Li Ping'an handed the wine glass to Gu Qingcheng and said slowly: "What you heard and heard is not a disturbance from external objects. It should not affect your Taoist mind."
"Hey," Gu Qingcheng took the wine glass and drank it in one gulp. The small depression in Tao's heart quietly dissipated.
Li Ping'an looked at the four people in front of him, glanced at the casual cultivators floating outside the attic, and sighed slightly in his heart.
This is probably the downside of making friends.
After talking to Gu Qingcheng a lot, we have developed a friendship, but we can't see his heart being affected.
Dugu Mei, a disciple of the Guanhai Sect, said loudly again:
"Fellow Taoist, please take a seat!"
Li Ping'an made an invitation gesture and led Gu Qingcheng and Yu Yingshu forward. He didn't answer and sat directly opposite the four of them.
Dugumei seemed to find it quite interesting and asked the same question again:
"Fellow Taoist didn't respond, why did you come to sit down?"
"I agreed from the bottom of my heart, my Taoist friends have never heard of it."
Li Pingan put the wine bottle in front of him and said with a smile:
"When it comes to spiritual practice, cultivating the mind, cultivating deeds, and cultivating oneself, if my mind responds, I respond. My Taoist friends' ears have not heard it, so why can't it be that my Taoist friends' ears are not working well?"
The four Guanhaimen disciples opened their eyes at the same time, with a faint smile on their lips, and looked at Li Ping'an with great interest.
Then Dugumei asked with a smile: "What do you call fellow Taoist?"
Li Ping'an said: "A name is nothing more than an external thing. A name is amazing. Those who cannot attain the Dao cannot attain the Dao. A name is mediocre. If you obtain the Dao fruit, you can live in peace. Taoist friends, why not make up a name for me in your own heart?"
, just like in my heart, fellow Taoist’s name is Goudan. As long as I don’t say it out loud, it won’t have much impact on fellow Taoist.”
"Ha," Dugu Mei narrowed her eyes slightly, but was not angry, and directly changed the subject, "You and I are discussing Taoism here today. I wonder what kind of Taoism you are good at?"
Li Pingan shook his head slightly and said quickly:
"I am not good at it yet. What I have learned cannot be compared to what my master taught me. What I have heard cannot be compared to the scriptures. However, I cannot compare to the disciples of Guanhai Sect, one of the ten most famous sects of Dongzhou Immortal Dao.
"Three of my fellow sects and I won the Six Sects of the East China Sea and came here to celebrate. The Guanhai Sect turned around and chased us here. We sent three or five crazy disciples and invited dozens of strange friends. The name was to discuss the Tao, but in reality it was about the thickness of the skin.
.
"If I'm not wrong, the Tao taught by Guan Hai Sect should be a Tao that would rather break than bend - one would rather bend other people's Taoist hearts than bend one's own will.
"It is indeed one of the top ten immortal sects with strict sect rules and constantly eliminating disciples.
"The four of you who were selected to sit here today must have gone through countless hardships and eliminated many of your friends from the same school, right? It's really admirable."
Half of the casual cultivators who came here to watch didn't look good.
Crazy disciple, strange friend...
This Wan Yun Sect disciple has scolded them all.
Li Ping'an's last two sentences made the four Guanhaimen disciples look a little more annoyed.
Guanhai Sect's internal and external disciple elimination system, although it has been able to continuously produce high-quality immortal seedlings, it has also ruined many young people who should have had a good future, so it has been criticized by other sects.
Li Ping'an's words were like stepping directly on the painful spot of Guanhaimen.
——He just deliberately angered these four people.
Gu Qingcheng and Yu Yingshu next to them wanted to laugh, but they also wanted to maintain a calm and calm attitude. They felt really relieved.
Dugumei suddenly laughed and said slowly: "Is it possible that fellow Taoist is afraid? He speaks foul language, speaks eloquently, and presses me step by step. Are you trying to make me lose my bearings?"
At this time, the call becomes passive.
Li Ping'an said directly: "If you and I want to discuss Tao, we might as well find a topic."
"Okay," Dugumei said, "Then let my fellow Taoist choose the topic!"
"It's better for Taoist friends to choose the topic," Li Ping'an's eyes flashed a little brightly, "If I were to choose the topic, Taoist friends would probably not be able to answer a single word."
Dugumei's voice suddenly became louder and she said directly: "What's the meaning of Kong?"
Li Ping'an waved his hand: "Please speak!"
please!
Gu Qingcheng and Yu Yingshu's souls were shaken violently, and they stared at the team leader beside them.
Dugumei frowned tightly, stared into Li Ping'an's eyes, and said quickly: "Fellow Taoist asked me to give a question, and I have already given the question. Shouldn't it be that fellow Taoist should answer it?"
Li Ping'an smiled and said: "It turns out that Guanhaimen has such rules when discussing Taoism."
"This is the rule of Dongzhou's Taoism!"
"Ask and answer questions, so why call it an argument? It's just to create obstacles for the other party. If you ask a few questions that you don't know how to solve, can you win easily?"
Dugu Mei's face turned cold: "I would like to hear your opinion!"
"I don't dare to claim to have high opinions, but there are some truths that all children know."
Li Pingan said calmly:
"The so-called discussion of the Tao is naturally made by Taoist friends. The Taoist friends discuss it first, and I discuss it later. By comparing the two, don't we know whose Tao is more refined and whose Tao is more wonderful?
"Fellow Taoist, please, don't delay, there are seniors waiting for me to eat.
"Presumably all the fellow Taoists watching here are also curious about how fellow Taoists should interpret the word 'empty'."
"good!"
Dugumei closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
He naturally understood that the Wan Yun Sect disciple in front of him, who was only in the Void Refining Realm, had been using words and tricks to interfere with him.
Then be upright and let this person be convinced of his defeat!
Dugu Mei closed her eyes and concentrated, a faint light appeared around her body, her brows gradually relaxed, as if she was about to ascend to immortality and leave here.
The other three members of the 'Mei You Dui Xiang' had already shown faint smiles... If it were other topics, Dugu Mei's understanding might only be at the peak of the Heaven and Earth Bridge, but for this word 'empty', the three of them combined could not compare to Dugu Mei.
.
A wisp of Taoist rhyme slowly spread out like a breeze on the seaside. The master of Taoism from Guanhaimen (below the Immortal) spoke slowly, his voice was ethereal and unreal.
Listen to this person say loudly:
"There are not many good people who understand the way of the sky in East China. I was lucky enough to come across several scriptures in the past, which were passed down by Qigong practitioners from Xizhou and came from the Western leader's position.
"There is a saying in it that the realm of emptiness, from shallow to deep, should have four levels.
"The first realm, emptiness means nothingness, which is the solution to nothingness. Only when the tea in your teacup is empty can you hold new tea. If you drink the tea when it is full, it will become empty again. This is existence.
It is emptiness, and emptiness means existence.
"The second level, emptiness leads to seeing. You and I are both cultivators, cultivating our hearts to accommodate the great ways of heaven and earth. People in the mortal world are blinded by their own desires. How can we see the Tao and how can we understand our hearts? We can only empty our worldly desires and empty our own spirits.
, only then can we see the existence of Tao.”
As soon as these words were spoken, some of the casual cultivators everywhere started to applaud him.
There were even casual cultivators holding jade talismans and writing rapidly, their eyes full of joy.
But Dugu Mei's voice did not stop. He stood up, put his hands behind his back, and softly chanted:
"The third level, emptiness is nature and wisdom. Only when the Tao mind is empty can we tolerate everything. The Tao mind is empty and everything is impure. Therefore, emptiness is the nature of all things. Only by letting go of the worries in the heart and letting go
Only when your mind is troubled and does not occupy your mind with desires and lust can you accommodate the principles of heaven and earth and reach the other side of the Tao.
"The fourth level is something I can't understand. The scriptures say - empty is false.
"All things in the heaven and earth are in our eyes, and you and I can know their existence. If you and I close our eyes and cannot see, is there any difference between their existence and non-existence for you and me? For me, they do not exist, so
You and I are empty to other people, to heaven and earth, and to all natures.
"The conditioned laws of all things are bound to me by me. If I are empty, then the conditioned laws are empty. Conditions arise and annihilate. Illusions and dreams become real. How can calamities and disasters harm me?
"Adhering to the path of emptiness, one can be enlightened and have a clear mind, and seek one's own freedom by walking on the path of immortality.
"Only when you truly understand the realm of emptiness can you transcend the constraints of form, release your nature outside of heaven and earth, and live forever between heaven and earth!"
"good!"
There were bursts of cheers from everywhere.
Dugumei smiled, looking down at Li Pingan, who was frowning and thinking.
Li Ping'an really thought about it for a while.
He always felt that he had heard this statement somewhere, and he had heard it many times...
Ah, yes!
Isn’t this what Buddhism in my hometown often says: ‘Form is emptiness, emptiness is form’?
Wait a minute, the leader of Xizhou...the two leaders of Western Sect?
Good guy, Dongzhou is the place where the Taoist ancestors of the Sanqing Dynasty inherited their teachings. There are actually Western religious scriptures that are widely circulated and can be understood by a large number of disciples at will.
Won’t the disciples of Sanqing Taoist Patriarch come out to take care of it?
There were bursts of noise all around, but many casual cultivators were making noises nearby, telling Li Ping'an not to humiliate himself, so he just surrendered and retreated, lest his Taoist mind be blocked and the gain outweighed the loss.
Gu Qingcheng and Yu Yingshu looked at each other, and they both saw the shock in each other's eyes.
Gu Qingcheng's eyes were probably sighing: 'Is it necessary to discuss Tao to this extent?'
Yu Yingshu's physical practice is relatively simple. What he is thinking at the moment is: 'What this person says makes sense.'
In the private room, Elder Xu Sheng and Elder Yan Sheng shook their heads and sighed at the same time.
This disciple of the Guanhai Sect has explained this principle very thoroughly with the help of a scripture about "emptiness".
This does not mean that Dugu Mei already has such a Taoist practice. Dugu Mei has only cultivated to the second level of "emptiness".
But when discussing Tao, what we discuss is our own understanding of Tao.
Once Dugu Mei's fourth realm of space came out, it was really difficult to argue with it.
"It's no wonder that Ping An is safe," Immortal Xu said in a low voice.
All the immortals in the private room nodded.
Mu Ningning has begun to worry about whether his senior brother will be damaged in his Taoism and affect his future cultivation path.
In the corner downstairs, the thin old Taoist had his eyes fixed on Li Pingan. He also wanted to see what this young man who had the upper hand before had an understanding of the Tao of the Sky.
This "Four Realms of Emptiness" originates from Western teachings. If the True Way wins, the old Taoist will always be a little unhappy.
suddenly.
"How ridiculous!"
Li Pingan said with a sneer, and the casual cultivators who were watching immediately fell silent, each frowning and looking at Li Pingan.
Many people have already made up their mind that as long as this Wan Yun Sect disciple shows any signs of being messy, they will immediately scold them to avoid dirtying their ears.
"oh?"
Dugumei sat down calmly and said with a smile: "Many fellow Taoists are watching here. If you have any high opinions, feel free to talk."
"Takami doesn't count, I just feel that fellow Taoist has gone astray."
Li Ping'an shook his head gently and said calmly:
“The empty arguments made by fellow Taoists are not worth arguing with, but there are many fellow Taoists here, so don’t let them be misinformed.
"The word 'empty' mentioned by Taoist friends is probably due to some misunderstanding of Western religious scriptures. This 'empty' is not 'empty', but actually 'empty silence'.
"You say [emptiness is existence].
"At first it sounds like the theory that yin and yang exist and destroy each other, but when you think about it carefully, it doesn't make sense.
"The tea cup can only be filled with new tea when it is empty. Doesn't the tea cup itself exist? Doesn't the person who drinks the tea and pours the tea exist? The tea just goes from the cup to your mouth, from the pot to the cup
You don't know people, pots, and cups, but you just stare at the cup and say - look, is there water in the cup or not? Is it either empty or exists, or is it empty?
"What a fallacy!
"In the example you gave, there is no transition between existence and emptiness, emptiness and reality, truth and falsehood. The tea is always there, but in a different position.
"Measuring the heavens and the earth with the contents of a cup, don't you think it's too wrong, fellow Taoist?"
Dugu Mei frowned slightly, while the cultivators around her were silent.
The old man downstairs nodded slowly, with a slight smile on his lips.
Listen again.
"Second!"
Li Ping'an turned around, walked about seven feet, and said quickly again:
"You say [empty view], that only by letting go of the desires of the mortal world can you accommodate the way of heaven and earth, it is even more ridiculous!
"Is it possible that there are no heavenly immortals who have become Taoist couples in the Guanhai Sect? Is it possible that there are no true immortals who have become Taoist couples? Is it possible that there are no disciples who have given up everything and concentrated on practicing, but in the end they died in depression before becoming immortals?
"If you say that the path of empty view is helpful for the cultivation of mind and nature, and that forgetting the complicated desires of the human world can make you and me peaceful and more accessible to the great path, then I will not argue with you.
"But you said that only by letting go can we see the existence of Tao. This is a fallacy.
"The path of emptiness is just one of the three thousand paths.
"Three Thousand Paths can lead to immortality. This is the message given by the leader of Yuxu Palace to the human race. Desires follow true nature, and there are also feelings without emotion. This is the warning given by the leader of Biyou Palace to me as a Qi Refiner!
"Empty means following one's heart, but there are constraints. As the saying goes, if you follow your heart and don't violate the rules, you can be free!
"Fellow Taoist, the empty view you explain is really inferior!"
Do as you please without breaking the rules?
Dugu Mei's face turned a little pale, her aura became a little confused, and she kept thinking in her heart, as if she was possessed by a demon.
At this point, Li Ping'an was actually able to win, but he had to express his inner thoughts.
Today, you don’t have to live with the light, you should express your feelings directly!
——The worst thing is, he will stay in Wanyun Sect for a hundred and eighty years and not leave the house!
Li Pingan said loudly:
"That [emptiness is all nature] is even more prejudice!
"Ordinary people have many troubles, but cultivators are always at ease. This is just that the cultivators are freed from the world of mortals. They have a long life, can live in the world, and can fly to heaven. This is the freedom and ease compared to ordinary people.
"But have human cultivators from ancient times ever let go of the nature in their hearts? Have they ever thrown away the feelings in their hearts?
"You illuminate all things with your hollow heart, and all things are in your hollow heart! If your Dao mind is only empty, your body will be nothing more than a walking corpse! How can you protect the path of our human race, and how dare you claim to be the Dao!
"What is emptiness? I see how charming the green mountains are, but I don't expect the green mountains to see me like this!
"And the fourth one."
Dugu Mei's fingers trembled, and before Li Ping'an could speak, she was about to bow her head and admit defeat.
He really couldn't listen anymore.
Just the words "you illuminate all things with your hollow heart" already made the roaring thunder sound in his Tao heart.
And the sentence "I see how charming the green mountains are" made Dugu Meidao feel a little gap in his heart.
Listen again, he is really going to be trapped in a bottleneck!
"Fellow Taoist...I admit defeat!"
"Admit defeat?"
Li Pingan smiled and said:
"Fellow Taoist, if your heart is empty, wouldn't it mean that you win or you lose, and you lose or you win?
"If we are discussing Taoism in private, it's okay for you to admit defeat, but you have already spread such a fallacious Tao. If I don't refute it clearly and thoroughly, won't it delay the cultivation of all Taoists?
"A Taoist friend is afraid of damaging his Taoist heart, so he just covers his ears and refuses to listen."
The eyes of the casual cultivators watching Li Pingan became a little more kind and nervous.
Li Ping'an sighed, and his eyes became extremely distant:
"The realm of emptiness that fellow Taoist said at the end, the origin and cessation of conditions, is nothingness, but it is just the path to one's own emptiness.
"The so-called emptiness is by no means the transcendence you and I want to pursue. It is just a false state created for yourself by stripping away your desires, emptying out everything you see and hear.
"If you don't look at the evil, will it not exist? If you don't look at the mountain, will the mountain cease to exist? It will exist where it should exist, and it will still exist when it should exist.
"Can you achieve true emptiness? You can't, never can, because unless you yourself cease to exist and disappear into thin air, if that's the case, what's the point of these things you understand and the Tao you understand?
"Don't forget! You practice Taoism to live a better life, not to die in a broken state!
"The essence of what you call emptiness is nothing more than 'starting from nothingness and ending in nothingness.' It sounds reasonable, but in fact it is far inferior to the true path of emptiness.
"But my interpretation of emptiness is completely different from that of fellow Taoists.
"Empty is the starting point of all things and the end of all things. The reason why emptiness exists is because from the starting point to the end, the traces drawn by all things between the two poles of yin and yang are what emptiness sees and what emptiness is.
What I heard: You and I see truth and know emptiness, see death and know life.
"Empty is not false, existence is not true, and the mind of Tao is disturbed, do not cross the world of mortals.
"You are empty and destroy me without me.
"My emptiness is nothing but action."
Li Ping'an slightly cupped his hands and stopped talking without saying more.
Dugu Mei closed her eyes and sighed, lowering her head without saying a word. She was at a loss in her heart:
"Fellow Taoist, good meeting."
It's quite free and easy.
Li Ping'an looked at the other three people and added: "It's my turn to come up with the question. It's also this blank word. I've just finished my explanation. You guys come on."
The other three people looked at each other, thinking hard, and each bowed his head and sighed.
"Fellow Taoist, we admit defeat."
"When the four of you see me as disciples of Wan Yun Sect, please bow to me first and then retreat. If you don't understand something, you can also go to my Wan Yun Sect to seek advice from the immortals."
Li Ping'an swept his sleeves and greeted Yu Yingshu and Gu Qingcheng, who were already stunned.
"Brother Gu, Brother Yu has gone back. The seniors and elders are still waiting for us to have dinner."
"Why!"
"Here we come! Senior brother, wait for me!"
Outside Guanlan Tower, the group was silent.
…………
[Note: There will be no large-scale discussions on Taoism after it is put on the shelves. The reference materials for this chapter are "Prajna Sutra" and "Qingjing Sutra", just read it for fun, there is no need to study it in depth. 】