The Demon King, reborn in Japan as a monk

However, Taoism is full of secrets, and different schools and sects describe and use different terms for the same thing. In contrast, it is not as simple and direct as Buddhism, especially in terms of Tantric Buddhism!

At least the core tenets of Tantric practice are only one thing—the Three Secrets! That is, the secret of speech, the secret of mind, and the secret of actions!

Among them, the oral secret refers to mantras, which Ishihara Sho, as a monk, naturally practiced. There are even related mantra materials for practice on the internet in China. On the other hand, the hand secret, which is the mudra, is only described but there are no actual pictures or videos. Not to mention the heart secret, which is the fundamental Dharma!

They are both descriptive texts.

However, this did not stump Ishihara Sho, because as a monk, he also possessed the secret teachings of the hand seals...

Although it is a seemingly illegitimate combination of the Taoist Nine Syllable Mantra that was transmitted to Japan during the Tang Dynasty and Tantric hand mudras, the hand mudras are still quite authentic. In addition, there are descriptions of holding mudras in the Guanyin scriptures. With a little combination, the oral and hand mudras are complete.

On the contrary, it's about the heart...

Based on the available information, the so-called Mind Secret is the Taoist art of visualization. However, the content of the visualization is still uncertain. Some say it involves visualizing hand mudras, some say it involves visualizing the Bodhisattva himself, and some say it involves visualizing light. In this respect, it is not as clear as the Taoist visualization, because the Taoist content is very simple: visualizing the gods!

So after some thought, Ishihara Sho decided to use a two-pronged approach: visualizing hand mudras and visualizing Guanyin. He would then decide whichever worked better.

As for whether practicing like this will cause problems...

In terms of spiritual matters, he, as someone who considers himself a 'Heavenly Demon,' still has a little bit of confidence.

"I've decided. I'll take the Guanyin Mantra as my fundamental practice. It just so happens that I'm also the abbot of a Guanyin temple, and there's a statue of Guanyin in the temple, so it'll be convenient to visualize her..." After a series of rapid and powerful actions, Ishihara Akira made his decision.

However, in addition to this, he also logged onto Amazon, the main online shopping platform used in Japan, and bought some books on occultism, especially those on meditation techniques, to help him practice visualization.

Chapter 5: Home?

Then Ishihara Sho carefully studied the contents of the Guanyin Mantra.

After all, the focus of the secret mantra is on the pronunciation of the mantra, and then using the vibration of the sound to cleanse the body, thereby accelerating metabolism and improving the function of the internal organs.

That is, it has the same meaning as the tiger and leopard thunder sound in some novels.

Naturally, there are also special requirements for the way mantras are read. The proper Chinese way of reading is one method, the proper Tibetan way of reading is another, and there are also Japanese and Sanskrit ways. Who knows which version is the true way to practice oral mantras?

Anyway, Ishihara Akira felt that the standard Mandarin pronunciation was useless. If it were useful, why would Tantric Buddhism only spread in the Western Regions?

Besides the fact that the wrong emperor was supported back then, it was also because the doctrines of Tantric lamas were too heretical for the Central Plains, which was absolutely unacceptable to the aristocratic families of the Central Plains. Therefore, it was completely understandable that they were blocked outside the Jade Gate Pass.

Then came the Japanese version...

After all, even his Chinese isn't authentic anymore, so what's the point of his Japanese?

But Ishihara Sho doesn't speak Tibetan, and as for Sanskrit...

Fortunately, the Sanskrit pronunciation of the mantra is available online, and most of the scriptures recited by monks also have Sanskrit pronunciation versions. Therefore, Ishihara Akira found the correct version after a short search. He then formed the Vajrasattva mudra, which is the sei-sei mudra in the Japanese Nine Secrets lineage, and visualized it in his mind. He then calmed his mind and began to recite the Avalokiteshvara mantra in Sanskrit pronunciation.

"Namo Amitabha Buddha, Namo Dharma, Namo Sangha, Tathagata, Kalavata, Kalavata, Kalavata..."

The sound was deep and resonant, constantly vibrating in Ishihara Yu's lungs, making his chest feel numb and itchy...

Fortunately, it wasn't too strong, so it didn't affect his ability to continue chanting the mantra.

And this thought lingered until eight o'clock in the morning, when the temple officially opened its doors to welcome worshippers.

Ishihara Sho then reluctantly released the hand seals, let out a long breath, and stood up from the futon.

After all, he still needs to live and make money; he can't neglect the management of the family temple just for the sake of cultivation.

It will be more likely when he becomes a billionaire and achieves financial freedom.

Fortunately, his family's Arako Kannon Temple is not a famous historical site or a well-known building that has existed for hundreds of years. It has never produced any powerful monks or made any temple particularly efficacious. Therefore, although local residents and foreign tourists visiting Nagoya have been coming to worship since the temple opened, the total number of people is still within a controllable range.

Moreover, apart from the occasional visitor who comes to him to interpret the meaning of the fortune slips, most local worshippers have already found the fortune box and the corresponding fortune slips on their own, without seeking a deeper understanding. They simply read them once according to their own interpretation and then leave the temple with their friends.

Therefore, Ishihara Sho's work at the temple was not much. Besides answering fortune slips, he was only responsible for maintaining order, guiding worshippers, teaching tourists how to properly worship Guanyin, and cleaning the temple after it opened and closed each day.

His aunts, Fujiwara Tsubone and Fujiwara Hanako, will also come to help with this, so the workload is not very heavy.

Otherwise, Ishihara Sho really needs to consider whether he should recruit two more disciples who are willing to be ordained as monks to help him clean his temple.

Besides these, Ishihara Sho's work as a monk was even less. In addition to the well-known religious services—when someone dies, he goes to help chant sutras and perform rituals for the deceased, or he helps chant sutras and comfort the deceased during the burial—most Japanese temples also have cemetery-related work!

This is also the main economic activity that most Japanese temples use to make a living and operate the temple.

Unfortunately, because the main deity worshipped at Huangzi Guanyin Temple is Guanyin who grants children, it doesn't have much in common with funeral services. In addition, Huangzi Guanyin Temple is a relatively new temple built in modern times, and it doesn't have the same influence within Buddhist sect associations as older temples. It couldn't obtain green space to build cemeteries, so it didn't start selling Dharma names, recruiting the deceased into the religion, or burying them in Buddhist cemeteries.

On the contrary, it was because of the Guanyin Bodhisattva who grants children that they started offering human-shaped sacrifices.

This refers to the work of a substitute priest!

Because dolls—Japanese dolls—are considered in Japan to be the easiest things to attract and harbor spirits, people who have unwanted dolls at home and want to throw them away, but are afraid that the dolls might have spirits and seek revenge, will send them to the appropriate temples or shrines for worship to dispel the dolls' resentment.

Similarly, because dolls were believed to possess spirits, ancient Japanese nobles would treat them as substitutes for their children, placing them beside their children to absorb their energy. After a sufficient period of time, they would send the dolls to temples in a specific ceremony to be offered to the gods, praying that their children would be blessed by the gods and freed from illness or ghostly entanglements.

Although this custom did not survive to the modern era, it did not prevent Ishihara Akira's family from running a related doll placement business.

……

And just like that, a day passed in the blink of an eye, and it was evening again.

After eating the dinner prepared by Aunt Fujiwara, Ishihara Sho returned to the meditation room, sat down cross-legged, formed the Vajrasattva mudra with his hands, visualized the shape of the mudra in his mind, and began to chant the mantra of Avalokiteshvara.

It wasn't until late at night that Ishihara Sho stopped his ascetic practice again, got up and returned to the monks' quarters behind the temple—Garan no Do—to wash up and lie back down on the tatami mats.

"I wonder how long it will take to see results," Ishihara Sho muttered to himself as he lay on the tatami mat.

Then I didn't think about it anymore and slowly drifted off to sleep...

But the next moment, he sat up in bed!

"This is...my home?" Ishihara Akira looked at the room, which was less than 20 square meters, and asked in astonishment, "Have I traveled back in time again?"

With that, Ishihara Akira got out of bed, walked to the computer, plugged it in, and turned it on. He then sat down in front of the computer, picked up his phone, and looked at the time—November 4, 2021, Thursday, 1:12 AM.

"Could it be that I really have traveled back in time again?" Ishihara Akira put down his phone, looked at the computer screen in front of him, clicked the mouse to open the browser, logged into the website where he published his book, went into the backend, and started checking the comments from his readers...

"Not a single comment?" Ishihara Akira asked in surprise, looking at the empty backend interface.

Although he failed miserably, he still managed to accumulate a considerable number of loyal readers because of his consistent updates. So, even if no one commented after he updated, some readers would still check in.

Not to mention, I stopped updating without asking for leave this time, so it's no wonder that my readers left comments to check on me.

But now? There isn't a single comment. Either it's a problem with the backend, or there's some other reason. In any case, Ishihara Sho doesn't believe that the readers would be so calm.

So he collapsed the page, clicked the penguin icon on his desktop, and logged into his book club...

Chapter 6 Lucid Dream

However, upon logging in, there was not a single message from the book club!

It wasn't just book clubs; it was the same in driving groups, and even in groups where you weren't considered logged in unless you sent two or three thousand casual messages a day. There wasn't a single new message, as if his login this time was fake, just an empty interface that couldn't connect to the real internet.

Somewhat skeptical, Ishihara Yu also opened his browser and logged into websites like Bilibili, but the screen that appeared was completely blank...

Seeing this, Ishihara Akira had no choice but to pick up his phone and try again, but the result was the same. Although he could log into apps like TikTok and Pornhub, just like on web pages, no information appeared. It was as if the backend of TikTok and Pornhub had stopped operating, or even if the servers had gone on strike.

But Ishihara Akira knew that such a thing was impossible!

Especially considering that it's highly unlikely that a globally influential online service provider could go from a platform to a blank page in just one day, the only explanation is that its headquarters was bombed.

But it happened to him now, so if it's not a problem with the network itself or the terminal he has, then it's his fault!

This, combined with his actions before his 'return'—

"A dream...or rather, a lucid dream," Ishihara Sho muttered thoughtfully.

"It seems that my abilities as a 'Heavenly Demon' are limited to seeing colorful orbs on people and entering dreams like this. I just don't know if this dream-entering ability can work on others."

Unfortunately, there were no outsiders in the temple at the moment, so even if he wanted to try, he couldn't. He could only wait until tomorrow to find another opportunity...

"But if this is a dream..."

Thinking of this, the space in front of Ishihara Akira suddenly changed, transforming from the original bedroom back into the Zen room and tatami room that he was familiar with.

The statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva stood before him, its majestic appearance and lowered eyelids exuding an indescribable sense of awe and holiness, which gave Ishihara Sho a feeling of shock from the bottom of his heart.

"Indeed, the environment here can be changed through imagination, but..."

However, the sacredness of the Guanyin manifested before him was far too strong, exceeding his initial imagination. If he were to directly use it for visualization, Ishihara Sho was genuinely afraid that he would visualize himself as Guanyin Bodhisattva, which would be a great loss.

Therefore, if you want to cultivate using the power of lucid dreaming, it's better to continue visualizing hand mudras.

Otherwise, he was truly afraid that Guanyin would bring him back to life and then kill him.

"But since it's a lucid dream, I should be able to decide for myself how to wake up."

As he muttered to himself, Ishihara Akira's feet suddenly gave way to emptiness. Accompanied by a feeling of weightlessness similar to that of an elevator starting to descend, Ishihara Akira opened his eyes in the real world.

"It really works," Ishihara Akira exclaimed.

Next, Ishihara Akira tested the speed at which he could enter a dream on his own. He could do it with just a thought and instantly enter a lucid dream state, which made him even more certain that this ability to enter dreams at will was his cheat code!

Afterwards, Ishihara Sho tested some things using a lucid dream state—for example, bringing things from the dream into reality—and failed.

Trying to bring the state of a dream into reality—for example, cutting off your own hand with a knife to create a wound and seeing if you have the same wound on your hand when you wake up—results in failure.

I don't know if my method is wrong or if my cultivation level is not high enough.

After all, although such things have been disproven on the internet and in the psychology community, the rumors that similar water droplet experiments or temperature experiments directly affect the human body have never disappeared. Therefore, Ishihara Sho cannot rule out the possibility that lucid dreaming is not a way to reflect the state in a dream onto reality!

If this succeeds, then there will be even more things I can do.

Then came learning through dreams... and it was a success.

However, this is to be expected, since the self in a lucid dream is lucid, and the consciousness is connected. It is simply that the learning process that was originally in reality is moved to the dream, so naturally, knowledge can be learned just like in reality.

Moreover, the effect is even more powerful! It's easier to concentrate, less distracted by external things, and less prone to daydreaming, so learning efficiency becomes much higher than in reality.

However, this is also to be expected, since it is a lucid dream, which is the result of concentrating a scattered mind. Even if there is some divergent thinking, the chaotic thoughts are absorbed and utilized by the surrounding space. In addition, with the liberation of part of the subconscious, Ishihara Sho in the dream can gain a stronger learning ability than in reality, thereby fundamentally improving his learning effect.

Afterwards, Ishihara Akira finished the test, pondered for a while, and then began practicing the Guanyin mantra in his dream...

……

A peaceful night passed, and the next day arrived in the blink of an eye.

Life goes on as usual.

During the day, Fujiwara Hanako would come over to prepare breakfast for Ishihara Sho, who would then eat it. Afterward, she would clean the temple and officially open it to the public around eight o'clock. She would then receive worshippers and tourists. At noon, she would have a quick lunch prepared by her aunt Fujiwara Tsubaki in the dining hall and continue running the temple until it closed at five o'clock in the evening.