The Great Wei Music Bureau

Chapter 327: Foreign Monk Explains

Last time, we talked about Li Yi and Wei Lin exchanging their thoughts on martial arts, which was a great success. So how will the next story develop? Let's read on.

Li Yi looked at Weilin and swallowed his saliva, but was reluctant to blink.

Weilin smiled and said, "Haven't you seen enough? How can you be a Buddhist? How did you cultivate the Buddha's heart and nature?"

Li Yi felt embarrassed by what Weilin said, as if he was the villain and others were the gentlemen. Even if he was naked, he had an open mind, without any thoughts of the seven emotions or the six desires.

So he coughed and said seriously: "My senior brother said that I have the heart and nature of Buddha and even the affinity with Buddha, but what Sister Weilin said just now really makes me feel inferior. Sister Weilin is still at a higher level."

Weilin smiled and said, "Didn't you say that Buddhism emphasizes great love for all living beings? Then love between men and women is naturally part of this great love, and it is also a natural law. How could such a reasonable and legal thing be banned?"

Li Yi thought for a moment and replied, "In fact, what Buddhism forbids is lust, sex, and desire, not affection, let alone love. Moreover, the great love that Buddhism talks about refers to compassion, purity, and equality for all living beings, not just the word love."

Weilin asked, "That's understandable. All six realms of reincarnation have traces, and the cause and effect of the previous life are predestined. Even birds and beasts can be reincarnated as humans, and the equality of all living beings also comes from this.

It is also a good thing to be peaceful and quiet without disturbing others, and to be compassionate and save people. But you said to abstain from killing? Li Yi, let me ask you, if I meet a tiger in the forest and the tiger wants to eat me, and I don’t protect myself, does it mean that I should wait for death?”

Li Yi smiled and said, "Of course that's not what I meant. I won't tell you about the story of feeding the tiger with one's own body. Let me just talk about the precept of not killing. In fact, killing is not about killing, but about the killing mind. It's not that you are not allowed to save yourself, but that you are afraid of having the killing mind. If you have the killing mind, there will inevitably be anger in your heart, and then you will not be able to be peaceful and calm, and you will not be able to achieve the Buddha's mind."

Weilin asked again: "Then let me ask you whether Buddhist disciples should punish evil and promote good, eliminate demons and defend the Way?"

Li Yi smiled and said, "Of course you should. Do no evil, practice all good, and purify your mind. But you should avoid karma. As the saying goes, karma is cyclical, and retribution is inevitable. If all dharmas are empty, how can you cultivate a Buddha's heart?"

Weilin asked, "Does killing demons count as killing? Demons that commit many evil deeds harm lives. If we don't kill them, they will surely commit more crimes. How can we eliminate demons if we don't have the intention to kill?"

Li Yi lowered his head in deep thought, but he could not think of a reasonable explanation and could only perfunctorily say: "You can get rid of the demon even if you have no intention."

Weilin looked at Li Yi and waited for his next words, but Li Yi was unable to continue. At this moment, a man's laughter came from the side of the two of them: "Hahaha, I didn't expect to hear someone discussing Buddhism in this mountainous area. I heard you two were talking about something interesting. I wonder if you can join in and discuss it together?"

When they looked up, they saw a foreign monk with short hair, a mustache, a handsome face, and wearing dark red coarse cloth.

Li Yi thought: How could this monk suddenly appear here? And Sister Weilin and I didn't notice his arrival, he must not be an ordinary person!

Weilin looked at the monk and smiled, "Since a great monk is here to visit, let's chat together. This guy can't answer my questions."

Li Yi stared at the person who came. He was clearly a monk, but he did not shy away from the naked Weilin. He took off all his clothes and entered the hot spring, sitting opposite Li Yi and Weilin.

What was even more strange was that Li Yi could clearly see that he did not recognize him, but in his heart he always felt that he had seen him somewhere, and he could not see through his strength at all.

Weilin said that the other party was a high monk, but even if it was his senior brother Zhengyuan, Li Yi could feel his senior brother's presence. But now he couldn't feel the presence of this foreign monk even if he was sitting next to him. There was no doubt that this monk was very powerful!

Thinking of this, Li Yi already had some guesses in his mind and wanted to stand up and salute, but the foreign monk had already raised his hand to signal Li Yi to sit down. Moreover, the three of them were now meeting each other frankly, and standing up and saluting would seem a bit awkward no matter how you looked at it.

So Li Yi sat still and said respectfully: "Since the eminent monk wants to discuss Buddhism together, I think he must have some good ideas. I wonder if there is an answer to Sister Weilin's confusion about killing?"

The foreign monk smiled and said, "You actually understand it in your heart, but you can't express it. This is the beauty of Buddhism. Buddhist disciples want to save the world, but if they can't solve their doubts, it won't work. You still need to continue practicing."

Li Yi nodded and was about to speak when he saw the foreign monk looking at him, so he kept silent. The foreign monk turned his head and looked at Weilin and smiled, "Excuse me, is your doubt about killing or your heart?"

Weilin stroked his hair and smiled, "You are a dishonest monk. I asked you to explain my doubts to me, but you tried to split the issue. I asked about both killing and the heart. Are you trying to evade me by saying that unintentional killing is not killing?"

Li Yi became a spectator, watching the two discuss quietly. The foreign monk said as he washed his body with water: "No, killing is killing regardless of intention or not. But do you know Arhat?"

Weilin shook her head and said, "He hasn't told me yet, so of course I don't know."

The foreign monk looked at Li Yi and said, "Luohan is the abbreviation of Arhat. Arhat is a transliteration of the word. The original meaning of Sanskrit is a saint who has killed all troubles and no longer enters the cycle of life and death and is worshipped by humans and gods.

There is a word here called "killing thieves", which corresponds to killing. I, the Buddhist sect, forbid killing but not killing thieves, so what is killing thieves?"

The foreign monk turned to look at Weilin and said, "Those who disturb my mind, those who make me stupid, and those who disturb my peace are all trouble thieves, whether they are desires, thoughts, people, demons, or monsters. These thieves also refer to enemies. When facing trouble thieves, we should kill them and seek peace. Whether to kill or not depends entirely on the intention. We cannot just look at the appearance and ignore the heart."

Weilin smiled and said, "Monk, can I understand your explanation as that as long as Buddhism needs it, we can regard the enemy as a trouble thief and then break the precepts and kill them?"

Li Yi gave Weilin a thumbs up, which meant that Sister Weilin was awesome and hit the nail on the head! Good question!

The foreign monk looked at Li Yi and asked with a smile: "You are also a Buddhist, why are you so happy when this female donor is confused and can't solve her doubts?"

Li Yi coughed and said, "She also asked the question that I was wondering about, so I'm happy."

The foreign monk raised his eyebrows and said, "Monks do not tell lies."

Li Yi smiled and said, "I have not yet become a monk. I am a lay disciple, so I cannot avoid the secular world. Therefore, I am a little frivolous. I hope the monk will forgive me."

The foreign monk rolled his eyes at Li Yi, then turned to Weilin and said, "There was a wicked man on a merchant ship with a hundred people, who wanted to rob and kill people. I happened to be on the ship. If I didn't kill him, a hundred people would die. After the cycle of cause and effect, these hundred people would eventually fall into hell. So I killed him. Is this killing?"

Weilin asked back, "Isn't this still considered killing? With your cultivation, you could have protected those hundred people instead of killing that evil man, but you still killed him. How can this not be considered killing?"

This is the same as the classic train problem. If killing one can save a hundred, then killing forty-nine can save fifty-one. Is it okay to kill or not? Let's see how the foreign monk answers this question.

The foreign monk laughed and said, "Donor, you also know the six realms of reincarnation, but you only see this life, and you cannot see the cause and effect of the previous life between this evil man and the people on this boat.

This man was an elephant in his previous life. When he was old, he separated from his tribe and was chased by a group of hyenas. He asked a caravan for help. However, the merchants thought that the elephant had gone mad and was going to attack the caravan, so they killed the elephant directly, took away its tusks, and left it alone, leaving its body exposed in the wilderness.

His body was eaten by hyenas and vultures, and he was resentful of this. After reincarnation, the cycle of cause and effect came into his mind, and that’s why he wanted to kill hundreds of people on the ship.”

Weilin exclaimed, "What? How can the laws of nature be counted in the cycle of cause and effect? ​​Hyenas and vultures feed on carrion. Can eating an elephant carcass also count as cause and effect?"

Li Yi and the foreign monk looked at Weilin in surprise at the same time, neither of them understood her train of thought. Sister, did you just focus on hyenas and vultures? Li Yi realized that Weilin was a beast priest, so she cared more about animals, and shook his head helplessly.

The foreign monk smiled and explained, "It wasn't the hyenas and vultures, but the caravan that killed him and took away his tusks and left his body exposed."

Weilin realized that she had misread the point and smiled, but she suddenly thought of another question and immediately asked, "If you kill the evil man, wouldn't you be affected by his karma? Wouldn't it have any effect on you? Besides, you haven't said why you didn't control him but killed him."

The foreign monk said, "If I don't kill him, he will be beaten to death by the debt collectors because he has no money to pay his debts, and the karma will repeat itself. So I killed him to stop his karma and give him a chance to enter reincarnation and cultivate goodness again.

As for the karma between him and the hundred people, I naturally took it upon myself. So after I got off the boat, I spent a month persuading the hundred people to do good deeds and accumulate virtues to repay the karma. So, benefactor, do you think that I killed him, was it killing a life or killing a thief? Did it count as breaking the precepts?"

Weilin thought for a moment and asked, "Has that person entered the reincarnation cycle? Can he really do good deeds in his next life?" The foreign monk shook his head and said, "He has not entered the reincarnation cycle."

Weilin asked in confusion, "If he has not entered reincarnation, has he fallen into hell and is suffering?"

The foreign monk shook his head and said, "He has not entered hell."

Weilin was even more confused and asked, "Then where did he go?"

The foreign monk laughed and said, "He has escaped from the cycle of reincarnation and reached the other shore."

When the foreign monk smiled and said that the evil man had escaped from reincarnation and reached the other shore, Li Yi was no longer confused and was sure that the foreign monk was none other than the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva who came to spread the Dharma! As one of the four great Bodhisattvas of Buddhism, he was now soaking naked in the hot spring with him. Li Yi really didn't know what to do next.

Weilin only knew that the person who came was definitely a person in the Transcendent Realm, but she never thought that the person opposite her would be a top-level expert, and even more so, a very special existence in this world. Li Yi straightened up, sitting in the water with a nervous look on his face.

Weilin glanced at Li Yi, then looked at the foreign monk and asked, "Are you saying that you killed that evil man and helped him reach the other shore, which is what he called the Western Paradise? What's your name, monk?"

The foreign monk laughed and said, "A name is just a pseudonym, and my name is too long and hard to remember. You can just call me Yuantong."

Weilin asked, "You can help people reach the other side, so you must be a great monk, but you still haven't solved my doubts."

The foreign monk nodded and said, "You and I are predestined, and you have the heart and nature of a Buddha. Why don't you join me and discuss Buddhism together?"

Weilin glanced at Li Yi and said with a smile: "Although I have a connection with Buddha, my six senses are not pure. I am afraid I cannot go with you."

The foreign monk laughed and said, "If everyone in the world can purify their six senses, then what is the point of teaching and cultivating the mind in our Buddhist sect? You are the reincarnation of a real dragon. If you are guided properly, you will surely achieve the right result."

Weilin looked at the foreign monk, then looked at Li Yi, then turned back to the foreign monk, and said with a smile: "The colorful world is full of joy, and there is no time to rest. If you sit in front of the Buddha, even a real dragon cannot stand the abyss."

Upon hearing this, Li Yi said, "Sister Weilin, this is a heaven-sent opportunity. Didn't you say that you were only a hair's breadth away from transcendence? Now that the opportunity has arrived, why do you turn a blind eye to it?"

Weilin stood up and walked out of the hot spring pool. While putting on her clothes, she said, "Little Li Yi, don't worry about my sister's affairs! We just slept together a few times, but we don't have any feelings for each other. We are just profiting from each other. You lend me to strengthen your soul power, and I lend you for fun. Don't take it too seriously."

After these words were spoken, Li Yi blushed and lowered his head, because the monk was looking at him with amusement.

Weilin asked, "Master Yuantong, do you want to stay for dinner? But I don't have any vegetarian dishes, only meat. Can you eat that?"

The foreign monk waved his hand and said, "Don't bother me, benefactor. I will soak for a while and then leave. If we are destined to meet again, we will meet again."

Weilin turned her head and glanced at Li Yi, then smiled and said, "Remember to come and have dinner with me later. I still have some moves to teach you and practice with you."

Li Yi, a grown man, blushed to his ears, but he did not dare to respond. He wanted to dive into the water and never come out. The foreign monk answered for him: "Sister, take care. He will come to you for a deeper discussion later." Hearing this, Li Yi really dived into the water. The foreign monk and Weilin both laughed when they saw this.