Buddhist Secrets

"Mr. Xuanming, I still have some questions I'd like to ask you."

"I discovered that some characters are not in the Great Zhou Ten Thousand Character Classic, yet the characters they form are in the Great Zhou Ten Thousand Character Classic. Were these characters written incorrectly, or were they simply not recorded in the Great Zhou Ten Thousand Character Classic?"

Shi Yi continued asking. This time, he had brought out characters from the Great Vehicle Tathagata Sutra.

They were all characters he did not recognize. Yet they looked familiar, because the characters that made them up were all found in the Great Zhou Ten Thousand Character Classic. But once combined, they were no longer characters from the Great Zhou Ten Thousand Character Classic.

This was only a portion of them. Shi Yi intended to seek guidance gradually.

Shi Yi had heard Lou Xuanming say that the words of this world all carried special meanings. Some characters had been created by sages, while others had been combined from foundations laid by their predecessors. All of them possessed specific meanings.

Thus, understanding the meaning of these characters was very important to Shi Yi.

He understood most of the Great Vehicle Tathagata Sutra, but there were some characters in the middle that he did not recognize. Without understanding their meanings, his ultimate comprehension would go wrong.

This had an enormous impact on Daoist cultivation.

The difference of a single character could create an entirely different meaning. Cultivating according to an erroneous interpretation could easily lead to Deviant Cultivation.

Daoist cultivation was far more complicated than martial cultivation, because it involved the human soul.

If the physical body was injured, it could be treated. But the soul was not tangible; once injured, it was difficult to heal through ordinary means.

If one suffered Soul Annihilation, the physical body would become an empty shell without a soul, something even more severe than being vegetative.

"You've come into contact with Buddhist scriptures?"

When Lou Xuanming saw the characters Shi Yi wished to ask about, a divine glint flashed through his eyes as he asked.

The characters Shi Yi had given him were all written separately, seemingly unrelated, yet they all possessed extremely distinct traits.

Shi Yi might not have known this, but anyone who had come into contact with Buddhist books would be very familiar with them.

"This student has been studying all kinds of writing lately. I happened to acquire several scriptures by chance, and they said that reading them could purify the heart and increase wisdom, so I brought them out to read. But I found that there was a great deal inside that I couldn't understand."

Shi Yi had considered all sorts of possibilities, so he responded with ease.

What he had not expected was that Lou Xuanming could tell at a glance that these were Buddhist scriptures. Shi Yi had not anticipated that.

"Sir, is there something wrong with Buddhist scriptures?"

Shi Yi hurriedly asked.

He had walked through every place in Anyuan Town and had never seen the trace of a single temple, which had struck him as rather strange.

Now, seeing Lou Xuanming's expression, it was clear that he knew something.

"There is nothing wrong with Buddhist scriptures. The problem lies with Buddhism."

"A hundred years ago, Buddhism had a great power known as Great Putuo Temple. It was a sacred land as famous as Jixia Academy and Zhengyi Immortal Dao. Ancient temples stood in dense ranks, believers covered the land, and Buddhism was at its zenith. Its prestige nearly surpassed the dynasty and royal authority itself. Buddhist temples were even built within our Anyuan Town."

"But a hundred years ago, Great Putuo Temple underwent a drastic upheaval amid disputes over its teachings, and Great Putuo Temple vanished as a result."

"The major dynasties also acted one after another, forbidding Buddhism from spreading its teachings. They nearly wiped Buddhism out completely."

"Seeing this, the remaining Buddhists ultimately all withdrew into the Western Desert and rarely showed themselves. Even now, Buddhist people are basically nowhere to be seen within the Great Zhou and the other great dynasties!"

"Buddhist scriptures have also become rare."

Lou Xuanming looked at Shi Yi and slowly spoke of Buddhism's hidden history.

In just a few words, he explained everything clearly.

"Sir, do you mean that reading Buddhist scriptures is now forbidden within dynasties such as the Great Zhou?"

Shi Yi reacted and continued asking.

He had never heard secrets of this sort before. Or rather, because Buddhism no longer existed, no one ever mentioned it.

"That is not quite the case. People do read Buddhist scriptures in private, but if anyone dares to step forward and spread Buddhist teachings, they will certainly be seized by the Divine Constable Bureau and thrown into Changping Prison."

"Even after a hundred years, this has not changed within the Great Zhou Dynasty."

Lou Xuanming shook his head and spoke meaningfully.

Buddhist scriptures were still books. They could be read in private, but their teachings could not be spread.

"Then could you teach me these characters, sir?"

Shi Yi looked at Lou Xuanming and continued asking.

When he had sought guidance on the characters in the Great Vehicle Tathagata Sutra, he had never expected this outcome.

But now that things had reached this point, rather than ask someone else, he might as well ask Lou Xuanming.

Since Lou Xuanming could recognize them at a glance, he had surely read Buddhist scriptures before.

"That is simple enough, but I will only teach you to recognize the characters, nothing else."

Hearing this, Lou Xuanming nodded and spoke solemnly.

Teaching Shi Yi to recognize characters was his duty as a teacher, so he did not refuse.

As for anything further, he would not teach in depth.

"You may read those books, but it would be best not to show them to others, nor should you read too much of them."

"Rather than reading those books, you would do better to read more of the Four Books and Five Classics, which can clarify righteousness."

Lou Xuanming continued.

"This character is pronounced 'fan.' Its original meaning is fanfan, the lush and flourishing appearance of grass and trees, but within scriptures, it can be understood as."

Lou Xuanming spoke very earnestly and explained in great detail.

Shi Yi copied down the characters from the books, and Lou Xuanming answered them one by one.

"If there are any other characters, ask about them all this time. Before long, I must prepare for the Autumn Provincial Examination, so I likely will not have time to teach you children anymore!"

Lou Xuanming looked at Shi Yi and said.

"There are still more than a dozen characters on this page. I ask for your guidance, sir."

Hearing this, Shi Yi turned to a page where he had copied down the characters from the books.

He had originally intended to ask over several visits and take things slowly, but after hearing Lou Xuanming's words, he could only ask everything at once!

The total number of characters he had asked about was not great. It was impossible to infer the Great Vehicle Tathagata Sutra from them, something Shi Yi had deliberately ensured by choosing characters whose components could be recognized.

The complete Great Vehicle Tathagata Sutra contained eighteen thousand seven hundred and thirty-five characters. It could not possibly be deduced from a mere few dozen characters.

"This character is pronounced"

Lou Xuanming continued his careful explanation.

After Lou Xuanming explained something once, Shi Yi did not ask again. Clearly, he had remembered it!

This made Lou Xuanming regard Shi Yi even more highly.

Clearly, Shi Yi's learning ability was even stronger than he had displayed. Of course, Shi Yi had deliberately held something back, and Lou Xuanming did not press him on it.

Time trickled away. By noon, Shi Yi and the other children being taught had emerged from Lou Xuanming's courtyard.

Great Putuo Temple had once been a sacred land on par with Jixia Academy. This Great Vehicle Tathagata Sutra should be even more precious than I imagined. No wonder the Divine Constable Bureau, despite not knowing that the Vajra Bodhi Bracelet Mother Bead concealed the Great Vehicle Tathagata Sutra, still expended such great effort searching for it.

The Bodhi seed is far from simple, and the Great Vehicle Tathagata Sutra is even less simple.

It seems that I cannot let anyone know about my cultivation of the Great Vehicle Tathagata Sutra in the future.

Within the Great Zhou Dynasty, revealing that I cultivate a Buddhist cultivation method may bring trouble. Cultivating the Great Vehicle Tathagata Sutra will bring even greater trouble.

Shi Yi walked on, silently thinking to himself.