Uchiha Shin sat off to the side, quietly listening to his master.
Patriarch Bodhi smiled. "Wuchenzi must have told you that your master once wanted great unity throughout the Three Realms. But putting that into practice would be completely unrealistic. After all, we must seek truth from facts.
"So, based on the current state of the Three Realms, your master has come up with new ideas and new goals."
At this point, Patriarch Bodhi paused and looked up at the sky. The wind still howled high above, while countless dark clouds drifted through the blackened heavens.
"What is Master's goal now?" Uchiha Shin asked.
Patriarch Bodhi said, "What I want now is peace throughout the Three Realms—a golden age to arise within them, one that can be maintained forever."
Uchiha Shin frowned. "At the height of prosperity comes decline. Can there truly be an age of everlasting prosperity?"
Patriarch Bodhi said, "Where there is a will, there is a way. As long as we act, there will always be a chance of achieving it. What I have just said is the very core of it all. Do you know what it is?"
Uchiha Shin shook his head.
"The equality of all living beings."
The equality of all living beings! Uchiha Shin stared wide-eyed at his master.
The equality of all living beings was something often spoken of by certain members of the Buddhist Sect, and it was also preached in some teachings of Mahayana Buddhism.
"Master wishes to learn from the Buddhist Sect?" Uchiha Shin asked.
Patriarch Bodhi said, "I have studied both the Dao Sect and the Buddhist Sect. I believe the Mahayana Buddhism of the Buddhist Sect is quite a fine choice. If Mahayana Buddhism could be spread far and wide, what do you think would become of