's identity in the Taiyi Avenue should be compared to the Three Buddhas as a whole in the Three Buddhas system, rather than a mere Venerable fruit position.

But the position of [Venerable] is not simple either. Sun Wukong narrowed his eyes slightly. He could feel a power from it that was not inferior to Zhu Bajie himself.

Even without taking into account the status, the power of the [Venerable] fruition is slightly better than that of Zhu Bajie who lacks spiritual charm.

Zhu Bajie, who was kneeling on the ground, was not aware that when the pure land appeared around him, he had fallen into some kind of wonderful state. A virtual shadow of a Bodhisattva also appeared behind him, and the glazed light spread under him, forming a pure land of Buddhism.

The Bodhisattva is the Bodhisattva of the Purifier of the Altar, and the Pure Land is the normal Lapis Lazuli Pure Land.

The two are the embodiment of Zhu Bajie's Buddhist attainments and Buddhist cultivation. In terms of the degree of Buddhist legal principles, they are far inferior to the [Venerable] attainment in Chu Tai's hands.

This also led to the fact that after Chu Tai placed his hand on Zhu Bajie's head, rays of Buddha's light emerged from his pure land, the Eight Virtues Pond, the Seven Treasures Forest, the golden lotus, and the pagoda emerged one by one, and the shadows of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas appeared, and the Eight Heavenly Dragons surrounded them.

Zhu Bajie only felt that he had been greatly strengthened, his mind was constantly elevated, he saw the shadows of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, the Three Buddhas system of Lingshan, the essence of heaven and earth, and the alienation of countless living beings.

At this moment, Zhu Bajie was shocked and was about to fall from his state.

However, with the continuous blessings from the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas around, the light of wisdom dispelled the haze in his heart, allowing it to continue to rise. Gradually, he saw the filth of the entire world and its repetitive cycle.

Zhu Bajie saw many versions of himself: himself with Princess Iron Fan, himself with the Dragon Girl of the East Sea, and himself with the Golden-Haired Rat.

Each of them has a different origin. Some of them are pigs reborn in the human body, some are reborn as animals by mistake, and some are like him, who discover the privacy of their superiors, are plotted against, and become demons.

Different backgrounds also lead to different future paths. Some people save the world and the people, some are divided into good and evil, and some are muddle-headed.

Such numerous and different versions of him kept appearing in front of Zhu Bajie, and he felt a sense of empathy.

"No, it's not empathy, that's me... So my situation is somewhat similar to that of the Xiantian Zhensheng?"

Zhu Bajie looked at the countless shadows in the sky and earth, looked upward, and saw the Taiyi Avenue mentioned by Sun Wukong, and also saw Chu Tai himself.

Looking at the Taoist holding the Donghuang Bell in his hand, Zhu Bajie opened his mouth, but in the end he did not continue to address him as the World Honored One, and turned back to calling him the Emperor.

"May I ask the Emperor, if this cycle continues, will there ever be a day when all living beings can be free?"

"If everyone works together, there is a chance that this cycle can be extended for thousands of years. As for liberation, I will need to go to the last time period to be sure."

As he spoke, Chu Tai performed some scenes from the previous time period for Zhu Bajie, allowing him to see another possibility for himself.

At the same time, it points to the last time period that Chu Tai himself did not go to.

“If we just go to that time period, will there be a chance that all the problems will be solved?”

"I can't guarantee you that. The only thing I can be sure of is that there are people there who are capable of solving these problems."

Zhu Bajie looked back at the time period he was in, looking at the many filthy scenes, the many people who had begun to become alienated and the people who were practicing, and felt a little bit of the Taiyi Avenue running in it.

He had some understanding of how much effort Chu Tai had made during this period of time, and he also saw why Chu Tai's incarnation had to sacrifice himself.

But Zhu Bajie couldn't help but ask: "Does your incarnation have to return to the cycle of heaven and earth?"

"You should have noticed that he has developed a very close connection with your time period. He has become the opposite symbol of Tathagata Buddha and the evil emperor of the heavenly palace. Only by completely integrating him into your time period can my [Taiyi] Avenue better integrate into your world, assist you in striving for a better future, and prolong the existence of your world as much as possible."

When Zhu Bajie heard this, he showed no joy at all. He asked, "Is your incarnation willing?"

Chu Tai himself did not answer. Zhu Bajie lowered his head and whispered, "I understand what Monkey Brother means. You are the sky, which includes humans, but the moment you took action, humans were separated from the sky. Even though humans are still a part of the sky, many of their actions are not in the sky's plan and do not conform to the principles of the sky..."

After a pause, Zhu Bajie's eyes became a little dazed.

"This is naturally a good thing for cultivation. It can continuously improve one's foundation of Tao fruit from multiple perspectives. But for people, it is a big problem. When you get a new perspective, is that person really completely under your control? Does he really not have the slightest sense of self-independence?"

"If not, then why is there a distinction between heaven and man? If yes, then was his sacrifice out of his own heart, or was it because of your need?"

After saying that, Zhu Bajie laughed and said, "Forget it. I can't figure out this kind of thing, and I'm too lazy to think about it. As for me, I just need to follow your plan. I'll go back first."

After saying this, Zhu Bajie's consciousness fell from outside the heaven and earth and returned to his body in the current time period.

Zhu Bajie, who had taken back some of the insights from the many cycles with Chu Tai's help, perfectly accepted the status of [Venerable] the moment he opened his eyes. He was greatly improved and bowed to Chu Tai, saying, "Thank you, Lord Buddha. May I ask what we are going to do next?"

Sun Wukong and Jin Chanzi were the first to notice Zhu Bajie's change, and Sun Wukong even deliberately stepped forward to ask Zhu Bajie what he saw.

"Brother Monkey, what can I see? It's just a similar experience to yours. I saw the source of the Great Dao of Taiyi that you mentioned, and I also saw the essence of the Buddha."

(End of this chapter)