"The scriptures of the Threefold of Past, Present, and Future actually hold only one path: penetration; and they pursue only one thing: samsara! To describe its method is to be an expert in it; to describe its desire is to be one who values it. The more it is valued, the more it is lacking... The samsara of ordinary people is no more than within the six paths, but how should the samsara of a bodhisattva be?"
Monk Zhengyan was not explaining the underlying mindset to her, but rather pouring the results of his contemplation out all at once. Fortunately, Yu Ci had a deep enough understanding of the lineage of the Great Black Heavenly Buddha Mother Bodhisattva and had also studied the Three Realms Scripture, so he was not left dizzy by the words.
And precisely because he understood, he was also bewildered by Monk Zhengyan's question:
The samsara of ordinary people is no more than the six paths; how should the samsara of a bodhisattva be?
...Samsara?
Was this what Monk Zhengyan meant by wanting to start over from the beginning?
If it were under the complete Ten Dharma Worlds system of the Western Buddhism, there truly was the saying of the Six Paths Samsara, and one could indeed reincarnate, pierce through the obscurity of the womb, and cultivate anew. But the Six Paths Samsara had been shattered for five kalpas—what was the point of talking about it now?
With another turn of his thoughts, however, Yu Ci recalled that the scriptures of the Black Heaven Cult explicitly mentioned the six paths as well. The most typical passage was: *"In future days when the kalpa comes, the five aggregates and afflictions are rampant, the three poisons blaze, and one turns upon the wheel of life and death without