Chapter 63 Twisted Logic

Upon hearing Xuzhu's words, Duan Yu could not decide whether to laugh or to fly into a rage.

This was absolute nonsense!

"The Buddha spoke of the Four Noble Truths," Duan Yu argued once more against Xuzhu. "The first is the Truth of Suffering, the second is the Truth of the Origin of Suffering, the third is—"

Xuzhu interrupted Duan Yu, "Layman, those were Shakyamuni's realizations, not his ascetic practices."

"Are not the Buddha's realizations the very result of his practices?" Duan Yu felt as though his nose was twisted with anger.

"Layman, do you know what wheat bran is? Have you ever eaten wheat bran porridge?" Xuzhu asked suddenly.

"What?" Duan Yu was stunned, failing to grasp the meaning behind this abrupt question.

Xuzhu said earnestly, "Wheat bran is what remains after wheat is ground into flour. It scratches the throat when eaten and tastes dreadful."

"Even so, there are many who cannot even get that. If by some rare chance they manage to bowl of wheat bran porridge, such people will only sigh with gratitude at how delicious it is."

"As for a person like you, layman, you have likely never even heard of such food."

Having grown up in the royal palace of Dali since childhood, Duan Yu indeed had no idea what wheat bran was.

"Therefore, it is only natural that layman finds it hard to comprehend the phrase 'wheat bran is truly delicious.' Only when you taste it for yourself will you think the person who said 'wheat bran is truly delicious' must be out of their mind."

"If the one who uttered those words happens to be Shakyamuni, then layman will assume you yourself must be wrong."

"After all, how could the Buddha ever be wrong?"

"Thus, layman will force yourself to understand 'just what makes wheat bran so delicious,' wondering why the Buddha found it appetizing while you find it unpalatable."

"Layman will employ various methods to convince yourself that 'wheat bran is delicious,' thereby persuading yourself that you seem to have understood the Buddha!"

"Is wheat bran truly delicious? Were you wrong? Was the Buddha wrong?"

"None of these. It is simply because people occupy different positions and environments."

"It is much like a layman telling a beggar that deer tails and bear paws are truly delicious. The beggar cannot comprehend the taste of deer tails and bear paws, and can only imagine the flavor based on his own limited understanding."

"Therefore, the Four Noble Truths were Shakyamuni's realizations after attaining Buddhahood, not the realizations of his ascetic path."

"To understand Shakyamuni and the Buddha through the lens of the Four Noble Truths is no different than climbing a tree to catch fish, or gazing at the moon reflected in water!"

When Xuzhu finished speaking, Duan Yu was left dumbfounded.

It was not because Xuzhu's words lacked reason, but rather because they made all too much sense.

If one does not hold a certain position, one does not deliberate on matters of that office; without being in that station, one cannot utter such words.

The well-fed do not understand the pangs of the starving.

Once a well-fed man has eaten his fill, he says to the starving, "What is the point of eating meat? I shall eat no more!"

The starving find such a sentiment impossible to comprehend.

***

Could Shakyamuni, a crown prince perplexed by the meaning of human life, possibly be the same as a starving beggar perplexed by human existence?

There was a vast chasm between Duan Yu and the beggar, just as there was a vast chasm between him and the Buddha.

His understanding of the beggar's words was no different from his understanding of the Buddha's words.

The issue lay not with them, nor with the words they spoke, but with the difference in their positions.

"Yet layman is the Prince of Dali, naturally endowed with a karmic affinity for Buddhism," Xuzhu looked at Duan Yu and said. "When layman's life is fulfilled, when you have a wife and children, and having experienced the impermanence of mortal existence, you feel a genuine perplexity about life—only then may you step upon the 'Path of Asceticism.'"

"Wandering the mortal realm penniless for many years, witnessing the myriad facets of human life, and traversing countless hardships, a realization will seem to well up within the prince's heart, one that he must express at any cost."

"Only then may the prince enter the 'Path of Awakening.'"

"Summarize and systematize your own experiences and thoughts, and grasp that elusive, ineffable realization. Then, the prince shall become the Awakened One."

"You shall become a Buddha!"

"Never emulate those uncles of yours who renounced the throne and worldly glory, foolishly believing that entering Tianlong Temple to cultivate themselves would make them eminent monks."

Xuzhu sneered and said, "When they looked upon all sentient beings, they felt no true perplexity, nor did they undergo ascetic trials; they were merely deceiving themselves!"

"It is a pity that despite starting from such great heights, they missed the chance to become Buddhas. What a pity! What a tragedy! What a sigh!"

Xuzhu felt a deep sense of wasted potential regarding the monks of Tianlong Temple.

Upon hearing someone suggest that he should cultivate in such a manner, Duan Yu felt no joy whatsoever; instead, his face darkened.

Even though he revered Buddhism and believed in the Dao, he never imagined that he could one day become a Buddha.

He wanted to argue, but words failed him.

This was because Xuzhu's logic was rigorous and self-consistent, not something an ordinary person could easily refute.

After pondering for a long time, Duan Yu still could not figure out how to counter him.

Thus, out of sheer pique, he retorted, "Buddhism is vast in its compassion, saving all sentient beings. By your reasoning, does that mean none other than a crown prince can ever attain Buddhahood?"

"Precisely!" Xuzhu replied. "That is the truth concealed beneath the veil of history."

"Absurd nonsense!" Duan Yu was so angry he laughed.

Xuzhu shook his head and said, "Among the eminent monks in history, how many were not the sons of wealthy families? How many were not princes or nobles?"

"Do not merely listen to what they say; observe what they do!"

"Mankind is thus, and the Buddha is thus!"

"Only by viewing things this way can one perceive the original process of events, thereby discovering the principles of Buddhism and discerning the path to Buddhahood."

"You..." Duan Yu flushed with anger. He felt that this monk was spouting absurd fallacies and was utterly detestable.

He was far more detestable than Kumarajiva!

***

He even felt a sudden, irresistible urge to teach this bald donkey a lesson!

"Calm yourself, calm yourself!" Seeing Duan Yu agitated, Murong Xing hurried forward and pulled him back.

"Focus on your Go game!" Murong Xing soothed Duan Yu.

You couldn't win the argument, yet you were the one whose defenses broke.

真是…… What a soft persimmon!

Murong Xing had no study of Buddhist scriptures, but Shi Fei's study was filled with strange books. Among them were *Dialectical Buddhist Scriptures* and *Liberation Theology*; he had read them, but could not understand them.

He had no interest in these abstract, illusory notions.

Seeing the fuming Duan Yu, Murong Xing added, "I am going to circulate my internal energy and cultivate. You must guard me!"

Given his level of cultivation, he did not actually need anyone to guard him; he merely wanted to distract Duan Yu.

Stop always locking horns with Xuzhu!

Could anyone possibly win an argument against a bald donkey?

Seeing Murong Xing cross his legs in meditation to begin his cultivation, Duan Yu stopped paying attention to Xuzhu. Instead, he split his focus between Murong Xing and the Go stones.

The more he studied the game, the more he felt the boundless, profound depths of Su Xinghe's arrangement.

Before he knew it, he was completely engrossed.

By the late hours of the night, when Murong Xing had finished his daily circulation cycle, he looked over to find that Duan Yu had collapsed onto the ground and fallen fast asleep!

Far from guarding him, Duan Yu was even talking in his sleep, muttering things like "the fifth and sixth lines," "the third and fourth lines."

It seemed he had studied the Go game right into a slumber.

Oh, Prince...

Conversely, Xuzhu, noticing his eyes open, looked over and offered a faint smile.

Seeing this, Murong Xing smiled back faintly as well, though he thought to himself, *This bald donkey possesses formidable internal power!*

The next day was the appointed time for the Transcending the Enigma Go game.

Early in the morning, the group saw a monk approaching through the pine forest.

That person possessed a dignified and solemn bearing; it was none other than Kumarajiva.