Chapter 1464 - 793: Striking at the Awakening Feminine Heart (Extended 3-in-1)_3

"Without any reason. People live, they must have some pursuits, right?"

"I've already traveled through the worlds, so why shouldn't I start a harem?"

"Otherwise, wouldn't it be a waste of the journey."

His thoughts were simple and direct. Samantabhadra Bodhisattva listened and smiled with a nod.

This Bodhisattva held far less hostility compared to Medicine Buddha. After a pause, Chen Yi asked:

"Actually, I don't quite understand. You Buddhists, and those Taoists who cultivate purity, all seem especially afraid of this, calling it ego or 'I'. But I don't get it, without the ego, am I still me? What's the difference between me and a rock or this sand?"

He kicked the barren sand beneath his feet.

Samantabhadra Bodhisattva showed neither joy nor sorrow and said, "Does the patron know the difference between a human and a rock?"

"A rock doesn't know it is a rock."

"In the beginning, humans don't know they are human either."

Chen Yi raised an eyebrow and said directly, "That's nonsense."

Calling the Buddha's disciple's words nonsense boldly, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva was indifferent, True Dharma often considers external doctrines as nonsense, and external doctrines also think of themselves as Righteous Path.

Yet if all paths lead to the same destination, then all are... patterned laws.

"What the patron speaks of is precisely a depiction of the lively ego. Holding onto one's feelings, desires, existence as if real, finding pleasure in it, finding life's meaning through it. There is no right or wrong, it's the common state of beings, and the foundation of reincarnation."

Chen Yi asked, "Why do you all tend to avoid the ego?"

"Because we seek to be free from suffering."

"If there is no suffering, how can there be joy?"

"Constant joy and purity."

"…What if I'm not pure?"

Samantabhadra Bodhisattva smiled slyly: "Then you'll need Amitabha Buddha."

The white elephant beside them let out a low and long hum.

The human's mindset also became ethereal along with it, enhancing the meditative scenery at the end of these teachings.

Chen Yi shook his head and waved his hand. The images of the end times retreated like a tide with this wave. Samantabhadra Bodhisattva came without hostility and didn't truly invade his Heart Lake World, so it dispersed easily.

Samantabhadra Bodhisattva raised his hand, made a gesture to slow, and the retreating speed of the imagery slowed down a bit.

"What else does the Bodhisattva wish to do?"

Samantabhadra Bodhisattva did not immediately answer Chen Yi's inquiry. His gaze thoughtfully surveyed the surroundings, sweeping over the sanded ground and the grey defeated sky, settling momentarily on a certain position.

It seemed he suddenly guessed the Mountain and River God's intention.

Chen Yi followed his gaze, which was not on an ordinary position, but rather on that "Great Sun" suspended in the air, formed by the brilliance of the Bright Hall in this Heart Lake World.

Samantabhadra Bodhisattva withdrew his gaze and looked back at Chen Yi, his eyes filled with more compassion, as if he had glimpsed something profound, he spoke slowly,

"The teachings are nearing their end. I still have one question lingering in my mind for the patron."

Chen Yi lifted his chin slightly, indicating him to proceed.

Samantabhadra Bodhisattva's eyes were clear, he directly looked at Chen Yi and asked a question:

"Patron spoke earlier that attachment to appearances is common for people. Yet currently, the patron is attached because in this mundane world, there are appearances, there are mountains, rivers, flowers, plants, trees, beauties, and bones, for you to view, appreciate, covet, and pursue. But suppose... the patron was not born into this formed and flourishing world but was the first person at the beginning of time?"

His words carried a strange allure, and suddenly Chen Yi seemed to see a vast and desolate primordial scene before him, devoid of civilization, creations, or beauty concepts, everything returned to the void.

"At that time, when the universe first opened, all things hadn't formed," Samantabhadra Bodhisattva's voice continued to resonate, "No spring flowers or autumn moons, no smiles of beauties, none of the appearances you currently see and attach to. Wherever you look, perhaps only a monotonous barrenness that's original chaos. In such a realm, patron... what would you still hold onto?"

Samantabhadra Bodhisattva's question was profound. If the world itself is a blank canvas, as the first one to wield the brush as "I", when there's no "appearance" to attach to, where then does "attachment" lead?

Chen Yi listened, but just scratched his head and bluntly said:

"Then I would create appearances."

When Samantabhadra Bodhisattva heard this, a gleam flowed through his eyes, and he just nodded lightly.

"Good." He chanted softly, his form remains unmoved, seated on the white elephant, holding his right hand up once more, using his finger as a brush, he drew a circle before him.

This time, with the movement of his finger, the retreating end scenario slowed dramatically and began to transform.

The gray sky didn't return to clarity. Instead, it started to condense into an indefinable "existence" at a higher height.

That wasn't a cloud, nor darkness, but a viscous black hole-like... Chaos.

Like a living ink blot, suspended in the center of the sky, slowly spinning, with no sound, no temperature, no direction, nothing at all.

Samantabhadra Bodhisattva's voice echoed in this world under Chaos,

"The patron wishes to be a creator, and shows commendable ambition. Then, I ask once more,"

He pointed to the central heavenly mass that devours all:

"If... the universe was never opened, and could never be opened again. No separation of clarity and obscurity, no birth of yin and yang, no passage of time, no expansion of space. Only an eternal stillness, with no possibility of division... Chaos.

At that time, no heaven or earth, no self or other, no past or future, no color, sound, smell, taste, touch, or law. All concepts are voided, all possibilities are extinguished.

In such a realm, patron... what would you pursue then?"