pdf-ebookys The meaning of Chapter 20
The meaning of Chapter 20
He looked around...
Inside the house filled with the smoke of incense, a group of people dressed in the same clothes as the old woman were gathered together, each chanting the same scriptures.
He had an idea.
This is his old house, and the old woman ringing the bell and playing the wooden fish is his grandmother.
In the center of the room stood an old eight-immortal table, with flickering candlelight and simple offerings of fruit and incense.
He remembered more details.
This is a local custom where elderly people can "recite Buddhist scriptures".
Reciting Buddhist scriptures is a very common folk belief.
His grandmother started chanting Buddhist scriptures when he was in the first grade of elementary school. At that time, his house had not yet been demolished. The scene of smoke rising and people moving around in front of him is what his old house looked like when he was a child. The surrounding area is also where his grandmother performed Buddhist chanting rituals back then.
He remembered many things, but he still couldn't remember being in a dream.
His perspective seemed to zoom in, getting closer to his grandmother.
He felt his mouth open, but what came out was a child's clear, innocent voice:
"Grandma, what are you singing?"
Grandma stopped chanting, a kind smile spreading across her wrinkled face. She gently patted the back of his head: "This is a passage from the Jataka tale... It tells the story of a great practitioner who subdued a mountain demon long ago and ultimately attained enlightenment..."
"The words Grandma just recited can be translated as: 'The Buddha's words, Prajna, illuminate and dispel the illusions of mountain demons, cut off evil and avoid falling into the karma of killing, subdue falsehood and see one's true nature'..."
"In the instant of Maya, all the illusions of demons crumbled, the malevolent energy of the mountains and rivers returned to silence, and the turbid earth was finally bathed in pure light..."
"This land was struck by evil spirits because of the Great Awakening, and its spirits were restored by benevolent thoughts..."
"Namo Amitabha Buddha..."
At that time, Li Jiu only knew the phrase "Namo Amitabha Buddha" from the 86 TV series "Journey to the West". He didn't understand anything else. Upon hearing this, he said, "What's this 'Bo Ye' and 'Bo Luo'? I don't understand, I don't understand..."
He shook his head and walked away.
But after he had only taken a few steps, the swirling smoke suddenly became thicker again. The smoke was thick and heavy, but it was not choking. Like a dream, it instantly filled his entire field of vision!
The smoke billowed and surged, and in that chaos, there seemed to be a huge, long shadow slowly swaying, appearing and disappearing.
The shadow grew clearer, its outline becoming increasingly distinct...
Finally, what emerged from the thick fog was the enormous white dragon sculpture at the entrance of the Fulong Mountain Scenic Area!
However, the white dragon sculpture in the dream exuded a terrifying pressure that made one's soul tremble. It was no longer a cold stone carving, but a living being with divine might as well as divine grace as the sea.
The immense pressure, like a real mountain, crashed down on his heart, making it almost impossible for him to breathe!
This is... Fulong Mountain?!
Li Jiu was slightly shocked, but perhaps because he was unaware of the dream, he felt that the terrifying scene was both familiar and strange.
He noticed that his perspective was a bit shaky, and after a moment of disorientation, he realized that he was being carried through the white dragon sculpture that exuded a terrifying aura, and was being hurriedly carried into the mountains.
His father held him tightly, his steps heavy and hurried.
His grandparents and his mother stayed close by, their faces filled with anxiety and unease.
He couldn't hear the voice clearly, but he could vaguely sense that they were saying things like "hurry up" or "we're going to be late."
In a daze, the scene before his eyes swayed like a painting being submerged in water.
He seemed to see the winding mountain road and the twisted stone pavilion, a majestic ancient temple, and a dilapidated village overgrown with weeds in the mountains...
He felt his father carrying him as they rushed through the deep, dark gates of the ancient temple...
Then, time seemed to be swallowed up by a thick fog.
He didn't know how much time had passed, but his family disappeared, and all that remained in his vision was an endless, thick cloud of smoke.
Amidst the mist, the distant tolling of bells and the sounds of chanting and Buddhist prayers could be heard.
The pool is filled with fragrance, and the withered trees seem to roar like dragons.
An indescribable sense of peace enveloped him, and he wanted to fall asleep, but he couldn't.
His consciousness seemed to be suspended on the edge of wakefulness and sleep, as if by invisible threads.
He didn't know how much time had passed, but he felt a little cold, as if some chilly wind was blowing against his arms in the mist.
He touched his arm and slowly woke up in bed.
……
When I woke up, the room was quiet and cold.
Li Jiu discovered that one of his arms had somehow slipped out of the blankets and was exposed to the cool air. The temperature felt a little low, and he could almost feel a faint breeze carrying away his body heat.
Li Jiu felt that his mental state was strange, somewhere between lucidity and drowsiness. He felt as if his mind was stuffed with water-soaked cotton, heavy and drowsy, yet he remembered everything he had just experienced with unusual clarity.
Everything he had just seen and experienced seemed as if he had personally gone through it.
Then he suddenly realized, belatedly, that he had just been dreaming.
Fortunately, he was able to remember everything from his dream after waking up this time.
The feeling is subtle, like picking up a withered leaf on a certain evening after a busy half-life, and suddenly remembering the entire autumn of your childhood.
Li Jiu's fragmented childhood memories surged forth like a geyser, and he thought of the old house before its demolition and his grandmother's chanting.
Li Jiu's grandmother could recite scriptures, but she was illiterate. The scriptures she recited were taught to her orally by others, one pronunciation at a time.
And those sounds, when put together, were exactly the same as the chanting Li Jiu had heard in Fulong Mountain...
【「बुद्धवचनप्रज्ञापर्वतप िशरचमरयरंविभरतिर ंकर्मदोषंनभवति, मयरदमने नस्वचित्तंप्रकरशते।…”]
(The Buddha said that Prajna illuminates the illusions of mountain demons, cuts off evil and prevents one from falling into the karma of killing, and subdues falsehoods to see one's true nature.)
["मयरक्षणेसर्वररक्षसमरयंविलयंगत् करलशक्तिःश्न्त्र्रर्
(At the moment of Maya, all the illusions of demons crumbled, the malevolent energy of the mountains and rivers returned to silence, and the turbid earth was finally bathed in pure light.)
["इदंदेशंमहरबोधिनुष्टभूतदमनं, सुकर ्मचित्तेनपर्वतदेवरःस्थिरीकृतर्
(This land was ravaged by evil spirits due to the Great Awakening, and its spirits were restored through good intentions.)
【「नमोऽमितरभय」】
(Namo Amitabha Buddha)
……