Chapter 1 The Dharma Debate

The reporters and onlookers waiting at the foot of Tiantai Mountain paid no attention to the simple monk. Some were playing with their phones, others were tapping on keyboards, revising their drafts, each engrossed in their own affairs.

In just one day, the allure of the Buddhist Dharma debate had drawn countless monks.

There were those who were refined and scholarly, their white robes spotless; those who were solemn and dignified, looking every bit the true master. This dusty, ordinary monk was a sight they had never seen before. They glanced at him once and lost interest.

When Yuanjue turned his monk's robe inside out, he discovered a dirty patch, likely a mark from laying bricks at the construction site.

He looked around, but there was no place to buy water, let alone a river.

Seeing a reporter with a half-empty bottle of mineral water, Yuanjue's eyes lit up, and he approached him.

Dai Yingwei frowned, pondering how to revise today's article.

Suddenly, his vision darkened. He looked up and saw a tall monk standing before him. Recently, many monks had come here.

Dai Yingwei assumed this monk was just like the others.

However, he had been aggressively peddled goods at temples before, leaving him with a bad impression of monks. He maintained a polite distance and said, "Master, is there anything I can do for you?" He was determined not to engage, ready to turn and leave if the monk offered empty blessings.

Yuanjue put his palms together in a respectful bow and said, "This humble monk wishes to borrow some water from you, benefactor."

"I'm sorry, I can't…"

Dai Yingwei spoke reflexively, then realized the monk only wanted water. He paused, seeing the awkward regret on Yuanjue's face as he turned to leave. He reached out and stopped him, "You need water?"

The monk nodded, "This humble monk's robe is a bit soiled."

"Today is an important day."

"There's no river nearby, so I had to bother you."

Dai Yingwei noticed the dirt on the hem of the monk's robe.

He nodded.

This monk must be poor.

Among the monks who had come to join in the excitement, many wore seemingly simple clothes that were actually very expensive. Their prayer beads were made of rare small-leaf red sandalwood, incredibly precious. Compared to those high-ranking monks, this plain monk seemed rather odd.

Dai Yingwei handed over the water, his tone much better, "Here, take it."

Yuanjue thanked him and then offered a clean one-yuan bill.

Dai Yingwei waved his hand, but saw the monk leave the money behind and hurry to the side. He wet his robe with the water and scrubbed at it with great effort. He chuckled to himself, muttering about what an odd monk he was, and paid him no more attention.

The other monks also minded their own business, none of them wanting to get close to this poor monk.

Yuanjue finally managed to wipe away the oil stain, making his robe look even older.

Dai Yingwei glanced at him and called out, "Master?"

He had to call out several times before Yuanjue realized he was being addressed. He looked up.

Dai Yingwei patted the boxed lunch on the table and said, "We have an extra portion here. Would you like some, Master?" He found this monk different from the others, with an oddness that he found both amusing and interesting. A colleague had unexpectedly returned home, leaving an extra boxed lunch, so he decided to offer it to him.

Yuanjue hesitated, looking at the Tiantai Sect and then at the boxed lunch.

He seemed to be weighing the importance of the two things.

Finally, he approached and said, "How much? This humble monk will buy a portion."

Dai Yingwei found it amusing. "Stir-fried shredded potatoes, cauliflower with mushrooms, rice, braised eggplant, all vegetarian dishes, how about ten yuan?" Yuanjue nodded and pulled out a wad of bills. Dai Yingwei said, "Don't you have a phone? Let's do a transfer."

Yuanjue said forlornly, "I got angry and slapped my phone, and now it's acting up a bit."

Dai Yingwei was stunned.

He squatted on the ground, not being picky at all, and ate heartily.

The monks over there also began to eat, enjoying vegetarian dishes with a mouthwatering aroma.

Dai Yingwei shoveled two mouthfuls of rice and sighed, "We can only eat this. Look at those masters, they're eating food specially prepared by vegetarian restaurants. They can use flour, eggplant, and mushrooms to make the flavor of braised pork knuckle. The most outrageous thing is that this vegetarian pork knuckle is several times more expensive than real pork knuckle. What kind of logic is that?"

"Is that still considered adhering to the precepts?"

Yuanjue paused, then replied, "Not eating unclean meat is to prevent Buddhist disciples from killing for the sake of satisfying their appetites."

"Later, monks were directly forbidden from eating meat, which isn't a bad thing. It does comply with the precept of not killing. However, the essence of precepts is to guide people to the right path, to focus on finding their true nature, and a person's energy, or rather, their focus, is limited."

"If they use their minds on extravagant enjoyment, how much focus can they have left for cultivation?"

"It seems like they're satisfying the precepts, but in reality, they're going against the essential purpose of the precepts."

"Have they broken the precepts? No. But are they upholding the precepts? Also no."

"There's no problem, it's just that they can't be considered monks."

Dai Yingwei was stunned.

Yuanjue simply ate his rice.

The reporter thought for a moment, then said, "What you're saying makes sense, Master."

"But don't let the masters over there hear you, they probably won't like it."

Yuanjue looked at the young monk in the distance wearing a well-made white robe and holding a string of smooth prayer beads. The monks over there noticed the tall monk squatting there like a construction worker. They were slightly taken aback, a trace of superiority flashing in their eyes before they looked away.

Yuanjue retracted his gaze, nodded, and lowered his head to shovel up the stir-fried shredded potatoes. Dai Yingwei saw his solemn expression and assumed that the monk was feeling bad. He sighed and didn't say much.

Yuanjue, on the other hand, was wondering what the meals at Curator Wei's house were like.

Of course, if his injuries weren't serious, he wouldn't disturb his friend.

But now he finally had a way out.

So he felt more at ease as he walked.

Dai Yingwei, finding his food tasteless, noticed the large bundle Yuanjue was carrying on his back. He was curious and asked, "What is that?" Yuanjue said, "It's something passed down from my teacher." Dai Yingwei didn't ask further, but he vaguely heard several monks murmuring in the background.

They were probably saying that all sorts of people were pretending to be monks.

Did he have a certificate? Just coming here to pretend to be a monk.

A hint of displeasure flashed in the reporter's eyes. He was about to comfort the newly acquainted monk when he saw him picking up a grain of rice and putting it in his mouth. The lunch box was already empty, and the monk had even mixed the last bit of vegetable soup with the cold, sticky rice and hadn't let go.

Yuanjue put down the lunch box and said thank you.

Dai Yingwei subconsciously said, "You've finished?"

Then he cursed himself inwardly, comparing this meal to the ones over there, how could this be considered good?

It really was China's passive skill, greeting someone by asking if they'd eaten. People in London were different. Because of the existence of stargazing, their first sentence upon meeting was to complain about the weather there.

A smile appeared on the monk's face. "Very good."

Dai Yingwei thought it was just polite talk.

But the satisfaction in the monk's eyes made him feel that the monk was truly satisfied with this meal and grateful to him. Yuanjue helped him pick up the lunch box and water bottle he had finished. He put the lunch box in the trash can and stomped on the water bottle, stuffing it into the secret pocket inside his sleeve.

The monks over there laughed.

Dai Yingwei felt a little embarrassed.

But the monk looked completely at ease.

Dai Yingwei felt ashamed and said, "I haven't asked yet, which temple is Master from?"

Yuanjue put his palms together in a respectful bow and replied, "Yogācāra, Yuanjue."

The surroundings fell silent.

………………

In the silence, the monk took out a nine-ringed tin staff from behind his back and stood in front of Tiantai Mountain, gently tapping the staff on the ground.

Huikong was still distraught because he had come over this morning and found that the patriarch had already left.

Suddenly, he sensed that the Buddhist bell in the temple was ringing violently.

The solemn and grand sound of the Buddhist bell echoed throughout the mountain, the clouds surging.

The monk, who had just been awkwardly borrowing water to scrub his robe, now had a relaxed expression. He raised one hand in front of his chest and said slowly, "Yogācāra, Yuanjue."

"I have come to debate the Dharma."

Dai Yingwei's mind went blank, and he finally reacted.

He stammered, "Yogācāra…"

The gazes of everyone around him converged on the simple monk, their pupils shrinking, each with a different expression. Some Tiantai Sect monks walked out. Because the patriarch had left the mountain last night, they felt a little depressed. The Tiantai Sect was still maintaining its state on the cliff.

An old monk of the Ku generation slowly said, "The sea of suffering is boundless."

Yuanjue lowered his eyes and said slowly, "The sea of suffering?"

"Beneath this humble monk's feet is the human world, and ahead is the sea of suffering. Are you treating yourselves as Vulture Peak?"

Only monks with similar experiences could perceive and appreciate such subtle thoughts.

Yuanjue exposed these words in one breath.

The faces of the Tiantai Mountain monks changed slightly.

Yuanjue raised his eyes and looked at the many ‘Mara's disciples’ wearing monk's robes, saying:

"A Chan Buddhist master once said, 'If the mountain doesn't come, then I will go over.'"

"Actually, this sentence can also be said like this."

The monk stepped forward.

His muscles bulged, and he threw the nine-ringed tin staff directly down.

Everyone was a little puzzled.

They saw the nine-ringed tin staff turn into a golden rainbow, falling heavily to the ground, and then actually transforming into a human form. It raised its hand and pressed down on the mountain where the Tiantai Temple was located, suddenly shouting out loud. A golden light burst out from between his eyebrows, covering his entire body in gold, accompanied by the faint roar of a dragon elephant. A golden figure flashed behind Yuanjue, his expression calm and serene.

He put his palms together, lowered his eyes, and said, "All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows, like dew and lightning; thus should you contemplate them."

Then the earth shook.

Accompanied by the Diamond Sutra, the figure transformed from the nine-ringed tin staff forcibly pushed the mountain that had been moved away by magic back into place.

Everyone's hearts trembled.

The monk on this shore lowered his eyes and chanted the sutra, while the strongman on the other shore carried the mountain.

Then,

The Dharma body transformed from the nine-ringed tin staff directly lifted the entire mountain!

The mountain and the temple on it were put back into their original positions in a rumbling sound. Yuanjue's eyes were calm, and he said in a deep voice, "The mountain can come over to deliver all living beings, so why establish a sect? This is the human world. If you say the human world is a sea of suffering, then isn't the temple also in the sea of suffering?"

"Calling the cliff between the human world and the temple the sea of suffering, how absurd is that?"

"This place is also the human world."

"Why call it the sea of suffering?!"

The nine-ringed tin staff flew into his hand.

The monk stepped into Tiantai Mountain.

"This humble monk, Yuanjue, has come to debate the Dharma today."

"I will lead you back into the human world!"

ps: Today's first update... Thank you y0 Alliance Leader, thank you~

Three thousand two hundred words.