344, Buddhists Discuss the Way, Close the Mountains and Avoid the Temples (Seeking Full Order)

The day of the discussion. Google search reading

It will be scheduled for ten days later.

Many Buddhist monks will attend the meeting.

The discussion will be held in the square in front of the Confucian Temple of the Imperial College.

Bai Gui, as the leader of the Imperial College, is also the prime minister of the court, the proposer and practitioner of the new money policy, and he will watch the debate.

He stopped his horse at the stone Lingxing Gate in front of the Confucius Temple.

There is a dismounting stone in front of the gate.

Looking inside, the two sides of the discussion are facing each other.

He is familiar with most of the scholars who attended the Imperial College, but he doesn't know most of these monks.

"Those are the five disciples of the Sixth Patriarch Huineng, who are from the five schools of Zen Buddhism, namely Qingyuan Xingsi, Nanyue Huairang, Heze Shenhui, Nanyang Huizhong, Yongjia Xuanjue..."

Li Linfu pointed to the five kind-looking old monks in cassocks sitting cross-legged on the stone steps and said to Bai Gui.

"That is Master Yixing..."

"This is Master Xuanzang's disciple..."

"..."

He introduced them one by one.

"It seems that he is here with bad intentions."

Bai Gui shook his head and whispered, threw the reins in his hand to his guards, and stepped into the venue.

"Hello, Prime Minister Bai..."

He walked into the venue, and the scholars of the Imperial Academy on the left stood up to greet him. The Buddhist monks on the right ignored him, still twisting the Buddhist beads, knocking the wooden fish, and chanting scriptures.

After all, he is a worldly master who has left the secular world, so it is reasonable not to greet him.

In front of the main temple, on the steps, there is a simple cushion.

Bai Gui sat cross-legged on the cushion.

The clerk announced the start of the debate.

"Is Buddhism a sect of the Tang Dynasty? Since Buddhism is a sect of the Tang Dynasty, why did Taoism formulate the law money, but Buddhism did not participate?"

Qingyuan Xingsi asked straight to the point.

Buddhism does not oppose the formulation of new money, but what it opposes is that only Taoism is involved in this matter, and Buddhism is directly excluded.

Once the new money is introduced, everyone can see the crisis of Buddhism in it.

If the new money is allowed to continue to be promoted, the first step is to popularize Taoist money, the next step is whether the whole nation will practice Taoism, and the next step is whether to open up a Taoist country on earth!

This is intolerable.

"The Zen master is wrong. The court is promoting new money, not Taoist money. The new money just happens to use the Taoist money format. It's like I'm going to Xishi for dinner today. I just happened to eat a bowl of noodle soup. The noodle soup is filling. Is it the food that fills my stomach, or the noodle soup?"

"Buddhism is a sect of the Tang Dynasty, but what does the creation of new money have to do with Buddhism? If I didn't go to another bun shop in Xishi to eat buns today, will the owner of the bun shop be resentful of me? Then... I will never dare to eat this bun in the future! Ordinary people in the market still need to follow morality. I heard that Buddhist monks are pure and abstinent. I didn't expect that they are not as good as the owner of a bun shop!"

The scholar on the opposite side smiled slightly and retorted.

Qingyuan Xingsi asked about the essence and the root. The Buddhists discussed the Tao this time to fight for the same power as the Taoists. But the scholar talked about the appearance, thinking that Buddhist monks should not be obsessed with material desires.

"Donor, I once went to a poor family to beg for alms and got a bowl of rice, which only had three grains of rice. I didn't feel full, so I went to a rich family the next day to beg for alms and got a bowl of rice, which made me feel full..."

"Three grains of rice and a bowl of rice, I think that whether it is a poor family or a rich family, I have donated kindness, and the kindness is the same, but I can help the poor hungry and the rich full, I don't know why? Can you please answer?"

Hearing this, Master Yixing smiled and replied.

The scholar questioned their Buddhist desires, but he argued that desires are these three grains of rice and a bowl of rice. For Buddhists, the feeling in their hearts is the same, but the former will be hungry, and the latter will be full.

Therefore, whether they come or not, their hearts are calm and they sit and watch the clouds roll and unfold.

If they don't come, Buddhism may decline, just like three grains of rice. If they come, Buddhism will survive like a bowl of rice.

In simple terms, they have never had material desires. They are just like begging for alms. Today they are poor and tomorrow they are rich. It is just that they happened to beg for alms from a rich family today, so they came.

The scholars on the right discussed a lot and looked embarrassed.

When it comes to sophistry, neither Taoism nor Confucianism is a match for Buddhism.

"I think coins are like our hair. Since Buddhism regards them as a thing..."

Another scholar stood up and argued.

The debate started from noon and lasted until dusk. The scholars invited by the Imperial Academy were defeated. Almost none of the many Buddhist monks who came were defeated.

On the fifth day, the debate held in the Imperial Academy finally ended.

Buddhism won!

However, what these Buddhist monks did not expect was that even if they won, they did not get the goodwill of the court to release them and accommodate them in the casting of new coins. Instead, they became more and more difficult to move in Chang'an.

When it comes to talking, Confucianism and Taoism are indeed no match for Buddhism.

But..., there was no chance for Buddhism to win in this debate from beginning to end, because this debate was under the order set by the court, and Buddhism defeated the scholars of the Imperial Academy in the debate, which was equivalent to challenging the court officials and the entire literati who set the order. Unless they jumped out of this circle of order, there would be no real victory.

"From now on, our Zen sect will be closed for a hundred years..."

"As long as Bai Meihe is alive, Zen will never come out of the world."

The five disciples of the Sixth Patriarch Huineng declared with heavy faces.

"My Faxiang Sect... also closed the temple for a hundred years..."

"My Sanlun Sect is the same..."

"The Pure Land Sect will no longer care about worldly affairs."

"The Vinaya Sect will close the mountain..."

The monks of various Buddhist temples stayed in Chang'an for many days and finally understood that they were all in Bai Gui's calculations from beginning to end.

But they were helpless.

If it was just Taoism, they might still be able to fight, but now Taoism is tied to the court, the Li Tang royal family is extremely reverent to Taoism, and the current prime minister Bai Gui is also a Taoist priest, they can't fight!

If the court is really angry, the Taoist masters of various sects will follow the court army to destroy mountains and temples. Which sect of Buddhism can withstand such destruction.

Rather than doing this, it is better to retreat temporarily.

Anyway, Taoism has not reached the point of wiping them out!

It's not like they have never closed mountains and temples before.

In troubled times, they close mountains to avoid the world, and in prosperous times, they open mountains to welcome incense.

There are many temples in Chang'an. After the monks of various sects decided to close the mountains and temples, these temples gradually closed their doors and began to ignore worldly affairs.

This is also what Bai Gui expected.

Now the imperial court is powerful, and it is not a chaotic world. The strength of the Buddhist sects alone cannot resist the attack of the imperial army. Moreover, with the help of the Taoist sects, the Buddhist sect has only one way to temporarily retreat.

But he did not kill them all.

Once he did so, he would completely offend the Buddhist sect.

He is not a stupid and ignorant young man, and he will not act as a pioneer of the Taoist sects.

Even if the Buddhist sect in the Xianjian world is extinct, there will still be traces of Buddhism in other worlds. Now he has made the Buddhist sects retreat for a hundred years, which is already countless great merits. Everything is better than too much.

In this world, there are very few people like Bai Gui and Yang Yuhuan who can practice Taoism with their own qualifications and purple gold luck. They inevitably need to cling to the powerful and rely on the imperial court.

Nowadays, Buddhism has declined, and it can be said that a considerable number of disciples with inferior qualifications have been eliminated. Its power has shrunk greatly, and it will take not only a hundred years to revive, but many years to come before it can slowly recover.