Chapter 21 Who Said I Am Avalokitesvara? (1/2)
Zhang Chi Hang shot Liu Shuai a glance as per usual, and sat upright on the sofa, ”Who said I am Avalokitesvara?”
”I am —” As he spoke, he wrote three big characters on the table, “Guan Zi Zai”.
”Guan Zi Zai?”
I looked at the three words on the tea table as though I had some sort of feeling, but I couldn’t figure it out, so I could only turn to Zhang Chi Hang.
The smile on Zhang Chi Hang's face seemed to be coated with a layer of ice and it was faintly chilly, “Avalokitesvara sees the hardships of the world, saves all living beings from sufferings, and achieve a carefree status. Guan Zi Zai closes his five senses to enter into a carefree status!”
“This time I really learn a lot!” I was disappointed, angry, and felt somehow ironic, ”what do you mean by closing five senses? Isn't that the same as hiding in one's own world and only caring about one's own well-being, not the sufferings of all livings? Then what's the use of giving donations? What's the use of me worshipping a Bodhisattva? What's the use of my wish? “
Seeing that my words were intense, Liu Shuai pulled me and indicated for me not to say anything more, but how could I stop? The reason I came to Avalokitesvara was to save Zhou Yuan and Yan, and in the end, after tormenting for so long, he turned out to be someone with closed five senses. If so, how could he save people?
”Is this the first time you know that it’s all useless to burn incense, worship a Bodhisattva, or make wishes?” Zhang Chi Hang laughed and looked at me sharply.
I was stunned. I thought about it carefully, and figured out that his comment made sense.
Seeing me silenced, Zhang Chi Hang continued speaking, ”have you read Tao Te Ching?”
“Pardon?” Liu Shuai was going to stop me, and upon hearing this he couldn't help but ask, ”Aren’t you a Bodhisattva in Buddhism? Why are you reading Taoist classics? “
“Chinese people read Shakespeare, don’t they?” Zhang Chi Hang looked at Liu Shuai, “have you forgotten how terrifying it is to lock up your country? — Forget about it, let me ask you guys, there is a line in Tao Te Ching saying that ‘after the broken of Great Dao, there comes benevolence and righteousness; after the appearance of wisdom, there is hypocrite; after the chaos of relatives, there introduced filial piety and kindness. How do you understand it?”
”...” This time, Liu Shuai did not speak. A book like ”Tao Te Ching” was indeed rather obscure to modern people. Even one wanted to show off with lines from it, he or she could only borrow the first saying that “Tao that can be spoken out is not the real Tao”. That’s all.
Seeing that it was possible for Zhang Chi Hang to mock Liu Shuai, I immediately took it up. After all, I had once seen some of it by chance, “Lao Zi uses a dialectical method to view the phenomenon of the world. What he wanted to express is that the more you want to express, the more likely it is that you are in a lack of it, such as — “
”There's no need for any instance. Like what you said, one asks for what he lacks. Great Master is truly intelligent.” Zhang Chi Hang looked at the ceiling and laughed, ”so think about it, why would anyone say that a certain temple is specially effective? It's because most of them are not effective at all. With so many people worship in countless useless temples, why must I reveal my powers? “
“I don’t think it could be understood this way.” I had to admit that he was right, because he was theoretically.
Zhang Chi Hang sneered, ”do you know what major and college I take in this life?”
Damn it, Bodhisattva went to a college? I was a little confused, so was Liu Shuai who asked subconsciously, ”which one?”
“I got double master in financial management and law from an Ivy League university.” Zhang Chi Hang was quite proud of himself, “and I am a prized disciple of Greenspan. How else do you think I could obtain the position of a shareholder in one of the world's top fashion magazines on my own, or save a rich and powerful young man from a crisis? Why should I earn money I can't spend? “
Well, I started to believe that 'that's all' was really his catchphrase …
”Who is Greenspan?” Liu Shuai was not very clear about this, “is he a Taoist friend?”