Chapter 928 - Tonsure (1/2)

“……” Ye Cang perspired. What?! I don’t even know what that phrase means but you know?! Looking at Alyssa, he put his palms together and nodded, “That’s right. That’s the true meaning. You’re sure a wise devotee…”

Alyssa quickly imitated his way of greeting, “I hope you, the master, could accept me as an apprentice. I’ll definitely relay the message to the world…”

“Are you sure you want to enter the gates of Buddhism with me… no regrets?” Ye Cang took out a utility knife and looked serious.

“You are trying to?” Alyssa stared at Ye Cang who signaled her to come down.

“To shave my head…” Ye Cang asked Alyssa to put her palms together and sat with her legs crossed.

Ye Cang lifted her hair but let it go as he saw the hesitance in Alyssa, “You’re still reluctant to let go of the three thousand problems of yours, huh? It’s alright then…”

“It’s me being naive. Master, please help me with my tonsure.” Alyssa realized her mistake and closed her eyes. Ye Cang had the urge to kill her and get a large amount of killing points. However, he did not as he knew he would be dead if he got caught for doing so. Without any choice, he cut off her hair. Fortunately, Alyssa knew nothing about tonsure and Ye Cang had only seen how it was done once in the temple in the city beside Lin Hai. I remember when I was young, grandma brought me there to do some prayers and draw divination sticks. The person who was supposed to explain the sticks kept on complaining that he would be punished if he were to tell the truth until grandma asked me to stuff 1000 federal coins to him. Those were my own savings!

Seeing her gold hair falling, Alyssa felt that she advanced a level. She knew it was just a ritual. Of throwing away all the burdens and problems? Physically? Well, it sure has its own meaning.

Knowing that she did not know the meaning of the ritual, Ye Cang explained (he did know about it). “You might not understand the meaning of this ritual. In Buddhism, the hair represents Kleshas and cutting your hair means removing them. At the very least, you tried to cut off your hair. It also means removing arrogance, worries and solely focusing on practising Sādhanā. As a lady, don’t you miss your hair? Usually, people would undergo jieba (etching dots on head) after this but this is harmful to the body and it isn’t the primary intention of Lord Siddhartha Gautama Buddha. It’s merely something the believers would do to show their sincerity so it’s actually not necessary anyway.”

“Master, please help me to do it after this ritual.”

“Alright. But you can only have one dot which signifies Pure Heart.”

“You might need to do it yourself for the future dots. You can etch it when you realize a new meaning in life.”

At the same time, the members of the Purple Flower Garden were losing the fight. Alyssa felt anxious when she knew the military was about to barge in. Ye Cang recalled the last time he witnessed a tonsure ritual back in the temple. The man’s wife stomped up the hill with a cooking knife. Even with the knife pointing at the monk, the monk did not shiver as he continued to carry out the religious ritual for the man. Similarly, Ye Cang smiled with her little girl voice, “The big four are void and the six roots of sensations must be clean…”

“Master, what does that mean?” Alyssa calmed herself down to seek knowledge onBuddhism as she was eager to know it all.

“In Buddhism, it says that what you have learned just now are all void and the six roots of sensations means eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind.” Ye Cang only knew this much.

“I understand, master…” Alyssa felt guilty as she felt her six roots were not pure enough.

“With the ritual undone, you can’t call me master.”

Just then, a large explosion was heard. The members of the Purple Flower Garden had retreated to where the two of them were and shouted at the president who was undergoing the ritual, “President!”

“Have you calmed your inner self down?” Ye Cang did not stop cutting with his knife.