Chapter 887: The reason why the Tathagata awakened the world

The conclusion the Buddha reached after attaining the Dao must be one of the reasons the World Honored One Tathagata decided to embark on the great undertaking of 'Awakening the World,' right?

Li Qi only dared to say 'one of them,' because he could not fathom the thoughts of the Great Powers.

As for the reason why higher intelligent beings can achieve the Third Grade...

Let's continue listening.

Sariputra continued, "Higher intelligence, or rather, sentient beings, are real. On this point, Li Qi should have no dispute with Buddhism, right?"

"Of course not. All things in the world are real. Substantiality is not proof of reality or unreality." Li Qi nodded. On this point, he had no conflict with Buddhism.

Li Qi also believed that everything happening in this world was real.

Sariputra continued, "Dependent origination is the law of the arising, cessation, and variation of all phenomena in the Universe and human life. The World Honored One became a Buddha by realizing dependent origination, and he also wished to transmit this enlightenment to the world."

"The World Honored One said, 'Those in this world who forever abandon delusion and attachment will see the Tathagata within themselves, possessing vast wisdom, which is called a Buddha.' This laid the foundation for the advancement of future Buddhas."

"The World Honored One universally delivers sentient beings, not abandoning them due to their difficulty in being delivered. Although sentient beings are foolish, dull, and deluded, they can be taught the Dao according to their capacities. The higher wisdom is taught to the highly intelligent, and the lesser wisdom is taught to the less intelligent, so that all sentient beings under heaven can be nourished by wisdom and walk the path of awakening and liberation."

"This is called: Teaching those sentient beings to practice the Sacred Dao, enabling them to abandon delusion. Having abandoned delusion, they attain the immeasurable wisdom of the Tathagata, benefiting and bringing peace and joy to all sentient beings. This is the tenth aspect of the Tathagata's Heart."

The tenth aspect of the Tathagata's Heart.

Sariputra had mentioned this to Li Qi before. (For details, see Chapter 755)

"So, what does this have to do with me?" Li Qi asked again.

Yes, although these secrets sounded great, they should have nothing to do with Li Qi's current situation, right? Why would the Tathagata tell him all this?

"Li Qi, do you know why sentient beings are potentially Third Grade or higher?" Sariputra asked again.

Li Qi became solemn, knowing that this was a secret concerning the Third Grade, so he shook his head: "I don't know."

"To explain this, we must start with the Four Noble Truths. The World Honored One awakened the world and established the Four Noble Truths: Suffering, Arising, Cessation, and Dao. These are the World Honored One's admonitions to sentient beings."

"The Truth of Suffering is called 'the bitter sea of the mortal world.' Anyone who sinks in the world must experience various sufferings. The world is like an boundless bitter sea, and sentient beings sink within it, without hope, without joy, without delight, finding it difficult to escape."

"This suffering is not merely the pain of the Physical Body or spirit, but the suffering of Death that the Demon of Death pursues."

"All things will perish, just as the Demon of Death reveals. If a person obtains happiness and joy, that happiness and joy are also bound to be lost, just like the five decays of heavenly beings. Even heavenly beings who enjoy pleasure must bear decay, destined to lose all the happiness they possess. This shows that in this world, as long as happiness is perceived, an equivalent amount of suffering is bound to appear. Therefore, all sentient beings suffer."

Li Qi nodded. This view was indeed the same as the 'extinction' believed by the Demon of Death.

"Second is the Truth of Arising. 'Arising' is the root of suffering, the aggregation of all sources of distress. All happiness and joy actually originate from 'thought.' If there is thought, there is Trouble. As long as there is desire or craving, Trouble and suffering arise spontaneously. This is the truth corresponding to the Demon of Affliction."

"Third is the Truth of Cessation. Cessation is 'Nirvana.' Sentient beings struggle in the bitter sea, without a moment's rest. Therefore, they will try every means to alleviate this suffering. Some seek joy through sensory enjoyment, which is a lower, unbeneficial method for ordinary people, because the more joy they gain, the more pain they lose, and ultimately they can only constantly crave and demand until they lose everything."

"Another way is to seek solace through various ascetic practices, tormenting oneself through cultivation or other means, using small sufferings to cut off great sufferings. This is also useless, because all feelings are not the true original thought. One should cut off the methods of liberation aimed at perception —"

Li Qi interjected at this point, "I understand. Severing the influence of perception, guided by the original mind and thought, can therefore isolate the influence of all perceptions of the five aggregates. Thus, this targets the Demon of the Five Aggregates."

"Exactly." Sariputra smiled and nodded: "That's right. This leads to the fourth level, the Truth of the Dao."

"The Truth of the Dao states that through the Eightfold Path, Four foundations of Mindfulness, Four Right Exertions, Four Bases of Spiritual Power, Five Faculties, Five Powers, and Seven Factors of Enlightenment, one can permanently cut off fundamental afflictions, eliminate all suffering, attain a pure state of liberation, and sever birth and death, afflictions, perceptions, and finally 'thoughts,' achieving complete tranquility. In this way, even the demonic thoughts of a Heavenly Demon will not be able to affect you."

The Four Noble Truths Sariputra spoke of corresponded precisely to the four Demonic Overlords. If one could follow all of this and reach the Realm of 'empty tranquility,' one could indeed be unaffected by any demonic thoughts.

But...

Li Qi frowned and said, "Then what's the difference between this and being dead? No desires, no actions, no perceptions, not even thoughts. Isn't this just completely disappearing from this world?"

That's right. Although this was indeed a method, Li Qi saw at a glance that it did not align with his 'Dao.'

The method adopted by Buddhism was too passive, and Li Qi could not accept it.

Moreover, this method... seemed to be exactly the same as the Demonic Dao. Although the methods and theories were different, the core essence was to solve problems from the perspective of 'self.'

"This is too ethereal. I prefer to acknowledge reality." Li Qi shook his head: "What is real is not just the hearts of sentient beings; this world itself is also real." Li Qi emphasized.

Li Qi completely understood what Sariputra wanted to say.

Yes, whether it was Buddha or Devil, they did not believe that the 'real world' possessed substantiality, just as the Buddha had just said: "The nature of all phenomena is not seen by the eye; all dependently arisen phenomena have no self-nature."

Even the World Honored One believed that only beings with 'self-nature' were substantial. They believed that only existence capable of perceiving this world could be considered 'substantial.'

But Li Qi did not think so. He believed that the material Universe itself also had substantiality, and even... the substantiality of subjective consciousness should yield to the substantiality of the material Universe.

The ultimate destination of matter was the core of the 'Dao,' which was 'matter' and not 'mind.'

Hearing Li Qi's words, Sariputra shook his head and explained, "Subhuti, Li Qi, the World Honored One is a speaker of truth, a speaker of reality, a speaker of thusness, a non-deceiving speaker, a non-deviating speaker. He is free from the faults of Karma, and therefore possesses a great impartial mind. Thus, in the World Honored One's eyes, even Devils can be accommodated, because of his naturally arising great compassion. In the Buddha's eyes, all people are deluded, and Devils are no exception. This is called 'equality of sentient beings.'"

"So there is no need to worry about any intentions of the World Honored One. The Dao obtained by the Tathagata is neither real nor empty. Why be attached?"

The Buddha's 'equality of sentient beings' actually meant this. It did not mean that sentient beings were identical, but that all sentient beings possessed 'True Nature,' and this 'True' was actually the essence of substantiality.

This was the quality of a potential Third Grade, and also the foundation for sentient beings to awaken. It was the only truth believed by Buddhism, and it was also the hint the World Honored One Tathagata wanted to convey to Li Qi, hoping he could comprehend the power of the Heavenly Demon.

However—

"I have understood what the Buddha said, but please forgive me, Son of Buddha, I cannot quite accept this statement." Li Qi shook his head.

Sariputra seemed to have anticipated this and did not force him, merely saying, "I understand. However, Li Qi, you should also understand that the so-called fruit status is the result of contemplation. It has no Divine Ability, no magical techniques, and no cultivation. Its only purpose is to grant you great wisdom and great freedom. Therefore, it is not limited by cultivation methods. Different cultivation methods, different theories, different viewpoints, the eight insights into truth, eight wisdoms, sixteen minds, nine unobstructed liberations, eighteen transformations, and twelve aspects of action."

"As long as you can recognize these, attain great wisdom and great freedom, and enable yourself to break free from the causes of suffering within the net of Karma, then it is considered a success. After awakening, you are liberated from all causes of suffering. All dhyanas, samadhis, and the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment, the three liberations, etc., are all aids to the Dao, which is Buddha-nature, named 'obtaining the essence.'"

Having said this, Sariputra finished his tea, stood up, and performed the Buddhist salute again.

"I have understood the World Honored One's Heart. Thank you." Li Qi also stood up, but did not perform the Buddhist salute, merely bowing his head.

"Then I have said most of what I needed to say. Farewell." Sariputra smiled slightly, not forcing anything on Li Qi, but merely turned and left, disappearing from sight.

Only Li Qi sat down again and poured himself a cup of tea.

Perhaps influenced by the young Heavenly Master, he also started to brew tea.

"Both the Buddha and the Devil came knocking. It's understandable that the Demonic Prince came for his own reasons, but why did the World Honored One personally send a message?" Li Qi frowned tightly.

Moreover, the other party also spoke of the secret of the Third Grade.

Even if Li Qi didn't approve, he had to admit that it made a lot of sense, and it could also be evaluated in conjunction with his experiences in the Desire Realm.

One must know... Li Qi had actually speculated about this conclusion long ago.

In terms of the essence of wisdom, perhaps... there was no difference between the First Grade and the Ninth Grade. (For details, see Chapter 717)

"It feels like more and more things are getting closer," Li Qi thought, waving his hand to dispel all the surrounding scenery, returning to the front of the Mystic Radiance Mountain Immortal Cave.

As soon as he landed, he saw Shen Shuibi approaching and saying, "Li Qi, what was that just now?"

"Sariputra and the Demonic Prince came, but it's nothing. They've both left. No one will disturb you for now," Li Qi said.

"No one will disturb us... That's not good. I was just thinking of disturbing others." The rabbit shook her head: "Now that I'm also Fourth Grade, I can do many things."

"Don't put yourself in danger," Li Qi warned.

"I won't, but I can't just stand by, can I? You wouldn't want to lock me up in the inner chambers, would you?" Shen Shuibi asked.

"Of course not, but I do need to let you understand the situation." Li Qi said, placing a finger on his temple, then gently drawing out a wisp of book Qi from his mind.

"These are my memories from the Desire Realm. If you want to help, you should read them carefully, but don't act rashly. It's very dangerous," Li Qi reminded her.

However, this also meant that Li Qi agreed to Shen Shuibi's help.

After all, the rabbit was already Fourth Grade, possessing incomplete substantiality and the power of self-preservation. Moreover, she was always quite reliable, so there was no need to worry about her as much as he worried about Li Shiwei.

"Okay, I'll read them. Are you leaving now?" Shen Shuibi asked.

"I can't stay too long. What if someone finds a weakness? But don't worry, there are few in all the heavens who can kill me now. Just be careful." Li Qi stroked her hair and comforted her.

"I'm not worried about that. It's just that once you go, it'll probably be at least tens of thousands of years, right?" The rabbit's tone was slightly melancholic.

"After all, we've reached this level. For you and me, it's already considered short. When this matter is resolved, we will naturally have a chance to breathe." Li Qi said.

"The last time I said something like that was before the Human-Shaman War. In those few hundred years, and ever since, I haven't had a moment of leisure." The rabbit chuckled softly, then pushed Li Qi: "Go. With the current calamity, you're still the one who needs to hold things up."

"Don't worry, leave it all to me." Li Qi gave a thumbs-up, then his Dharma Body dissipated, and his consciousness returned to the Desire Realm.

Shen Shuibi looked at his dissipating Dharma Body and smiled slightly.

Immediately, she returned to the Immortal Cave and consumed the book Qi.

A massive amount of information began to appear, and she let out a muffled groan of pain.

It should have been read slowly, but reading slowly would take many years just to understand.

It was faster to just consume it directly, even if it might cause injury.

A massive stream of information washed over Shen Shuibi's Spirit Soul.

"So this is... what he felt." As her Spirit Soul was being torn apart by the information flow, Shen Shuibi suddenly had this thought.

Thanks to Li Qi, she had almost never directly faced high-grade existences. Li Qi had basically blocked them all.

So, when facing those people, Li Qi's feelings must have been similar, right? Although Li Qi was used to touching high-voltage wires, to say whether it hurt or not...

It still hurt.

Every time he faced a high-grade existence, either his True Knowledge couldn't read them, or if it could, his thinking organs would be greatly flushed, to the point where Li Qi had become somewhat numb.

So, this made Shen Shuibi feel a little emotional.

Yes, her man was fighting desperately outside, so she couldn't just sit idly by, could she?

Wasn't that why she wanted to Breakthrough to Fourth Grade?

Enduring the pain of the massive information tearing at her thoughts, she began to read all of Li Qi's memories in the Desire Realm, and prepared to provide some help to Li Qi in her own way.

At the same time, Li Qi's Dharma Body had returned to his main body.

Of course, saying 'main body' should actually mean 'the strongest body,' as it was difficult to say what Li Qi's 'main body' was at this point.

As a metaphysical existence, he truly could not describe what his 'main body' was.

However, no matter what, as expected, this brief return of only about ten minutes did not affect anything.

Li Qi could continue 'sowing seeds' in the Desire Realm.