I am a fairy in Journey to the West

Chapter 118 Zhuang Yan gets a wonderful idea while sleeping, Jin Chanzi is criticized for his appearance
Zhuang Yan listened attentively to the lectures on the Three Hundred Years Sutra at the beginning, but later he became less and less able to hold on and began to doze off.

Zhuang Yan didn’t know when he fell asleep, he only knew that he slept very comfortably and soundly.

Zhuang Yan had never experienced this kind of feeling before. After falling asleep, he felt a sense of selflessness and a sense of coexistence with heaven and earth, which made him linger.

There is always the nagging voice of an old man in his ears. Although he doesn’t find the voice annoying, it always pulls Zhuang Yan back when he is completely immersed in it.

When he woke up from the dream, Zhuang Yan opened his eyes and found that the scene in front of him had not changed. It was still the Huayan Temple illuminated by the Buddha's light.

Zhuang Yan sat there cross-legged with his eyes a little sleepy. He turned his head to look at the head of the Huayan Daochang, and then he realized that the voice of the old man who was chattering in his dream was the voice of Tathagata Buddha preaching.

The sound of the sutras was like the gurgling of running water, the sound of Sanskrit was like gusts of gentle breeze, and under the shining Buddha's light, Zhuang Yan only felt warm and comfortable all over, just like being slightly tipsy in the sunset breeze.

"How long have I slept?" Zhuang Yan asked in a low voice to an arhat beside him.

But this arhat ignored Zhuang Yan. He just put his hands together and listened attentively to the Buddha's teachings.

Upon seeing this, Zhuang Yan asked the arhat on the other side, but this arhat was just like the previous one, only focused on listening to the lecture and completely oblivious to himself.

Zhuang Yan had no choice but to count on his fingers, and then he found that he had slept for more than 280 years, which means that he fell asleep after listening to lectures for 20 years.

No wonder they say 'time does not matter in practice'. Just like this, in a dream like Nan Ke, I forgot everything and felt that only a few hours had passed, but in reality, a full two hundred and eighty years had passed.

But what surprised Zhuang Yan was that although he had been sleeping for these 280 years, he could remember what the Buddha had said as soon as his mind moved.

Of course, Zhuang Yan had forgotten all the scriptures that Tathagata Buddha had spoken in the past three hundred years, and all he could remember were those "wonderful principles".

"It's amazing. He is worthy of being the Buddha. Even people who are asleep can understand his teachings." Zhuang Yan admired him very much.

At this moment, Zhuang Yan felt as if someone was staring at him. He immediately turned his head and found that it was a monk sitting next to the Bodhisattvas.

This monk had an extraordinary appearance and a solemn look, but at this moment he was frowning and looking at Zhuang Yan. In fact, he had been staring at Zhuang Yan for a long time.

Since Zhuang Yan fell asleep 280 years ago, the monk has discovered Zhuang Yan sleeping.

At this moment, seeing Zhuang Yan awaken, the monk immediately sent a message: "Daoyou has finally awakened."

Zhuang Yan was a little surprised, but he was a little hesitant about whether to respond to the monk. After all, the Buddha was still preaching on the stage. Wouldn’t it be impolite to do so?
After thinking about it, Zhuang Yan decided to give the Buddha some face and not respond, so he just nodded to the monk.

But when the monk saw that Zhuang Yan only nodded to him indifferently, he became angry and immediately said in dissatisfaction: "Daoyou, since you have been invited to listen to the Dharma, how can you sleep while the Buddha is lecturing? Isn't this too disrespectful to the Buddha?"

Zhuang Yan looked at the monk again, thought about it, and still did not respond to him.

Seeing that Zhuang Yan seemed to pretend not to hear what he said, the monk became more and more angry. He took a deep breath, and then all sorts of thoughts came to his mind, but he found that he couldn't calm down no matter what.

Finally, the monk could only sigh softly.

Immediately afterwards, a deafening sigh suddenly rang out throughout the Huayan Temple, like a thunderclap that instantly broke the peace and tranquility of the Huayan Temple.

In an instant, Tathagata Buddha stopped preaching, and all the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Arhats, and Vajras were awakened in shock and looked towards the place where the sound came from.

The Four Imperial Emperors, Taishang Laojun and other invited guests on the stage were also amazed and turned their heads to look down.

The monk was also stunned at this moment. He just sighed softly. Why was there such a loud noise?

The Buddha had been preaching for three hundred years without a break, but now he was interrupted by his sigh.

The monk immediately began to sweat profusely. Without giving it any more thought, he quickly stood up and walked to the center of the temple, knelt down and said, "My disciple has behaved badly. I beg the Buddha to punish me."

The Tathagata Buddha sat high on the lotus platform and asked the monk, "Golden Chanzi, since I started to lecture, you have been absent-minded, looking around, and now you are sighing and ruining my lecture. Why is that?"

After hearing the words of Tathagata Buddha, Jin Chanzi suddenly woke up from his dream. Looking back over the past 280 years, he realized that he had not focused on listening to the lectures, but was instead concerned about others sleeping in the temple.

With his clothes soaked by cold sweat, Jin Chanzi prostrated himself on the ground and bowed, saying, "Please forgive me, my disciple has been obsessed with external things, and has been confused and blocked from the mind. For three hundred years, I have never listened to the Buddha's teachings seriously. Now I have also destroyed the Buddha's lecture platform. This is a heinous crime. Please punish me, Buddha."

The Tathagata Buddha said: "You are my second disciple, but you violated the precepts of the altar in the temple. If you are not severely punished, it will be difficult to enforce the precepts of my holy sect."

Hearing this, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva at the side bowed and said: "Buddha, although Jin Chanzi violated the precepts by focusing on appearances, considering that he has repented, please punish him appropriately."

At this time, Ziwei Emperor also spoke up and said, "Buddha, it is often said that knowing one's mistakes is the best way to improve. Since Jin Chanzi has realized his mistakes, there is no need to punish him severely."

Taishang Laojun also said: "Your Majesty, what you said makes sense. Preaching the sutras is a good thing. Even though it was interrupted by Jin Chanzi, it must be destiny. Even if Jin Chanzi was wrong, the Buddha does not need to be too harsh."

As Ziwei Emperor and Taishang Laojun began to speak, the surrounding gods, Buddhas, and Bodhisattvas also began to speak well of Jin Chanzi.

The Tathagata Buddha nodded slightly, and then said: "Okay, Jin Chanzi, since Taishang Laojun and everyone else have pleaded for you, then I will give you a lighter punishment and demote you to the lower world. You can cultivate merits again and then return to Lingshan."

Hearing this, everyone present was surprised. If "no severe punishment" meant being demoted to the lower realm, then what was "severe punishment"? It was simply unimaginable.

Jin Chanzi prostrated himself on the ground, and upon hearing this, he immediately clasped his hands together and bowed, saying, "Thank you, Buddha. I will follow my teachings."

After saying that, two Vajras flew down and stood on both sides of Jin Chanzi, one on the left and one on the right, to send him to the underworld for reincarnation.

At this time, Taishang Laojun asked: "Jin Chanzi, you said that you were distracted by external things and didn't listen carefully. I wonder what external things you were distracted by?" Upon hearing this, Jin Chanzi bowed slightly to Taishang Laojun, then pointed at Zhuang Yan and said: "This Taoist friend began to sleep twenty years after I taught the Dharma, and slept for 280 years. Seeing this, I was indignant and was confused by external things."

Hearing this, everyone present showed a look of realization. Not only Jin Chanzi, but everyone present noticed that Zhuang Yan was sleeping.

But in their opinion, it was none of their business if Zhuang Yan wanted to sleep. They just needed to listen carefully. If Zhuang Yan slept and didn't listen to the Buddha's teachings, it was his own loss.

Among so many Buddhist disciples present, only Jin Chanzi became obsessed and confused because of this matter. This was truly God's will.

But the Buddha Tathagata said, "Golden Chanzi, you don't know that it is Lingtai Divine Lord."

Upon hearing this, Jin Chanzi's face changed, and then he looked at Zhuang Yan in surprise. He didn't expect that this person was the famous Lingtai God?

Then the Tathagata Buddha said: "The Spiritual Platform God has not been sleeping for the past 280 years. Instead, after listening to my teachings for 20 years, he has entered the mysterious realm of 'no self, no law, and unity of all things'."

At this point, the Tathagata Buddha immediately asked Zhuang Yan, "Lord Lingtai, what is the Buddhist principle that I preached on the Spring Beginning Day of the 168th year?"

When Zhuang Yan heard the Buddha's question, he immediately stood up from his cushion. After hearing the Buddha's question, his mind moved slightly and he immediately had an answer. He said, "Buddha, I don't remember what scriptures the Buddha said, I only remember what principles the Buddha talked about."

The Buddha smiled and said, "The scriptures and principles are originally from the same source. There are scriptures only when there are principles. Please tell me the principles."

Upon hearing this, Zhuang Yan answered immediately.

After hearing Zhuang Yan's answer, the Buddha asked Guanyin, "Venerable Guanyin, is Lingtai Shenjun's answer correct?"

Guanyin Bodhisattva said: "Buddha, Lingtai Shenjun's answer is correct."

Buddha Tathagata nodded, and then said to Jin Chanzi: "Jin Chanzi, do you understand? You must not be attached to external appearances in everything. You must remember this."

Jin Chanzi was very sober at this moment. He first bowed to the Tathagata Buddha and said, "I will keep the Buddha's teachings in my heart."

Then Jin Chanzi bowed to Zhuang Yan and said, "Lord Lingtai, I apologize for any offense I have caused you."

Zhuang Yan responded by saying, "Elder Jin Chan, what are you talking about? I slept on the Buddhist altar, which is indeed disrespectful to the Buddha." Then Zhuang Yan bowed to the Tathagata Buddha and said, "Please forgive me, Buddha."

Buddha Tathagata smiled and said, "Lord Lingtai has been in the state of 'self-existence and lawlessness, unity of all things' for 280 years. This shows that he is extremely gifted and has the potential to achieve 'the fruit of the mixed origin of the Dao'."

All the gods present looked at Zhuang Yan in surprise. This evaluation could be said to be extremely high, equivalent to saying to a heavenly soldier "You have the qualities of a great emperor."

Then, the Buddha said to the Four Great Emperors: "It is a blessing for the three realms that the Heavenly Court has such a good minister."

The Four Imperial Emperors smiled and nodded. The Southern Emperor Changsheng said, "This is the wisdom of the Great Celestial Lord in identifying a gem, and the Supreme Lord Laojun has the right way to select the virtuous."

Zhuang Yan said quickly, "Thank you for your praise, Master Buddha. I am ignorant and naive, so how dare I accept such praise from Master Buddha and the emperors?"

The Buddha smiled slightly and asked Zhuang Yan to take a seat without saying anything else. Jin Chanzi was taken away by Vajra.

Afterwards, the Tathagata Buddha said to all the immortals and gods present: "This lecture lasted for three hundred years and thirty-six days. Now that it has been interrupted, it must be God's will. This lecture ends here."

Everyone nodded, and then the Tathagata Buddha said, "Since this is God's will, then we will open the temple and end the Dharma Assembly. All Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Arhats, and Vajra, follow me and respectfully send off my fellow immortals and gods from all directions."

Afterwards, the Huayan Temple, which had been closed for three hundred years, opened. At this time, the Buddha's light converged, the lotus fell to the ground, and the light of the sun, moon and sky shone into the Huayan Temple at the moment the temple opened.

All the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Arhats, Vajra and other Buddhist gods stood up and, together with Tathagata Buddha, sent the Four Imperial Emperors, Taishang Laojun, all the emperors and the immortals from all directions out of the Huayan Temple.

Zhuang Yan followed the crowd out of the Huayan Temple, turned around to bow and thank the Tathagata Buddha and the Buddhist gods and immortals, then watched the emperors of heaven ride away on their jade chariots. Finally, he also left Lingshan and returned to the Lingtai Divine Palace.

After sending away the immortals and gods from all directions, Tathagata Buddha led all the Buddhist saints back to the Huayan Temple.

At this time, the Tathagata Buddha said to Guanyin Bodhisattva: "Venerable Guanyin, you should personally arrange the reincarnation of Jin Chanzi."

Upon hearing this, Guanyin Bodhisattva bowed and said, "Disciple, I understand your command."

Afterwards, Guanyin Bodhisattva left the Huayan Temple and went directly to the palace in the underworld where Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva was.

Guanyin Bodhisattva descended into the underworld, and for a moment the underworld was filled with auspicious lights and auspicious auras. In an instant, countless wronged souls in the underworld were liberated by the auspiciousness of Guanyin Bodhisattva.

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, the Ten Kings of Hell and a group of gods from the underworld came to greet him, but at this moment Jin Chanzi's body had already passed away, and only his soul was with Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.

Guanyin Bodhisattva took Jin Chanzi's soul, then bid farewell to Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva and left the underworld.

Buddhist deities like Guanyin cannot stay in the underworld for a long time, otherwise the impact on the underworld will be too great.

After taking the soul of Jin Chanzi, Guanyin Bodhisattva returned to his own temple on Putuo Luojia Mountain in the South China Sea.

Guanyin knew that there must be a reason why Tathagata Buddha asked her to personally arrange Jin Chanzi's reincarnation, so after returning to the temple, Guanyin Bodhisattva immediately calculated the secret.

After an unknown amount of time, Guanyin Bodhisattva withdrew his magical powers and had an idea in his mind, so he placed Jin Chanzi's soul into a clean bottle, and sat on the lotus platform, beginning to purify his mind and practice, to comprehend the wonderful principles that Tathagata Buddha had preached for the past three hundred years.

(End of this chapter)