304 Seeing the lotus blossoming unstained, I knew your purity endured
Thirty miles outside of Heavenly Revelations City, Fanruo Temple.
There was a lotus flower in the temple, and on this day of the first snow of winter, it suddenly bloomed.
The old monk sitting in the meditation hall had been meditating continuously for nine days, and on this day, he finally opened his eyes. He opened the door, approached the courtyard, and looked at the lotus flower which had suddenly bloomed. He whispered the Buddha's name, "Amitabha."
"Seeing the lotus blossoming unstained, I knew your purity endured. Shifu, during your meditation, you must have gained enlightenment and with the Bodhisattva’s blessings, this lotus was able to bloom in the winter!" A little novice said giddily, as he ran over with excitement.
The old monk sighed and rubbed the head of the little novice monk. "Don’t speak nonsense, what do you know. When snow falls in summer and lotus blooms in winter, these are phenomena that go against nature. They are never good omens. During my meditation over the last few days, were there visitors to the temple?"
"Yes, there’s a monk. But he’s so good-looking, I thought he was a nun. But when I opened my mouth to ask, he grabbed me and beat me up. Shifu, you must seek justice on my behalf." The little novice monk mumbled, looking like he had been bullied a lot over the past few days.
"Go then, and invite that guest here." The old monk sighed.
The little novice monk responded with a short reply and quietly retreated, but as soon as he left, the beautiful monk in white came over and walked past him. The monk in white also rubbed the little bald head of the little novice monk. "Little baldy, did you squeal on me?"
The little novice monk’s eyes reddened, and he ran off with a bitter "peh".
The old monk sighed. "You’re also a Sect Leader now, how can you behave like a child."
"Wangchou-shishu, I have very few elders left in the world. When I’m here, won’t you let me relax a little." The monk in white was naturally the current Sect Leader of Outerheaven, Ye Anshi, and disciple of the former Snowy Peak Temple’s Dhyāna Master Wangyou, Wuxin. And the old monk in front of him could be called one of the veterans of the Buddhist sects in Beili. The grey-robed Dhyāna Master Wangchou once sat with masters from the Western Regions to debate doctrines and defeated seven great Buddhist masters in a row. He once discussed Daoism with State Preceptor Qi Tianchen for three days, and as they were acknowledged leaders of their respective sects, they publicly demonstrated that the disputes between Buddhism and Daoism had no victory or defeat. So no matter how much higher in esteem Beili treated Daoism, Mingde Emperor would still visit Fanruo Temple once a year to listen to this grey-robed Dhyāna Master’s teachings.
Master Wangchou smiled. "If you were really here to visit your elders, then this old monk wouldn’t have come out."
"Really? So, shishu knew that I’m here. I thought you came to see this lotus flower." Wuxin looked at the lotus, and for some reason, he felt a sense of familiarity in his heart.
Master Wangchou did not deny. "Indeed, I felt something strange about this lotus flower."
"Who planted this lotus?" Wuxin asked.
"Over ten years ago, a couple who were severely injured fled to this Fanruo Temple. The man died that night, and the woman was also in a critical condition. She died shortly afterwards, and held on desperately to her last breath. She asked if I could save her, but with one glance, I could tell she wouldn’t live much longer, but I couldn’t bear to tell her the truth. So, I asked if she had anyone in the world who would miss her. She said she had a child in her hometown, but he was all alone and had no one to look after him. She also said that her child’s name was a single word, Lian, meaning lotus. So I let her plant a lotus flower in this courtyard. The lotus is the most pure and genuine flower in the world. Although they were separated by thousands of miles, it could still protect her child to remain untainted, to always be pure of mind and refined," Wangchou recalled the past as he explained slowly.
"Were the couple from Tang Clan?" Wuxin asked suddenly.
Wangshou was taken aback. "Shizhi has true prescience. How do you even know that?"
Wuxin chuckled. "It’s just that I met someone before and his name was also a single word, Lian. His character is very similar to what shishu described too. However, planting a lotus thousands of miles away can protect a child and keep him safe. Even if Fanruo Temple is a sacred ground of Buddhism, that would be too far-fetched."
"It was just for peace of mind. When the woman died, planting this lotus flower was better than doing nothing at all." Wangshou sighed. "It was just to keep as a memory."
"But today, why did the lotus suddenly bloom?" Wuxin frowned slightly.
Wangshou shook his head. "When snow falls in summer and lotus blooms in winter, these are all strange phenomena that go against nature. They can’t be good."
As soon as Master Wangchou spoke, that extremely exuberant lotus flower that was in full bloom suddenly withered.
The flowers and leaves suddenly turned into dust and dissipated into the pond.
"What!" Wuxin exclaimed in shock.
Wangchou sighed and whispered the Buddha's name, "Amitabha."
"What's going on?" Wuxin looked at Wangchou anxiously, but Wangchou merely shook his head. Wuxin asked anxiously, "Could something have happened to him?"
"When the sun reaches noon, it will begin to set. When the moon is full, it will begin to wane. Everything will start to fail after it reaches its zenith." Wangchou's expression suddenly changed, and he turned to Wuxin with a serious face. "You should also remember these words. Speak then, why have you come to Heavenly Revelations?"
"To seek the past."
"The past is over, why persist in seeking it?"
"If I don’t know my past, how can I talk about my future? If the past should be forgotten, then everything that happens now, won’t it be the past of tomorrow? Everything in the world becomes the past, so I can remain uncaring, ignorant, and unknowing of it all?"
"What discourse! Is that how Wangyou taught you?" Wanghou scolded fiercely.
"Shifu never taught me to recite scriptures, nor did he teach me to follow the doctrines. He only taught me to follow my heart. If I don’t follow my heart, how do I follow others? If I don’t consider myself, how do I consider others?" Wuxin looked at Wangchou, his eyes stern and forbidding.
Wangchou sighed. "You are right. If you don’t follow your heart, how do you follow others? If you don’t consider yourself, how do you consider others? You want to follow your own heart, consider yourself, but the matters of this world, your matters, do they really affect you alone?"
Wuxin shook his head. "But everyone has to answer for what he has done."
"Not everything has an answer, nor does everything require getting an answer for." Wangchou pointed at the lotus flower in the pond that had turned to dust. "If your obsession is too strong, you will burn yourself to death."
"I met him several times, and consider him half a friend. He saved me once, and I also saved him back. I don’t know what happened, but I know that even if he died, he would never have regretted it," Wuxin said solemnly.
Wangchou waved his sleeves and pointed in the direction of Heavenly Revelations City. "Very well, do not regret. The road is there, go then."
"Shishu!" Wuxin suddenly bent his knees and knelt down.
"You came here because you wanted to tell me that you’re going. I’ve tried to stop you. Although I wasn’t successful, I can at least have peace of mind." Wangchou looked down at Wuxin. "Isn’t that so?"
Wuxin didn't raise his head, but continued to kneel in place.
"Go then." Wangchou sighed. "But don’t look down on your shishu. With a shizhi like you, I will never have peace of mind."
*
Poetry note:
看取莲花净，应知不染心。
Seeing the lotus blossoming unstained, I knew your purity endured.
The title of the chapter and the little monk’s words come from 《题大禹寺义公禅房》 by Tang dynasty poet Meng Haoran. In Buddhism, the lotus represents purity of the body, speech and mind because it is able to bloom and float above muddy waters. The saying is a metaphor that people should maintain their own integrity and not be corrupted by the mundane (unclean) world.