The voice seemed laden with a thousand obsessions and delusions, with every manner of anguish, like a mortal of the secular world entangled in karmic wrongs, struggling bitterly yet unable to find release.
And yet.
It came from the mouth of Laughing Monk, a holy and virtuous Śrāmaṇa of the West.
Hearing this, Chen Chan was momentarily taken aback, unsure how to answer.
"From emptiness itself, what is there to await? Practice the Dharma to seek ultimate truth; keeping the precepts alone is not wisdom. Cross into the boundless and never return...
Cleanse the mind's defilements within, extinguish all outward thoughts. Feel no joy at goodness, no sorrow at evil; let suffering and pleasure be one, purify your conduct, and keep the mind unmoving. Thus may one attain the Fourth Dhyāna."
After a moment's consideration, Chen Chan said:
"Thirty-four years ago, a great Bodhisattva from Jialan Temple led a company of Vajra Wisdom Kings and Dharma-guarding Arhats to visit the Xiantian Demon Sect. He even made a special trip into the Waterborne Rongcheng Life-Deliverance Grotto-Heaven to debate Chen Jade Pivot.
During their conversation, Chen Jade Pivot spoke those words.
I was there as well, so I've remembered them ever since."
Laughing Monk's expression grew slightly solemn at her words. He seemed lost in thought, and after a long silence, he gave a bitter laugh and said:
"I've long heard of your father's renown, but never expected him to know the meditation sutras as well. How interesting... Just how many heroic figures have emerged during the ten thousand years I spent imprisoned in Trapped Dragon Cave?
But while this is easy to say, putting it into practice is difficult indeed!"
Chen Chan's eyes flickered slightly. She said nothing, merely offering another formal bow.
*That old Buddha's heart is far from pure...