From a refugee to a martial artist

Chapter 228 Poetry Party
"You're strangely warm!"

Early the next morning, Xiangling climbed up from Meng Yuan's side and sniffed him hard.

Meng Yuan also got up and asked, "Where do you sleep when Jiang and I are not at home?"

"I sleep with Sister Jianzhu," Xiangling said, with a wide circle of friends. "Sometimes I sleep with Third Madam, too. Third Madam smells really good!"

Meng Yuan has never slept with the Third Miss, so he doesn't know whether she is sweet or not.

They got up, wiped Xiangling's face, and boiled a few eggs for her to eat.

"After I take my leave, we'll go back to Lao Bie Keng tomorrow!" Xiang Ling took out a few of the snacks that Meng Yuan bought for her and put them in a small bag, "Let Third Grandma see the world!"

She also reminded him, "You should also bring some for classmate Dugu. Don't bring too much for him. He can eat a lot and he will finish it all in a short time!"

"I know." Meng Yuan was very obedient.

After seeing Xiangling and Old Man Jiang off, Meng Yuan waited in the room for a while, and then Mr. Wang came.

"The prince heard that Teacher Meng has returned, so he asked me to come and invite you." Mr. Wang seemed to have aged a few years. He had a smile on his face and his waist was slightly bent.

I used to call him "Teacher Xiao Meng", but now I'm just Teacher Meng.

Moreover, Mr. Wang's tone was very humble, without any trace of scholarly bearing, and even had a bit of flattering intent.

After all, Meng Yuan had gone to the capital this time, and it was obvious that he had become a person trusted by Ying Rushi, so his status had unconsciously risen a lot.

It was only early morning, the sky was gloomy, the morning sun was hidden in the clouds, and there was still some chill from the autumn night.

"The prince has collected autumn dew and brewed new tea, and is just waiting for Teacher Meng to discuss poetry!" Mr. Wang smiled.

"You are too polite, my lord." Meng Yuan smiled and asked as he walked away, "Mr. Wang, I just got back yesterday. Is there anything going on in the palace recently?"

"What could possibly happen in the palace?" Wang Xiucai answered casually, "Everything is fine. I haven't heard of anything happening."

Meng Yuan nodded and asked, "Is there anything new in Songhe Prefecture?"

Wang Xiucai thought for a moment and said, "I am just a humble guest. Our palace has never interacted with officials. I don't know what is going on outside."

The two of them chatted nonsense and came to the small courtyard where Dugu Kang lived.

Mr. Wang knocked on the door, then pushed it open, leaned over and extended his hand, "Please."

Meng Yuan nodded to express his thanks and stepped inside. Wang Xiucai closed the door and did not follow him in.

It’s the chilly autumn of October, and the grape trees in the yard have lost their green color, with their branches turning from green to yellow.

The dead leaves on the ground in the yard had not been swept away, and Dugu Kang was sitting cross-legged under the grape trellis.

Dugu Kang was seen wearing loose white clothes, with a charcoal fire burning in front of him and tea sets on it.

The wind was cold in the early morning and the clouds were low, and Dugu Kang seemed somewhat aloof from the world.

"Donor Meng." Dugu Kangpang smiled and said, "We haven't seen each other for a long time. Why don't you come and have a cup of tea to wash away the wind and frost of the journey?"

Meng Yuan stepped forward, sat opposite Dugu Kang, and said, "Prince..."

"Hmm?" Dugu Kang stopped pouring tea and looked at Meng Yuan with raised eyebrows.

"Master Liaokong." Meng Yuan casually drank a sip of tea and asked, "Are you so free every day?"

Dugu Kang was stunned for a moment and asked, "What else?"

He boiled more water and pointed to the sky with one hand, "The four directions of the world, the red mirror and the bright moon are all in shackles." Dugu Kang became more and more angry, "In this world, I am afraid that only the president still cares about me. It's just that the president is elegant and rarely sees me. Most of the time, we communicate through letters."

"Your body is a cage, and you are becoming more and more obsessed with it." Meng Yuan smiled.

"Everyone can talk about Zen, but how many people can see through the changes in the body and mind?" Dugu Kang shook his head slightly.

"Have you encountered any problems in your practice?" Meng Yuan asked.

Dugu Kang finally smiled, as if saying: You still understand me!
"Buddhism also has the saying of ascending to the heaven in three stages." Dugu Kang counted on his fingers, "It's the same as you practicing martial arts. The difference is that you martial artists can enter the heaven quickly because you cultivate your body. People say that Buddhism cultivates the mind but not the body, but in fact, I, the Buddhist disciples, also cultivate my body, but more importantly, I cultivate my mind. Therefore, you martial artists can enter the heaven faster than us, but after reaching the seventh or sixth stage, you may not be as fast as us."

Meng Yuan thought for a moment and asked, "How fast?"

"Once you realize the truth, you can become a Buddha." Dugu Kang became excited, "Especially the sudden enlightenment school, which talks about sudden enlightenment in one move."

"Liaokong, I'm not a fool." Meng Yuan didn't believe it. "Although the Sudden Enlightenment School advocates sudden enlightenment, it also requires practice before enlightenment, and then enlightenment can be achieved."

"The practice before enlightenment can be fast or slow. Some people will never be able to comprehend or understand clearly in their entire life. Some people, when they see big rivers, see that all living beings are suffering, and see the wonders of heaven and earth, will have the opportunity for enlightenment." Dugu Kang said.

"You are already at the seventh level. In your gradual and sudden enlightenment practice, I'm afraid you have more sudden enlightenment than gradual practice." Meng Yuan looked at Dugu Kang and asked, "What difficulties have you encountered? Is there anything you can't understand?"

"The seventh level is to receive the precepts, to put aside all feelings and delusions, to illuminate the mind in the void! Greed, anger and ignorance no longer exist, the muscles and bones are fully developed, and supernatural powers are in hand."

Dugu Kang rubbed his hands, not looking like a senior monk at all, "But to advance from the seventh rank to the sixth rank, one needs to determine the Buddha nature."

"You..." Meng Yuan looked at Dugu Kang and asked, "You have actually reached the threshold of entering the middle-grade realm?"

"It's just that I saw a little bit of Buddha's light." Dugu Kang smiled modestly.

"Then what is the fixed Buddha nature?" Meng Yuan asked curiously.

"Buddha nature is illusory." Dugu Kang shook his head slightly and asked, "What is Buddha?"

Meng Yuan thought about it and found that it was really difficult to define.

A bald head is just an appearance, and so are the scars from one’s monk’s tonsure. Only when you have Buddha in your heart can you be considered a Buddha.

But how should we talk about Buddha nature? Meng Yuan really had not thought about it carefully.

"I would like to listen to Master Kong's profound ideas." Meng Yuan was too lazy to think about it.

"You have seen Xiyaonu and Jie Kaiping before, and you have also fought against the Bodhisattva Kurong." Dugu Kang became serious. "Xiyaonu is the phase of joy, Jie Kaiping is the phase of extinction, and the Bodhisattva Kurong is the phase of withering and flourishing. These three are the true phases."

Dugu Kang poured more tea and said, "Is the original appearance the appearance of Buddha? You need to have the heart of Buddha and the nature of Buddha to have the appearance. Of course, in my opinion, it is all appearance."

He pointed to the grape vines next to him and said, "It has something to do with your compassion, doing good deeds, and cutting off your worries, but not much, because these are just superficial. Only if you believe that you are a Buddha, then you are a Buddha!"

Meng Yuan thought for a while and said with a smile: "Are you talking about Qing Guangzi?"

"Donor Meng knows me!" Dugu Kang was extremely happy. "I have always felt uneasy in my heart, so I have been thinking about Qing Guangzi."

"Naturally there are experts who will worry about this kind of thing. It's not our turn." Meng Yuan smiled.

"That's natural. I don't care." Dugu Kang leaned forward and whispered, "When are we going to have a poetry reading?"

Changing the subject in a flash, Meng Yuan said with a smile: "I came here just to tell you that I will go to the mountains with the president tomorrow."

Dugu Kang sighed and said, "I'm almost suffocating!"

After saying this, he pointed at Meng Yuan again and said anxiously: "Don't cheat again, I will decide the theme of the poetry meeting!"

(End of this chapter)