Xuanxia

Chapter 178 Buddhist Sutra
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The heavy sound of the bell echoed above the temple, startling a flock of birds flying over the lake outside the temple.

In the main hall at the highest and most central location of the Fanyin Temple, Fu Qingzhou and a group of lay disciples sat cross-legged at the back of the Buddhist hall.

"There are so many people..."

Fu Qingzhou looked at the backs of the people in monk robes in the front row and narrowed his eyes slightly.

A rough count shows that, in addition to these lay disciples, there are about forty or fifty monks in this Buddhist temple.

At this time, the three most senior masters of the Yuan generation had not yet arrived, and the chanting of the Buddha's name had not yet begun. All the monks remained silent, with their eyes closed, and motionless, as if they were asleep.

The Buddha statue enshrined in the main hall is different from any Buddha statue Fu Qingzhou knows.

It has a solemn appearance and a golden body as bright as the sun, but underneath its body are layers upon layers of boneless human skin. Those human skins have turned into lotus pedestals, and it seems as if it has emerged from these layers of skin.

"Old thing."

Fu Qingzhou called out in his mind: "Have you seen this thing?"

"I've never seen it." The smoker's voice sounded: "Who knows what the hell this thing is."

Fu Qingzhou looked at the monks in front of him again: "What are these guys at? What level of cultivation are they at?"

“Most are not as good as you.”

The Smoker replied, "Eighty percent of them are below the fifth realm, and there are only eight or nine people who are in the fifth realm."

Fu Qingzhou said, "Oh?" "That means there are still a few people above the fifth realm?"

"Have."

The Smoker said, "Three are in the sixth realm, two are in the seventh realm, and one is in the eighth realm."

Fu Qingzhou's eyes were slightly stern: "There really are masters in this temple... The three Yuan generations haven't arrived yet."

"Isn't it coming?" the smoker whispered.

As it opened its mouth, Fu Qingzhou's gaze was naturally drawn to it.

The door of the side hall of the main hall was pushed open, and three young monks walked out slowly.

They all looked very handsome, with skin as white as women, wearing golden and red robes, holding a wooden fish in one hand and raising the other hand, and walked to the statue seat without looking around and sat down cross-legged.

"Ode to the Buddhist Sutra of One Hundred Disasters."

The three Yuan-generation monks spoke at the same time: "Avalokitesvara, the Buddha of a Hundred Disasters, has gone through a hundred lifetimes of reincarnation, and has seen that the five aggregates are empty, and has transcended all sufferings."

The sound of wooden fish rang out, and all the monks spoke together, chanting sutras at the same time with the three masters.

Fu Qingzhou naturally couldn't recite this sutra. Some of the lay disciples around him were familiar with the sutra, and some could only recite it intermittently, but they all followed suit and recited aloud to some extent. For a while, the Buddhist sounds continued in the hall.

"The flesh and blood bag is the basis of reincarnation. It is replaced by a hundred lives, and the pain never stops. However, the Buddha of a hundred disasters has no self and no form. He uses pain as practice and reincarnation as nirvana. He is born in every life and dies in every life. He does not dwell in life and death, and does not think about reincarnation. In life and death, he sees the emptiness of life and death. In reincarnation, he sees the silence of reincarnation..."

He moved his lips, trying to pretend to speak casually.

But the strange thing was that when he opened his mouth, he unconsciously made a sound along with the other monks!

"The Buddha of Hundred Disasters has cultivated great supernatural powers in hundreds of reincarnations. He has no birth or death, no reincarnation, no pain..."
Fu Qingzhou was shocked and subconsciously looked to the side, and found that those lay disciples who had been unable to read the scriptures clearly before could now read them word by word clearly!

He wanted to shut his mouth, but he couldn't control himself at this moment!

"A hundred disasters and difficulties led to Buddhahood, so as to achieve Buddhahood and save all living beings; all living beings are suffering, and only by practicing this can they be free from suffering..."

Fu Qingzhou still wanted to resist, but his eyes seemed to be glued to the golden statue of Buddha in the hall and could not move away. His body was extremely relaxed and he had no power to resist. Only his mouth was chanting along with the monks.

Not only that, his mind gradually became clear, all distracting thoughts were swept away, leaving only endless tranquility.

What’s even weirder is that this feeling is very comfortable.

He felt as if he were a baby back in his mother's arms. The buzzing Buddhist chanting in his ears intoxicated him, giving him a comfortable feeling of being half awake and half asleep.

There is no need to think about anything or worry about anything. Just chanting Buddha's name with everyone else is like the happiest thing in the world.

At this moment, the smoker's sharp and hoarse voice rang in his mind.

Compared to the comfortable and numbing feeling brought by the Buddhist scriptures, this sound was like nails scratching on a blackboard, unbearable, and it made Fu Qingzhou feel uncomfortable all over.

However, although it was uncomfortable, it barely saved him from that strange state.

Fu Qingzhou suddenly woke up, but was horrified to find that he was still chanting Buddha's name with the monks.

"All suffering arises from the mind. When the mind arises, suffering arises. When the mind ceases, suffering ceases. Therefore, all living beings..."

"Old thing!" He chanted the sutra, and in his mind he struggled and yelled, "Help me!"

"Hum..."

The smoker laughed proudly and said, "I knew you couldn't live without me!"

The next second, an extremely obscure and complex spell sounded in Fu Qingzhou's mind.

In his confused state of mind, he could not hear clearly what it was. He only felt that the sound was like the howling of ghosts and wolves, or the underworld, eerie and terrifying.

But as the mantra came to an end, the Sanskrit chanting that was buzzing in his ears finally had a real isolation. They turned back into the normal sound of chanting Buddha's name, rather than a world that enveloped him layer by layer.

Glancing around him, he saw that all the lay disciples were reciting scriptures with immersed expressions and solemn looks, and it was obvious that they were in the same situation as he had just been.

"That abbot Yuanwu...is in the Cave Heaven Realm."

The smoker's voice was also a little solemn: "He is casting a brainwashing spell, not targeting you. If you use the Qi Ran Jue Ying, you can resist it, but you will inevitably be exposed."

Fu Qingzhou was still frightened. He had been careful enough when he sneaked in this time, but he still almost got caught.

"It seems that Fanyin Temple has brainwashed everyone who enters the temple into its own people by chanting the Buddha's name twice a day, morning and evening."

He whispered, "No wonder Fazheng, Fayuan, Fachen and other guys are so loyal to Fanyin Temple even though they are quite capable..."

"This brainwashing won't work once or twice." The smoker said, "But if it lasts for a long time... hehe."

Fu Qingzhou let out a long breath and his eyes became stern.

Naturally, he would not speak again, and the people around him were all immersed in the chanting of Sanskrit, and no one noticed him.

This hour seemed very long to him. He looked at the solemn and majestic Buddha statue in front of him and gradually felt that its face looked hideous and extremely ferocious.

Finally, with the sound of a bell in the distance, the sounds of wooden fish and chanting of Buddha all stopped.

"May this merit be used to adorn the Pure Land of Buddha, to repay the fourfold kindness, and to relieve the sufferings of the three evil paths. May all who see or hear this develop bodhi mind, and after this life, be reborn together in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss."

The three monks at the front sang in unison, ending the morning chant.

All the monks stood up, bowed to the Buddha statue and the three monks, and then left.

Fu Qingzhou also stood up with everyone else. Someone beside him smiled and said, "How is it, Brother Qing? Do you feel good after reading the sutra?"

He smiled and said, "It's really comfortable."

"Just for this, I want to become a monk here." Another lay disciple said, "If nothing else, I can feel so comfortable every day, even if I don't practice."

Fu Qingzhou said nothing and let out a breath.

Just as he was about to leave with everyone else, a soft voice suddenly came from the hall.

"The new lay disciple entering the temple, Zhou Qing."

Fu Qingzhou was startled and turned to look.

The one who called him was none other than Yuanwu, the abbot of Fanyin Temple, who was standing under the Buddha statue. He had a calm face and compassionate eyes, and said calmly, "Please come and have a chat."

(End of this chapter)