The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

Fangzheng hurriedly chanted inwardly. “Amitabha. Thus have I heard…” He began chanting scriptures to distract himself.

He knew himself. Once he blushed too much, his entire face would look like a soy egg. It would easily expose the excitement deep in his heart; therefore, he had to repress those feelings! Otherwise, it would be embarrassing.

Repressing his excitement and wandering thoughts, Fangzheng asked, “Perfected One, why did you?”

Wanderer Tranquil said lightly, “The path of cultivation is long and tedious. There are often all kinds of problems plaguing us. Some have answers to them, while others do not have answers readily available. This Penniless Priest has asked other fellow Daoists, but none of them were able to answer. Later, when I saw that you had conjured the Bodhisattva on the mountain, I had the thought of asking you. Perhaps, only you are capable of answering This Penniless Priest’s question.”

When Fangzheng heard that, he nearly slapped himself. He had caused his thoughts to go astray all on his own. However, he was puzzled. You can directly come to One Finger Monastery if you have a question! Why did you go through the hassle to get This Penniless Monk here?

Wanderer Tranquil seemed to read his mind and said with a smile, “Your monastery has too many people, so it’s probably impossible for This Penniless Priest to head up. That’s why it’s better to just meet you elsewhere. After looking at all the options, This Penniless Priest happened to hear of a religious summit being held here. Furthermore, you mentioned that it’s a joy to discuss with fellow cultivators before. Since you enjoy it and This Penniless Priest had two slots, here you are. But after coming here, This Penniless Priest really can’t tell the meaning of such a gathering. There aren’t any true cultivators here. They are more representatives of the cultivators in the mortal world. They don the masks of cultivators, redeeming others, but their bodies and minds ultimately haven’t separated from simple mortality. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be afraid of the person behind the Dharma Characteristics Monastery and act so timidly.”

Upon hearing that, Fangzheng was rendered speechless. He shook his head and said, “Perfected One, there’s something right and wrong with what you said.”

“Oh?” Wanderer Tranquil clearly didn’t expect Fangzheng to share a different view from her. However, this only intrigued her. In fact, she had discussed the Dao with many people, but these people mostly had similar thoughts to her. Without any differences, the discussions she had often quickly became meaningless to her. Therefore, during her previous meeting with Fangzheng, she had been very pleased to discuss and debate on matters for an entire day.

Now, there was another opportunity, so she naturally anticipated Fangzheng’s explanation.

“Humans, no matter how much their hearts transcend the mortal world, ultimately still live in it. The point of ‘leaving the world’ isn’t about isolating oneself from it and becoming alone. Instead, it’s about leaving the mortal world to seek a higher direction in life at the mental and spiritual level. But what happens once that direction is found? A human leaving society is like water without a source. Or to use another metaphor, how far can a fish jump when it is out of water? Human misery comes from the mortal world, but he that hides from it can find himself locked up. Locking and unlocking something requires finding the key, and this key for every human lies in the mortal world.

“One has to maintain the same attitude of being out of the world when in it. But then, how should one be in the world? The answer is, one must still mingle with people. Apart from a few bottom lines that cannot be crossed to ensure that one’s heart remains pure, what’s left is to settle the mind to experience the full gamut of all that life has to offer. Only by training in the mortal world can one seek out the key to salvation.”

“Master, what you said seems different from what other monks have to offer.” After saying that, Wanderer Tranquil smiled. “It seems your theories are always rather special.”

Fangzheng laughed out loud. “Everyone’s path is different. Likewise for what they understand, so it’s natural that the conclusion we come to are different. If everyone were the same, wouldn’t that be meaningless? There should be differences in thought so that sparks and furor can be created.”

Wanderer Tranquil smiled in agreement. Then she asked, “In that case, could Master Indecent answer some questions that have stumped This Penniless Priest?”

Fangzheng looked at her cheeky smile and laughed as well. He raised his head, wearing a look as though there was nothing a master like him couldn’t do. “Go ahead!”

Upon seeing this, Wanderer Tranquil was amused by Fangzheng’s confident look. However, once she raised her question, she immediately turned solemn. “It’s very simple. Is there really a God in this world? I’m not talking about the God in one’s heart, but a true God! You’ve once conjured the Bodhisattva’s projection and have been called a living Buddha, making you the person closest to being a deity on Earth. Could you directly answer this question of mine?”

Fangzheng was taken aback, never expecting Wanderer Tranquil to pose such a question. After pondering for a moment, he shook his head and said, “There’s no God in this world.”

Wanderer Tranquil was taken aback. She originally imagined Fangzheng would admit the existence of God in the world. After all, he had conjured Bodhisattva’s projection. He had also jumped off a mountain and remained alive. It was not something that could be explained by science! If he were to say that there was a God, Wanderer Tranquil would have no way of disagreeing.

Wanderer Tranquil asked, “Then what about your divine powers?”

Fangzheng smiled. “I can only say that existence is massive and that there are countless worlds. There will always be somewhere in space-time where there is a God or a Buddha. This Penniless Monk had heard of a theory that everything that appears in this world as well as the things that don’t exist in this world are all a projection of a different world. Countless worlds are constantly running and influencing each other, causing the flow of the excess between worlds. That’s all there is.”

Wanderer Tranquil exclaimed. “So does that mean you really have divine powers?”

Fangzheng smiled and reached out, picking up a withered twig. “Perfected One, look at this twig. Is it alive or dead?”

“It has withered to death.”

“Perfected One, try blowing at it.”

Wanderer Tranquil looked at Fangzheng suspiciously as she smiled. “Will blowing at it return it to life?”

Fangzheng smiled in return. “As you wish.”

Wanderer Tranquil’s eyes flashed a look of alarm and curiosity before she gently blew at the withered twig.

However, the twig didn’t turn green, sprout, or bloom flowers…

Wanderer Tranquil looked at Fangzheng in puzzlement as though asking: “Where’s your divine powers?”

Fangzheng hushed her with a gesture. “Look.”

Wanderer Tranquil looked carefully and after a while, the twig began moving. Following that, a white worm crawled out! It looked up and turned motionless. It was unknown whether it was because it was nervous or because it was afraid after seeing two huge humans glaring at it with two pairs of wide eyes. It looked rather adorable.

Wanderer Tranquil wasn’t an ordinary girl. Having spent many years on the mountains, the number of worms she had seen probably outnumbered the number of people she met. Therefore, she didn’t show any fear. Instead, she looked at Fangzheng in surprise. “You… You call this a divine power?”

Fangzheng asked, “Perfected One, what do you think a divine power should be? You only wanted life to appear from death. This twig had a worm, and if the worm stayed inside, you would have believed it to be dead. Now with the worm coming out, isn’t that having life appear from death? If This Penniless Monk were to use a divine power, it would also only make life appear from death. Although the path would be different, the outcome would be roughly the same. Therefore, whether there are divine powers or not, what we want is to redeem others and to redeem the world. More often than not, accumulating merit and redeeming others doesn’t necessarily require divine powers. Sometimes, just blowing at it, thus giving it hope and courage, will do.”