Year 7650 of the Xia Calendar, Cape III Planet Star Domain
Lin Jiang spent three days completely erasing the mark left by Puxiang for the Shenwu Demon Emperor. The strength of that mark was so intense that it shocked Lin Jiang. If it was an ordinary Tao Achieving cultivator, he could easily fall for it. Fortunately, the Shenwu Demon Emperor was powerful enough to avoid being transformed immediately.
After guiding the Shenwu Demon Emperor and others back to Cape III Planet, Lin Jiang met Bodhisattva Puxiang. Lin Jiang dismissed everyone except for Cao Ying.
"The Buddhist cultivator has a strong body. His injuries have almost healed, so be careful."
Cao Ying said to Lin Jiang, and to be safe, she took out the thread left by Lin Die to tie up Puxiang.
Lin Jiang nodded and said to Puxiang, "Bodhisattva Puxiang, didn’t you want to see me? Why are you not speaking?"
"I have heard from Master Cao that you are the ruler of this world?"
"You could say that, I have a little bit of stubborn power."
"In these few days, I have had a pleasant conversation with Master Cao, and we have talked a lot. Master Lin is the ruler of this realm; why not consider this matter seriously?"
"I understand your remarks. They seem perfectly logical, but in reality, they are nonsense."
Lin Jiang said that Cao Ying had already talked to him about Puxiang’s remarks. In a debate, Cao Ying was not a match for him; he almost fell for it.
Lin Jiang, in fact, was not a match either. Every religion has its own consistent beliefs, which means they are logically closed. On the real Blue Star, one could defeat arguments with atheism, but here it doesn’t work; there are indeed deities.
Lin Jiang did not have much fondness for Buddhism. He believed that there were many wise and virtuous people in Buddhism, and the Zen sayings were admirable, but overall, he had little affection for it.
In general, it seems overly mystical and impractical. The world is still a material world, and material things are the most important.
"I wish to hear more details."
Puxiang looked sorrowful and nodded at Lin Jiang.
He was never afraid of debating; any high monk in Buddhism was not afraid. In fact, he hoped to debate with Lin Jiang because throughout the debate, he could express the teachings of Buddhism.
"I am a practical person, not a theoretical one. If you want to debate, I admit I am not as good as you. However, I am willing to play a little game with you, if Bodhisattva Puxiang agrees."
"What little game?"
"It’s a gentleman’s game. I will ask you some questions or make some requests, and you must complete them. If you succeed, you win and can ask me for one thing, and I will do it, even letting you go. If you can’t do it, I will ask for something from you, and you must agree. How does that sound?"
"Good, please ask your questions."
"No hurry, take your time. First, let’s make a promise using your Buddha Master."
"A monk does not speak falsehoods."
"I’m sorry, but I am not a monk. Please prepare yourself."
Lin Jiang did not give him a hint to refuse. He told him to get ready, and Lin Jiang was preparing too.
"Why make it so complicated? Even if Puxiang is at the Transmigration Stage, the two of us together can still search his soul."
Cao Ying was a bit confused. What game are we playing? Isn’t searching for souls better?
"Buddhist powers have some strange aspects. The key things cannot be searched for souls. We also have ways to put restrictions on the divine soul. If we play, we must make him completely accept defeat."
Lin Jiang said that soul-searching techniques are not all-powerful. It’s normal to put restrictions on the divine soul. Unless they are at the Mahayana Stage, they can control those restrictions.
"Alright, how do you plan to play with him?"
"In the world of mortals in Huaxia, there’s a saying: don’t argue with fools. Do you know what that means? It means that fools create their own logic. If you argue with them, they will drag you down to their level and then defeat you with their vast foolish knowledge."
"Debating with Puxiang means entering his realm. What research do we have on Buddhism? None, so we can’t win the argument against him."
"So you mean to find a fool to debate with him?"
"Pretty much. I will have someone find a few stubborn and a bit foolish people to challenge his words. Of course, the condition is that he can’t use Buddhism."
Lin Jiang said that with hundreds of billions of people in Huaxia, there are always fools and weirdoes. The combination of both is also common. Finding a few people to counter his Buddhism is very normal.
"It seems you have been thinking about playing tricks for a long time."
"Mine is the Humanism Bestowing Sutra from Buddhism. This scripture is known as the top skill of Buddhism, and I would like to experience it."
Lin Jiang said that the Humanism Bestowing Sutra is definitely a top secret of Buddhism, and without using some clever methods, one cannot obtain it.
After a day of preparation, Huaxia quickly sent someone over, a young cultivator. He was reasonably talented but a bit silly, often described as lacking a few screws, and he was a fervent believer in cultivating immortality, well-known online as a debate expert, invited after his address was uncovered by the internet team.
Lin Jiang and Puxiang agreed not to use Buddhist supernatural powers, only to use Buddhist teachings. If they could make him believe in Buddhism within a day, it would count as a win.
Puxiang was full of confidence and immediately began debating with the person. Puxiang started with Buddhist principles, urging him towards goodness, but he quickly hit a snag when asked what it means to be good. Is not killing considered good?
Puxiang naturally believed that killing is evil, and not killing is good. The debate expert immediately raised several deep questions. If not killing is good, what about someone who eats animals? If one does not eat animals to get protein, does that mean someone who dies from malnutrition counts as killing? Not to mention vegetarianism and drinking water; even water has many microorganisms. The lives of humans and animals matter, but do microorganisms not count?
Even when applied to humans, if nothing is killed, is it certainly good? Wouldn’t that make one a saint? You say to inspire them with love, and if you say to inspire, then just inspire. Good and evil are part of human emotions and desires; as long as emotions and desires exist, there will be a distinction between good and evil. If there is no good and evil, wouldn’t that make one a robot?
At the same time, the debate expert raised many questions, all of which are paradoxes not solvable in reality. These didn’t even need the paradoxes of physics and mathematics, just common-sense ones. After a series of ten or more questions, Puxiang became confused.
"Uncle, you are really clever. Lingjing Star doesn’t have any real technology level. If you ask him about microorganisms, he won’t understand at all. Doesn’t this count as a lower-level strike?"
"Of course it does; that’s exactly the effect I wanted. The arguing nature hasn’t even shown yet, and Puxiang has nothing to say. It seems his skills are not up to par."
Lin Jiang said, "Of course, this is what he planned on purpose. Many questions could have answers, and the logic could be clear, but Lin Jiang won’t give him any time."
At this moment, Puxiang indeed found it hard to cope. The society of Lingjing Star is not much different from the cultivation era; the social environment reminds him of ancient times, and many social conflicts are things he has never even heard of. They are completely caused by cultural differences, and it is not due to his lack of skills in Buddhism.
It’s important to know that the Buddhist community is very good at learning, and their theories keep up with the times. But without experiencing this era, how can they keep up? This is the difference in time.
After a day passed, Puxiang hardly spoke a few words and already admitted defeat. Many questions had no answers. How can one persuade someone to devote themselves to Buddhism? It is not something that happens overnight, unless forced through Buddhist methods.
"Bodhisattva Puxiang, how are you?"
"The poor monk has fallen for the donor’s trick."
"Trick? It seems you are not satisfied at all."
"Nature is not convinced."
"Okay, then let’s play a serious game. There are about four billion people in our world, not quite five billion. If your Buddha can help everyone in the world live a middle-class life, I will be the first to join your Buddha and become your pioneer. What do you think?"
Lin Jiang let out a cold laugh and then asked Cao Ying to show some videos, which were promotional clips online showing a middle-class lifestyle. What Lin Jiang showed were some of the lower ends of middle-class living.
But Puxiang still stayed silent. Although he didn’t understand the technology-driven lifestyle, he knew that to maintain such a life, a strong material foundation was necessary. He could manage it for tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people, but for billions, that was unimaginable.
Moreover, in human society, exploitation and oppression exist. How could billions of people live like this? If there are rich people, there must be poor ones. That is relative. Without poor people, how would you show that you are rich?
"Can it be done?"
"No."
"Are you convinced?"
"I am convinced. I would like to visit your world and see if I can."
"Okay, but first, you have to hand over the Humanism Bestowing Sutra. We agreed on this before; you lost, and you must accept the result."
"What does it mean? What does silence mean?"
After Lin Jiang spoke, Puxiang went silent, which left Lin Jiang shocked. What does this mean? Is he playing tricks?
"Amitabha, the Humanism Bestowing Sutra is the most important scripture of Buddhism. It must never be shared with anyone else. This is a serious mistake."
"You have taken the Heart Demon Oath."
"All causes and effects are borne by me. I, the poor monk Puxiang, am willing to accept this cause and effect."
"Bald donkey!"
Hearing Puxiang’s words, Lin Jiang couldn’t hold back anymore and shouted, "Bald donkey!"

Comments

Loading...