Chapter 35: The Heart Sutra of the Taoist Canon (Seeking Recommendation Tickets)

  Qingyan cried for a while and felt much better. This was the second time he had cried. The first time was when he left Chijin Town, leaving behind Zheng Lao and his childhood companions. Especially Zheng Lao, with whom he had been inseparable since childhood, and their separation was naturally very difficult to bear. But this time it was a different feeling. As an orphan, what Qingyan feared most in his heart was being abandoned by others. Although Zheng Lao had raised him from a young age, not having parents was always the biggest shadow in his heart. He had often wondered why his parents would abandon him and thought of many reasons to excuse them. Sometimes he even fantasized that one day his parents would come find him, hug him tightly, and never let him go again. But after twelve years, this scene had yet to appear, and Qingyan had long given up hope. Without parents, there was still Zheng Lao, but now that he had left his master, his senior brother, Zhao Dage, and even his master's father, whom he had never met before. His senior brother treated him well, so his master must be kind too, and Zhao Dage even more so! But these three people were all in seclusion now, and for a long time to come, Qingyan would again be alone, seemingly abandoned once more. When his parents abandoned him, he was too young to know anything, but as he grew older, sometimes thinking about it made him feel sad, hurt, and resentful. This feeling only flashed by quickly and disappeared. But this time was different; the sudden departure of several people who were extremely good to him stirred up the pain hidden deep within his heart, like a surge of true energy rising straight to his chest, which he could not control, and tears flowed out.

  After venting, Qingyan returned to Songfeng Guan with a dejected expression and entered his bedroom. He saw that his clothes and Taoist robes were neatly stacked on the large bed, and the purple heart sword was lying beside them. Knowing it was Qingxu who had tidied up for him, he thought "Brother is really meticulous!" Then he remembered the Taiji pouch and hurriedly went to look for it, finding it pressed under the clothes. Opening it, he reached in and found everything inside. He thought "Big brother helped tidy up, but didn't discover the things inside, how strange!" Unable to figure it out, he stopped thinking about it and lay down on the bed, feeling comfortable as always. After lying quietly for a while, he remembered Qingxu saying that when there was nothing to do, he should read some Taoist classics, so he got up again, took a book "Tao Te Ching" from the table, and began reading it back in bed.

  The Tao Te Ching is profound and difficult to understand. After reading it for a while, I dozed off, and when I woke up, I saw the sentence "The spirit of the valley never dies, it is called the mysterious female. The door of the mysterious female is the root of heaven and earth." My mind thought, "What does this mean? It's so hard to understand! It's really mysterious!" At that moment, I heard someone continue reading: "Heaven is long-lasting, earth is long-lasting. Heaven and earth can be long-lasting because they do not live for themselves, therefore they can live forever. This is why the sage puts his body after (others) but his body comes first, he puts his body outside (of his concerns) but his body remains safe. Is it not because he has no selfish desires? Therefore, he can achieve his own goals." It was Zhao Wujin's voice, and he continued to explain the meaning of the previous passage: "Valley: refers to emptiness. The spirit of the valley: can be called the great nature. Because the Tao is like nothingness, it is called the valley, because it contains wonderful uses and responds endlessly, it is called the spirit of the valley. The spirit of the valley never dies: because it never disappears, it is said that the spirit of the valley never dies. Mysterious: refers to the subtle and profound meaning. Mysterious female: refers to the subtle transformation and birth (of all things). It means that the Tao transforms and gives birth to all things without being seen. The door of the mysterious female: refers to the Tao giving birth to all things, all things come out from it. The root of heaven and earth: refers to the fundamental principle of the generation and transformation of heaven and earth. Heaven and earth are long-lasting. Heaven and earth can be long-lasting because their operation and existence are not for themselves, therefore they can be long-lasting. Therefore, the sage puts himself behind (others) but he comes first; in times of danger, he puts himself outside (of his concerns) but he remains safe. Is it not because he has no selfish desires? Therefore, he achieves his own goals." When he finished speaking, Zhao Wujin let out a long sigh: "Heaven and earth do not have birth and death, but what about us humans?"

  Qing Yan was both shocked and delighted, exclaiming "Big Brother isn't in closed cultivation?!"

  Zhao Wu Jin said with a sneer, "Someone cried until the sky turned dark and I was woken up even when I closed my doors!"

  "Ah! You heard it all. I couldn't help myself either!"

  Zhao Wuji didn't laugh, saying "A man has tears but doesn't easily shed them, only when the time to be heartbroken arrives! You also don't need to feel embarrassed, cry when you should cry, laugh when you should laugh. Keeping it all in your heart will also cause harm." He naturally knew Qingyan's concerns, and now speaking was precisely to untie Qingyan's knots. Having knots in one's heart is an obstacle to cultivating the Dao.

  "Ah, yes! I feel much better after crying! Big brother, aren't you going into seclusion?"

  Zhao Wuji said, "I'll say a few more words to you before I go into seclusion! Shi Tou, originally after you successfully built your foundation, your heart and spirit would be condensed, and external objects would find it difficult to invade. Even during cultivation, nothing out of the ordinary would happen. But earlier when you cried, your energy was in disarray and your spirit was disturbed, which makes me very worried. This clearly shows that there are emotional knots entangling you. If you can't untie them, it's easy to produce heart demons during the cultivation process, and by then it will be too late!"

  Qing Yan was startled and said, "What can be done about this? Big brother, quickly help me untie it!"

  Zhao Wu Jin bitterly smiled and said, "You think I'm a god? The knot in your heart is something you have to untie yourself, no outsider can help you. Your senior brother doesn't know that you've already got a knot in your heart at such a young age, otherwise he wouldn't dare let you cultivate on your own. Besides, cultivators all have some knots in their hearts, if they were completely free of worldly thoughts, they would have become immortals long ago!"

  Qingyan heard this and said, "Big brother, what should I do?"

  "I'll teach you a mantra, it's the secret method of the Great Bright Temple, the supreme heart mantra for eliminating demons and external objects in Buddhism. Remember it well: 'Observe the Self-Existing Bodhisattva, practice deeply the Prajna Paramita, at all times illuminate the five aggregates as empty, and cross over all suffering. Sariputra, form is not different from emptiness, emptiness is not different from form; form is exactly emptiness, emptiness is exactly form. Feeling, thought, action, and consciousness are also like this. Sariputra, these dharmas are the marks of emptiness, unborn, unextinguished, unimpeded, and unseparated. Therefore in emptiness there is no form, no feeling, thought, action, or consciousness; no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, or mind; no form, sound, smell, taste, touch, or dharma; no eye realm, up to no mental consciousness realm; no ignorance and also no ending of ignorance, up to no old age and death, and also no ending of old age and death. No suffering, no extinction, no wisdom, and no attainment. Because there is no attainment, the Bodhisattva relies on Prajna Paramita. Because of relying on Prajna Paramita, the mind has no obstructions, because of having no obstructions, there are no fears. Far removed from inverted dream-thinking, ultimately nirvana, all Buddhas of the three times rely on Prajna Paramita to attain Anuttara Samyak Sambodhi. Therefore it is known that Prajna Paramita is a great divine mantra, a great bright mantra, an unsurpassed mantra, and an unequalled mantra; able to eliminate all suffering, truly not false."

  So he said the Prajnaparamita mantra, saying: "Jie di, jie di! Bo luo jie di, bo luo sang jie di! Pu ti sa po ke." Zhao Wuji finished reciting it, and Qingyan remembered it for a long time. This was even harder to remember than the Tao Te Ching. Qingyan thought about this hundreds of words scripture again and again, before finally saying "Big brother, I've memorized it!"

  Zhao Wujin said, "From now on, you recite it silently once a day, and you will experience the benefits of this Heart Sutra."

  Qing Yan was taken aback and asked, "Just recite it once and that's all? No need to cultivate?"

  Zhao Wujin said, "This Mahayana Buddhist Scripture is a secret method of Buddhism. As long as you silently recite it, you can eliminate all kinds of demonic obstacles. It's not an ordinary practice."

  "It's no wonder those monks are always chanting sutras. It turns out that just by reciting them, they can be so powerful! I'm truly impressed!"

  Zhao Wuji listened carefully and smiled, "What nonsense! Whether it's Taoism or Buddhism, cultivation requires great perseverance and willpower. It's not something that can be achieved overnight. This 'Mahaprajnaparamita Heart Sutra' is said to have been created by the Buddha before he attained enlightenment to resist demonic temptations. These 284 characters contain boundless Buddhist teachings, but humans can only recite them, not practice them, because we are fundamentally unable to comprehend, bear, or grasp such immense power!"

  Qingyan was told by Zhao Wujin and secretly felt ashamed, saying "I understand, big brother."

  After Zhao Wuji finished transmitting the heart code, he got rid of a worry. He said, "Big brother, I can only help you this much, and from now on, it's up to you yourself. The content of the 'Tao Te Ching' you recited earlier is vast and profound, you need to study it carefully, and there must be annotations at the back that match what I recited earlier, understand it thoroughly!"

  Qingyan was grateful for Zhao Wujin's concern and knew that he had gone into seclusion, saying "Big brother, I will cultivate well and study with a sincere heart!"

  Zhao Wuji thought for a moment and said, "Alright, I'm going to go into seclusion. Stone, we'll meet again in three years!" After that, there was no more sound.

  Qingyan didn't cry this time, just a little sour nose. She thought to herself "Don't be so weak, I must be strong from now on, can't lose face again." She silently recited the Buddhist scriptures she had just remembered, and indeed her mood calmed down a lot, truly the Buddha's secret method is extraordinary.

  Qingyan's mind was at ease, and after so many days without sleep, he quickly fell into a deep slumber. Although his body was asleep, the two strands of true energy within him, one red and one green, became active, chasing each other through his meridians non-stop. His body alternated between hot and cold, but he felt extremely comfortable and relaxed. Qingyan slept soundly, feeling refreshed and rejuvenated.

  After a few periods of time, the two strands of true energy seemed to have played enough and returned to the dantian, while Qingyan also woke up from her sleep.