Liaozhai Great Sage

Although the official is not small, but because he is at the foot of the emperor, the magistrate is very aggrieved, and his power is not as good as those of the magistrates from other places.

Although Fang Shengyu was in his late thirties, he believed in Buddhism, and his family also enshrined Bodhisattvas. He and his wife came here to burn incense and worship Buddha to listen to the teachings of Buddhism.

"You are?" Fang Shengyu glanced at Zhang Bangchang, but he didn't know him.

Zhang Bangchang smiled and said: "Wansheng Zhang Bangchang, the last time the official family hosted a banquet for hundreds of officials, Wansheng and the magistrate sat across the table."

"Zhang Bangchang? Is it Zhang Bangchang, the two Jinshi? Well, I have often heard about your talent."

Fang Shengyu stroked his beard and smiled, his attitude became much more amiable.

Did he know that Zhang Bangchang was not only a Jinshi of the two rankings, but also entered the Tongtian Pavilion. He will be released to be an official in the future, and his future is boundless. If he reaches his age, he will definitely not only be the prefect.

It is natural to get acquainted with such a potential junior.

While the two were chatting enthusiastically, the wife next to Fang Shengyu, Mrs. Fang, said with a cold face: "If you don't burn incense and worship Buddha, please get out of the way. Don't block my way. But for those who have prepared the best tribute incense to the Bodhisattva, the Bodhisattva will definitely protect people like us, not a rude person like you who does not believe in Buddhism."

Li Xiuyuan smiled but was not angry. He just backed away and said, "Can precious incense show my sincerity? I don't think so. How is this different from bribing a Bodhisattva? If a Bodhisattva can be bribed, then if a wicked person If you bring something more valuable to offer, does the Bodhisattva have to protect it? If you protect it, doesn’t it mean that the Bodhisattva has no eyes and is not fair? Is such a Bodhisattva worth paying homage to?”

"If this lady thinks that you can show your sincerity by paying respects to the Buddha, then what you are worshiping is definitely not a real Bodhisattva. It's just that you have ghosts in your heart, and you just hope to take this opportunity to make yourself live with peace of mind. If so, then the person standing in front of you It doesn’t need to be a Bodhisattva, it’s also okay to put a piece of rotten wood.”

When Fang heard this, she was very angry and said, "You, how dare you talk nonsense in front of the Bodhisattva? All the Bodhisattvas here are listening, and the Bodhisattva will definitely punish you."

Li Xiuyuan said: "Madam, I'm not talking nonsense, I'm just talking about a truth. If Madam doesn't like it, I don't say anything. I think a real Bodhisattva must have a big heart and great wisdom. Why? Will I be punished because of my few words? Even if someone points at the Bodhisattva and curses, the Bodhisattva should not punish, because if the Bodhisattva doesn't even have the heart to bear the abuse, then the four elements are nothing but a lie."

"Greatly merciful Bodhisattva, this rude person next to the believer is really disrespectful to you, you should punish him..." Fang was speechless and didn't know how to refute.

She doesn't have the wisdom of Li Xiuyuan, she can judge this seven-orifice heart and soul, so she can only chant the Bodhisattva's appearance, and punish this rude person.

Li Xiuyuan shook his head and smiled.

This is a false believer who asks the Bodhisattva to punish others. Isn't this instigating the Bodhisattva to do evil?If the bodhisattva really did it, wouldn't it violate the heart of compassion?

Such contradictory things can only be done by this ignorant woman.

However, what he said just now, the speaker had no intention, but he listened with intention. Many pilgrims nearby stopped to listen. Li Xiuyuan's words made them feel enlightened, as if they had been awakened. The truth is not something ordinary people can say, and it is worth thinking about it seriously.

This is a very knowledgeable person, and he also has some research on Buddhism.

Many people secretly admired Li Xiuyuan in their hearts.

Because what he said made sense, and he didn't open his mouth to insult others wantonly like a shrew scolding the street.

Seeing that Li Xiuyuan stopped talking because of the lady's respect to the Buddha, it seemed that he didn't want to waste his tongue on an ignorant person.

So a scholar came out and bowed his hands and said: "The young master's words just now are very reasonable. He is just playing the piano to the cow. How can the cow understand the deep meaning of this young master's words? I dare to ask this young man My son, I have a question, if according to what you said before, worshiping the Buddha is bribing the Bodhisattva, shouldn't the people of the world burn incense and worship the Buddha?"

"However, many people who burn incense and worship Buddha have really been protected by the Bodhisattva, and many people who don't believe in the Bodhisattva have indeed been harassed by evil spirits. What's going on?"

Li Xiuyuan took a look at the scholar and saw that he was asking questions, so he couldn't help smiling, so he was willing to communicate with such a person instead of discussing these principles with this woman who didn't understand anything.

"I have been able to answer your question a long time ago. Since you have the heart to ask, I will not be stingy to solve your doubts."

Chapter 655 on Buddhism.

When Li Xiuyuan saw someone asking him a question, he was very happy to answer it.

If someone can ask for advice, it means that someone agrees with his point of view and understands himself. This is a good thing, so why would he be stingy?

"Just now, the young master asked, those who prayed to gods and Buddhas were protected, and those who did not prayed to gods and worshiped Buddhas were harassed by evil spirits. First of all, strictly speaking, there is nothing wrong with this sentence. Worshiping gods and Buddhas will indeed be protected by gods and Buddhas." , but this does not mean that those who do not worship gods and Buddhas will definitely suffer evil retribution."

"Actually, whether you pray to the gods or worship the Buddha, it doesn't matter if you don't pray to the gods, the person who should be harassed by evil spirits will not change because of this, just like a criminal who killed a person, it is impossible for him to enter a temple or burn incense. It can protect him from being arrested by the government, and from being beheaded and killed. Evil deeds are evil deeds, and they cannot be resolved by burning incense and worshiping Buddha."

Li Xiuyuan glanced at the few pilgrims around and said: "All those who have ghosts in their hearts place their hopes on heavy incense offerings to eliminate their disasters. This kind of thinking is wrong in the first place. True Bodhisattvas and Buddhas will not accept such Those who dare to accept their offerings must not be real Bodhisattvas or real Buddhas, in my opinion, they should be first-class evil spirits, ghosts and ghosts, pretending to be Bodhisattvas and Lord Buddhas, deceiving the people, and defrauding incense offerings."

"Then according to what this young master said, burning incense and worshiping Buddha is useless?" the scholar who asked the question said solemnly.

Although Li Xiuyuan's words were reasonable, his reasoning made people feel stuck in their throats, and it was easy to hurt the hearts of believers like them. This was unacceptable to very devout believers.

Because agreeing with his words is tantamount to denying one's own beliefs.

Li Xiuyuan saw the resentment of the pilgrims around him, and he said with a smile: "No, burning incense and worshiping Buddha is not useless. The reason why you burn incense and worship Buddha is because you believe in the compassion of Buddha and the goodness of Bodhisattva, and then subconsciously learn from it." Buddhas and Bodhisattvas do some good things, such as releasing sentient beings, being kind and charitable, not haggling with others, not having grievances and grievances with others, etc. If you start to learn what Buddhas and Bodhisattvas do, then Congratulations, you have received the protection of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas."

"Someone once asked a master, what is a Buddha? The man pointed to the man's heart and said, this is the Buddha."

"It can be seen that having a kind heart is the Buddha, and you are kind to the Buddha. If you have a kind heart, you will have kind thoughts to protect you. Ghosts and gods will detour when they see it, and evil spirits will not dare to murder them when they encounter it. , so naturally you will get asylum.”

All the pilgrims were silent when they heard this. They could accept such a truth, but at the same time they could not agree with it.

Because they still can't understand Li Xiuyuan's true meaning, and they still think that the Buddha is a Buddha, and they have to respectfully pay homage, how dare they regard themselves as a Buddha?

"Absurd, really absurd, so heresy as you say, there is no Buddha in this world? What is worshiped here is wood, stone? You are simply slandering my Buddha."

Fang Shengyu couldn't help scolding.

Li Xiuyuan shook his head and said: "No, there are Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in this world, but they will not protect you just because of your offerings. They protect goodness. The reason why they leave golden bodies in temples is because they need gold." Body Dharma to warn the world, wake up the world, lest some people do not believe in Buddha, do not believe in good rewards in exchange for good, so that they fall into evil, act recklessly, and lose morality."

"This reason is the same as the eminent monk leaving the golden body for the world to pay homage to. The eminent monk leaving the golden body is actually to prove the existence of the Buddha and the existence of practice. Otherwise, they can completely melt into the rainbow. Why stay A piece of skin and flesh stays in the world."

"So why there is a saying in Buddhism called Buddha crossing a predestined person, what is a predestined person? If you have a good heart, you can learn a little bit of the Buddha's compassion. This is a predestined person. After death, this kind of person will not fall into hell or suffer in the underworld. Suffering, but evildoers have to suffer in the underworld because of the evil deeds before them. Only when their sins are redeemed can they be reincarnated again. Even some heinous people are not even qualified to be reincarnated as human beings. It’s so big, isn’t that enough?”

"It's just that people in the world are stupid and whitewash the true meaning of the Buddha without authorization. If they think that they like gold and silver, they think that the Buddha also likes gold and silver, so they build gold bodies and waste extravagance. Some people think that the Buddha also likes money because they like money, so they pretend to be Buddha. Asking pilgrims for money, some people are greedy themselves, and think that the Buddha is also greedy, so every time they worship the Buddha, they need expensive incense..."

Li Xiuyuan shook his head when he said this: "Obviously it is the greed of the world, but it has to be imposed on the Buddha, so that some temples are full of smoke and smog. These temples cannot attract Bodhisattvas to stop, and the Lord Buddha to patronize, but they have attracted demons and ghosts. Possess the golden body, occupy the incense, and pretend to be Buddha and Bodhisattva."

After saying this, Fang Shengyu's face was flushed from holding back, and he wanted to refute but couldn't find anything to refute.

His knowledge is not low, the reason why he can't refute it is because Li Xiuyuan's words are indeed reasonable.

Moreover, among the pilgrims around, those who have some understanding of Buddhism also feel that his words are in line with the original intention of Buddhism, and there is no heresy.

The Buddha stands in the temple with compassion and good eyes. In fact, he is making a gesture to let the world learn from the Buddha's compassionate gesture to achieve the purpose of persuading people to be kind.

"Husband, look, how could this be, this concubine's Buddha incense can't be touched." At this time, Fang, who was paying respects to the Buddha, prayed in his heart, and prepared to offer incense to the Bodhisattva in front of him.

But I saw the best Buddhist incense burning on the oil lamp, but it couldn't light no matter what.

It seems that what is burning on the oil lamp is not Buddhist incense, but an iron rod.

"There is such a thing?" Fang Shengyu was startled, and hurriedly took a closer look.

If this is the case, the incense of Buddha really won't light up.

He checked it, and it was clear that there was nothing wrong with the Buddha incense, neither fake nor damp, but when he put it on the oil lamp, it still couldn't light up.

"What's going on here? Did the words just now reach the ears of the Bodhisattva? Now that the Bodhisattva has manifested, he is unwilling to accept the offering from this female pilgrim?"

"In this way, wouldn't the son's words come true? They must have ghosts in their hearts, and even the Bodhisattva didn't respond to them first."