I’ll Protect It This Time, No Matter What! (5)
Chung Myung slowly tilted his head to the side.
The Great Living Buddha.
That title did not simply mean the lord of Potala Palace.
In the western grasslands, the Great Living Buddha was a living Buddha, a being with greater authority than even a king. He was not respected because he held the immense power of Potala Palace’s ruler; rather, he inspired sincere reverence from the people of the west through the loftiness of his Buddhist law.
Of course, the Abbot of Shaolin was also respected by the people of the Central Plains, but that could not possibly compare to the way the westerners viewed the Great Living Buddha.
And yet that Great Living Buddha was…
“He’s just a kid?”
“Hey, you!”
“Your mouth! Shut your mouth, you bastard!”
The Mount Hua disciples hurriedly tried to rein him in, but Chung Myung only widened his eyes and pointed at the child called the Dalai Lama.
“No, that kid’s the Great Living Buddha, you say?”
“……”
“Sasuk, do you seriously buy that? Huh? Really?”
“Kh, khmm! Ahem!”
Baek Cheon cleared his throat loudly and averted his eyes. He couldn’t answer truthfully, and he couldn’t lie either.
Chung Myung stared at the child for a long moment, then whipped his head around toward Panchen Lama.
“So you’re saying this kid… no, this little one… no, that’s not it either, I mean, you’re saying this person is that Great Living Buddha?”
Panchen Lama smiled gently and nodded.
“That is correct.”
“So what you’re saying is… this kid is the… head of Potala Palace, the central stronghold of Tibetan Esoteric Buddhism and one of the great sects of the outer lands? The Great Living Buddha who’s revered in the west more than a king?”
“Indeed.”
Hearing that answer, Chung Myung smiled brightly.
“Hah. So even the Shaolin Abbot was like that, huh? Seems like monks have all gotten addicted to spouting nonsense and pulling scams. Who are you trying to fool with this kind of ridiculous—”
“Hey, watch your mouth!”
“Please, just keep it shut…”
Even while trying to stop Chung Myung, the Mount Hua disciples were just as flustered, unable to make sense of the situation.
What the hell is this supposed to mean?
If they had said that child was the king of the western lands, they would have accepted it without hesitation. A king’s position was, after all, inherited by blood.
But a child like that being the spiritual pillar of the Tibetan lamas and the embodiment of Buddhist law? It was simply impossible to believe.
How much Buddhist teaching could a child like that even understand?
Think about it.
If the Shaolin Abbot were a little kid, what would people say?
No one would believe in his authority, and no one would try to follow his words.
And since Panchen Lama himself is saying it, we can’t exactly refuse to believe it either.
Then Panchen Lama calmly poured tea and held it out to Chung Myung.
“Please calm your mind.”
“……”
“The tea tastes quite good.”
Chung Myung flinched for a moment. Then, quite obediently, he accepted the cup and started sipping the tea.
The Mount Hua disciples gaped.
He tamed him.
My God, he’s managing Chung Myung.
The Buddhist law is boundless.
Seeing Chung Myung sitting there, suddenly calm and drinking tea, Panchen Lama lightly pressed his palms together in a gesture of respect.
Baek Cheon seized the opportunity to speak.
“I’m sorry. The truth is, he has quite a fiery temper…”
“Think nothing of it. For people of the Central Plains, I imagine this would be difficult to understand. Perhaps even for those who walk the same Buddhist path.”
Panchen Lama’s gaze landed on Hye Yeon. Hye Yeon hurriedly pressed his palms together, murmuring, “Amitabha.” Even he seemed to be saying that the present situation was difficult to understand.
Panchen Lama nodded as if he understood everything.
“Have you perhaps heard the word samsara?”
Chung Myung nodded.
“I don’t know Buddhist doctrine all that well, but I know what samsara means. It means that when a person dies, they’re reborn as a person, right?”
Panchen Lama nodded with evident satisfaction.
“You are very clever, Donor.”
“Hehe. I’m not that clever—”
Before the compliment was even finished, Chung Myung was grinning ear to ear, and the Mount Hua disciples all let out deep sighs at the back of his head.
Panchen Lama smiled faintly and continued.
“Yes. Put simply, samsara means that when one dies, one is born again. Humans, beasts, even the smallest insect—when they die, they are reborn as another life, and this cycle continues.”
As he listened to that calm voice, Chung Myung’s eyes gradually darkened.
“Why?”
“Because they have not escaped.”
“Not escaped?”
“Yes.”
Panchen Lama slowly rubbed the prayer beads in his hand.
“Life is like a vast wheel that turns in cycles. All living beings spend endless ages within it, living and living again. In the process, they commit sins, accumulate merit, learn, and ultimately come to awaken.”
“……”
“The Buddhist law is so profound that enlightenment is difficult to attain through the understanding of a single lifetime alone. So all living beings are born and die repeatedly, slowly reaching awakening. Even Shakyamuni attained enlightenment and became the Buddha only after repeating samsara through three immeasurable kalpas.”
Chung Myung, who had been listening quietly, suddenly turned around.
“Hey. What the hell is a three immeasurable kalpa?”
“……It means a period of time so long it cannot be counted, Donor.”
Hearing Hye Yeon’s explanation, Chung Myung stared at Panchen Lama again with a look of utter disbelief.
“Wait, Shakyamuni too? Isn’t Shakyamuni basically the ultimate Buddha in Buddhism?”
“……Yes.”
For the first time, Panchen Lama’s answer came a beat late. Sensing this, the Mount Hua disciples all reddened and quietly lowered their heads.
We’re sorry.
We have no face to show.
This is embarrassing.
Whether the person before them was Panchen Lama or the Shaolin Abbot, Chung Myung was still Chung Myung.
Fortunately, Panchen Lama recited a soft Buddhist chant and swiftly regained his composure before continuing.
“The reason one walks the Buddhist path is to escape the cycle of samsara. To break free from the turning wheel, sever delusion and karma, and thereby attain liberation—becoming a Buddha at last.”
“Uh…”
Chung Myung’s gaze returned to the child… no, to the Great Living Buddha.
“So what you’re saying is that this kid is the reincarnation of the previous Great Living Buddha, or something like that?”
“Indeed. Donor, you truly are very clever.”
“Hehe. Ah, anyone could’ve guessed that. Hehehe.”
He flushed red and scratched the back of his head bashfully. The Mount Hua disciples seriously felt like standing up and applauding. Setting aside whether they understood what Panchen Lama was saying, they could at least see one thing clearly: this man had astonishing character.
“Um, but…”
Baek Cheon, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, tilted his head in confusion.
“Go on.”
“This may be a rather impudent question, but…”
“It’s fine.”
Encouraged by Panchen Lama’s serene and compassionate expression, Baek Cheon asked, “You said that those who attain enlightenment become Buddhas and escape the cycle of samsara, yes?”
“That is correct.”
“Then… as for the Great Living Buddha…”
Panchen Lama smiled gently.
“Ah, so that is what you wished to know. Dalai Lama is an incarnation of Avalokiteshvara, a living Buddha. So while he may break free from samsara at any time, he voluntarily chooses to remain within it in order to save sentient beings and lead them toward the Buddhist law.”
“Ah…”
“As proof of this, when Dalai Lama enters parinirvana, he foretells where he will be born next, allowing his disciples to find him.”
“Th-that…”
Baek Cheon pressed his lips together.
He nearly blurted out, How is that supposed to make any sense?
Everything he had heard since entering this tent had been beyond his common sense.
“We are now returning to Potala Palace to find him, just as Dalai Lama instructed us.”
Everyone’s gaze turned to the child seated in the center.
So this child is really…
The reincarnation of the Great Living Buddha?
There was nothing especially remarkable about the little Great Living Buddha before their eyes. Aside from those unusually deep, sparkling eyes, he looked no different from any other child one might see anywhere.
Baek Cheon quietly looked at the back of Chung Myung’s head.
Under normal circumstances, Chung Myung would have exploded without restraint, arguing that this was nonsense, or at least casually tried to probe the child and test him. But now, strangely, he was silent.
And besides…
Why does he look so weighed down?
Could there have been something in this conversation that Chung Myung was taking seriously?
As though sensing Baek Cheon’s confusion, Chung Myung slowly spoke.
“Then…”
His eyes were fixed solely on the child Great Living Buddha.
“Does the Great Living Buddha fully remember his past life?”
“Om mani padme hum.”
Panchen Lama slowly shook his head.
“Of course, Dalai Lama remembers his previous life, and even the life before that. But because one who has gone through samsara must forget the past life, those memories are not complete.”
“……”
“For one who has escaped delusion and reached liberation to cast himself back into an incomplete state and then complete the Buddhist law once again is no easy feat. Dalai Lama has thrown himself onto a thorn-covered path in order to save sentient beings. That is why the lamas revere him as a living Buddha.”
A quiet sigh escaped Chung Myung’s lips.
“...I see.”
It made sense, and yet it didn’t.
But Chung Myung had no intention of pressing the matter further. In the first place, religion was always something that seemed absurd and irrational to those who stood outside it.
It was only to those who accepted and understood its teachings that the path appeared whole.
To their eyes, the Daoist teachings Chung Myung followed must also seem absurd and ridiculous.
Then Panchen Lama, who had been watching Chung Myung’s expression, smiled softly.
“Has your curiosity been eased somewhat now?”
“Yes. Sorry for grilling you the moment we met. When the blood rushes to my head, I stop thinking straight.”
“Those who seek answers are the ones who ultimately gain them. A follower of the Buddha exists almost to answer questions, so there is no need to mind it.”
“You’re really nothing like those shameless Shaolin monks.”
“Cough, khhhm!”
“Why? Did the tea go down the wrong way?”
“Ghhng… Donor.”
Hye Yeon let out a pained groan with tears in his eyes, but Chung Myung didn’t even glance at him.
Panchen Lama smiled and said, “I would be glad to speak more, but the night has grown far too deep. Please rest for tonight, and let us continue our conversation tomorrow.”
“Yes. Sorry for being rude at such a late hour.”
“Donor, you are remarkably courteous.”
“Hehehe. Thank you.”
Honestly…
Panchen Lama.
You don’t seem to have much of an eye for people… That child really is the Great Living Buddha, right?
Unable to hide his doubts, Baek Cheon’s unease began to stir.
The lamas provided the Mount Hua group with an entire large tent. They had insisted that they could simply pitch their own tents and tried to refuse, but the lamas only smiled gently and returned to their own quarters.
The group entered the tent with a bit of discomfort. But that awkwardness lasted only a moment; before they had even exchanged a few words, exhaustion hit them like a tidal wave, and they all collapsed into sleep as if dead.
And in the deep hours before dawn—
Tap. Tap-tap.
Chung Myung, who had quietly slipped outside the tent, sat by the fire beside the pond and tossed in some firewood. Sparks fluttered faintly into the dark air.
Chung Myung’s mind remained tangled with the conversation he had had with Panchen Lama.
Samsara…
He stirred the fire with a branch and shook his head.
That’s a different story.
In the Daoist teachings, when a person dies, everything returns to nature. Only the immortals who have become one with the Dao ascend to the immortal realms and aid the flow of the world.
But…
Then what the hell am I?
The Daoist teachings could not explain Chung Myung’s situation. And Panchen Lama’s samsara did not fit it either.
Even the Great Living Buddha, a living Buddha, lost his memories when he went through reincarnation, so wasn’t it absurd that Chung Myung, who didn’t even know Buddhist law or Buddhism at all, had been reborn with his memories completely intact?
Then what exactly am I?
He let out a deep sigh and looked up at the sky.
I don’t know, Sect Leader Senior Brother.
He had tried hard not to think deeply about it, but with the possibility of the Heavenly Demon’s resurrection looming before him and the existence of the Great Living Buddha laid bare, his head had become a mess.
I…
Then it happened.
His head snapped to the side.
Startled, he shrank back in a way utterly unlike him when he saw what was beside him.
“What the—”
The child Great Living Buddha was standing there without making a sound, staring straight at him. He had to be only a step away, if that.
Shocked, Chung Myung opened his mouth as if to say something, then shut it again.
He didn’t fully believe in reincarnation, but he could at least understand that there was something special about this child.
After a brief hesitation, Chung Myung spoke awkwardly.
“Hey, so… you’re really the Great Living Budd—”
“Why is it so…”
“...Huh?”
At that moment—
Transparent tears began to roll down the Great Living Buddha’s face as he pressed his palms together in prayer.
His expression was so solemn and sorrowful that Chung Myung was left speechless at once. A heavy atmosphere pressed down on him, so profound it made even opening his mouth feel difficult.
“How did it come to this? Why, oh why…”
“……”
Terrible grief welled in the child’s eyes. In a low, subdued voice, the Great Living Buddha chanted a quiet Buddhist verse.
“Poor sentient being. Why do you seek to walk such a harsh and treacherous road? Why do you seek to walk the three immeasurable kalpas, no different from the Avici Hell? Why…”
What…
What was he saying?
“It is a path that must not be escaped. Why did you escape it? Poor, poor sentient being. Why…!”
The Great Living Buddha’s voice, as though belonging to another world entirely, seeped into Chung Myung’s dazed ears.
What in the world…
What the hell was this brat babbling about?
What in the world…
Chung Myung’s face, which had been staring blankly at him, slowly began to crack.
Chung Myung’s soul started screaming.
It was an utterly pitiful, utterly sorrowful scream.