Chapter 34 Old Age

   Such mental activities are naturally impossible to tell Lao Zhang, Xu Guangling was just a little curious about what Zhang Lao said at the end.

  What Zhang Lao said is, "People, you can't accept the old man."

At first glance, this seems to be an ordinary sigh. Many old people say this in many situations, but Zhang Lao, this unusual old man, in the situation just now, said such a thing, let Xu Guangling caught something.

   So he asked, "Zhang Lao, is there a big difference between the old and the young?"

   Leave it to outsiders, this is definitely a nonsense, but Xu Guangling is not speaking to outsiders, he is also sure that if he didn't get it wrong just now, then Old Zhang also definitely understands what he is asking.

   Sure enough, after hearing Xu Guangling's words, Zhang Lao's reaction was a slight smile.

   There was a very meaningful taste in that smile. Next, he asked Xu Guangling: "Humble words, Buddhists have a view that the human body is a stinky skin, what do you think?"

   This Xu Guangling still understands very well. There was a time when Buddhist scriptures were the refuge of his soul. During those particularly gloomy days, Xu Guangling, who came into contact with Buddhist scriptures inadvertently, was like a man who was walking in the desert and was dying of thirst when he suddenly saw Yi Wang Qingquan, so, he immediately threw himself in without hesitation.

During that time, Xu Guangling read all the Buddhist collections, such as the Shurangama Sutra, Huayan Sutra, Lotus Sutra, Vimalakirti Sutra, etc. He not only read, but also read more than Again, but the truth is, not very engaged.

  I was very immersed at first, but after watching it a lot, I always felt that there was an indescribable estrangement.

Xu Guangling didn't know where the estrangement came from, he only knew that it existed. At that time, in the library where Xu Guangling read books, the Buddhist and Taoist Tibetans were next to each other, and another bookshelf next to the Buddhist Tibetans was filled with Taoist Tibetans. When panning to the left, "Zhuangzi" entered his line of sight, and then entered his hand...

  Smelly skin is actually a popular saying, and it is a little extreme.

The real or orthodox view of Buddhism is, "The four elements are emptiness, and the five aggregates are non-existent." This statement is very troublesome to explain in detail, because it involves a lot, and it is enough to explain in this sentence, how many classics are not enough. , but to put it simply in one sentence, I do not exist.

   All the cells that make up the body are taken out one by one, and none of them are you.

where are you?

   You are only in the reaction of these cells, and further, you are only a "reaction", a "phenomenon", not an entity. This statement seems a bit bizarre, because the first feeling of a person about himself is the body, and the body is the most real.

   But the fact is that this body, nominally yours, is not in essence, you have 100% ownership or even 100% disposition of it, but you only have less than 10% control over it. All of its metabolism, its lowest, most core, and most fundamental activities, you have no right to participate in, and at most only exert some influence in a limited, slight, and indirect way.

that is it!

   The whole thing is more like the universe entrusting you with a body, and you take care of it for a period of time. When the time is up, people will take it back.

  Brother, sister, you are a nanny!

You are a very competent nanny. You take good care of the things entrusted to you, take care of them carefully, don’t bear it cold, cold, thirst or hunger, and don’t bear it a little bit hurt, let it eat well and dress well Okay, and cleaned it out on a regular basis, but—

  Brother, sister, you are just a nanny!

  The body is not one's own, and if it is further extended, another conclusion can be drawn naturally: all the perceptions and feelings obtained through this body are naturally not one's own.

  You like to eat apples, maybe it's just what your body needs, and then you like it. You think you like it, but it's not, you are just "liked".

  You eat apples every day, and then your body doesn’t need or at least not need the supplement of apples for a while, and you’re not interested or even bored with apples. You think you're bored, but it's not, it's just your body telling you, ordering you, "Take it, I don't need it!"

   Then as a competent babysitter, you would say, "Okay, master, I hate apples, and from today, we won't eat them anymore."

  …

   Isn’t it a bit weird? Feeling weird and subversive?

   But purely rationally or logically, you can't find or it's hard to find the loopholes. The most you can do is reject it emotionally as absurd.

  Why did Xu Guangling feel estranged from Buddhist texts at that time? This is not the main reason, but it is certainly one of the secondary reasons. He can't say that this view is wrong, because with his superficial knowledge and opinions, he can't find what is wrong with this view, he simply doesn't like it or rejects it subconsciously.

Therefore, after the immersion period, Xu Guangling rarely read any Buddhist books, even if it was related, and even if he just made chicken soup for the soul in the name of Buddhism, he did not mention it much. get interested.

   On the contrary, "Lao Tzu" and "Zhuang Tzu", etc., are still kept on his desk until now, and he occasionally pulls out a copy and reads it again.

Xu Guangling did not know how much Lao Zhang knew about Buddhism. In fact, he might not know as much. At this point, Xu Guangling didn't need to belittle himself. Zhang Lao's stinky questions made him unconsciously review the original immersion. Years, in retrospect at this time, there is a faint feeling of being separated from the world, or it seems that it is already a memory that has begun to be dusty.

   "Lao Zhang, that point of view is too extreme, and I can't accept it." Xu Guangling replied to Mr. Zhang's question.

  Lao Zhang nodded slightly, as if he was not surprised by Xu Guangling's answer, or perhaps he felt that Xu Guangling's answer was justified, and it would be strange if he didn't answer this way!

In short, he seemed to have expected Xu Guangling's question and answer long ago, and then said: "Then let's take a step back from this point of view. If the body is just a shelf, the qi and blood inside the body are the fundamentals. What do you think?"

Could it be that   Lao Zhang was indeed a Chinese medicine practitioner?

   This is not the first time Xu Guangling thought so. This time, Zhang Lao's question seems to be from the point of view of traditional Chinese medicine. Of course, Xu Guangling didn't know much about traditional Chinese medicine. He just felt that this view "may be" belonging to traditional Chinese medicine.

   This statement, Xu Guangling should consider carefully.

But in fact, there is nothing to think about, because Xu Guangling doesn't know much about Chinese medicine or Western medicine. In such a situation, no matter how much you think about it, it is useless. Just like the four ABCDs in the exam I don't know which answer to choose. When this happens, it's not useful to think about it, just rolling the dice will work.

As a former good student, Xu Guangling seldom needed to roll dice during exams, and he could even say no, but at this time, he rolled the dice again, and then said, "Does Zhang Lao mean to say that , When a person is old, even though the body is still strong, the qi and blood in the body begin to decline irreversibly, and this decline cannot be recovered by diet?"

   Lao Zhang's reaction was to slap his thigh hard.

  ==

  Thanks for the support of the recommendation ticket of "Dragon Ghost".

   (end of this chapter)