Capítulo 704: Chapter 311: The Twenty-One Chan Masters
In Jing Country, they call them the “Twenty-One Zen”.
After clarifying the general lineage of Zen Sect for Zhou Xuan, Yun Ziliang extended the topic further, saying: “These Twenty-One Zen, fad throughout the world, began with the ‘Abhisheka Hand Seal’,
It is said that in ancient tis, a giant hand spanned several mountain peaks, appearing at Zhuanlun Snow Mountain,
and this giant hand, surrounded by Buddhist Chants, shone with Golden Light,
Guided by the chants and light, countless devotees entered the Snow Mountain, to pay homage to the giant hand, calling it Buddha—it is, therefore, the most important figure in Jing Country’s legend, the Ancient Buddha.”
“The Ancient Buddha was not an eternal being and once faced the Decay of the Five Elents. The Buddha’s body was continually decaying.
The colossal body, when decayed to a certain extent, exuded a nauseating aura of death, filling the entire Snow Mountain Prefecture.”
Yun Ziliang pointed towards the direction of the Snow Mountain Prefecture and said: “There were many followers of the Ancient Buddha, including many capable and wise individuals. They did everything possible, trying to save the Ancient Buddha, but none of the thods worked,
The monks could only watch helplessly as their faith died… Just then, tens of millions of magpies soared from Snow Mountain Prefecture,
The magpies scattered in the direction of the nine prefectures of Jing Country, and when they returned, they carried with them twenty-one ‘fools’,
They sat on the back of the magpies, speaking gibberish, like children learning to speak; calling them fools was neither comndatory nor derogatory, rely stating a fact,
These twenty-one fools were brought by magpies in front of the Ancient Buddha, and they simultaneously made a hand seal… pointing both hands towards their own ears.”
After Yun Ziliang repeated this action, he continued: “With the appearance of this hand seal, the decaying Ancient Buddha struggled to chant the Buddhist Chants once more.
As the chant entered their ears, the twenty-one fools were suddenly endowed by the Ancient Buddha, inexplicably becoming enlightened, and naturally progressed rapidly in the study of Zen thod.
In the month following the endownt, the Twenty-One Zen diligently read scriptures and beca notably accomplished in Buddhist Law. Together, they realized the Eternal Zen ditation, helping the Ancient Buddha smoothly pass through the Decay of the Five Elents…”
“Since then, the Twenty-One Zen beca the Ancestor Masters of the Zen Sect in Buddhism, renowned through the ages.”
Yun Ziliang said: “Snow Mountain Zen Temple docunts the glorious deeds of the Twenty-One Zen in the form of murals, naming the gesture of pointing both hands towards one’s ears as the ‘Abhisheka Hand Seal’, aning a sudden enlightennt, like a drop of brilliant realization.”
“So this is the origin of the Abhisheka Hand Seal; it sounds sowhat mystical.”
“Mystical as it may be, history often contains ambiguities when retracing its steps… According to the two-thousand-year legacy of Dragon Seeking Hall, the existence of the Twenty-One Zen might be true, but… whether the ‘Eternal Zen ditation’ they devised is the epito of Buddhist Law and Zen Sect’s profound wisdom in the eyes of common people, that remains debatable.”
Yun Ziliang’s expression as he spoke was nearly slipping into saying—it’s all nonsense.
“What does Dragon Seeking Hall say otherwise?”
Zhou Xuan asked.
Yun Ziliang said: “As I ntioned earlier—the world’s Zen Sect has three lineages, starting west from Snow Mountain Prefecture, bordered north by East Gate Mansion, and the central part is Yellow Field Prefecture. These three prefecture cities have all been found to have certain hidden places by the Dragon Seeking Heavenly Master,
The Dragon Seeking Heavenly Master discovered a glacier at Dama South Peak of Zhuanlun Snow Mountain.
Within the glacier, there were countless monk remains, each with marks of being gnawed,
In East Gate Mansion, a vast subterranean temple was excavated, yet inside lay nurous corpses, piles of white bones,
From the style of the subterranean temple and the content of the murals, it also originates from Zen Sect.
Underground in Yellow Field Prefecture, the Dragon Seeking Heavenly Master saw a hidden river,
The depth of the river is unknown, but diving in, one could see countless monk remnants,
Due to the extrely low temperature of the hidden river, the corpses remained unspoiled for millennia, providing clues to infer their fates during life.”
Yun Ziliang gestured to his arm with vivid description: “Those skeletal remains are covered densely with Blood Veins, surely devoured alive, and on their skulls, large bowl-sized holes, as if even their brains were thoroughly sucked out.”
“These remains… are they the truth behind the ‘Eternal Zen ditation’?”
Zhou Xuan already had an inkling of the truth.
“The Ancient Buddha is one of the four Heavenly Venerates of Jing Country. If he had no ans against the Decay of the Five Elents, how could the Twenty-One Zen without extraordinary ans, reverse the tide amid the Decay of the Five Elents?”
Yun Ziliang said: “Summarized by one generation after another of Great Heavenly Masters at Dragon Seeking Hall, the so-called Eternal Zen ditation was achieved by the physical bodies of Zen Sect devotees, with tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of monks—one bone, one piece of flesh, one mass of blood—sacrificed to feed the Ancient Buddha, achieving the Eternal Zen ditation,
The Twenty-One Zen, highly esteed within the Zen Sect, are scoffed at by everyone at Dragon Seeking Hall.”
Yun Ziliang finished speaking and spat disdainfully on the ground, showing contempt and scorn for the ‘Eternal Zen ditation’.
“Then, this ans that Zen Sect in Jing Country is quite nefarious, right?”
“That group of filthy monks, can any of them not be nefarious?”
As Yun Ziliang spoke to this point, he realized it was sowhat sweeping, so he corrected himself, saying: “Are there a few monks who aren’t nefarious?”
At least the Lady Lianhua of Ping Shui Prefecture—an unimpressive Zen Sect disciple—was not nefarious.
“Everyone says the Ancient Buddha is the pioneer of Jing Country, storytellers sing his praises from generation to generation, wanting the Night and Day Patrol Deities to find the Ancient Buddha’s head, inherit his power, and hunt Alien Ghosts… Hehe, if that Ancient Buddha were indeed found,
User Comments
0 comments from readers