I Can See Your Combat Power

Chapter 759: Chapter Fifty Three: Paradox

The most important aspect of a school’s continued existence is a core theory that explains and supports itself. How could Zen, which ranks among the Heaven Sect, be stumped by a question from Tang Luo?

“Master Tang is correct. Not only the small monk, but even the wisest among the human race have not yet found immortality. But does it not exist just because we haven’t reached it?” Yankong replied lightly, “Eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind; color, sound, scent, taste, touch, and thought are all but empty phenomena. They blind you, just like a pitch-black room. If I say there’s a hammer, however much you widen your eyes in the dark, you won’t see your hand in front of you, and all you can say is that you can’t see. But what if I light a candle?”

“Although Zen has not reached immortality, it is the closest to immortality among the sacred Heaven Sect. What all our Zen predecessors have done is like lighting a faint glow in a vast field of immortality. If one day, immortality appears, which school would discover it first?”

“You’ve talked too much. Just say you haven’t achieved it. Why are you boastfully claiming that you can guide him to the other shore?”

Tang Luo furrowed his brows, questioning, “You’re too eager to guide others when you haven’t even found the way yourself. Aren’t you misleading them?”

“Though we haven’t arrived, we aren’t far off. Are you so certain, Master Tang, that this monk won’t reach it?”

“You’ve never even been there! How would you know how far off you are? Stop talking nonsense!”

Tang Luo, who has been a human being for two lives, knew perfectly well how life worked. Yankong’s inspiring nonsense could only deceive the young and inexperienced.

It’s like this: the beginning is difficult, the middle is difficult, and the end is difficult. Everything is difficult, and it only gets harder.

This is especially true for cultivation. It only gets more complicated and profound. If you think it’s not far off, it is because you don’t know what you are facing, hence the blind optimism.

“As for certainty…” Tang Luo snorted with a hint of a smile: “I can’t be sure whether you will eventually achieve immortality, but I know this: if I kill you here and now, you’d only have your current life left. There’d be no talk of immortality.”

Perhaps this was the first person to directly threaten Buddha Son’s life. But Yankong did not care and laughed, “Greed, anger, and ignorance are the three poisons of the human race. Do you know, Master Tang, that everything in this world – Heaven and Earth, all living beings – is but an empty form? The true nature of all phenomena is emptiness. There is no enlightenment, no confusion, no saint, no mortal, no giving, no receiving, no…”

Before Yankong could finish his sentence, an annoyed Tang Luo lifted his left leg. Charged with wind and thunder, the sound of a roaring tiger came from the kick aimed at Yankong’s right face. The overlooked kick, abrupt and aggressive, left Yankong alarmed. He raised his right hand to block it. He thought he would be kicked away, but he didn’t expect the kick to be withdrawn once it touched his upper arm.

Despite not being kicked away, Yankong was still angry about being abruptly interrupted. He demanded, “What is the meaning of this, Master Tang? Why are you continually resorting to violence?”

“You say everything is empty.” Tang Luo withdrew his left leg and coldly asked, “Then where does this temper of yours come from?”

Yankong was taken aback and didn’t know how to respond.

“Is this the sect you want to join? Is this the master you choose?” Tang Luo turned to Tang Xing and asked, “Speaking empty words that you cannot practice, walking a path that even you cannot see the end of. Can such cultivation bring you to the other shore? If you’re going to fool yourself, at least put some effort into it!”

Tang Xing was silent. His perceived enlightenment was shattered after seeing Yankong’s performance. Confusion clouded him once more, perplexing his mind anew.

The youth, set on cultivating Zen, noticed his idea of immortality shatter at the same time Yankong was left tongue-tied. He initially thought he only needed to follow Yankong to attain immortality. Upon realizing Yankong couldn’t guide him, his pursuit for immortality remained the same. The directionless youth was once again lost and puzzled, and he couldn’t help but ask, “If I don’t follow Master’s teachings, how should I cultivate Buddhism?”

Seeing that Tang Xing was seeking advice from him, Tang Luo was elated. But he maintained his guard, fearing that Tang Xing could make a wrong step.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

After a moment of contemplation, Tang Luo said to the bald youth, “If there is no Buddha, your so-called Buddhist practice is nothing more than cultivating yourself. It doesn’t matter if you do it in the temple, in the mundane world, in the mountains, or in the noisy market. Life is a cultivation, the whole world is your cultivation ground. Every person who loves you, hates you, every person you meet, every person you miss, all of them are helping you become more complete.”

“The process isn’t always smooth sailing, because it always asks you to face situations you aren’t willing to accept. Only by accepting them with determination, striving to change them, can you sublimate your nature. This cultivation is about creation, endurance, perseverance, tolerance, gratitude, letting go, and perhaps in the end, liberation.”

“That’s… vague. But what if there is a Buddha?” asked Tang Xing.

“Even then, it won’t be attained through Zen teaching. If you want to become a Buddha but follow Zen, isn’t it as absurd as wanting to learn carpentry but apprenticing to a butcher?”

Tang Luo particularly disliked Zen for placing itself on a pedestal by claiming everything is empty despite living in the human world, relying on everything in nature. It constantly talks about cause and effect, transcendence and immortality, supreme bliss, and emptiness.

All of these sound impressive at first but on closer inspection, worrying about transcendence and immortality instead of living a good life now is unreasonable. Where can such a ridiculous cultivation method lead?

If Yankong could be more practical or even a bit more down-to-earth, Tang Luo wouldn’t mind Tang Xing joining Wuxiang Zen Temple.

The reason things have gotten this far is because Buddhism in this world is, to put it simply, too disappointing.

But Tang Luo can understand why. After all, the Wuxiang Zen Temple is considered one of the sacred Heaven Sect due to its martial prowess, not the profundity of its Buddhist teaching.

When ordinary people encounter believers of the Wuxiang Zen Master, they feel inferior. Who would dare to question and debate the meaning of Buddhism? As for the Zen believers themselves, their debates are nothing more than clapping their own hands. Calling it a debate is a stretch; describing it as clapping seems more appropriate.

Tang Luo may be the first person in the human race to dare to tell Buddha Son that even if there is a true Buddha, it wouldn’t have been attained through Zen teaching. This caused the once unshakeable Zen Heart of Yankong to waver.

“Master Tang!” Yankong’s voice was full of anger as he asked, “Do you know what you are saying?”

“I am stating the facts!” Tang Luo retorted, “I am asking you, has anyone in Zen become a Buddha?”

“Not yet, but…”

“Let me ask you again, is there a true Buddha?”

“Certainly, there is!”

“Since there is a true Buddha, and it’s not established through Zen cultivation, doesn’t that mean Zen can’t lead to becoming a true Buddha? Even if we backpedal, cultivating Buddha through other methods is still faster than joining Zen!”