Facing west from Xuwei Mountain, you can see the endless desert.
On the post road, you can only see a few temples occasionally, and there are no traces of people.
Looking from a distance, on the wild sand sea, a monk wearing a red cassock, holding a tin staff in his left hand and a wish-fulfilling pearl in his right hand, slowly walked eastward. The heat wave hits you everywhere in the desert, as if it is burning with blazing flames. Although the monk is sweating profusely and the heat is engulfing his body, his face is calm and his heart is as calm as water.
This is the ascetic Ksitigarbha from Jiuhua in the Yang Realm.
When he returned from his pilgrimage to Buddha, he felt in a complicated mood.
After practicing hard for so many years, I finally got my wish, and after all the hard work, I was able to see the Buddha at Mount Sumeru. As the first disciple of Eastern ascetics to go west to face the Buddha, Sakyamuni praised himself in every possible way. As soon as he went up the mountain, he was conferred the title of Ten Faith Bodhisattva. After practicing Buddhism for only three months, the Buddha directly accepted me as his disciple. I was also fortunate to become one of the five hundred direct disciples of the Buddha. When he descended from Mount Sumeru, the Buddha granted him the title of Bodhisattva again.
You must know that there are fifty-two levels of Bodhisattva. From the initial intention to practice to becoming a Buddha, there are fifty-two levels, namely, the ten faiths, the ten abodes, the ten conducts, the ten dedications, the ten grounds, equal enlightenment, and wonderful enlightenment. etc. It only took three months for Ksitigarbha to advance from the lowest level of the Ten Faith Bodhisattva to the Worthy Bodhisattva, which is unique in the entire Buddhist kingdom.
Such an honor was something that even Manjusri and Samantabhadra had never had before.
Logically speaking, Ksitigarbha should be happy and satisfied.
But all the way back east, he was not in a relaxed mood.
In his imagination, the Buddhist land should be peaceful and peaceful, with few desires and pure cultivation. However, in fact, in the entire Buddhist country, the hierarchy consciousness is very strong, and it can even be described as eerie. Moreover, there are many guardian gods. A large number of vajra arhat protectors are essentially slaves of Sakyamuni Buddha. They do not understand Buddhist rituals or precepts. The only thing they have is personal loyalty to Sakyamuni Buddha. But these Dharma protectors who frequently kill people are all above those ascetic monks.
Secondly, there is another thing that makes Ksitigarbha feel uncomfortable. That is, before leaving, Sakyamuni Buddha openly and secretly indicated to himself that he would spread Buddhism widely in the world. One day, he would come to the Eastern Land in person to show his true body. When the world of heaven is filled with places for worshiping Buddhas, you will be able to achieve the body of a golden Buddha.
On the surface, these words are to encourage me to spread Buddhism and achieve Buddhahood, but if you taste it carefully, it seems to connect Buddhism and the territory. Moreover, shouldn¡¯t it depend on one¡¯s own practice and virtue whether one can become a Buddha? How is it related to how many believers and temples there are in the world?
But no matter what, his heart towards Buddhism has not changed.
Of course, he also made a change, no longer returning to Yang, but entering the underworld.
He doesn¡¯t want to go to the human world and build many temples. He just hopes to transform more stubborn souls with his own Buddhist teachings. Therefore, he has expressed his intention to Yama City and wants to go to hell to teach the Dharma.
When passing through the fork in the road, one road leads to the Corong Ridge in the Yangjian, and the other leads to the Jialan River in the Netherworld. Without hesitation, he chose the Netherworld.
But not far out, a strong wind suddenly blew in the vast desert. Ksitigarbha turned around and heard a series of strange sounds coming from behind, like ghosts crying and wolves howling, or like the waves of the sea. In an instant, a storm broke out, and the strong wind carrying sand and dust covered the sky and covered the ground. The Buddhist Kingdom is located in the western extreme, the sky is not very bright, and the visibility is even worse at this moment.
At this time, Ksitigarbha suddenly saw a temple not far ahead. The temple had red walls and green tiles, and was magnificent.
Ksitigarbha, who was bound to worship when he saw a temple, walked into the temple without hesitation, first to avoid the storm, and secondly to offer incense and worship the Buddha.
What Ksitigarbha didn¡¯t expect was that there was no one in such a gorgeous temple.
The courtyard of Nuoda is brand new, as if it had just been built.
He walked alone to the main hall, but saw that on the high platform of the incense burner, what was enshrined was neither the Three Saints of Huayan nor the Three Saints of the West, but a statue with a ferocious face and flame patterns all over its body.
At this time, Ksitigarbha Buddhism was still limited to Zen Buddhism and Pure Land Buddhism, and it was not clear about Tantric Buddhism. When I walked forward and saw the Sanskrit words, I realized that this Buddha statue is Mahakala, which is the incarnation of the three roots of Buddhism and the largest protector of the Paradise.
Although Ksitigarbha is not interested in Western Dharma protectors, this Dharma protector is obviously different from others, because the three roots of Buddhism are guru, deity and dakinism. In the world of Buddhism, who is the greatest? gurus, deities and dakinis? Yes, that is Buddha. Therefore, in a sense, Mahakala is Mahakala, and Mahakala is the wrathful incarnation of Sakyamuni
So Ksitigarbha began to worship in front of the Buddha in an orderly manner.
What surprised him was that when he finished lighting the incense and stood up, he saw a big palm under the statue.??Baby.
This baby is all pink and white, and is sleeping peacefully, as if he is still a swaddling baby.
Ksitigarbha was greatly surprised.
This baby is clearly a Yang person, how did he end up in a Buddhist country? And going east is the underworld
Looking at the statue of Mahakala above his head, Ksitigarbha did not dare to make any random guesses.
???????????????? But as a monk, he has finished the mortal world and is alone, so why bring a baby with him?
After finishing talking to the Buddha, Ksitigarbha turned around and walked out toward Feng Chen.
??The yellow sand is billowing and the sky is covered by the strong wind.
He lowered his head and walked desperately in the wind and sand.
It was getting darker and darker, and his vision was getting blurry. He didn¡¯t know how long he had been walking, but there was a sound of wind chimes in front of him. He raised his head and was surprised to find that he turned back again for no reason. In front of us is the Mahakala Temple.
"Could this be God's will" Ksitigarbha pondered for a moment and seemed to have some realization. Then he entered the palace and found the baby croaking loudly.
"Infinite good deeds and bodhisattva karma are increased by one thing, which means that we should not let go. It seems that the old monk's choice just now was wrong!" Ksitigarbha murmured with emotion: "Since we have met, we are destined, so you can follow me. Let¡¯s go.¡±
The Bodhisattva stepped forward and bowed down to pick up the child on the ground. At this time, the sound of the wind chimes on the temple door suddenly stopped. When I turned back, the wind and sand outside the temple suddenly stopped.
"It seems that it is fate between you and me! Amitabha!"
The Bodhisattva looked at the child and murmured: "Walking is also Zen, sitting is also Zen, the speech is silent, the movement is still, the body is peaceful. Kneeling is faith, worshiping is faith, compassion is for the great progress of the Dharma. From now on, your Dharma name will be called Da Come in. Since you were born in front of the Buddha statue, you will be a boy in front of the Buddha in my temple from now on. The five aggregates are empty, that is, form, feeling, thought, action, and consciousness are no longer. The teacher will give you a small name, called Be careful, I hope you will become the body of emptiness soon."
Ksitigarbha put the Dharma beads into his backpack, held the Zen staff in one hand, and held the baby in the other. In this way, he passed by the Xuwei Mountain where he had stopped before, crossed the overflowing Jialan River, and arrived at the Netherworld Ghost City (note Please visit our website: www.hlnovel.com