plumnovel Chapter 157 A Right Mind Needs No Precepts
Chapter 157 A Right Mind Needs No Precepts
The Dharma should not be passed on to six ears?
But since the Mind Monkey is one with two minds, how could he not know once he knows?
Chen Chunan felt somewhat displeased.
He had just helped him out of trouble, and not only did he not appreciate it, but he was also wary of him?
On the other side, the Mind Monkey, who was receiving the Heart Sutra, sensed Chen Chunan's emotional fluctuations and chuckled to himself.
But his expression remained unchanged; he waited with a serious face for the young monk to impart the Dharma.
The monk did not immediately transmit the Dharma. Instead, he first spoke of his lineage: "My Dharma name is Mingxing. I am a disciple of Master Hongwu, the forty-first generation disciple of the Linji school. My late master was also my preceptor and instructor. The Heart Sutra I am reciting today is a transmission from my late master's understanding. I hope you will carefully contemplate it."
The Monkey King had never heard of this monk, but seeing how solemn the monk spoke, he immediately replied, "Of course, the Heart Sutra is the only way to achieve wisdom and reach the other shore. I, Old Monkey, will certainly try to understand it well."
Upon hearing this, Mingxing's eyes showed even greater satisfaction.
When he first saw the monkey, he felt that it had great wisdom, that as a demon it could save people, and that it possessed Buddha-nature.
Even more coincidentally, he also had the Buddhist name Wukong.
Although Wukong was a character I had read about in a storybook in my previous life, he was actually a guardian deity of Buddhism.
Isn't my encounter with this ape a divine intervention sent by Heaven to protect the Buddha?
Mingxing felt that he could not just pass on the Heart Sutra. If he could guide people into the religion, what would be wrong with passing on all his knowledge?
Thinking of this, Mingxing was even happier.
Then I thought of Chen Chunan.
He was puzzled: This monkey is so intelligent, why not convert it to the religion?
Although the Quanzhen Golden Elixir lineage mainly inherits from the Shangqing lineage, emphasizing meditation and breath control, as well as self-cultivation, they also integrate Confucianism and Buddhism, claiming to have masterfully expounded the Three Vehicles of Buddhism, encompassing all subtle methods, and that upon completion, one can become a Buddha or an immortal.
How could such a talented and beautiful person be overlooked?
Thinking of this, Mingxing couldn't help but ask, "The method your close friend cultivates is also the Great Dao, so why do you want to learn the Heart Sutra from me?"
When Mingxing asked this question, Xinyuan already had a response: "Little Master, you don't know this, but my dear friend has no lineage. He only attained enlightenment through a few scriptures. He has also gone astray before, but I dare not learn from him."
A big question mark popped into Mingxing's mind: Can one attain enlightenment with just a few scriptures?
Taoists love to use secret language to conceal their cultivation methods. How many true scriptures lead to enlightenment?
This is simply unbelievable!
He subconsciously used his Buddhist supernatural power of telepathy to sense what the restless mind was thinking.
His expression then relaxed.
He said calmly, "Since that's the case, I will first teach you the full text of the Heart Sutra. Once you have memorized it, I will explain its meaning to you."
The restless mind is not inherently uncontrollable.
Mingxing composed a description, sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and recited: "When Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva was practicing Prajnaparamita, he perceived that the five aggregates are all empty..."
...
While Xin Yuan was studying, Chen Chunan was watching the live stream.
Are the five aggregates empty? Are form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness the five aggregates?
...
"Form is emptiness, emptiness is form; form is existence, emptiness is non-existence. Enter non-existence through existence, and generate existence through non-existence."
This aligns with the Tao Te Ching's principle of the interdependence of existence and non-existence, and even more so with the internal alchemy principle of the wondrous existence within emptiness.
The internal alchemy method uses the active method to cultivate the inactive way.
When the mind merges with emptiness, the elixir is attained; through existence, one enters into non-existence; through the elixir, one cultivates the Great Elixir; and from non-existence, the wondrous Golden Elixir Great Dao arises again.
……
Chen Chunan carefully reviewed his path of cultivation.
The path I have taken is actually closer to the Southern School of Golden Elixir, which prioritizes destiny over nature.
He had been cultivating his qi since childhood, and his life force was already established.
Secondly, when I was cultivating the false elixir, I received help from the mind monkey and obtained a little bit of innate void energy to stabilize my body.
He accidentally advanced his spiritual cultivation.
Upon achieving the Elixir of Immortality, the Gate of the Mysterious Female is opened wide, and the divine body and life force are imbued with strength.
This looks like a case of prioritizing life over sex.
On the contrary, his cultivation of sexual energy was too weak, and he had previously mistakenly activated the mortal dragon and mortal tiger, as well as the intense desires of the six senses.
Then came the incident involving Chi Mianxi.
As a result, one's mind becomes restless and one's thoughts become agitated.
The Southern School patriarch Bai Yuchan once said:
The movement of the mind is not the mind itself, but the intention.
The spirit's flight is not a spirit, but a perception.
When desires and attachments are excessive, one must eliminate these two thieves to achieve true enlightenment.
If you don't desire anything, why be greedy? If you don't love anything, why ask for anything?
Without greed or desire, one's nature is like empty space. One is not burdened by afflictions or delusions.
If one further refines Qi, then the Golden Elixir can be formed and one can aspire to become an immortal.
Desire is abundant, knowledge is abundant.
The consciousness that one creates through visualization is actually an acquired spirit.
Therefore, many people are now obsessed with the five tones and five colors.
To resolve this, one would probably need to observe the precepts.
Chen Chunan thought to himself.
On the other side, the Mind Monkey sensed the thoughts of the true self and a thought stirred within him.
He asked the monk Mingxing, "If the five aggregates (form, feeling, perception, volition, and consciousness) are all empty, then shouldn't one practice meditation and uphold the precepts? And shouldn't one be completely averse to worldly pleasures and desires, even in fine clothes and beautiful garments?"
Mingxing saw that the monkey in his mind had such enlightenment, and he was overjoyed.
"Those who are new to Buddhism do need to uphold the precepts and purify their minds, but clinging to the precepts alone will lead them to a lower level of practice. As the saying goes, if the mind is upright, why uphold the precepts? If the body is upright, why meditate? Guard the mind and keep it upright, and the five aggregates will be empty."
...
Mingxing taught Chen Chunan with all his heart and soul, from which Chen Chunan benefited greatly.
In half a day, he had learned most of the Heart Sutra.
Although the Heart Sutra is only a little over two hundred characters long, those who are enlightened can understand it without needing to spend a single word explaining it.
Those who cannot understand can only learn first, like Chen Chunan, and then slowly digest it after returning home.
……
Chen Chunan felt much more at ease after obtaining the Heart Sutra.
Huo Yunzi, who had already been given a position, was anxiously waiting even before he could discuss the Dao with Xin Yuan.
He was unaware that what the Monkey King intended to reveal was now being meticulously and incisively presented by the monk he had just refused to reciprocate.
If they found out, I wonder if they would regret it to the core.
Fortunately, the transmission of the scriptures by the monk Mingxing was not delayed for long.
He only waited half a day before he saw the monkey fly over from afar with a satisfied look on its face.
Huo Yunzi's brows relaxed, and he chuckled, "Young friend, it seems you've had quite a fruitful experience?"
Xin Yuan chuckled: "Old man, you've missed out on a real treasure."
Huo Yunzi looked surprised: "You mean the Heart Sutra?"
The monkey smiled and nodded without saying a word.
He had previously wondered, seeing how much the monkey cared, whether this Buddhist sect, which he had never heard of before, was also a reclusive sect passed down from ancient times.
But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't recall anything.
Just then, the monkey said that he had missed out on something truly good.
I suddenly became interested.
"Could you tell me about it?"
Xin Yuan shook his head: "Master Mingxing said that the Dharma should not be passed on to six ears, how could I reveal it to others without permission?"
Huo Yunzi looked regretful after being rejected by Xin Yuan, but he didn't seem to care.
The opportune time will arrive in less than a hundred years, at which time I will be able to ascend to the immortal realm and obtain the ancestral master's wondrous teachings.
No matter how good the mundane and profound teachings are, can they be better than the wondrous teachings passed down by one's own ancestral master?
Huo Yunzi shook his head slightly, then tore open the space again, inviting Xin Yuan to enter Qinghua Cave Heaven to discuss the Dao once more.
On the other side, the seemingly vanished celestial fox changed its appearance and transformed into a beautiful young woman.
His cultivation level was only at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm.
Then, they turned back towards Chaotian Palace.