Lin Yi turned his gaze to the inscriptions surrounding the Buddha, "Thus have I heard..."
In Buddhist scriptures, those that begin with these four characters are all records left by those who truly heard the Buddha's teachings in ancient times.
These four words are the distinction between heterodox scriptures and orthodox ones.
Logically speaking, if it were a method of spiritual practice, these four characters would not appear, because the Buddha did not transmit methods of spiritual practice, but only taught people to understand their own minds and see their true nature.
This is similar to how ancient sages only taught scholars to cultivate righteousness, pointing out the general direction, but the specifics of how to understand one's true nature and cultivate righteousness were left for the disciples to discover on their own. To find this site, please search for "6mao" or enter the URL:
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Chapter 169 Reading Ten Thousand Books
Whether it's the Buddha or the ancient sages, they all simply pointed out a clear path and direction.
As for the specifics of how to proceed, even the sages probably didn't know; it was up to later generations to gradually discover.
This scripture is called the Amitabha Sutra, one of the three scriptures representing the past, present, and future, and is considered the highest secret of Chan practice. It is mentioned alongside the Tathagata Sutra (representing the present) and the Unborn Sutra (representing the future).
Among them, the Amitabha Sutra is the supreme method for cultivating the soul, the Tathagata Sutra is the path to immortality through martial arts, and the Sutra of No Birth is the most mysterious and unpredictable.
Legend has it that if one can combine the three books and comprehend them thoroughly, one can transcend the sea of suffering in this world and truly reach the other shore.
After Lin Yi finished reading the Amitabha Sutra, he closed his eyes, and golden characters flashed through his mind. A great Buddha from the past appeared deep within his soul.
Just like in the scriptures, the sun and moon shine, suspended in the void.
Lin Yi's mind suddenly felt incredibly peaceful, as he sensed an endless void, a vast expanse where he could roam freely.
"The past life, the past light, the past form, exist eternally in the void, and are already immortal. The past is immeasurable, and no supernatural power can change what has already happened."
The beautiful words and profound thoughts in the Amitabha Sutra, which expounded on the meaning of "the past," resonated in Lin Yi's heart. These profound thoughts lingered on his soul, wanting to merge with him.
However, Lin Yi personally experienced the wonders of the "Dream Return Technique" in the world of Legend of Sword and Fairy. The past is eternal and unchanging; this is relative, not absolute.
Lin Yi's mind transcended the Great Buddha of the past, and a long river of time that runs through the past, present and future came into view.
Although it was only for a moment, it had already completely depleted the boundless immortal energy in his body.
Lin Yi lay on the ground, weak and motionless. If he hadn't been breathing, he would have been no different from a dead man.
After a long while, he finally regained some strength and struggled to sit up.
After carefully putting away the Amitabha Sutra, Lin Yi took a few pills to help restore his strength, and then he felt a little better.
"I never expected to come into contact with the River of Time this time. Although I only took a peek, it was still an incredible gain."
Lin Yi felt extremely happy. In a sense, the River of Time is a synonym for the Sea of Suffering. To transcend the Sea of Suffering, reach the other shore, and attain the Great Luo, one must constantly fight against the River of Time.
"Although this level is still far from me, a soldier who doesn't want to be a general is not a good soldier, and a cultivator who doesn't want to attain the Dao Fruit is not a good cultivator. What we cultivators seek is nothing more than longevity and eternal immortality."
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Time flies, and Lin Yi has been living in the secluded valley of the Western Hills for more than half a month.
He had already sorted the books in the library cave by category.
These days, Elder Tu has been focused on cultivating the Zhou Tian Refining Qi Method and has no time to manage these little foxes, so he can only entrust them to Lin Yi for care.
The old fox had already cultivated his Taoist arts to the point of daytime travel, being able to leave his body during the day without fear of sunlight. After switching to the path of Qi cultivation, although he didn't progress by leaps and bounds, he still made extremely rapid progress.
In just half a month, it has already opened up eighty-one acupoints on its body and is working hard to cultivate the other acupoints, hoping to transform into a human as soon as possible.
After receiving the "onomatopoeia" blessing, the group of little foxes chattered incessantly all day long. Later, Lin Yi came up with a plan, and they finally quieted down.
It was freezing cold, and water would freeze instantly, but the stone chambers where the foxes of the secluded valley lived were warm and cozy.
A curtain was hung at the entrance to the stone chamber to block the cold wind. Several large copper basins were burning charcoal inside.
There are several fist-sized openings on both sides of the stone chamber, which seem to have been carved out by hand. The carving is very clever, allowing light to shine in and ventilation, but not letting in any draft.
Lin Yi was sitting in front of the stone chamber reading a book.
On the other side, Xiao Sang, leading two other white foxes named Xiao Shu and Xiao Fei, were tidying up a large earthenware jar, which was emitting the aroma of chicken.
They are stewing chicken.
The chicken is a top-quality mountain chicken that eats pine nuts in the mountains, and the stew has a fragrant aroma of pine nuts.
These are wild pheasants that the foxes caught in the mountains, saying they're for Lin Yi's extra meal.
The stone chamber was filled with grains, oil, salt, firewood, rice, soy sauce, vinegar, and other condiments.
After spending some days in the valley, Lin Yi learned that these foxes had completely broken away from the life of beasts who ate raw meat and drank blood. They not only learned to read and write, but also learned to speak human language, plant crops, cook, eat oil and salt, sleep on beds laid out in the cave, and clean and bathe every day, keeping everything spotless.
At the other end of the stone chamber were several smaller rooms, where some foxes were lazily lying on the ground sleeping, looking quite lazy.
Although a den of foxes lived in the cave, there was no fishy or foul smell at all, so it did not affect Lin Yi's reading.
Lin Yi reads quickly but doesn't seek deep understanding. He's not one of those scholars who do academic research and prepare for the imperial examinations. He's more interested in local customs, myths and legends, and historical context.
Read ten thousand books first, then travel ten thousand miles. Practice what you preach, and prove your path.
This is true spiritual practice.
After finishing the book, Lin Yi closed it and placed it on the table beside him. Then he ate a peanut from the plate on the table. It was crunchy and fragrant, and tasted just like before. It was so good.
"Little Sang, have all three of you cultivated true qi yet?" Lin Yi asked, looking at the three busy little foxes on the other side.