Monk Zhiyun looked at Lu Feng with uncertainty and alarm. Lu Feng simply gazed quietly back at him, standing in the sunlight, his entire being suffused with Compassionate Resonance.
Behind him.
The Great Sun was rising.
Sunlight gilded the mountains.
Thin clouds wound around the Great Snow Mountain like ribbons. The Great Sun bathed the entire snowy mountain in gold, while half the temple remained shrouded in darkness. Monastic chants rose in waves. Some people turned prayer wheels; others drove the temple's slaves and Sutra Student Monks to till the fields, tend cattle, and herd sheep.
Lu Feng stood before Monk Zhiyun just like that. Zhiyun looked at the six additional ritual implements on him, but in the end said nothing.
He merely turned and said, "Come with me."
He motioned for Lu Feng to follow him. Lu Feng walked behind him, and neither spoke along the way. Only when they were nearly at the foot of the rear mountain did Monk Zhiyun suddenly say, "You look like a Buddha’s Son."
He abruptly turned to look at Lu Feng and said, "If my Lineage should suffer calamity one day, I hope that, for the kindness shown today, you will protect my illegitimate son and bring him into the temple. Letting him become a Sutra Student Monk will be enough.
"As for what he does afterward, that will depend on his fortune."
For some reason, Monk Zhiyun had suddenly felt an impulse. Filled with worry, he told Lu Feng the truth.
Lu Feng said nothing, as though he had not heard. Monk Zhiyun immediately came to his senses, unsure what had come over him. Why had he said something so dispirited? Had some serious problem arisen in his recent cultivation?
Perhaps it was because seeing Yongzhen today had truly astonished him. He was astonished that Yongzhen, who had comprehended the "Immovable Mind," had attained such bearing in just one night!
He was indeed no longer what he had once been, and could be called a great monk. Yet he was still Yongzhen, and he had a long road ahead before he could grow into a great monk capable of sheltering a Lineage. Leaving everything else aside, even the Buddhist cultivation ahead was fraught with peril at every step. The slightest mistake would bring all his efforts to ruin.
Unable to maintain his original mind, he would become a Malevolent Ghost or an Outer God and be subjugated by the temple.
The Endless White Pagoda Temple would not elevate him to a position beyond his standing merely because he had passed the Sixth-Stage Order's "Kalyāṇamitra" examination, for that was only a beginning. The Sixth-Stage Order's "Kalyāṇamitra," which many Sutra Student Monks exhausted a lifetime's efforts to reach, was in fact merely a new beginning at a particular stage.
Those who had not attained the Sixth Stage of the Gradual Path's "Kalyāṇamitra" degree saw only that single goal, but those who had attained it faced countless troubles.
For the Sixth-Stage Order's "degree" was merely an "entry permit" allowing one to cultivate through mantra recitation. To advance further required repeated empowerments, offerings, and study. First, one needed to properly make offerings to one's own Lama and Yidam. Second, one needed substantial worldly wealth to support one's studies. After becoming a Kalyāṇamitra of the Sixth-Stage Order, one would use the scriptures studied as a Sutra Student Monk as a foundation for further study of the great treatises.
Only then did one truly enter the gate: the Four Great Treatises, the Bodhisattva Sutras, and even Sanskrit, esoteric scripts, a great many specialized scripts, knowledge of rituals, secret commands, and mantras. Most of this knowledge was housed in temples; individuals generally could not collect so much of it. The Endless White Pagoda Temple had a Scripture Repository, said to hold enough books to "make the oxen sweat hauling them and fill the rafters." Its scriptures were countless, its collection exceeding forty thousand works, enough to support study up to the Fourth Stage of the Gradual Path.
The Endless White Pagoda Temple's "Qubilghan" bore the honorific "Great Scholar" because every generation's "Qubilghan" underwent a special scripture-debating ceremony to be crowned with this title. Of course, another reason was that the great monk who had founded the Endless White Pagoda Temple had been a true "Great Scholar." His honorific had been jointly conferred by the Temple of the Origin of All Dharmas and the imperial court of the Central Plains at the time.
A title as real as gold beads and agate.
That great monk had single-handedly established a temple here, subjugating the Outer Gods, the Dragon God, the Malevolent Deity, and the like. He had founded the Endless White Pagoda Temple's Dharma Lineage and subjugated the Dharma Protector who guarded it-King Mingzhu. In a cave, he had made the local Land God and Mountain God swear an oath to him together, taking refuge in the Dharma and protecting the venerable one.
Thus, even though Yongzhen had passed the examination in the temple, he was still merely a Lama with a "Kalyāṇamitra" degree. To advance further, he would have to pursue further studies and be recommended by this temple to study at Zajuben Temple, First in the North. Or, if he did not wish to study, he could return to his own temple, take charge of a small temple's Dharma seat, or become a Lama.
Alternatively, he could go to the household of a Tusi or the Dzongben Nobles to receive offerings-Lu Feng could no longer go to a Tusi Lineage, so he could only serve as a monk in a household of the Dzongben Nobles.
Obtaining the "Kalyāṇamitra" degree would not raise his status without limit. He was merely a Lama who could confer empowerments on others. Only if he went to a larger temple, obtained a higher degree, and then returned to take a position such as head of the Discipline Hall, head of an academy, or some other Monastic Official post might he enjoy exalted standing and receive people's reverence—a Lama with a monastic office and a Lama without one held entirely different statuses within the temple.
Monk Zhiyun and Mingfa both wore red monastic robes, but they would never share the same standing.
Even with both Monk Zhiyun and Lu Feng dressed in red, Monk Zhiyun still stood above Lu Feng.
Because Lu Feng had nothing.
So, after thinking for a long while, Monk Zhiyun still did not believe he would need Monk Yongzhen to protect his Lineage within his lifetime.
Lu Feng said nothing. After a long silence, they reached the temple hall on the way down the mountain. From the storehouse monk, Zhiyun requested a set of red monastic robes for Lu Feng, boots, a string of prayer beads, a vajra bell, a hat, a shoulder vest, and an inner garment.
"Two more sets of the same things."
After the handover and a clear count of the items, the storehouse monk placed them in a chest, intending to send them to Lu Feng's quarters. He had not expected Monk Zhiyun to ask for three sets of these clothes and ritual implements. Though the storehouse monk found it difficult, he nevertheless agreed.
Monk Zhiyun had Lu Feng put on the red robes and hat, hold the prayer beads, and head toward the Great Sutra Hall. Along the way, everyone looked at Lu Feng with eyes full of envy.
Upon reaching the Great Sutra Hall, Lu Feng saw that people were already inside. Elder Mingfa sat at the head of the hall, because he himself was this place's "Chief Seat." The other monks all wore monastic robes and sat according to their stages of the Gradual Path.
Monk Zhiyun placed the wooden mallet for striking the ritual gong in Lu Feng's hand, signaling him to complete the final step.
Lu Feng approached the ritual gong hanging outside the Great Sutra Hall. Behind him, the monks watched him, some openly, some covertly. Lu Feng paid them no heed. He drew a deep breath, then struck the ritual gong!
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
After three strikes of the ritual gong, Lu Feng handed the wooden mallet back to a yellow-robed monk who had followed him over. Outside, the monks busy with various tasks heard the gong and immediately hurried toward them.
For the Great Offering was about to begin!
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