Chapter 195: Merit Dedication, Void Monk Traveling through mountains, rivers, lakes and seas, spreading the Dharma to all sentient beings equally. A journey has a beginning and naturally has an end. At sunrise, a bright sun leaps out of the clouds, spreading thousands of golden lights. Hiramiya Chiye stood on the top of the mountain and looked into the distance. There were only two days left before he returned to Tokyo. The next time I come out like this, I’ll have to wait until the winter vacation. Go down the mountain and follow the flat path. This place is close to Tokyo, and even though it is a village in the countryside, it has all the necessary facilities and is full of modern style. It is no longer like the villages deep in the mountains and old forests, dilapidated, withered and deserted. Pinggong Qianye walked between villages. Some villagers cast curious glances at him, but they just looked at him and did not get too close or approach him to talk. As we went deeper into the village, we heard a flute-like sound coming towards us.
When the nearby villagers heard the sound, they all hid in their homes and closed the doors and windows. Pinggong Qianye was no stranger to such unusual situations. He just stood there, waiting for the owner of the flute to approach. What soon appeared in the field of vision was not one person, but a group of people. To be precise, they are a group of nihilistic monks. They wore veiled hats, held shakuhachi similar to bamboo flutes in their hands, had robes around their necks, and carried swords. He walked towards me while playing the shakuhachi. It's really strange that there are still serious nihilistic monks in this day and age. Pinggong Qianye recognized the origins of the group of people in front of him, the Void Monk, also known as the False Monk. Their practice is to travel around in this state, just like wandering warrior monks or ascetics. This lineage has a long history, and can be traced back to Kusunoki Masakatsu in the shogunate era. He joined the Puhua Sect at that time as a monk and was given the Buddhist name Xuwu. After becoming a monk, Kusunoki Masakatsu wore a veiled hat, held a shakuhachi in his hand, and carried a sword, and traveled around the countries to practice. Unfortunately, this faction eventually declined. This is related to a privilege granted to the nihilistic monks by the shogunate court at that time. The shogunate court allowed the Void monks of the Puka sect to have the right to travel freely among the countries. This means that no matter what checkpoint you pass through, as long as you are a Void Monk, you can pass through directly without being questioned. It was fine at first, but later many robbers and bandits who had committed crimes learned to dress like the monk and swaggered through checkpoints. After harassing the local people, they left in a swagger. From then on, people would choose to avoid the monk when they saw him.
Because no one knows whether the person under the bamboo hat is a great monk or a villain. The nihilistic monks, who were despised by people, eventually began to decline and almost disappeared in modern times. It was also the first time that Pinggong Qianye met the wandering monk of nothingness in real life. Looking at the monks coming towards him, Pinggong Qianye clasped his hands together and chanted the Buddha's name. The Void Monks just nodded without saying anything and passed by Pinggong Qianye. Their figures gradually faded away with the sound of shakuhachi playing. After the group of nihilistic monks left, he hid from the villagers at home and then opened the doors and windows to come out. Pinggong Qianye thought about it and decided to stay in the village to see the situation. He already had a lot of experience with this kind of thing. Maybe something was happening in the village to attract that group of Void Monks. Looking at the sky, it was almost noon. Pinggong Qianye passed by the doors of every household. Some kind-hearted villagers gave him some rice balls and vegetarian buns. At noon, Pinggong Chiye chose to enjoy his lunch under a big willow tree in the center of the village. Pinggong Qianye didn't care about the villagers who were still wary not far away. He finished his lunch in silence, took a short rest, and then began to recite Buddhist scriptures. This time he recited the Diamond Sutra, which explains the concept of emptiness and can help people understand the philosophy of "no self". By reciting the Diamond Sutra, one can also understand the emptiness of Prajna and the essence of all things. Reciting the Diamond Sutra allows you to dedicate the merits generated from your recitation to a specific group of people. This is both an affirmation of your own practice and a blessing to others. There are two main ways of dedication: small dedication and large dedication. Small dedication means dedicating the merits to the people around you, such as your family, friends, teachers, etc. This method of dedication gives merit a clear direction and can bestow more merit on the target faster. You can wish them good health and longevity, peace and safety, a smooth life, increased wisdom... and so on. The great dedication is to dedicate the merits to all living beings. For example, wishing for world peace, wishing all sentient beings to be free from suffering and to be happy, wishing the Buddhist world to become more prosperous, etc. Its scope is wider and larger, and the merits required are greater. Normal monks’ chanting of scriptures cannot generate such great merit. Sometimes, monks who are not sincere enough and whose will is not strong enough cannot even generate merit when reciting scriptures. Because they cannot even save themselves, let alone save all living beings through scriptures. Pinggong Qianye had no such concerns, as his attainments in the Diamond Sutra were already extremely high. He can generate great merits when he recites the Diamond Sutra, and can dedicate them to all living beings. But he is only a monk after all, not a bodhisattva or Buddha. If the merits of reciting the sutra are shared among all living beings, they are basically invisible, let alone have any effect. But if we just dedicate the merit to the villagers in this village, it would not be difficult. May this merit be used to adorn the Buddha’s Pure Land, to repay the fourfold kindness, and to relieve the sufferings of the three evil realms. If anyone sees or hears this, may they all develop the Bodhi mind, finish this life, and be reborn together in the Pure Land.
Pinggong Qianye knew very well that he was still far from having such great compassion and great aspirations. So he was not greedy. When the villagers in this village donated food to him, he gave them a copy of the Diamond Sutra in return. As the sutras were chanted, the sound spread over a radius of ten miles, and all the villagers in the village, even at home, could hear the chanting. Soon, many villagers came following the sound of chanting. Although they don't know much about Buddhism, they can still tell whether a Buddhist scripture sounds good or bad. The crowd gathered gradually, but none of them disturbed Pinggong Chiye who was sitting under the willow tree and reciting scriptures. Some were in deep thought, some were sitting there blankly, some were smiling, and some were sitting cross-legged on the ground... All living beings have their own appearance. When Heimiya Chiye was about to finish reciting the Diamond Sutra, the sound of shakuhachi broke in, disrupting the rhythm of the recitation. Pinggong Qianye remained unmoved and continued to recite the Diamond Sutra at the same pace as before. When he opened his eyes and looked around, he saw that the group of Void Monks had returned and were standing about 20 meters to his right. They formed a semicircle, holding shakuhachi and playing softly. Pinggong Qianye did not disturb them, but waited quietly for them to play a song. It's quite nice to listen to, but it sounds a bit lonely and empty, making people feel like there's a hole in their hearts after listening to it. Awesome flute sound. "Only emptiness can contain everything in the world." “Only when you are quiet and peaceful can you think about the philosophy of life.” "The world is all false, and my heart is all empty." They were trying to preach to the villagers, but their voices, coming from beneath the veils covering their faces, were as empty and hollow as their teachings. Many villagers were persuaded and slowly approached them, but they still remained on guard. The reputation of the Void Monk was not good in history, and no one could be sure whether the face under the masked hat was a murderer or not. They were preaching and teaching, and Pinggong Qianye did not interrupt them, but just listened to their teachings quietly. Emptiness and void are their fundamental teachings. In Buddhism, emptiness is a relatively difficult word to understand. Emptiness is the opposite of existence, meaning nothingness, void, silence, emptiness, and non-existence. Emptiness can be roughly divided into two categories: emptiness of persons and emptiness of dharma. Human beings are empty, which means that human beings themselves have no entity or self-existence. Dharma is empty, which means that the existence of all things is produced by causes and conditions, so they have no real existence.
The idea of human emptiness emphasizes reaching a state of emptiness by observing and analyzing all things. This method of observation is called the view of emptiness, and is particularly valued in Theravada Buddhism. The emptiness of dharma reveals that all dharmas in the universe are born from the combination of causes and conditions, and they do not have eternal, unchanging, independent entities. The teachings of the Void Monks are somewhat different. They believe that everything in the world is illusory and will be destroyed one day. People should not be too attached to such an illusory world and there is no need to possess it. There is nothing in the heart to cling to, nothing to be obsessed with, nothing to desire, and it is naturally empty. There is nothing to criticize about such teachings. Looking at the history of Buddhism, the teachings of the Void Sangha are already considered good. However, some of the teachings of the Central Sect that have been lost in the long river of history are truly appalling. The sun in the sky gradually sets in the west. During this period, many villagers were moved by the monk Xuwu's teachings, and many people gathered around Pinggong Qianye, asking him about the relevant content of the "Diamond Sutra" and answering his doubts. As dusk fell, the group of Void Monks had no intention of leaving the village, so Pinggong Qianye was in no hurry to leave either. They slept in the open space outside. Pinggong Qianye also rejected the villagers' invitation and chose to sleep outside, but kept a certain distance from the Void Monks. As the night deepened, the bright moon rose above the willow trees. The group of Void Monks played the flute faintly, the moonlight was falling, and a ray of moonlight merged into Pinggong Qianye's bag. Jingu Yaezakura descended here via the Moon Doll. The monk who was playing the shakuhachi all looked over here. The moon doll subconsciously pressed against Pinggong Qianye's chest, pulling his clothes with her little hands, and blinked, "Why are they all looking at me?" "Because you're cute." Pinggong Qianye poked the moon doll's cheek naturally. The cheeks woven with osmanthus branches and leaves have a rough feel. When you rub your fingertips against them, you can clearly feel the subtle ups and downs on the surface. The moon doll tilted its head back, covered its cheeks with its hands, and laughed non-stop, looking a little silly. This is really cute. (End of this chapter)