Do You Know the Mahayana Dharma?

The monk Huikong answered without hesitation.

"The Mahayana Dharma primarily cultivates the three trainings of discipline, concentration, and wisdom, and the Noble Eightfold Path."

"By cultivating the Mahayana Dharma and practicing the Path of Liberation, one attains liberation in this life."

"By attaining arhatship, one achieves complete liberation in this life and is no longer reincarnated."

These three statements were indeed principles of Buddhist cultivation.

They were also what Huikong and other Buddhists had always considered the Mahayana Dharma, the supreme Buddhist teachings.

But after Ye Qingyun heard them.

He shook his head in disappointment.

"Why do you shake your head, benefactor?"

Huikong was puzzled.

"What you described is merely the Hinayana Dharma."

"Impossible! This is our Mahayana Dharma, passed down for millions of years. It has always been so!"

Huikong did not agree with Ye Qingyun at all.

After all, he came from a Buddhist background and had been steeped in these teachings since childhood.

In his eyes, this was the Mahayana Dharma.

Ye Qingyun sighed and looked at Huikong with pity.

"How pitiful. You have chanted the Buddha's name since childhood, yet you do not know what the Mahayana Dharma is."

Huikong frowned.

"Benefactor, you keep insisting this is not the Mahayana Dharma. Then may I ask, what does the Mahayana Dharma as you understand it entail?"

He was unconvinced.

This was exactly the effect Ye Qingyun wanted.

Otherwise, what he was about to say would not have nearly as much impact.

"Huikong, listen carefully."

Ye Qingyun cleared his throat.

"The Mahayana Dharma requires not only the three trainings and Noble Eightfold Path you mentioned, but also Bodhisattva Practice, including the Six Perfections and Four Means of Embracing Others."

"Practitioners of the Bodhisattva Path forgo the opportunity to hear the Dharma and attain arhatship. They vow to become bodhisattvas and ultimately future Buddhas who teach others to become arhats, or to be reborn as disciples of future Buddhas."

"Practitioners of the Path of Liberation merely wish to attain arhatship quickly while the Dharma still exists, achieving complete liberation in this life and escaping reincarnation."

"Those who merely uphold the Five Precepts and Ten Virtues on the Human and Heavenly Path are still ordinary mortals. Because they care only about cultivating the Dharma for their own liberation, never turning back to save other sentient beings, this is called the Hinayana Dharma."

"Bodhisattvas, however, seek the supreme Buddhist path above to free themselves from birth and death, while enlightening countless sentient beings below so that all may leave the bitter sea of birth and death together. This deserves to be called the Mahayana Dharma!"

Ye Qingyun paused here.

"Huikong, do you understand?"

This shout was like the furious roar of a Buddhist vajra guardian.

Huikong froze on the spot, staring blankly.

Ye Qingyun's words instantly shattered the Buddhist convictions Huikong had cultivated since childhood.

But Huikong still found it difficult to accept.

He had practiced the Dharma for so many years, believing it to be the Mahayana Dharma.

Never had he imagined that it was merely the Hinayana Dharma.

"How is this possible..."

Huikong shook his head repeatedly. His once-bright eyes now held not a trace of light.

Ye Qingyun's expression was cold, his eyes filled with disappointment.

"All you Buddhists of the Western Realm believe the Hinayana Dharma encompasses all Buddhist teachings. Not one of you even knows the Mahayana Dharma exists."

"How laughable. And you dare call yourselves a Buddhist holy land?"

Huikong grew even more dejected, shame showing on his face.

"Even if I truly were the Buddhist Holy Son, I would never go to a place like your Buddhist community in the Western Realm."

At this, Ye Qingyun pointed beneath his feet.

Huikong was bewildered.

"The Buddha is in heaven, in the earth, in human hearts, and in all things."

"The Buddha is everywhere!"

"As long as the Buddha is in your heart, why insist on practicing within a temple?"

These words once again shook Huikong to his core.

Under the silver tongue of the wily old fox Ye Qingyun, young Huikong began to question his entire life.

"The Buddha is everywhere?"

Huikong murmured these words, as though he had gained a new insight.

Suddenly.

Huikong dropped to his knees before Ye Qingyun with a thud.

This gave Ye Qingyun quite a fright.

What now?

Trying to scam me again?

But Huikong merely kowtowed to Ye Qingyun over and over.

His face was filled with remorse and devotion.

"Holy Son, this humble monk has finally heard the true Dharma."

Tears filled Huikong's eyes.

"Only upon meeting you today, Holy Son, have I realized that all my years of cultivation were in vain."

"This humble monk wishes to follow you, Holy Son, to cultivate the Mahayana Dharma from this day forth and take saving the people of the world as my duty. Please grant my wish!"

Huikong spoke excitedly.

"What?"

Ye Qingyun was somewhat dumbfounded.

He had intended to talk this fellow into leaving so that he would stop bothering him.

Instead, his cleverness had backfired.

Now Huikong did not want to leave and wanted to follow him instead?

What am I supposed to do now?

Am I really going to have a monk trailing me all day?

Wouldn't that be far too strange?

Besides, if I really take Huikong in, what if monks from that Western Zen Ancient Temple come looking for trouble?

That won't do.

"You need not follow me."

Ye Qingyun spoke.

Huikong raised his head and looked at Ye Qingyun blankly.

"Cultivation does not require following anyone. As long as the Buddha is in your heart and you take saving the people of the world as your duty, you are still cultivating, even if you follow no one and belong to no temple."

"The Buddha will see."

Ye Qingyun gave a gentle smile.

To anyone else, there was nothing remarkable about this smile.

But in Huikong's eyes, it shone with boundless radiance and contained limitless Buddhist teachings.

A single glance brought peace to Huikong's heart and mind.

Huikong abruptly rose to his feet.

His face bore an expression of complete enlightenment.

"You are right, Holy Son. Even outside a temple, I can still cultivate."

"I have decided. From now on, I will not return to the Western Zen Ancient Temple. I will cultivate right here."

Ye Qingyun was utterly speechless.

He turned and left.

This time, Huikong did not pester him further.

He pressed his palms together and recited Buddhist sutras, his eyes free of even the slightest doubt or confusion.

He no longer wanted to take Ye Qingyun back to the Buddhists of the Western Realm, either.

Because Huikong himself no longer wanted to go back.

So what if they're the Buddhists of the Western Realm? They don't even have the Mahayana Dharma. What would be the point of returning?

Since the Holy Son is here, this is the true home of Buddhism.

"I must tell my fellow Buddhist practitioners and let them know that the Mahayana Dharma exists."

"Only then can I live up to the Holy Son's teachings."

Having made up his mind, Huikong immediately went to find the other Buddhist monks.

Before long, Huikong had gathered several dozen monks.

Several dozen bald heads gathered together made for quite a dazzling sight.

It could not be helped. Their heads were simply too bright and smooth.

They looked as though they had been coated in oil.

"Huikong, why have you gathered us here?"

"Didn't you go looking for the Holy Son? Did you find him?"

"What sort of person is the Holy Son? Hurry and tell us."

All the monks looked at Huikong, eager to hear about his meeting with the Holy Son.

Smiling, Huikong shook his head at them.

"Fellow practitioners, there is something I must tell you."

The monks were taken aback.

"From this day forth, I will no longer return to the Western Zen Ancient Temple, nor will I return to the Western Realm."

The monks erupted in an uproar.

"Huikong, what's gotten into you?"

Huikong intoned Amitabha's name.

"The Buddha is everywhere."

"As long as the Buddha is in your heart, wherever you are, you are cultivating."