荒墟牧神 - 第250章 言靈誅心 - 簡牘書房

The first monk opened the attack, palms pressed together. "Demon chief, do you dare debate the Dharma with me?"

Shen Mu asked, "Are the four great elements empty in you?"

The monk blinked, then shook his head. "They are not."

"Then what Dharma is there to debate?"

Shen Mu laughed. "You have not attained the Way yourself. Six of your seven apertures are open, and the seventh is stopped dead; you are nothing but a false monk who can do no more than wag his tongue. Withdraw."

The monk was left gaping, and another hurried to his aid. "Demon chief, I will speak to you of truth, goodness, and beauty—"

Shen Mu asked, "Are you the Tathagata?"

The monk's face went red. "I am not yet the Tathagata..."

"Then the word 'truth' is not yours."

Shen Mu smiled. "The Tathagata is Suchness; he has won the word 'truth' and made it real. You yourself are not yet true, and you would speak of truth, goodness, and beauty? Withdraw. Do not parade your shame. Come back when you have done it. Do not demand of me what you cannot do yourself; do not be lenient with yourself and strict with others."

That monk had no answer. Another pointed a finger, and from the earth gushed a golden spring, and lotuses bloomed one after another. "The Buddha Dharma speaks of anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, the supreme perfect enlightenment, the highest wisdom and awakening..."

Shen Mu asked, "Have you attained that supreme wisdom and awakening?"

"I..."

"Withdraw."

Another monk laughed aloud. "The demon cult master has a glib tongue. You will not answer when I speak of sutras, so let me speak to you of worldly matters."

Shen Mu's interest kindled. "Great monk, hold your tongue a moment. Let me ask you: if every man served the Buddha, and no one labored, no one married, no one took a wife or gave a daughter, no children were born — in a hundred years, would the human race be extinct? What grudge, what feud do men have with you? Why would you exterminate the race of men?"

The monk was dumbstruck a moment. "That is not what I mean to speak of. Your Dark Demon Cult has done boundless evil; its sorceries are vile; you train your arts on living men..."

Shen Mu said, "And how does that compare with exterminating the race of men?"

The monk's eyes bulged; he swallowed his rage and shouted, "That is not the same matter at all!"

He went on in wrath, "What I speak of with you is not that! I speak of doctrine! The Great Tingming Temple has sutras by the tens of thousands, every one of them fit to be handed down through the ages, every one of them teaching men to do good!"

Shen Mu was astonished. "Your own Buddha gate is still a sink of filth, not yet cleaned out; the monks in your own temple do not do good — and you would teach others to do good? Fools love to set themselves up as teachers while they themselves fall short. Very well. You speak of doctrine; I will speak doctrine with you. The way of the sages is no different from the daily use of the common people. Your Buddha Dharma — can the common people use it in their daily lives? If they cannot use it, if it can only be kept in books, what is it good for? If it is of no use at all, better to burn it."

"You demon!"

The monk shook with fury and made to lunge at him, shouting, "Heresy and crooked doctrine! At the drop of a hat you would burn the sutras and destroy the Buddha! Truly your demon nature runs deep — I will fight you to the death!"

"Hold."

Shen Mu raised a hand, and smiled. "You mean to kill me. Let me ask you: does the Buddha Dharma permit you to take life?"

The monk halted, and forced down his anger. "The sutras urge men to do good and forbid the taking of life. But in the face of a demon chief, even the Lord Buddha has his days of wrath, his times for subduing demons!"

Shen Mu asked, "Is grass a living thing?"

The monk, sulking, said, "Of course it is."