Chapter 1924 Endless

The Eternal Night Icefield lives up to its name. During most of the year, the sky is shrouded in frozen dark clouds, as if immersed in a never-ending dark night.

But occasionally when the clouds clear and the fog clears and the light shines brightly, this place has the most brilliant sunshine in the entire ancient holy world, like a rainbow of seven colors.

On the last day before Li Yao left the Ancient Sacred Realm, he saw such a magnificent sunshine.

The rainbow-like waterfall sprinkled across the entire ice sheet, and countless colorful bubbles burst from the ground, stirring between the sky and the earth.

With such a magnificent and soul-stirring iridescent light as the curtain, Li Yao saw Master Kuchan sitting cross-legged on the prow of a starship, holding a miniature crystal computer, reciting the classics intently, with an indescribable tranquility and calmness , The treasure is solemn, it really seems that there are ten thousand lotus flowers blooming around the monk.

Li Yao was originally a little restless and distracted, so he came out to walk casually. This situation made his heart move, and he couldn't help but flew behind the starship parked on the ice field, and tiptoed towards Master Kuchan.

His cultivation has reached the height of Li Yao, and his eyesight is far beyond human reach. Before he walked behind the monk, he saw clearly at a glance the classics that the master was studying.

"One Hundred Stories of Youth and Zen Masters", "Chicken Soup for the Soul Collection", "Sheepskin Scrolls from the Ancient Wisdom of the Sea of ​​Trees", "Women Are Born Elegant"...

Li Yao: "Ahem, ahem, ahem."

Master Kuchan: "Since Daoyou Li is here, why don't you stop there? Monk, your footsteps are heavy and chaotic, do you seem to be preoccupied?"

"nothing."

Li Yao said, "The main reason is to thank Master for his kindness in protecting the Dharma that day. Without the help of Master and other fellow Taoists, maybe I would have gone into a madness long ago, and I would never be able to recover!

"In addition, the trouble is a little troublesome. I originally wanted to discuss it with the master, but... the master is so busy studying classics, let's forget it."

"These classics from the Star Federation are indeed quite mysterious. There are many truths that make monks suddenly enlightened after reading them, and they are very rewarding!"

Master Kuchan praised, and said, "If you don't dislike the monk's clumsy tongue and mouth, you might as well tell us about your troubles. The monk is also trying to use the Zen principles and Buddhist teachings in "Chicken Soup for the Soul" to explain something, don't worry. , This is considered a monk’s practice, and there is no charge.”

"……All right."

Li Yao took two steps forward, sat down cross-legged opposite Master Kuchan, looked at the colorful and unfathomable sky, and pondered, "Master, have you ever thought that everything in front of you is illusory, and there are worlds beyond this world?" , is there a universe above the universe? If there is a universe above the universe, and our universe is just a projection of a higher universe, or even just an illusory game, then how can we be sure that we are 'real' Or 'illusory', what's the point of everything we do?"

Master Kuchan smiled slightly and said, "Eat, sleep."

Li Yao frowned: "Master, I sincerely ask you for advice, you are not using such old jokes to perfuse me?"

This "eat and sleep" is a short story. It is said that a young man asked the Zen master what "trouble" is. The Zen master smiled slightly and said, "Eat and sleep". sleep", the young man was puzzled, but the Zen master explained, "The so-called affliction is sleeping when it is time to eat, and thinking about eating when it is time to sleep; the so-called practice is to eat when it is time to eat, and to sleep Just sleep with nothing to worry about, that's all."

This is a very old spiritual story, and it has been stink in the streets of Star Federation, so Li Yao memorizes it with his extensive knowledge, so he knows it clearly.

Master Kuchan coughed dryly, cleared his throat and said, "Although the gongan is old, the truth is new. What is 'truth' and what is 'illusory'? things.

"In the Federation of Stars, there are even stories of 'brain in a vat'. Today, when the cultivation of supernatural powers and virtual magic weapons are so developed, it can already create a lifelike, almost 100% realistic illusory environment, even if someone only has A brain is placed in a water tank filled with nutrient solution, and thousands of crystal wires are connected to the brain, which can make him mistakenly think that he is fully equipped and living in the real world.

"So, how can this person distinguish whether he is living in the real 'real world', or a 'brain in a vat', living in a man-made illusion?

"And how should we tell the difference? The so-called 'Three Thousand Great Thousand Worlds' is the ultimate reality. Above our world, there is no higher-level existence that created and designed everything. Our entire world is one. What about a giant 'brain in a vat'?"

Li Yao nodded again and again: "Yes, this is the problem, how to distinguish and prove it?"

"It's impossible to tell, and there's no need to prove it."

Master Kuchan said, "Of course you can suspect that the three thousand great worlds we live in and the endless three-dimensional universe are all existences of a higher level, uh, for example, some kind of 'four-dimensional life' created in the laboratory The resulting "brain in a vat" is just a small projection of the four-dimensional world, an experimental subject of this "four-dimensional life".

"However, even if this four-dimensional life really exists, it is a legendary god and demon, is the four-dimensional world in which 'it' lives, the so-called 'real'? Could this four-dimensional world that we cannot understand be the same? The projection of a certain five-dimensional world is a painting drawn by a certain painter in the five-dimensional world with a splash of ink?

"And the five-dimensional painter in this five-dimensional world is the ultimate truth? Could it be that the entire five-dimensional world, in the final analysis, is a long poem sung by a frustrated poet in the six-dimensional world? And this six-dimensional world, Is it another crystal-clear dewdrop on a small petal in the seventh-dimensional world? And the seventh-dimensional world is a strange creature in the eighth-dimensional world, a beautiful dream when he was taking a nap?"

Li Yao was dumbfounded: "This, is this possible?"

"If you think the 'brain in a vat' is possible, then the dream of a four-dimensional laboratory, a five-dimensional picture, a six-dimensional poem, a seven-dimensional dewdrop, and an eight-dimensional monster...that's all possible."

Master Kuchan said, "Even if their probability is very small, but in the eternal time and space, on the endless dimensions, no matter how small the probability is, it is destined to happen.

"Our Buddha Sect said that 'one sand is one world, one tree is one bodhi'. This is the truth. In the concept of transcending time, space and dimensions, a piece of dust is the same as the three thousand worlds, and no one is better than the other. No one is more 'real' than the other.

"There is no real or false in the world. It is your heart and your vision of the world that can tell the true from the false. If you hold the mentality of 'eat when you eat, and sleep when you sleep', then every world is true; if You are eating, but you want to sleep, and you are in our three-dimensional universe, but you are distracted and restless, entangled in the so-called "truth", and thinking about things in the four-dimensional world, then one day you have reached a higher level. So what about the high realm? After arriving in the four-dimensional world, you will doubt whether everything in front of you is a picture scroll of the five-dimensional world; Where is the ultimate truth to be found when there is no satisfaction?"

Li Yao was stunned for a long time, touched his nose, and said with a wry smile: "When I was young, I was full of confusion about the world. There were ten thousand questions in my mind. I thought that as long as I worked hard and became the most powerful cultivator in the world, I could find Answer.

"Who knows, the strength is getting stronger and the realm is getting higher and higher, the past 10,000 questions have found the answer, but there are 100,000, 1 million new questions, and the confusion is getting more and more! "

"It's natural, like little air bubbles."

Master Kuchan spread out his palm, and a trembling flash bubble popped out of his palm. With the injection of his spiritual energy, the bubble became bigger and bigger, "Li Daoyou, look, the bubble is getting bigger and bigger, and the 'answer' filled inside it There are more and more, but the "surface area" it contacts with the outside world is also getting bigger and bigger, and it perceives more "unknown" and "confusion". Every time the bubble grows bigger, it just uncovers a confusion, and then comes into contact with it again. Ten new puzzles, how can they be so big as to swallow the entire planet and the entire universe? Therefore, the 'unknown', 'confusion' and 'trouble' are endless!"

Master Kuchan's palm trembled slightly, and the bubbles swayed and flew towards the sky. Under the sunlight, they bloomed in colorful brilliance.

The monk narrowed his eyes, looked at it very intently, and murmured: "Even so, although the confusion is that the more you practice, the more you practice, there is no end, but you should continue to practice, because...you see, how beautiful this bubble is! "

Together with Master Kuchan, Li Yao silently watched the bubbles fly higher and higher, and gradually they were about to fly into the colorful clouds. After thinking about it for a long time, he said, "Master, I think what you said is so profound, so mysterious, so good. It makes sense, but when you think about it carefully, you feel...it seems like you didn't say anything."

"nonsense."

Master Kuchan said, "You entertained the monk with unanswered questions like 'brain in a vat', but the monk didn't yell at you and kick you off the starship, but he was willing to perfuse you with a few words. What are you waiting for!"

Li Yao was not annoyed, and said again: "Then master, in your opinion, the bubble is flying higher and higher, where exactly will it go?"

"how could I know?"

Master Kuchan looked at the bubbles that had merged into the clouds, perhaps passed through the clouds, and flew towards the endless starry sky, a layer of golden light appeared on his face, and said lightly, "This question, I have to ask Li Daoyou yourself, after all, I am neither A Buddha, not a Bodhisattva, is just...an ordinary bald head."