Chapter 701

After I finished speaking, Yang Tao stuck out his tongue at me, squinted, and left the room.

Li Ming and I can never go back to the way things were.

If Qian Niang weren't in the middle. I couldn't even think of him.

Just thinking makes my heart ache with stabbing pain.

The one who loves you most hurts you deepest; that saying holds truth.

Buddha says, without love there is no hatred.

Without joy there is no sorrow.

In fact, modern Buddhas are no longer pure; their minds may be messier than ours, thinking even more.

In the society before our eyes, who can endure the various temptations.

As long as one is human, one lives within one's own desires.

Monks are also human; they also have to live.

And they even have to live pretentiously.

Every day they eat vegetarian meals and chant Buddha, but their minds are filled with male thieves and female prostitutes.

Living is more exhausting than for ordinary people.

Just as Hou Laoban calls himself a layperson, worships Guanyin, embraces a nun, chants Buddhist scriptures, and touches thighs.

Even such people chant Buddha, so one can imagine what those who call themselves living Buddhas are up to.

I'm not just looking down on these people; I truly look down on them.

Doing these things still requires a façade.

Temples were originally run on a contract basis, requiring offerings. Without offerings, how could these people survive?

Without the support of devout believers, they are left to starve.

What I want to say is, if you have Buddha in your heart, why need you eat vegetarian meals and chant Buddha, just like Ji Gong Living Buddha, who lets wine and meat pass through his gut while Buddha sits in his heart.

In fact, building temples is also a business, an investment.

I previously, at Da Heng Group, dealt with a southern group that specialized in this line of business.

They build temples or Taoist halls everywhere, then consecrate them, attracting devout believers to worship and pour money to support them.

I think doing this kind of business is almost the same as being a swindler.

The monks they hire are all former underworld figures—shaven heads, eyes flashing with ferocity.

Alas, the sad thing is that society believes these; once a temple is built, people immediately are willing to support it.

I'm truly amazed.

Enough about that; perhaps in recent years our living standards have risen, and our spirits need some pursuit.

So some people begin to become superstitiously religious.

Religion is like a psychological sedative; it cannot be a meal.

If you believe, your heart has a refuge; if you don't, your heart is even more open.

Anyway, that's the situation.

I warn everyone here that in today's society there are no truly enlightened senior monks.

Indeed there aren't any; who would willingly send a child into a monastery for tonsure, making him spend his life guarding a dim lamp?

Having a child is hard enough, all hoping for lineage continuation.

Most become monks midway, unable to survive outside.

First find a temple to survive, then talk. Their education level is low.

Not beyond high school.

Except for a few famous temples that can attract some higher‑educated individuals, other small temples simply cannot.

You believe the Buddha they chant, yet they themselves don't believe.

I hope everyone has a clear understanding.

Don't go to a temple and foolishly donate a bit of your private money.

They squander your money and even think, 'You're foolish.'

If you have the money, spend it on food, drink, fun; if you have extra, give it directly to the sick and disabled—still better than throwing it into a temple.

I smoke a cigarette, thinking of this, mainly to untangle the knot in my heart with Li Ming.

Thinking about this, my heart opens up.

When some matters become clear, that's all there is.

When Buddha smiled while picking a flower back then, that was the meaning.

He, the old man, has let go; can we still not?

Why Buddha could let go: first, he was a prince, meant to enjoy life; he enjoyed everything, possessed all he should.

Thus he could let go, and he pursued higher spiritual aspirations.

Only then could the old man sit under the Bodhi tree and attain enlightenment.

Why we can't let go: because there are things we still haven't obtained.

Let go,

No, what are we letting go of?

Only when we have it can we let it go.

Otherwise it's nonsense.

Life is a process of pursuit.

Especially young people must have pursuits.

This so‑called pursuit is not some empty ideal. It also does not lead to enlightenment.

Anyone online who urges young people to abandon enlightenment is talking nonsense.

What insight do young people have,

Young people are just a burst of drive; they want to change their lives, they want to find a beautiful girl.

They want to have a million in wealth.

Otherwise, without that desire, can they still be called young people?

True insight in life comes after forty, after gaining life experience, that is when insight appears,

Only then do you know how hard life is, because you've fallen on the road many times.

Some things must be let go.

Fourty Not Confused contains two meanings: one is no longer bewildered, able to see the road ahead, able to know oneself.

The other is being able to resist temptation.

But those who surpass this level are few.

The masses cannot resist temptation,

Let alone people like us, those so‑called masters of Chinese studies or famous painters are already in their seventies or eighties, their hair all white, yet their hearts are still young.

They still want to hug young girls.

People like that, only if buried in the earth can they be honest.

Even now they talk about Chinese studies, still speak of Fourty Not Confused and Fifty Know Destiny,

I think it's a joke.

But they can stand on stage to teach others.

The times are just like that.

They strip others of desire, while they themselves are never idle twenty‑four hours a day, indulging in daily song and dance.

Thinking of this, anger rises again in my heart.

The calm mind I just had is now disturbed again.

Damn infuriating, the petty ones are in the halls of power, the masters are wandering.

I got up from the bed, took out a cigarette, and lit it.

What can I do by getting angry again? Can I change anything?

Even if I curse fiercely, can those masters hear me?

Why does society praise them? Because of profit; everything is profit.

That is the fundamental reason.

If the promoters can gain profit from these so‑called masters, they will certainly keep praising them, packaging them, letting them capture a larger market.

The only disgusting thing is,

They are all merchants, yet they don't see themselves as merchants, and they even berate merchants. I really want to slap them.

Unfortunately I can't reach those old, undying masters.

After two cigarettes, my heart feels much better.

At this moment I pull out my phone,

I have some urgent matters,

I find Secretary Qin's phone number,

dial it,

the call connects quickly.

"Hello Mr. Zhao, Happy New Year, I wish you a prosperous later year," Secretary Qin said politely on the phone.

"Secretary Qin, Happy New Year, likewise, I also wish you a Happy New Year. I have already returned from Huaihai," I said.

"Back already, great, these past two days Tian Shi has been thinking of you, preparing to have me call and ask when you will return," Secretary Qin said.

"I just came back today. I want to ask you, when is Tian Shi free? I would like to meet him," I said.

"Tian Shi went back to his hometown for New Year yesterday; he'll be here early tomorrow. How about this: I'll arrange a time for you later. I'm sure you can see Tian Shi tomorrow," Secretary Qin said.

"Alright, then I trouble Secretary Qin,"

I want to see Tian Shi as soon as possible to report to him about some matters in Huaihai," I said.

"Tian Shi also wants to hear your report. Don't worry, I'll arrange it," Secretary Qin said.

"That's good, goodbye, Secretary Qin,"

"Goodbye Mr. Zhao," I hung up.

I will strive to meet Tian Shi early tomorrow; I need to discuss many matters with him.