Chapter 623 — The Supreme Esoteric Truth of the Buddhist Order

In Licheng, Shen Mu came at first light to the temple the Buddhist order kept in the city, knocked at the gate, and handed in his card. "I have come to see Grandpa Huo," he said.

The monk who received him hurried back to report.

The reason Shen Mu asked for Grandpa Huo and not Ma Rulai was that Ma Rulai was the guide of the Buddhist way, and must sit in residence at Datingming Temple to spread the Dharma, whereas Grandpa Huo was his own kin. One was a matter of station; the other, of blood. To come before Ma Rulai he must present himself as the Human Emperor and the leader of the Heavenly Saint Cult; to come before Grandpa Huo, he came as the child Grandpa Huo had raised.

After a time the attending monk returned.

"Grandpa Huo will see you. " Shen Mu smiled and followed him into the temple.

This temple was a place granted to Datingming Temple by the gods and demons of Taihuang Heaven; the monks of Datingming Temple had built their halls here and practiced their daily cultivation.

Shen Mu looked up, and saw the Twenty Heavens hanging dim and hazy above the temple, and beneath those Twenty Heavens a great many monks ceaselessly chanting sutras, the sound of their chanting colliding in the air and turning into threads of Buddha-light that poured into the Twenty Heavens. The Twenty Heavens were the heavens of the Buddhist order; the Twenty Heavens floating above the temple were only projections of the true heavens, not the heavens themselves. Shen Mu withdrew his gaze — and there he saw a plain old man who had doffed the Tathagata's dharma robe, looking at him with a smile.

Grandpa Huo. Shen Mu's heart surged. Ever since Grandpa Huo became Ma Rulai of Datingming Temple, the hours they had to meet had grown far fewer; that Ma Rulai should strip off the Tathagata's robe and come to him as kin — how could he not be stirred? Yet this was, after all, the dharma-ground of Datingming Temple, monks on every side.

He must hold down the surging kinship in his breast; he must not bring Grandpa Huo trouble, nor disturb his state of mind. "Grandpa Huo, didn't you make contact with the Twenty Heavens long ago?

" Shen Mu steadied himself and asked curiously. "Why must you go on making contact with them even now?

Have the Buddhas of the Buddha realm never passed down higher tiers of cultivation and dharma?

" "They have. But not much. " Grandpa Huo led him over to the monks who were chanting to maintain contact with the Buddha realm.

The temple was spacious within; nearly a thousand monks sat cross-legged, some on the ground, some in the air, some atop the pagodas. "The Buddha realm's meaning is that we should devote ourselves to cultivating the Buddha's way and take no part in the strifes of the mortal dust. They have little wish to concern themselves with worldly matters; there seem to be many taboos among them.

My meaning, though, is to ask them to transmit profound methods.

The Buddha has a heart to save the world — how could he watch the mortals of the world fall into suffering and not save them? " Shen Mu looked about him. Those thousand monks, men and women, humans and demons alike, were all chanting the Buddha's names aloud, giving the Buddhas of the Twenty Heavens no peace.

This way of fighting was more like a method of harassment.

Chant a Buddha's name and the Buddha will hear it; and it was precisely the names of those Buddhas that the monks of Datingming Temple were chanting. "At first several Buddhas transmitted teachings down to us, but afterward no one transmitted anything more, and they kept it all dark and silent. I wished to invite them down into the world, but they would not come down to help. " Grandpa Huo shook his head. "I believe it is not that they fear to be tainted by the mortal dust, but that they fear some terrible existence. Though they possess lofty realms and profound methods, in their state of mind they have already fallen to a lower vehicle. A few days ago the Buddhas of the Buddha realm could not bear the disturbance any longer, and so they made a proposal: a contest of dharma between Buddha-sons. " "A contest of dharma?

" Shen Mu's interest kindled at once. He laughed.

"How is it fought? " "They choose the Buddha's disciples and compare the depth of their attainments in the dharma.

The contest is fought across the void. The one I sent out is Zhankong.

" Grandpa Huo pointed. "Zhankong is over there; he has already defeated several Buddha-sons of the Twenty Heavens. " Shen Mu looked up. The demon ape Zhankong sat upon a pagoda — a pagoda that seemed as tall as the Twenty Heavens — and facing him sat a Buddha-son, riding a jewel elephant hung with strings of gems, magnificent beyond measure. Behind the jewel elephant rose a splendid complex of temples; behind the heads of the tall Buddhas halos revolved, and their dharma forms were majestic.

The debate between the two was fierce.

The Buddha-son of the Twenty Heavens spoke like a river in flood, unceasing; a single discourse of his ran half an hour without pause, his voice now high and impassioned, now low, yet compelling one to lean in and listen.

This eloquence was a grand treatise indeed, leaving a man nothing to refute. When the Buddha-son finished, he at last closed his mouth, smiled, and looked at the demon ape.

The demon ape stretched out a furry palm, five black thick fingers, and said in a harsh, halting voice, one word at a time: "Extreme. " The Buddha-son did not understand what he meant, and pondered bitterly.

After a moment the demon ape said again: "Emptiness. " The Buddha-son frowned, his thoughts leaping in all directions. The demon ape said again: "Existence.

" The Buddha-son's body trembled slightly. "If it is emptiness, how can there yet be existence?

" he cried. The demon ape paid him no heed. "Stillness.

" The Buddha-son was furious.

"If there is existence, how can there be stillness?

Your words do not accord with the dharma! " The demon ape said: "Subtlety.

" The Buddha-son's rage was beyond restraint; he was about to refute the whole of it when suddenly his body convulsed and he froze on the back of the jewel elephant, dumb as a wooden statue, unable to utter a single word. Behind him a great Buddha sighed.

"Extreme, emptiness, existence, stillness, subtlety.

Too high, too wondrous.

Each word is a pearl; each word alone is a great-vehicle treatise on the dharma, and the five joined together are profundity beyond measure.

Kongxiang, you spoke for half an hour, you said a great many long and lofty things, and still you do not equal any single one of his five words. You have lost.

Go down.

" The Buddha-son Kongxiang rose from the jewel elephant, saluted the demon ape, and withdrew slowly. Shen Mu was astonished and appalled.

"Grandpa Huo, does the big fellow really have a root of wisdom? " Grandpa Huo said gravely, "A great root of wisdom! Greater even than mine — higher than Chenghuai's! " Just then another Buddha-son came from the Twenty Heavens, descending from the heaven above, followed by several Buddhas of vast physical form. No sooner had he taken his seat than light blazed from his whole body, dazzling bright, shining down from the Twenty Heavens and illuminating every soul in the temple.

This universal radiance of Buddha-light startled the assembled monks, one and all: "What profound cultivation in the dharma this Buddha-son has!

" The demon ape raised a hand and held it before his eyes; the great hand blocked the Buddha-light, and its shadow fell across his face.

The Buddha-son who had just sat down was about to speak and open the debate; seeing this, he was greatly shocked, and suddenly his throat turned sweet, and he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.

"Your attainment in the dharma is so high? " he cried. "Before I could even speak, you have already refuted me! " With that he fell backward, his breath faint as a gossamer thread.