Li Yizhi spread out his cassock and saw a scripture embroidered in the center:
"When I heard this, I asked the Buddha, what is merit? If I use the vast world and infinite treasures to give to the poor of the people, so that the world is peaceful and no one suffers, will there be merit? The Buddha said: There is no merit. Giving, good thoughts
In order to seek blessings, you cannot talk about blessings as merits. Merits are in the Dharmakaya, not in seeking blessings. Seeing one's nature is merit, being equal is virtue, being mindful without stagnation, seeing one's true nature, and having real and wonderful effects are merits..."
"This is the cassock of merit. It talks about the way of merit. Knowing one's mind and seeing one's nature is merit, and the virtue of having clear thoughts."
Li Yizhi suddenly muttered to himself. His mind was firmly attracted to the scriptures, and countless enlightenments came to his mind.
Although it seems that this scripture is a bit deviant and misinterprets the meaning of merit.
But in Li Yizhi's view, it is a real direct road.
What is merit?
Perhaps in the eyes of ordinary people, only doing good deeds is considered meritorious.
If knowing one's mind and seeing one's nature is merit, and understanding one's thoughts is achievement, then if a heinous evil person can only understand one's thoughts by killing someone, wouldn't that mean he has profound merit?
Yes, it is a profound merit!
But this merit is only his personal merit.
The first sentence of the opening chapter of "The Doctrine of the Mean": Destiny is called nature, and spontaneity is called Tao.
This means that a person’s innate character is called nature, and acting in accordance with nature is called cultivation.
This ‘nature’ has no distinction between good and evil.
Therefore, good people who do good deeds are cultivating the Tao, and evil people who do evil are also cultivating the Tao.
Because they all understand their "nature" and then do things according to their nature.
If my heart is evil, then doing evil is naturally in line with my nature.
For Taoists, cultivating the Tao means cultivating the mind. As long as the thoughts are clear, cultivation can naturally make rapid progress.
If a good person is allowed to do evil, his thoughts will definitely be blocked; if an evil person is allowed to do good, his thoughts will also be blocked.
Doing things that go against your nature is tantamount to going against the path, so how can you achieve success in cultivation?
All things in nature are divided into yin and yang.
There is good and there is evil in heaven and earth, and both are Tao.
Heaven and earth are unkind and regard all things as stupid dogs.
There is no distinction between good and evil for the Dao.
The difference is for people.
We artificially define merit as doing good deeds. In fact, this is a misinterpretation of the meaning of merit.
After understanding these principles, Li Yizhi suddenly realized that his so-called martial arts beliefs and ambitions were actually the process of realizing merit and virtue, and also the process of making his thoughts clear.
Knowing one's mind and seeing one's nature is merit, and having clear thoughts is virtue.
Li Yizhi's firm belief in martial arts and his ambitious aspirations were actually clarifying his mind and nature.
And he realized it step by step by making his thoughts clear.
If it cannot be completed, it means that the thoughts are not smooth and the cultivation level will naturally not grow.
Even if someone is born with a clear mind, he can become a saint immediately without the need to study or practice.
Because there is no obstruction in his thoughts, he has already transformed into the Tao.
This is actually the same truth as what the Buddhists say, "Put down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha immediately."
However, life is full of all kinds of ties and obsessions between heaven and earth. They are like countless ropes, tightly trapped in the body. If you can't break free, how can you understand your mind!
Why was Taoism so prosperous in ancient times?
A large part of the reason was that people at that time were simple-minded and naturally suitable for practicing Taoism.
"There is no good or disgusting body, and there are good and evil actions. Knowing good and evil is conscience, and doing good and eliminating evil is qingwu."
Li Yizhi suddenly thought of Wang Yangming's four mental aphorisms. Aren't they also talking about the way of merit and virtue?
Knowing good and evil is conscience, which means understanding one’s mind and one’s nature;
To do good and eliminate evil is to investigate things, and this is to cultivate the Tao.
However, as a Confucian saint, Wang Yangming wanted to cultivate good virtues, so he wanted to "eliminate evil".
This is not contrary to the principle of merit, because "evil" is not Wang Yangming's nature.
"There are many roads, but it turns out that different roads lead to the same destination!"
Li Yizhi sighed in his heart. He stood with his eyes closed, his soul expanding rapidly and beating violently.
He felt as if there was a huge barrier between heaven and earth, tightly wrapped around him, preventing him from seeing the true appearance of the world.
It's just that this barrier that was extremely strong in the past was like paper and could be broken by him at this moment.
boom!
Li Yizhi felt light all over, as if something that was fettering him disappeared in an instant.
At this moment, Li Yizhi broke through life and death and became a ghost immortal!
At this moment, life and death are no longer scary!
After a long time, Li Yizhi opened his eyes with joy.
The harvest this time was really great. Not only was the "Now Tathagata Sutra" about to be obtained, but he also got the opportunity to become a ghost immortal in one fell swoop.
If he practices step by step, he may not be able to break through in ten years.
From the south of the city, there was a loud sound of the city gate breaking.
This is when the Wei Lei Pioneer Army finally arrived and broke through into the city.
Li Yizhi walked briskly towards the tallest building in the center, only to realize that it was actually a palace.
It seems that this group of pirates are quite ambitious and even want to establish a country here.
When Li Yizhi walked into the palace and found Hong Yi, he saw Hong Yi walking out excitedly holding a big Buddha statue.
This large Buddha statue is about five meters high, and its whole body is red and yellow. You can tell at a glance that it is plated with red gold.
The Buddha has big ears and shoulders, drooping eyebrows, and sits cross-legged on a twelve-petal lotus platform. One hand hangs down, touching the ground, and the middle finger of the other hand forms a ring with ten fingers. I don't know what kind of seal it is.
Hong Yi asked happily: "Brother Li, when you look at the Buddha statue, is it what you are looking for?"
Li Yizhi looked at the Buddha statue and couldn't help but said happily: "Okay, okay, this is the Buddha statue. Hong Yi, thank you this time."
Hong Yi put the Buddha statue aside and hurriedly waved his hands and said: "Brother Li, what are you talking about? Without your guidance, I wouldn't be where I am now. There is no need to say thank you for such a trivial matter."
Li Yizhi nodded, handed the cassock in his hand to Hong Yi, and said: "This cassock itself is a treasure. It is invulnerable to invulnerability, water and fire. At the same time, there is a merit scripture on it. You should carefully consider it. It will be beneficial to your future."
It’s beneficial to practice. Oh, by the way, Wei Lei’s vanguard army has also entered the city, you have to be prepared.”
When Hong Yi heard this, he put his cassock on his body and said to the Green Camp soldiers behind him: "Everyone is prepared to kill them all once Wei Lei breaks into the palace."
Tread! Tread!
A burst of dense footsteps came from a distance, and after a while, Wei Lei led a group of masters to rush in.
He looked at Hong Yi and couldn't help but tighten his face. He pointed at Hong Yi with the Shattering Saber and shouted: "Hong Yi, put down all your belongings and exit the palace. I can spare your life."
Wei Lei looked at the items packed behind Hong Yi and couldn't help being shocked and angry.
You must know that the main reason why he participated in this bandit suppression was because he wanted to find an opportunity to get rid of Hong Yi. The main reason was because he took a fancy to the pirates' wealth.
Because he received news that after the Great Zen Temple was destroyed, many monks fled here with a large number of books.
Therefore, among the items packed by Hong Yi, it is very likely that there are three volumes of the Supreme Sutra from the Great Zen Temple.
Hong Yi didn't talk nonsense. He raised his Shark-Severing Sword and shouted: "Kill, no one will be spared."
"You are looking for death, kill!"
Wei Lei couldn't help shouting angrily, his eyes filled with murderous intent.