Bian Ji took a deep breath, suppressed his unease, and sat back down cross-legged with a sweep of his sleeve, coldly saying,
"Lord claims that the Buddhism of the East and West is entirely erroneous. Why is that?"
Zhao Douan gave a slight smile, and as the square quieted down, his first statent surprised all the monks present.
"I have heard that the debate on Eastern and Western Buddhism is not new, the so-called divergence in orthodoxy lies rely in the 'Cultivation thod'."
"The Buddhist Law of the Western Regions Ancestral Court originated deep and long ago from the ignorant masses worshiping the divine Buddha... Originating from worship, it evolved into various ritualistic ceremonies...
Thus, the monks of the Western Regions Ancestral Court focus on 'adhering to form', strictly following the rituals of worshiping the divine, whether in applying Mana or in daily ditation practice, all following the ancient ways...
Later, as Buddhist Law spread to the east over a thousand years ago, Moya Practitioner from west to east, the land of Central Plains had followers of Buddha... This is the origin of the Divine Dragon Temple lineage. After Moya Practitioner's Eastern transmission, the understanding of Buddhist Law also changed..."
"The opening of the 'Heart Watching Scripture' records, if soone aspires to pursue the Buddhist Tao, what thod should one cultivate which is most essential?"
"Moya Practitioner answered: Observe rely the heart, encompassing all behaviors, is the most necessary. What is observing the heart? The heart is the root of all laws. All laws are born from the heart, if one can comprehend the heart, all behaviors are complete..."
Zhao Douan stood on the high platform, starting to explain the process of divergence and evolution between the Buddhism of the East and West.
"What does it an? Moya Practitioner believes that the essence of Buddhist Law lies in ditating and observing the heart, discerning good from evil, using the wisdom bestowed by Buddha to eradicate evil and cultivate goodness, only then can one 'see one's nature' and obtain 'Buddha Nature'...
And the most important aspect of chanting Buddha lies in the 'mindfulness' skill, not just verbally saying Amitabha, but in what one thinks and feels internally, getting closer to the Buddha Nature...
The clearer the mind, the less likely wisdom is obscured by the secular world, thus the profundity of Buddhist Law deepens, and one draws closer to the 'divine Buddha'... obtaining stronger Cultivation Mana..."
"Therefore, the so-called dispute between the Western Regions and Divine Dragon Temple over orthodoxy is rely a struggle between two Cultivation thods."
After his discourse, the nobles around were sowhat surprised:
Was Mr. Zhao really here to debate scripture? His words were clearly those of soone who had studied the history of the Buddhist sects.
Bian Ji frowned and interjected,
"Why ntion these historical details, Lord? Debating scripture is not about listening to historical lectures."
Zhao Douan smiled, completely ignoring him, but his line of discussion took a sudden turn:
"However, if we talk about the dispute between the two sects hundreds of years ago, it was still a struggle of ideas. But over the centuries, with countless large and small debates, so-called debating scripture has transford from a struggle of ideas to a contest of rhetoric!"
After a pause, Zhao Douan criticized fiercely:
"Today's stream of Buddhist studies... the compilers and recorders, consequently, the chapters and manuscripts beco excessively complex... The higher echelon, old n completing their terms, those lower down, white-haired yet settling down. The natural laws are thus ignored, lifelong reading of comntaries ensues, following master and disciple, turning it into a norm.
Chapters of discourse further refine distinctions, cris recounted in sentences returned in kind... Moreover, those who formulate these, aim to make it easy to understand, should they by any right make the language more cryptic, yet further rendering it subject to ridicule..."
In the recent days, Zhao Douan had carefully studied the Buddhist Law of this world and found many similarities to a certain period of history in a world he was familiar with.
And similar long debates had occurred between localized and original doctrines.
It wasn't surprising, as the developnt of things generally follows certain rules.
Although the worlds differ, certain major trends, such as the rule that dynasties inevitably unite after long divisions and divide after long unions, still prevail.
His onslaught was indeed a repetition of argunts once critiqued by the high monk Yijing, who had traveled to Tianzhu to obtain scriptures.
Essentially, it ant that in the process of evolution, Buddhist Law had gradually beco more "scholastic", confined within temples rather than extending beyond them.
This was sowhat... heart-wrenching...
Sure enough, hearing Zhao Douan's sudden bombardnt against the current Buddhist Law in Yu Country, the faces of those from Divine Dragon Temple changed.
But beyond their anger, there was also a hint of guilt.
Yes, guilt!
Because what Zhao Douan said was indeed a reality of the flaws that had occurred.
The Red Sect Master squinted his eyes, silent, taking keen interest in observing the reactions of the monks from Divine Dragon Temple.
Bian Ji had an expression as calm as water, waited for Zhao Douan to finish his tirade, then he spoke in a heavy voice:
"According to Lord's statents, if Buddhist Law is confined to temples and you think that is incorrect, well, setting aside whether what you said is right or not, I want to hear according to your perspective, if not in temples, then where else can Buddhist Law exist?"
"Yeah, where else?" echoed a monk from the audience.
"You say it's wrong for us to study Buddhist Law in the temples, then do tell us, where should it be studied?"
People were indignant.
Zhao Douan stood against the wind, facing the wave of queries with a slight smile, having anticipated the reactions, waited for the queries to gradually subside, then he spoke calmly yet forcefully uttering five words:
"Buddhist Law exists in the world!"
...
Buddhist Law exists in the world!
Inside Water Viewing Tower, where the court's civil and military officials gathered, chaos ensued following Zhao Douan's appearance on the platform.
And since the Empress had not made any statent, although the officials were curiously itching like a scratching kitten inside, they had to endure.
Then, they were shocked to see that Xuan Yin, along with the Red Sect Master, had agreed to Zhao Douan's unreasonable request to participate in debating scripture.
Following this, Zhao Douan's detailed bombardnt clearly reached everyone's ears, initially still rather calmly.
Until the statent "Buddhist Law exists in the world" was uttered.
At that mont, the expressions of several officials abruptly changed!
The Imperial Censor, Yuann Li, had the most noticeable reaction with his frost-white temples and sharp deanor.
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