Fa Hai left Golden Mountain Temple, determined to suppress his Inner Demon with his great dharma power and subdue demons and exorcise devils along the way. Half a year had now passed. His golden alms bowl held no fewer than a hundred imprisoned demons. Though he had not killed them, Fa Hai had sentenced them all to life imprisonment.
Fa Hai had originally believed that as long as he slew demons and eliminated devils, accumulating merit, his Inner Demon would gradually fade away. Yet after so long, he found that not only had his Inner Demon not disappeared, it had grown ever more severe.
Fa Hai realized that the path he had chosen from the start was wrong.
The more he suppressed desire, the deeper it lurked, and the more fiercely it rebounded. Once it erupted, it would be like mountains collapsing and seas splitting apart. By then, he feared he would be reduced to ashes by the flames of desire.
What should he do?
In the days that followed, Fa Hai visited many Buddhist temples and famous mountains. As the abbot of Golden Mountain Temple, he was renowned far and wide and possessed profound dharma power, so those temples naturally received him warmly. When Fa Hai asked to enter their Scripture Pavilions to study Buddhist scriptures, none refused.
And so, Fa Hai read many more Buddhist scriptures and Sect Classics.
The Buddha said that the Inner Demon was formed from human desire, that all suffering stemmed from desire. Humanity's most basic desires were fivefold: lust, food, sleep, wealth, and fame. The greatest matter in life was to sow the seeds of desire, planting all kinds of causes of desire. Mortals could not transcend material cravings, **.
The purpose of studying Buddhist teachings was to perceive the truth, comprehend the