Chapter 120: The Nine-Seal Mandala and the Sutra of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva’s Original Vow There is a Sutra Library and a Treasure House in Toshodaiji Temple, which have never been open to outsiders. Even the monks of the temple rarely set foot in these two areas. Tonight, the place is deserted, tourists have dispersed, and the gates of Toshodai-ji Temple are closed. In front of the Sutra Library, Heimiya Chiye came here under the guidance of Ono Somasa. When Wen Zhengzhi sought help early this morning, Ping Gong Qianye agreed to his request. He originally wanted to talk to the ghosts in Taiji Hall about the wonderful Buddhist scriptures. To thank him for his help, the abbot agreed to let him enter the Sutra Library to read the scriptures for a whole night. Those Buddhist scriptures were brought by Master Jianzhen when he crossed the sea to the East in the past. They are of various types and have a long history. They have been preserved to this day and can be regarded as national treasures. During the day, because there were tourists, Heimiya Chiye could only stay in the monks' room and discuss some Buddhist teachings with monks such as Bunsei-dono and Ono Shojo. I have to say that the vegetarian food at Toshodai-ji Temple is delicious, which may also be because he eats too many wild fruits. Late at night, Heimiya Chiye, led by Ono Sojo, quietly arrived outside the Sutra Library.
"Master Liansheng, you only have this one night, and I will accompany you in and hold the lamp for you." Ono Shojo then talked about some things that needed to be paid attention to when entering the Sutra Library. After Heimiya Chiye agreed one by one, he took out the key to open the door of the Sutra Library, let Heimiya Chiye go in first, and he followed behind. After entering, he locked the door of the Sutra Library, then walked in front with a lamp to lead the way, while introducing Pinggong Qianye to the scriptures collected in the Sutra Library. Such as: the golden-lettered Avatamsaka Sutra, the Great Buddha Name Sutra, the Mahasanghika Sutra, the Four-Part Vinaya, the Small Samadhi Sutra, the Six Miraculous Gates, the Southern Version of the Nirvana Sutra... While listening to Ono Shojo's introduction, Heimiya Chiye was thinking about which scriptures he should read later. It is definitely unrealistic to read all the scriptures in your collection in one night. Three books, reading three Buddhist scriptures in one night should be a suitable range. He must read the Southern version of the Nirvana Sutra, which may be able to verify the Nirvana Sutra he is currently practicing. "Does your temple have any magical skills?" Pinggong Qianye asked a somewhat presumptuous question. Other scriptures might be found in other places, but the magical methods are the true teachings of a temple. Now that he had entered the Sutra Library, he felt that he could expand his goals a little. Ono Shozheng paused for a moment before saying, "It turns out that Master Liansheng prefers magical methods that are more inclined towards combat training." "The Hundred Lights Precepts is a secret of our temple that has never been passed on to outsiders. I am afraid that Master Liansheng will be disappointed." "However, there is a copy of the Nine Seal Mandala in this Sutra Library. It is said that the Buddha's power is boundless, but it is difficult to cultivate." When Pinggong Qianye heard this, his eyes lit up slightly, "I want to try it." "I will find this copy of the Nine-Seal Mandala for Master Liansheng later." As Ono Sōshō was speaking, he led Hiramiya Chiye to a more spacious scripture room on the second floor. There is a table and a chair inside. This is where the eminent monks of Toshodaiji Temple entered the Sutra Library to copy scriptures. Ono Sengzheng asked Pinggong Chiye to sit on the chair first. He lit the lotus lamp on the table, then turned around to look for the two scriptures that Pinggong Chiye wanted.
Sitting on a wooden chair, Pinggong Qianye looked at the tightly closed window in front of him. A sense of quietness quietly came over him, carrying with it the unique smell of paper scriptures. The entire Sutra Library is clearly protected by a formation that prevents moisture and the breeding of ants and insects, so that the books stored here will not be damaged over time. After the scripture hall of your own temple is built, you can also set up some formations to prevent moisture, ants and other factors that may affect the preservation of scriptures. There was only one thing that made Chiye Pinggong a little disappointed. Although there was the "Nine-Seal Mandala", there was no "Twelve Gods Guardian". After all, the Toshodaiji Temple even has the Hundred Lantern Rings, so it would be reasonable to have another "Twelve Gods Guardian", right? Unfortunately, reality is not anime after all. Ono Shojo came back quickly, placed the two scriptures, the Southern version of "Nirvana Sutra" and "Nine Seal Mandala" in front of Pinggong Chiye, and then stood quietly by the side, holding the lamp silently. Pinggong Qianye first opened the Southern version of the "Nirvana Sutra" and started reading it. After about two hours, he memorized all the contents and would start to practice in depth after returning. Then he opened the book "Nine Seal Mandala", which was very interesting. Among the nine levels of Buddhism, there is a level above the Homa level, called the Dharani level. The purpose of this "Nine Seal Mandala" is to enable Buddhist practitioners to display their great power to subdue demons and monsters before they reach the Mandala level. One seal is one mandala, and when nine seals are combined into one, the real mandala world can be unfolded. Although Heimiya Chiye has practiced the Vajra Realm Mandala and the Garbha Realm Mandala, he has not yet fully mastered them. This "Nine Seals Mandala" can help him make up for his shortcomings in the practice of Vajra Realm Mandala and Garbha Realm Mandala. It took Pinggong Qianye 6 hours to memorize the "Nine Seal Mandala", and he verified it with the methods he practiced one by one during the reading process. It is of great benefit. Pinggong Qianye entered the Sutra Library at around 9 o'clock in the evening. Now 8 hours have passed and there is still 6 hour left before the agreed time of 1 o'clock in the morning to leave the Sutra Library. At this moment, a faint light came in through the gaps in the window. Heimiya Chiye stood up, stretched his body, returned the two scriptures on the table to Ono Sojo, left the temple, and began to wander around freely. Perhaps, there will be different gains. He opened his Vajra Eyes, looked around, then went downstairs towards the main door of the Sutra Library and stopped at the first row of bookshelves near the door. There is a certain kind of fate between people, and the same is true between people and scriptures. In the scene that the Vajra Eye had just scanned, there was a scripture here that made his mind slightly moved. This is a very thin Buddhist scripture with a light brown cover, "The Sutra of the Past Vows of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva". Pinggong Qianye opened the "The Sutra of the Past Vows of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva" and only turned two pages. His consciousness seemed to have come to a lotus pond with no boundaries and no end. Lotus flowers bloomed one after another and spread across the distant sky. The lotus flowers are like lights. It seemed as if a strong wind blew, and the lotus flowers in the pond were blown up by the wind, like lights suspended in the air, reflected in the water. Is this the true teaching of the "Hundred Lights Alliance"?
No. Pinggong Qianye quickly denied this guess. The lotus flowers floated in the air like lights, illuminating the universe. There seems to be an invisible road leading from the lotus pond to the distance. Pinggong Qianye walked through the lotus pond. With every step he took, a lotus flower fell like a lamp, laying on the road ahead of him. The lotus paved the way and fell back into the lotus pond. Walking from the starting point to the unknown distance in the sky, as far as the eye can see, there is only a huge blooming lotus enveloping this world. At this moment, Pinggong Qianye's consciousness instantly left this place that seemed like an illusion, and when he looked at the "The Sutra of the Past Vows of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva" in his hand again, he no longer felt any strange feelings. "Master Liansheng, the time has come. We should leave the Sutra Library." Although Ono Shojo didn't understand why Master Padmasambhava was so engrossed in reading the "The Sutra of the Past Vows of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva", the time had come and he could only remind him. "Let's go." Pinggong Chiye put the "The Sutra of the Past Vows of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva" back to its original place and followed Ono Sengzheng out of the gate of the Sutra Library. After leaving the Sutra Library, Ono Sengzheng locked the door and said goodbye and left. He was not good at staying up late. Pinggong Chiye returned to the monk's room prepared for him in Toshodaiji Temple and sat quietly on the edge of the bed for a moment, thinking about what he had just gained from the illusion. After a long time, his right hand was emitting a faint Buddha light, and a lotus flower formed from the palm of his hand. The whole body is transparent, with a faint golden Buddha light. Pinggong Qianye tried to make the lotus swirl and grow in his palm, and then pushed the lotus towards a black jar on the windowsill. The lotus was not moving very fast, and golden light was rippling slightly around it, as if it was walking on a pool of water. When the lotus leaf touched the jar, it blossomed and sucked the jar in. Only a lotus flower was left spinning slowly in its place. One lotus turns into one world? Pinggong Qianye had some realization in his heart. He raised his right hand lightly, summoned the lotus flower back, and suspended it above his palm. When the lotus lost its power and dispersed, the jar fell safely into Pinggong Qianye's palm. What kind of magical power is this? Put Mount Sumeru into a mustard seed? It doesn't seem that powerful. Pinggong Qianye tried it several more times, and after gradually becoming proficient, he found that the lotus he condensed could only hold an object the size of a head at most. If the limit is exceeded, the lotus will split. I wonder if it would be effective if used to contain demons and monsters? Pinggong Qianye thought for a while in the room, then went out to wash up and went to have vegetarian meal. In the afternoon, Pinggong Qianye had nothing to do, so he took a good walk around Toshodaiji Temple and paid homage to Master Jianzhen's tomb. Many believers come here to mourn Master Jianzhen, both old and young, and there are also some tourists from foreign countries.
…… Late at night, Taiji Hall at the ruins of Heijokyo. The surging black ghost energy erupted violently with the Tai Chi Hall as the center. The bronze bell hanging in front of the gate was constantly impacted, and cracks began to appear, and finally it exploded. The eerie and terrifying ghostly aura rushed out of the Taiji Hall, disappeared into the sky, and stirred up the wind and clouds. The moon's light was completely obscured by the dark clouds, not even a ray of light could be shed. Outside the Taiji Hall, a hundred monks still held a lotus lantern each, and arranged themselves into the swastika shape according to the previous formation. Lotus lanterns lit up one after another, and the powerful barrier formed by the Hundred Lantern Ring once again enveloped the Tai Chi Hall. However, the light emitted by the hundreds of lotus lanterns was not as bright and overwhelming as last time. In the four directions of the swastika formation are Toshodaiji Temple, Todaiji Temple, Saidaiji Temple and a high monk who came from Horyuji Temple to provide support. Among them, the abbot of Toshodaiji Temple offered a lotus lantern in front of him, the monk of Todaiji Temple offered a bronze bell, and the other two monks used a Dharma bowl and a wooden fish as their ritual instruments respectively. In the center of the Tai Chi Hall, two terrifying ghosts filled with eerie ghostly aura appeared faintly. Looks like a man and a woman. The two ghosts sometimes separated and sometimes merged into one, rolling up terrifying ghost energy that covered the sky and constantly collided with the Buddha light barrier formed by the Hundred Lamps Ring. After every heavy collision, a lotus lamp would go out. Watching from a distance, the scene is shocking. Pinggong Qianye, who was standing next to the abbot of civil administration, quietly felt the tense and almost frozen atmosphere here for a while, and then walked towards the direction of Taiji Hall. "Master Liansheng..." The host wanted to say something, but in the end he let Pinggong Qianye act alone. Maybe Master Liansheng has already discovered some opportunity to win. Pinggong Qianye, who was walking slowly towards the Taiji Hall, was actually a little confused. Was such a big battle just to deal with two ghosts with a danger value of about 30? Don’t you think it’s a bit wasteful? Moreover, these two ghosts have been suppressed for so many years. Why not choose to solve them completely, but instead use this method to seal and suppress them? Do you want to convert these two ghosts to lay down their butcher knives and become Buddhas on the spot? I can't figure it out. Pinggong Qianye walked closer to the Taiji Hall step by step, and the images of the two ghosts became clearer and clearer in his eyes. (End of this chapter)