Eternal Sword

Chapter 198 Brother Mingyuan
When Chen Tang saw Master Kong's gaze, he knew that he could not escape.

The Vajra relic is in his Dantian.

He couldn't just cut open his abdomen and give away the Vajra Relic.

Fortunately, he is quite good at fighting.

Xiling Esoteric Sect, um...

Chen Tang seemed to be thinking about something.

Abbot Benguang followed Master Lekong's gaze and asked with a puzzled look on his face, "Master, do you mean that the solution to the problem lies with him?"

"Ah."

Master Liaokong nodded and said, "Let him go."

Abbot Ben Guang said, "But the Tantric sect came here to compete with the Buddhists. This young man's age is suitable, but he is not a Buddhist, right?"

Master Liaokong asked: "There are no requirements for whether the disciples are laymen or monastics in Tantric Buddhism, right?"

Abbot Benguang hesitated for a moment and said, "There is no restriction on this point."

Upon hearing this, Master Liaokong waved to Chen Tang.

Chen Tang stepped forward.

Master Liaokong looked at him and said with a smile: "If Mr. Chen doesn't mind, you can become my disciple and become a lay disciple of Buddhism."

The person in front of you is one of the nine sects in the world.

Chen Tang would definitely not mind taking a Zen master as his teacher.

However, he still looked hesitant and did not agree immediately.

Although I'm a lay disciple, I'm a Buddhist after all. I heard that there are some strict rules and regulations, so I may not even be able to eat meat in the future.

He still prefers a free and easy life.

"Do lay disciples need to shave their heads? Are there any restrictions?"

Chen Tang asked tentatively: "Can I eat meat? Can I marry a wife?"

Don’t underestimate these things, they are related to your future happiness, so you must ask clearly in advance.

Upon hearing this, Abbot Benguang couldn't help but shake his head secretly.

I was very disappointed with the young man in front of me.

Master Liaokong didn't take it seriously. He smiled without saying anything and just looked in the direction of the temple entrance.

"Hahahaha!"

At this moment, a hearty laugh came from outside the door.

Chen Tang looked in the direction of the voice.

I saw a man and a woman walking hand in hand into Xiping Temple.

The man was dressed in cloth, tall and handsome, with a broad forehead, long eyebrows and deep eyes.

The woman had a gentle appearance, a smile on her face, and looked very kind and friendly.

The man and woman were dressed very ordinary, but there was an indescribable nobleness in their whole bodies.

The cloth-clothed man held the woman's hand and walked towards the main hall, saying as he walked: "Little brother, you can rest assured. Buddhist lay disciples can eat meat as much as they want and can also marry wives!"

"Oh?"

Chen Tang believed the man's confident tone and believed it a little.

I saw a man and a woman in plain clothes entering the hall.

The cloth-clothed man bowed to Master Lekong and said in a deep voice, "Disciple Mingyuan, hello to the master."

"Du pays respect to the Master."

The woman bowed.

Master Liaokong nodded slightly and said with a smile: "You are back."

Chen Tang looked the cloth-clothed man up and down, then bowed and said, "Big brother, are you the lay disciple of Master Lekong?"

"Exactly."

The cloth-clothed man nodded and smiled, "So, I can tell you clearly that lay disciples don't have to be so particular."

Chen Tang breathed a sigh of relief, feeling relieved, and said, "Then I will become the mage's disciple and become a lay disciple."

Abbot Benguang frowned. How could this young man not know any etiquette?

Abbot Benguang shouted, "Why don't you kneel down and kowtow to the master as a disciple?"

"No need."

Master Liaokong waved his hand and said, "These etiquettes are just a means to discipline disciples. All beings are equal, let alone masters and disciples. I don't have these rules here."

Just a few words made Abbot Benguang feel ashamed and embarrassed.

Master Liaokong looked at Chen Tang and said, "From now on, your Dharma name is Mingjing. Your body is a bodhi tree, and your mind is like a mirror. Wipe it frequently to avoid any dust."

"Dingjing..."

Chen Tang murmured softly.

I heard the four sentences Master Kong said again, and they seemed familiar. I couldn't help but say subconsciously: "There is no Bodhi tree, and the bright mirror is not a stand. There is nothing at all, so where can dust gather?"

The words fell.

The hall suddenly became silent.

Abbot Benguang stared at Chen Tang in amazement, his eyes full of shock.

The man in plain clothes recited the four sentences uttered by Chen Tang in his heart, secretly marveling at them, and looked at Chen Tang with a little more admiration in his eyes.

Master Liaokong had a complicated expression and sighed.

The four sentences uttered by Chen Tang are indeed superior to his four sentences in terms of artistic conception.

Even a person who is not familiar with Buddhism can feel this gap.

He had been meditating and worshipping Buddha for more than a hundred years and had achieved great accomplishments, but he did not expect that his understanding of Buddhism was not as good as that of a teenager.

In an instant, Master Liaokong's state of mind, which had been as calm as a lake for many years, was disturbed and he felt a little frustrated.

Is it not a coincidence that the Vajra Relics merged with this child?
Could it be that the relic is spiritual and can choose its master on its own?
In fact, these Buddhist verses have an allusion in Chen Tang’s previous life.

When the Fifth Patriarch of Zen Buddhism, Hongren, was in his twilight years, he wanted to pass on his teachings, so he asked his eldest disciple Shenxiu to compose a verse.

The four lines written by Shenxiu are: "The body is a bodhi tree, and the mind is like a bright mirror. Wipe it frequently to avoid dust."

Hongren, however, was not very satisfied. He felt that these four Buddhist verses were still a little short of enlightenment.

Later, Huineng, a young monk who could not read a single word and could only fetch water and chop wood, said another four verses based on these four verses, and thus the Buddhist verses that have been passed down for thousands of years were formed: There is no Bodhi tree, nor is there a mirror stand. There is nothing originally, so where can dust collect?

Huineng later became the Sixth Patriarch of Zen Buddhism.

In this world, there are only the first four verses of the Buddhist verses, but there are no last four verses of Zen Master Huineng.

Chen Tang didn't know the origins and development of these allusions, but he had heard these four lines in a song sung by a superstar in his previous life, so he wrote them down.

At this moment, he just said it casually, but he never expected that it would cause everyone present to sigh with emotion.

The look in Abbot Benguang's eyes when he looked at Chen Tang no longer had the initial contempt.

"Good, good!"

Master Liaokong hummed softly, looked at Chen Tang with shining eyes, and said: "Mingjing, you have wisdom. At such a young age, you have such a profound understanding of Buddhism. Why don't you become a monk and truly worship Buddhism..."

"No no no!"

Before Master Kong could finish his words, Chen Tang was startled and shook his head quickly.

"Brother, why is our Dharma name Ming? Why is it not among those that Ben Yuan can understand?"

Chen Tang quickly changed the subject and asked a casual question.

The cloth-clothed man explained, “Only the formal Buddhist monks will be arranged according to the normal seniority. For lay disciples, the master will give them a Dharma name according to his own wishes.”

"Junior brother, you can't call me big brother from now on. You have to call me senior brother."

Ming Yuan smiled slightly.

"Meet Senior Brother and Senior Sister-in-law."

Chen Tang greeted with a smile.

At this moment, he felt something in his heart and looked sideways.

At the gate of Xiping Temple, there was an old man with a straight figure and tall stature, walking slowly into the temple with his hands behind his back.

The old man's beard was as white as a spear, and his eyes were bright. He looked around and his eyes fell on Master Kong. He looked at him for a moment and then quickly passed by.

(End of this chapter)