Chapter 698 Buddha Body and Taoist Heart!

At the same time, there were countless novice monks who came to pilgrimage with the same expectation as Xiao.

They traveled thousands of miles to this sacred place without any effort, hoping to learn the true teachings of Buddhism here.

However, it is regrettable that most novice monks could not afford the high entrance fees to the temple, and finally had to be ruthlessly driven away by the monks.

Some of the monks who were unwilling to leave came to visit Xiao after hearing about his deeds, hoping to get some inspiration and guidance from him.

Among the many devout people, some decided to stay and follow Xiao closely to embark on this hard practice together.

Facing every monk who wanted to stay sincerely, Xiao showed an extremely broad mind and compassion, and he accepted them without hesitation.

However, Xiao clearly stipulated that all monks who stayed must rely on their own efforts to meet their daily needs, whether it is food, clothing, housing, transportation, etc., they need to be self-reliant.

The help that Xiao could give to these monks was limited to explaining the profound Buddhist scriptures, teaching them how to strengthen their bodies, and carefully guiding them in their daily homework. Apart from that, he would never give any help.

At the same time, Xiao was extremely tolerant of the monks' stay or departure, and they were free to come and go, all based on their personal wishes.

At first, many monks chose to leave after experiencing a period of hard ascetic life because they could not bear the hardships and difficulties.

However, the power of faith is great. Even though they lived a hard life with Xiao, a large number of monks still persisted tenaciously with their firm beliefs.

Over time, the number of monks in the humble room increased day by day, and the originally simple and narrow humble room was gradually expanded to a large scale.

What is amazing is that from the initial groundbreaking to the current grandeur of this humble room, the manpower and material resources consumed during this period did not cost a single cent!

All this is thanks to the extremely devout monks who built this place of practice with their own hands, brick by brick.

On this land, the local people truly witnessed the whole process of the humble room from scratch to its gradual rise.

The monks in the humble room, their every move is deeply imprinted in the hearts of the people.

They are compassionate and do good deeds. This noble character and selfless dedication have successfully attracted and convinced a large number of believers who were originally on the sidelines.

These conquered believers flocked to the humble room, worshiped Buddha and burned incense devoutly, and donated generously, making the humble room increasingly prosperous.

As the saying goes, "There is no harm without comparison."

In sharp contrast to the humble room is the temple called Qianfo Temple.

There, only those who have enough wealth and offer a lot of incense money are qualified to enter the temple gate.

As for those poor people who are so poor that they can't even afford to buy incense and candles, they are ruthlessly turned away.

Not only that, if you want to invite the masters in the temple to preach and save the souls of the dead, you need to pay a high fee.

Such differential treatment makes many poor people feel chilled and helpless.

However, the humble room is completely different.

It doesn't matter whether a person's origin is noble or humble, whether he is a noble or a commoner;

It doesn't care about a person's past experience, no matter what kind of mistakes he has made;

It will not be treated differently because of a person's wealth gap.

As long as you have good intentions and sincerely want to cultivate yourself and do good deeds, even if you are penniless and don't bring any incense and candles, you can also pray here sincerely and get spiritual comfort and peace.

It is this atmosphere of equality and tolerance that makes the humble room a real holy place in the minds of many low-level people, and they think that the monks in the humble room are masters.

In human society, herd mentality is deeply rooted. In many cases, people will even blindly follow the behavior and opinions of the masses.

Take the temple for example. When most people think that the monks in the humble room are the real masters,

even if those wealthy businessmen secretly think that Qianfo Temple seems to be more effective, they will still go to the humble room to try it out.

After they really experience it in person, they will soon realize that the monks in the humble room are not only kind and approachable,

but also treat every believer who comes to worship with high-quality service that almost answers every question. Most people will naturally fall in love with the humble room.

After all, for those who come to burn incense and pray for peace of mind, this is actually a simple choice:

They all spend money to seek inner peace and comfort,

so why should they have to face those arrogant "living fathers" who order them around as if they were servants?

In comparison, of course, you should choose to get along with the monks in the humble room who serve you like your own father, and you will naturally feel more comfortable!

The most important thing is that the monks in the humble room are more approachable, more in line with the people's wishes, and more free to do what they want.

For example, a certain lady who was seeking marriage shook a bad fortune in the humble room, and then a certain master stuffed the bad fortune back and asked her to shake it again, and claimed that he helped her change her fate.

For example, the monks of Qianfo Temple said that those who speak bad words will be punished, but the master of Loushi told them: If you curse, your heart will be clear, but if you swallow it, your heart will be dirty.

It is also advocated to take revenge if you have a grudge, and to take grudges if you have a grudge, otherwise it will breed demons in your heart. Therefore, pilgrims often see bad guests being chased and beaten by Loushi monks near Loushi Mountain.

There are countless such deeds. Although there are some differences between the teachings of Loushi and the local Buddhism, they are inexplicably in line with the people's ideas.

At the beginning, there was only one Buddhist temple, Qianfo Temple, in Xiaoxitian area, so people at that time had no other choice.

However, the present is different from the past. With the emergence of Loushi, Qianfo Temple finally ushered in a strong competitor.

The general public has a new choice. Since there is a better place to go, who is willing to continue to endure the arrogance and rudeness of the people in Qianfo Temple?

In this way, more and more believers turned to the humble room and regarded it as the first choice for worshipping Buddha and praying.

As expected, the incense of Qianfo Temple declined rapidly. The lively scene of the past with crowds of people and smoke was no longer there. Now it is deserted and there are few pilgrims. It can be described as deserted.

It was not until this time that the monks in the temple realized that their original many believers had been robbed by the humble room, and all that was left for Qianfo Temple was a desolate and deserted place.