Chapter 90 Buddha in prosperous times, Tao in troubled times (Part 2)
Fang Junqi said: "Everyone in the world regards you as a living immortal. Although this is a bit exaggerated, you are at least a half-immortal..."
Yuan Tiangang suddenly glared.
"Living immortal" is a word of praise, while "half-immortal" is not a good word. Folks call those charlatans and deceivers "half-immortal", which is full of ridicule and contempt.
You are a seasoned person and don’t know?
Fang Jun coughed and continued: "... Strange people like you should be idle in the clouds and wild cranes, eating in the wind and drinking dew, jumping out of the Three Realms and not being in the Five Elements. In your eyes, these mundane worlds are noisy, and should not be just passing smoke and fleeting.
What?"
Picking up the tea cup and taking a sip of tea, Yuan Tiangang slowly exhaled and said distressedly: "Who can truly cut off the mortal world and be free from the world? When people live in this world, there will always be too much reluctance and care. An old man will live his life.
You can practice Taoism, but you will never escape the fate of Taoism in your life. If your skin is gone, how can you not care about the well-being of Taoism?"
When people live in this world, they will always have cares and bonds of one kind or another. No one can seriously cut off the mortal world and keep the six roots pure.
Yuan Tiangang became famous all over the world because of his Taoist sect. Looking back, he had to worry about the rise and fall of the Taoist sect.
Not to mention the sense of belonging to the Taoist sect, just saying "people's words are fearful" is enough to shatter his reputation as a "living god".
The Taoist sect has trained you, but when the Taoist sect is in trouble, you sit back and watch, study your mysteries, and understand your Tao. Isn't this ungrateful and arrogant?
Therefore, even an extraordinary person like Yuan Tiangang cannot escape the fetters of the world.
Fang Jun held the pot and refilled the tea cup in front of Yuan Tiangang. Since Yuan Tiangang asked about the rise and fall of Buddhism and Taoism, he naturally did his best to look at history.
It is no exaggeration to say that there is a huge gap between him and people of this era in terms of experience and knowledge accumulation. Even the most outstanding person of this era, who dares to shout "Read thousands of volumes, learn five things", will not be able to do anything in front of Fang Jun.
Still scum.
In particular, the systematic knowledge of various disciplines that has been formed through countless powerful summaries and inductions is enough to stand proud of the contemporary era.
Not to mention the rapid development of natural science and electronic science in later generations, just taking history as an example, how many history books did the people of the Tang Dynasty read?
The well-known ones are "Spring and Autumn", "Zuo Zhuan", "Historical Records", "Hanshu", "Later Hanshu", "Three Kingdoms"...
"Book of Jin", "Book of Liang", "Book of Chen", "Book of Wei", "Book of Northern Qi", "Book of Zhou", "Book of Sui", "Southern History", "Northern History", these historical books are still in recent years
Compiled.
There are only a few unique books like "Bamboo Book Annals" that I have heard of. Has anyone seen it?
The amount of information is too narrow, which restricts the world's ability to absorb knowledge, and most of this knowledge is in the hands of a very small number of people and is never given or received privately.
Why was Sima Qian able to write "Historical Records", which is "the swansong of a historian and a rhymeless story", and then be famous throughout the ages? In addition to his own talent, "family origins" are also very important. Generations of the Sima family have been members of the Han Dynasty
Historiographers, only they have access to those precious historical information.
With the explosion of information in later generations, as long as you want to learn, you can find any historical material...
Therefore, Fang Jun's knowledge of the pros and cons of the development of Taoism is definitely the best among contemporary people.
Yuan Tiangang knew that Fang Jun was talented and an important minister of the imperial court, so his views were naturally unique. It was related to the prospects of the Taoist sect, so he put away his usual rebelliousness and humbly asked for advice: "Erlang, if you have something to teach me, please speak out."
Fang Jun thinks this is an opportunity.
He does not want to show off his "talent" in front of Yuan Tiangang, but should analyze the achievements and failures in it, which may lead the Taoist sect to embark on a completely different historical trajectory, and can also make a difference in the development of Chinese history.
It serves as a link between the past and the future and adds fuel to the fire.
Based on the profound influence of Taoism in China, it should definitely not just fight alone when the nation is in danger and China is in chaos, or even act wisely to protect itself in the later period.
Of course, the more important thing is that if this veteran can be fooled into confusion, he may not have the time to talk about his "different face"...
He took the kettle, poured the boiling water into the teapot, and waited for a while. Fang Jun also took the opportunity to think about it, organize his words, and then poured tea for Yuan Tiangang, and then said: "I was reading history books and found a
The more obvious phenomenon can be summed up in one word: 'Buddha in prosperous times, Tao in troubled times'."
Yuan Tiangang's white eyebrows furrowed slightly and he looked confused: "What do you mean by this?"
Fang Jun invited him to drink tea and said with a smile: "To put it simply, in troubled times, Taoist priests go down the mountain to save the world, and monks close their doors to avoid disaster; in prosperous times, Taoist priests retreat to the mountains, and monks go out to collect money."
Yuan Tiangang: "..."
After thinking deeply about it, he suddenly became enlightened and praised: "In one word, he can express the style of both Buddhism and Taoism. Erlang is worthy of the name of 'Nine Dou of Talents'."
In this era, Buddhism and Taoism can be said to be distinct, with obvious superiority and inferiority. The essence of Taoism cannot be understood only by scholars, and scholars in the world are all the ruling class. Therefore, Taoism is "metaphysical" and develops within the upper class, with some "
The meaning of "highbrow and low-key".
Since they are closely related to the ruling class, Taoists never care about money and are never short of money.
Buddhism is different. They come from a foreign land, and their early spread was among the lower class people. People at the bottom of society live a hard life. They don't even have enough to eat. How can they have the material basis to hope to practice Taoism, refine elixirs, and live forever?
Buddhism took advantage of this opportunity, and its core ideas of "kindness" and "patience" were quickly accepted by the suffering people.
"Benevolence" is the desire of all people at the bottom, both in ancient and modern times. The poorer the people are, the more they hope that those in "high places" can have benevolence and charity instead of being unkind for the sake of wealth. "Patience" is even more of a trump card.
Poor people are willing to believe in the teaching that "if you suffer all the hardships in this life, they will be reversed in the next life."
There is no hope of living a good life in this life, so we can only place our hope in the next life, and firmly believe that those noble people who have enjoyed glory and wealth in this life will be cattle, horses, and beasts in the next life...
Because Buddhism has its roots in the people at the bottom, and these people have a hard time surviving and don’t have more money to worship Buddhism, so they are very short of money.
The existence and development of any organization are inseparable from the support of money, so Buddhism buys land and releases "usury" in order to gain money.
And this is exactly what Buddhism is currently being criticized for.
…
Yuan Tiangang admired and agreed with Fang Jun's sentence: "In troubled times, Taoist priests go down the mountain to save the world, while monks close their doors to avoid disaster; in prosperous times, Taoist priests retreat to the mountains, and monks go out to collect money."
At least from the superficial point of view, this is clearly exalting Taoism and belittling Buddhism. How can you not be happy?
Fang Jundao: "The difference between Buddhism and Taoism lies more in the idea of entering into the world. Taoism emphasizes 'escaping from the world and practicing practice, governing by inaction'. What is 'inaction'? In my opinion, 'inaction' does not mean inaction, but refers to inaction.
Do not interfere excessively and let nature take its course. When troubled times come, the world is in turmoil, and people's life trajectories are seriously disrupted, which easily violates the purpose of Taoism, so Taoist disciples go out and go down the mountain in order to correct the path."
“Brilliant!”
It was hard for Yuan Tiangang to believe that someone so young and who had never had in-depth contact with Taoism would have such a sharp insight.
He took a sip of tea and relished the taste: "What about Buddhism?"
Fang Junxin said he would take a test on me?
We never deceive people, but if we try to deceive people, we will never scare anyone...
"What Buddhism emphasizes is 'entering the world to practice and save the world.' Not only should you practice to become a Buddha, but you should also use your kind thoughts, hearts, and good deeds to save the world, so that more people will do good to the Buddha.
Only in prosperous times, when people live and work in peace and contentment but have insufficient needs, will they have the intention to pursue a higher level of spiritual evolution. In troubled times, when people are hungry, how can they talk about becoming immortals and Buddhas? The foundation of the existence of Buddhism is crumbling.
Our strength has been severely weakened, so we can only temporarily restrain ourselves and wait for the world to calm down and make a comeback."
“Brilliant!”
Yuan Tiangang slapped the case in amazement.
He used two "inspiring" words in succession, which shows the secret surprise in his heart!
This discussion of Buddhism and Taoism can be described as penetrating deeply into the truth and directly revealing the inner purpose.
There are very few people in the world who can have such knowledge.
He asked urgently: "In your opinion, now that the prosperous age is coming, the soil for Buddhism's existence has become more fertile, and its development will inevitably reach a higher level, while Taoism is about to usher in its decline... How should Taoism respond?"