Chapter 8 Chapter 1: The Lies and the Truth of the Western Paradise

The process of learning Buddhist scriptures in the Western Paradise occupies most of the pages in the book, but the reason for learning Buddhist scriptures in the Western Paradise has always been vague. According to the author's analysis, there are two reasons why the scriptures from the Western Paradise are clearly stated in the book. First, if the Tathagata wants to use Buddhism to popularize the greed and killing of all living beings in Nanzhan Buzhou, he must use Mahayana Buddhism. Nanzhan Buzhou only has Theravada Buddhism. People need to come to get Mahayana Buddhist scriptures; secondly, Emperor Taizong of Tang was frightened by the ghost of the Dragon King of Jinghe, so he traveled to the underworld to use Mahayana Buddhism to save the wronged souls who died under his hands, and there is no Mahayana Buddhism in Tang Dynasty, only Lingshan has it, so It is necessary to send people to fetch scriptures.

When we think about it carefully, these two reasons are unreasonable. First, if you want to universalize the world, if you come here, you should send the scriptures to the world selflessly. Why do you have to choose scriptures, apprentices, and foot strength? You have to travel thousands of miles and travel all over the world The government has gone through eighty-one difficulties?Aren't you just wasting the time for saving sentient beings? Second, if Tang Taizong was really forced by ghosts and had to use Mahayana Buddhism to save his souls, then he had to hurry up, good guy, you Tang Seng has been away for more than ten years, do you just want ghosts to kill Emperor Taizong? ah?

Therefore, there is another truth in learning from the Western Paradise. Going to the west to learn Buddhist scriptures is a task set by the Tathagata himself, and it can be said to be a very important political task. It is so important that he sent his confidant disciple Guanyin Bodhisattva to personally find Buddhist scriptures, apprentices and feet. Moreover, learning from the Western Paradise is not only a political task of the Lingshan school, but also a political task recognized by Taoism and the Jade Emperor. This can be seen from the process of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva's selection of apprentices and footwork.

Avalokitesvara subdued Zhu Bajie, Drifting Monk and Xiaobailong without saying hello to Tianting at all. Apart from Tathagata's backing, there was another reason. Moreover, the fact that the way of learning Buddhist scriptures involves Buddhist missions, if the gods of Taoism did not know in advance, how could they allow this to happen? It is very interesting that the first difficulty that Tang Seng encountered when he left Chang'an was rescued by Taibai Jinxing. Taibai Jinxing is a person with a high status among the gods. This plan. Therefore, at the beginning of the pilgrimage to the West, all the gods and Buddhas moved. This is simply the biggest event in the Three Realms. Tang Monk was escorted by Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and Drifting Monk in the open, and there were Wufangjiedi, Four Values ​​of Merit, and Liuding Liujia in secret. , Protector Jialan protects the driver, the gods of the mountains open the way, and the land comes to visit when they meet the road. There are gods and Buddhas on the top to bless them, and the king of Tang to support them. Is there no hidden secret in this?If you say that it is just to retrieve the scriptures to educate the world and save the souls of the dead, I don't believe it!

In fact, we can see what's going on by looking at the experiences we experienced during the study and the results after the study. On the way to learn the scriptures, the five most important experiences of the Tang monks were to slay demons and eliminate demons, and wiped out the big grassroots uprisings including black bear spirit, red boy, bull devil king, hallowed dragon, nine-headed worm, rhinoceros spirit, etc. , It also cleared up the corruption of gods, Buddhas, and Bodhisattvas from all walks of life, corrected the phenomenon of biased Taoism in the world, and carried forward Buddhism.

We can clearly see that the grassroots monsters and monsters in the lower realm of Sifan have basically been cut off after traveling a hundred and eight thousand miles. Countries and others respected Buddhism one after another. As for the lion camel country, it was destroyed. The reason is very likely that the lion camel country did not respect Buddhism.Therefore, after learning the scriptures, the influence of Buddhism has greatly expanded. After learning the scriptures, the monks and apprentices of the Tang Dynasty completed their merits and virtues. Those who became Buddhas became Buddhas, and those who became Bodhisattvas became Bodhisattvas.

In the last chapter, it was written like this - the elder held several scrolls on the stage, and was about to recite satirically, when suddenly he smelled the fragrant wind, eight great king vajras appeared in mid-air and shouted: "Those who recite, put down the scriptures, and follow me back to the west. Let's go." The three people walking down here, even the white horse rose from the ground, and the elder also dropped the scriptures, and also rose from the stage to the sky, and followed them into the sky, so panicked that Taizong and many officials bowed down to the sky. (A few words are omitted in the middle) After Taizong and many officials worshiped, he selected eminent monks, and built a water and land assembly in Yanta Temple, read and recited the "Tripitaka", transcended ghosts and evil spirits, and spread the blessings. The scriptures will be transcribed, It is not a problem to spread the world.

Tang Sanzang, the eminent and respected monk originally chosen by the Emperor Tang, did not have time to recite the scriptures after he retrieved them, let alone save the souls of the dead.In fact, the Tathagata didn't intend for him to recite it. As soon as he passed the scriptures back, he was anxious to ask King Kong to call them back to discuss meritorious deeds. The original intention and the truth can be seen from this, and it is clearly a lie. The author believes that there are only two actual truths about learning Buddhist scriptures from the West—promoting officials and getting rich, and consolidating the rule.

The one who got promoted and made a fortune was Tang Monk and his disciples. Jin Chanzi, the beloved disciple of Tathagata Buddha in the past, was able to return to his position, and even became a Buddha. Sun Wukong also defeated the Buddha. They also have promotions and fortunes, and everyone is happy. Consolidating the rule is the result of Sun Wukong overcoming obstacles, killing demons and demons, and preaching widely. Therefore, the benefits of learning scriptures from the West are obvious. Along the way, monks and apprentices of Tang Dynasty expanded the influence of Buddhism; Tang Seng and others were rewarded, and everyone was happy.

Although Wu Chengen is writing about gods and demons, what he implies is about human affairs. On the way to learn scriptures from the west, Buddhism has expanded its influence, which is definitely beneficial to the Lingshan forces where Buddhism is located, but what is the benefit to Taoism?Why didn't the Taishang Laojun and others object, but instead gave a lot of help on the way to learn the scriptures? What Wu Chengen wants to imply is that he lived in the period of Emperor Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty. The court worshiped Dao so seriously that the government was abandoned, Japanese pirates continued in the southeast, Mongolia rose in the north, and the people complained. Therefore, Wu Chengen entrusted an ideal here, that is The country's rulers must pay equal attention to Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, so that the country will be peaceful and the people will be safe.

Focusing on Confucianism, supplemented by Buddhism and Taoism, the triangular structure is the most stable. Confucianism restrains the feudal scholar-bureaucrats, and Buddhism and Taoism stand side by side, which not only restrains the people, but also prevents the ruler from favoring one of them and neglecting political affairs. This is called the balance of power. Therefore, in the book of Mr. Wu, the monarch of a country who only favors Taoism must be unstable and the government is deserted. Specifically in the book, as the two largest ruling forces, Buddhism and Taoism often play games with each other. This can be seen. The Taishang Laojun and Guanyin Bodhisattva often bet that the Taishang Laojun's Qingniu Jing went down to the world to deal with Tang Seng, etc. Human beings, the Tathagata dare not say that it is the calf of the Taishang Laojun, the deer of the birthday star is determined to kill Tang Seng, and even started a fierce debate with Tang Seng about who is superior in Buddhism and Taoism. These are all manifestations of disharmony between Buddhism and Taoism. Both Buddhism and Taoism are very powerful, but neither can completely overwhelm the other, so the two are still fighting side by side. However, the disharmony between Buddhism and Taoism has led to a corrupt situation in the world. There are many internal factions, evil spirits everywhere in the lower world, corrupt gods and bodhisattvas, and the puppet Jade Emperor wants to move around. In the ruling class, the Taoist school is firmly in the heaven and can be said to be the ruling party; while the Buddhist school is located in Lingshan and it can be said to be the opposition party.Therefore, Taoism is stronger than Buddhism.So some people will say that for a certain faction, such as Taoism and Buddhism, they must hope that they can dominate and overwhelm the other, so that they will be in power forever, and one faction dominates. Want to achieve harmony with Buddhism? The author has already said in previous chapters that the disharmony between the two schools of Buddhism and Taoism will allow many internal and external enemies to take advantage of it.When Sun Wukong made a big disturbance in the Heavenly Palace, the power of the Heavenly Court was almost vulnerable to a single blow, and those with strength stood on the sidelines. Although there are many factions within the ruling class, it is not ruled out that some strong people covet the big position. After all, there are many pro-Buddhists in the Taoist sect. There is no shortage of pro-Taoism sects in Buddhism.As the ruling party, the Taoist sect is not only divided into five lines: Heaven, Earth, God, Man, and Ghost, but each line has its own family. Among the immortals alone, there are Taishang Laojun, Yuanshi Tianzun, and Lingbao Taoist Sanqing. In addition to the Jade Emperor, there are four emperors among the immortals, and the internal struggle is more intense than that of Buddhism.And just because the Taoist faction is the ruling party, evildoers are rampant in the lower realms, and grassroots uprisings continue, directly attacking the situation of the Taoist faction, the pressure on Laojun and other Taoist leaders is extremely huge. cooperation is imperative. As for the Tathagata, the Lingshan he ruled is not monolithic. Randeng and Maitreya both act independently and sit on an equal footing with him. cooperation is also necessary.As a result, the two political giants of Taoism and Buddhism reached a consensus after a lot of thinking - harmony is the general trend, and harmony is the kingly way! Therefore, both Buddhism and Taoism decided to carry out a big move to make the situation look brand new, and Monkey King's rebellion was just an introduction. In the fifth chapter, it is written: (Sun Wukong) ran into it with all his clothes on, and there was no Laojun there, and there were no signs of anyone.It turned out that the old man and the ancient Buddha of Dieng Deng were preaching on the three-story high pavilion Zhuling Dantai, and all the fairy boys, fairy generals, fairy officials, and fairy officials stood around to listen to the lecture. Randeng never goes out, and Laojun is even more focused on alchemy. This time he actually preached behind closed doors. Isn't there any tricks in it?Preaching is actually a cover, what is really going on is a political dialogue, or negotiation, between Buddhism and Taoism, and the result of the negotiation is the formation of a plan for learning from Buddhist scriptures. The two schools of Buddhism and Taoism have reached a consensus to change the current situation by learning scriptures from the West, create a harmonious and united political situation, eliminate internal discordant voices, rectify the corruption of individual gods and Bodhisattvas, and eliminate grassroots monsters that have emerged in the local area. Firstly, the two sects of Buddhism have not only weakened their internal factional disputes, but also stabilized the ruling situation. Taoism has also lost a lot of pressure to govern the world, and Buddhism has also added a large territory. Everyone is happy!