Chapter 196 Master, what should I do if my child wants to become a monk? The group of nihilistic monks just stared at the moon doll for a while, then they all looked away and continued to play the shakuhachi in their hands. "What are they playing? A bamboo flute? Or a flute?" "It's a musical instrument called the Shakuhachi." Chiya Hiramiya explains to Yaezakura Jingu some information about the origin of this instrument and the story behind it. When it was past 9 o'clock, a fierce quarrel broke out in the quiet village. The quarrel became more and more intense, and gradually approached here from a distance. The Moon Doll followed Pinggong Chiye's arm, stood on his shoulder, stood on tiptoe, and tried to see farther. The first people to appear in front of them were three young men who were running away in a panic. Behind them were seven or eight middle-aged people, both men and women, who should be their fathers. "We have grown up, and we want to choose our own future path." "No matter how you persuade us, we will not change our decision tonight."
"If you hear the truth in the morning, you may die in the evening!" The three young men came running in a cloud of dust, and came to the group of monks. They put their hands together, bowed respectfully and said, "Master, we have heard the Dharma and our minds have been opened. We want to follow you to become monks and practice Buddhism. We hope you can help us enter Buddhism." "Amitabha." The Void Monk nodded, indicating that he could accept them. But soon, the middle-aged people behind caught up with them. The three young men looked gloomy and a little panicked, and quickly hid behind the bodies of the Void Monks. The middle-aged people who came later stopped chasing, tried to control their agitated emotions, and kept a certain distance from these nihilistic monks. "Master, we don't mean to offend you, but my child is still young, he hasn't grown up yet, and his thoughts are immature. I hope the master won't take him to practice." As soon as one person spoke, the other parents followed suit. One woman even sat on the ground and cried loudly. "Buddha will not reject any believer who is willing to practice." The leading monk shook his head and refused in a faint tone. "But Master, they are just unable to think straight at the moment. They are acting on impulse. They definitely don't sincerely want to practice!" "Since it was just an impulse, they will naturally come back to you once they figure it out. We will not forcibly restrict their personal freedom." "This……" The parents of those young people were left speechless. "We are already 20 years old, not young anymore, nor are we childish. We have heard the Dharma and are willing to practice for the rest of our lives. Is there anything wrong with that?" The young man hiding behind the Void Monk spoke. Another young man said, "Even if you catch us today, we are so old, can't we find a chance to escape?" "Instead of letting us go out alone, it is better for us to travel and practice with the master." The three young men spoke one after another with a firm attitude.
"As your parents, we have worked so hard to raise you. Now that you have heard the Dharma, you want to abandon your family and go out to practice Buddhism. Does your Buddha and Dharma teach you to treat your parents like this?" Such an accusation made the three young men look at each other in bewilderment, unable to refute. The monk Xuwu continued in a calm tone, "Becoming a monk and practicing Buddhism does not mean breaking up with one's parents and relatives. Becoming a monk and practicing Buddhism can help you accumulate virtues and do good deeds, eliminate bad karma, and return the merits to your relatives who support you." After a short silence, a parent stood up and said, "We don't need to eliminate our bad karma, nor do we need them to help us accumulate virtue and do good deeds by becoming monks. We just want to maintain this kind of life." "Amitabha." The monk chanted a Buddhist name and whispered, "All sentient beings have a connection with Buddha and should be respected. Your actions are equivalent to imprisoning your children's possible future lives with your own ideas." "So what? We are his parents. Shouldn't they obey their parents? Is this how Buddha teaches his followers to be unfilial?" "How do you know that in your last life, your children were not your parents?" The monk's shocking words silenced those parents who wanted to say something else. "Even if you can imprison them for a while, can you trap them forever?" The monk Xuwu continued, "Buddhism guides people to be good and teaches them to understand the truth of the world." "Everything in this world is illusory, whether it is fame, wealth, or a series of emotions such as family, love, and friendship, nothing can remain constant and they will eventually dissipate." “To become a monk is to get out of the shackles of delusion and enter the home of truth. It is the beginning of escaping from the sea of suffering in this world and pursuing the true meaning of life.” The monk said a lot of words and explained a lot of truths, which made the parents who came in full force suppress their anger temporarily and start thinking. Only one male parent stepped forward angrily, pointed at the nose of the leading monk and cursed: "I will never let my children become like you, becoming aliens who cannot show their true face to others!" "Non-existent monk, disgusting scum, should be buried in history!" "Every time you show up, nothing good will come of it!" The male parent became angrier and angrier as he spoke, and he punched the mask and hat of the Void Monk. The Void Monk staggered back, choosing neither to fight back nor to yell, but continued to speak in a calm tone. "Yes, all illusions will be shattered. In history, we were too obsessed with worldly recognition to be able to break away from it. Being buried by history is a very reasonable and correct trend." "You, why aren't you angry at all?" The parent who hit the boy took two steps back. In his heart, he still had awe for the monk. If he had not been so angry that he could not suppress his anger, he would not have thrown that punch. "Everything in the world is false. You, me, him and even all sentient beings are false existences. Anger, rage, sadness and sorrow are not real. I will naturally not get angry about this." After saying this, the monk chanted the Buddha's name again. Although his specific face could not be seen under the mask and hat, he should have a calm expression at this moment. The scene suddenly became quiet again, falling into a kind of silent stalemate. Standing not far away, Pinggong Qianye, who had a panoramic view of everything, frowned slightly but said nothing. After all, the teachings of the Void Monk passed down by the Puhua Sect are indeed such teachings. Moreover, there is nothing to criticize about the response measures taken by this nihilistic monk. He just firmly believes in the doctrines he believes in. "But our children haven't married or had children yet!"
A parent expressed the core demand of this matter. They hope that their children can have children and carry on the family line. "Who wants to get married these days?" Behind the Void Monk, a young man bravely shouted. "Isn't it good to be single? Why do you have to trap yourself in the quagmire of marriage?" "If marriage is so wonderful, mother, why have you been trying to divorce my father all these years?" "I would rather dedicate my life to the Buddha than suffer for a lifetime because of a woman!" The three young men became more and more radical as they spoke. Hearing the noise over there, the moon doll slipped off Pinggong Qianye's shoulder and hid in his palm. The Moon Doll tilted her head back, twisted her hands together nervously, and said with a troubled look on her face, "Is marriage really such a terrible thing?" "It's probably like a second reincarnation." Pinggong Chiye is a young man and can understand the thoughts of those three young people. Especially after encountering unpleasant setbacks in society, people's thoughts tend to tend to be extreme. There are good and bad things in this world, and the same is true for marriage. But who can guarantee that their marriage will be happy? When there are only two choices before you: good and bad. Faced with the huge cost of trial and error, many people have begun to choose to escape. The unwillingness to get married is a problem of the entire society. Perhaps these three young men were really attracted by the teachings of the Void Monk. After a few more quarrels broke out between them, they gradually calmed down. Faced with three young people who had made up their minds, their parents could only choose to take a step back and allow them to travel and practice first. Pinggong Qianye nodded silently, this was the right choice. Even though these three young men sound so determined at the moment, traveling and practicing has never been an easy task. Especially the Buddhist practice that is always on his mind. The practice of a Void Monk is more difficult than the practice in a temple. Not many people can persevere, and they probably can’t even get past the first stage of cultivating their minds. When this little episode was about to end, several parents walked towards the direction where Pinggong Qianye was. They came before Pinggong Qianye, feeling uneasy, clasped their hands together, and chanted the Buddha's name. "Master, my child wants to become a monk, what should I do?" "Yes, Master, do you have any way to prevent this from happening?"
"If you can help dissuade them, we are willing to build a golden statue for the Buddha." Faced with these questions, Pinggong Qianye smiled and did not answer immediately. Because these people may not like to hear his answer. Moreover, he himself is a practicing monk, so it is difficult for him to say no to someone who voluntarily chooses to become a monk and practice Buddhism. Especially in front of the group of Void Monks next to him, the other party did not use him, a young monk, as an example to bring trouble to him. He was also too embarrassed to directly embarrass these nihilistic monks. “Monastic practice can actually be divided into three types: becoming a monk both physically and mentally, becoming a monk physically but not mentally, and becoming a monk mentally but not physically.” Pinggong Qianye's words made the parents in front of him a little confused. To become a monk both physically and mentally: to find an ancient temple in a mountain to practice is to become a monk physically; to no longer be attached to worldly fame, wealth and the five desires is to become a monk mentally. Being in harmony with body and mind and being at peace with the Tao is the right path and duty of a monk. To be a monk in body but not in mind: refers to a person who is in the temple, claiming to be practicing, but is always thinking about worldly wealth and glory, and the five desires. This is rebuked by the Buddha, and it is a kind of self-deceptive practice that is common in the Dharma Ending Age. The mind is a monk, but the body is not: A practitioner who can reach this level must have great wisdom and great enlightenment, and this can be considered a holy Bodhisattva. The general concept of becoming a monk refers to the first type of becoming a monk both physically and mentally. Pinggong Qianye explained the story in detail, but the people in front of him became more and more confused the more they listened. (End of this chapter)