Su Yun chuckled and placed a tiny basin of water on the ground. Lone Wolf hurriedly ran over to drink, his tongue licking the water noisily.
Su Yun busied herself with cooking and went to the kitchen. Instantly, the living room was left with the kind-looking Fangzheng and the cold-looking Lu Hui with his brows tightly knitted. The atmosphere instantly turned awkward.
After sitting for a while, Lu Hui finally said, "Little Monk, you were downstairs watching the basketball match, right? You were there yesterday, right? "
Fangzheng nodded slightly. "This Penniless Monk was indeed there."
"If you have the time, why are you watching a basketball match instead of being vegetarian and reciting Buddhist scriptures?" Lu Hui sneered. From his point of view, the young monk in front of him was likely a fake monk. Even if he was a real monk, he was clearly a monk who had yet to convert to Buddhism. If not, why would he have the time to watch a basketball match?
Fangzheng smiled. "This Penniless Monk came down the mountain to take a look at the world and the various facets of life. The court is also a part of life. If one is interested, one naturally has to take a look. Besides, the truly interesting things are often not on the court. "
"Oh? That makes me curious. If the interesting things are not on the court, then where are they? "Lu Hui asked out of curiosity when he found Fangzheng's explanation interesting.
Fangzheng said with deep meaning, "Naturally, it's outside the court, in the hearts of people."
Lu Hui was taken aback before he said unhappily, "Are you saying that I shouldn't have chased them away? What the hell do you know!? "
Fangzheng shook his head. "Patron, what has it got to do with This Penniless Monk?"
Lu Hui was stunned. "Then what do you mean?"
Fangzheng smiled without a word. Lu Hui looked suspiciously at Fangzheng. He was a little unsure what the young monk was up to.
At that moment, Su Yun came out with the dishes. They were all vegetables without any meat. From the looks of it, their family wasn't that well off. Su Yun said, "There's nothing much. Venerable One, please don't blame me."
Fangzheng hurriedly got up and pressed his palms together. "Amitabha. Patron, it's already a great favor for This Penniless Monk to have a meal. How can This Penniless Monk blame you?"
Only then did Su Yun happily go to the kitchen to prepare something else.
Fangzheng sat down as Lu Hui said, "I've seen quite a number of monks who solicit donations these days. However, many have been arrested by the police. I've heard that Buddhism is divided into Mahayana and Hinayana. Mahayana Buddhism converts people, Hinayana Buddhism converts oneself. Mahayana Buddhism doesn't solicit donations, Hinayana Buddhism solicits donations. Is this true? Little monk, are you a Hinayana Buddhist? "
The series of questions clearly showed that Lu Hui had some understanding of Buddhism. Furthermore, he was giving tit for tat as he pointed at Fangzheng. In China, Mahayana Buddhism was the mainstream. If they were treated as Hinayana Buddhism, they would be looked down upon. At least, that was what the commoners thought. Of course, in the eyes of monks …
Fangzheng said, "Patron, Buddhism is split into Mahayana and Mahayana. However, Mahayana and Mahayana Buddhism have no distinction of nobility or inferiority. Be it redeeming others or redeeming oneself, it is to make the world have one more good person. How is it good or bad? As for This Penniless Monk, This Penniless Monk believes in Buddha. This Penniless Monk doesn't differentiate between Mahayana or Hinayana. As long as it's right, This Penniless Monk will believe in it.
As for soliciting alms, there were rules for soliciting alms.
If he didn't spend money after noon, he wouldn't spend money, and he wouldn't spend more than seven families.
And so on and so forth, if he didn't reach it.
Sitting cross-legged with an empty stomach, I want to go to the ancestral site and save myself some trouble. "
"Believe in Buddhism? Then what Buddha do you believe in? "Lu Hui wanted to test Fang Zheng.
Fangzheng pointed to his heart and said, "Heart Buddha, self Buddha, Heaven and Earth Buddha."
"What Buddha is that?" Lu Hui was stunned.
Fangzheng said, "By seeing one's nature and Buddha, everyone can become Buddha. Why not believe in yourself, in faith, in the goodness in the hearts of all things in the world? This Penniless Monk only wishes to have a clear conscience and merit to the world. As the saying goes: How can one become Buddha if one has Buddha in their heart? "
Lu Hui was rendered speechless as he looked at Fangzheng as though he was a monster. Lu Hui had seen some monks in the past, and they would always talk about how Buddha was. But for someone like Fangzheng, this was the first time he was seeing one! He was practically a monster among Buddhists!
Lu Hui was even more curious about Fangzheng. He straightened his body and relaxed his brows. "If what you said were to spread, you would likely be beaten to death by Buddhists."
Fangzheng shook his head slightly and said, "No. Buddha can accommodate all rivers and seas. As long as it is right and good, it can accommodate it. Buddha does not represent one school of thought, but the thoughts of many schools of thought. Everyone has a Buddha that belongs to them in their hearts. It's just that some people believe in the Buddha of others. That's all. "
"Will you really not be ostracized?" Lu Hui asked seriously.
Fangzheng wanted to nod, but when he thought of Zen Master One Finger, he hesitated. What Fangzheng had said was what Zen Master One Finger had said. Back then, Zen Master Hongyan had also said that Zen Master One Finger was an oddity. That was why he had left Mt. One Finger. His original monastery could not accommodate him.
With this in mind, Fangzheng sighed and said, "Not everyone can cultivate to this stage. Their thoughts are different, so it's inevitable that there will be some unpleasantness. It's best to avoid it."
Lu Hui laughed when he heard that. He began to believe that Fangzheng was a real monk. This was because he realized that the monk in front of him had extremely clear eyes when he spoke. There were no distracting thoughts, and what he said came from the bottom of his heart. This was the first time he was seeing such a pure person.
At that moment, Su Yun brought another plate of food over and said with a smile, "What are you talking about? Why are you having such a good time? "
Lu Hui said with a rare smile, "Venerable One, we were talking about Buddhism."
Su Yun looked at Lu Hui in astonishment. She had not seen Lu Hui smile in a long time. When she looked at Fangzheng again, she found him even more pleasing to the eye! Therefore, Su Yun said, "There are still some side dishes at home. I'll prepare them. Continue chatting."
With that said, Su Yun left.
Lu Hui looked at Fangzheng and said, "Venerable One, according to what I know, the Buddhist Association has banned monks from soliciting donations, right? What's your take on this matter? "
Fangzheng smiled. "It's a good thing."
"Uh … Since it's a good thing, why are you soliciting donations?" Lu Hui looked at Fangzheng, perplexed.
Fangzheng chuckled as he looked at Lu Hui. "Patron, do you know the difference between soliciting donations and begging?"
Lu Hui frowned. "Well … Something like that."
Fangzheng shook his head. "During the Yuan Dynasty, Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang divided people into different classes. Beggars were the tenth class, which was also the last class. Among the three religions and nine schools of thought, beggars were the lowest class. From this, it can be seen how much the Chinese despise begging. This is because begging is equivalent to reaping without sowing, so it is looked down upon. Therefore, after Buddhism entered China, although the Chinese accepted Buddhism, they could not accept soliciting donations. This was because they believed that soliciting donations was begging.
However, soliciting donations was different from begging. The goal of soliciting donations was not to solicit anything. It was just to give the monk an excuse to leave the monastery and blend in with the world to experience the myriad ways of the world. If one could not see the myriad ways of the world, how was one to cultivate a bodhi heart? How was one to become Buddha?
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