Part I
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Chapter 1
Pan G. & Princess Gourd'-Yang's Chemistry of Soul
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Pan G. Monk violated the vow he took. An out of ordinary execution awaiting to chop off his waist in halves gets started after autumn.
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The candle lights clipped between the string-roped bones of the bamboo had glittered from within the voids of the lanterns and the torching lights thereby had pierced through the roundly glued papers to reach small range of darkness.
"Go and take care of it, my heartache is unspeakable."
Hearing himself murmuring, the old mage frowned and his 60 year old face paled on his rather chubby cheeks, which had glared out with an elegant paradoxical charm after years of enduring the vissisitudes of all those seasons.
A young mage came in and saw that the old mage was sitting upright in a lotus position, but his spines were crooked. The assistant mage Huey’-Lee approached his Master. He looked disturbed. The old mage could feel his range of Qi uneven and his breath unsettled. Apparently, Pan G.’s news came as a shock and it had impacted everybody at the mage center in so many different facets. It was AD 950, the mage center for textual translation built by The Emperor Tame Dyke-Zeon had just passed over for a year. It was another devastating death impending to the cruelest imagination to all mages and students at the center in that early autumn night. Shadows of trees and skies heavy and unsettling winds blew in from all directions. The center remained quiet and it had now gotten too quiet.
The young mage checked the pulse of the old mage. He had listened carefully, looked closely, and nodded. Light and shadow flickered in his pupils. His eyebrows frowned and he must have been thoughtful.
"Master, did you manage to rest well?"
The old mage opened his eyes slightly and stared forward without a target. And he shook his head.
"Master has been traveling for Brother Pian G. for days now…, so please, Master, you must get more rest, I don't want you to get too tired, please." Hearing no response, he hesitated, "And...Master, you should have the mystical power to help Brother Pan G...."
He stopped while the old mage glanced at him. The young mage lowered his chin, placing his palms on the his thighs kneeling on his calves.
"My spirit is filled with the Five Deadly Poisons [1], did you not see that, Huey’-Lee? My whole body had been filled with the poisons."
The young pupil blinked, then discerned pains appeared on his master’s face while carefully trying not to show too much frowning in front of the old mage. The young mage’s face was a little pale, but it was not as fair as that of his mage brother Pian G. Pian G. was much more brilliant to have become the most favorable candidate to succeed the mage lineage
"Master, no one could help it but to fall into a bad mood after hearing such a horrible news."
"Monks have no moods!”
"Yes. But...we are still humans, aren't we? Humans have moods."
"If you live in The Precepts; Equanimity; and The Original-Wisdom [2]； you will still act like a human but you won't have the mood."
"Yes, I understand now——but, why has anything got to do with the Five Poisons? As if you were blaming yourself? That I don’t understand.”
“You are too young to understand, Huey’-Lee, you all are too young to understand.” Shaking his head, the old mage sighed.
“But I know as a matter of fact, Master, you have understood a lot of the profound principles when you were still a teenagers. We are adults, how so we could not understand?”
The old mage seemed to be unable to answer. Or rather, he was immersed in deep thoughts. He was silent.
“Okay, Master, you do not have to take my questions now. Nor do you have to deal with our conditions for the time being, at this dire juncture, I wouldn’t mind at all if all your attention given to Brother Pan. G. Speaking of which, Master, do you really want to pay a visit to the empress? Will seeing her proper at his juncture?"
The Master lifted his chin and looked at his disciple. And he looked surprised.
"Huey’-Lee! You looked tired, my pupil. I know that you had just completed compiling the lengthy texts. Go and rest too, my child."
“Don’t worry about me, Master, I could take care of myself. You are important to us, so, please take good care of yourself, yeah?” The old mage nodded. The young mage put his palms together, bowed his head slightly and left the small room.
The streak of light from the skies staring at the darkroom he departed.
It seemed like you could only see from without; incomprehensibly and helplessly discernible amongst the hidden ancient forest. As if wishing to embrace or hide a pierced secret that bordered the edges of the compassionate humanity in mundane. Clouds showed themselves looking like some flappy thestral with horse body; glimmering with their carnivorous eyes emanating blue-green sparkles in search for human taste amid the forest humidity. The Kiṃnara Protector [3] floating between the clouds frowned and gazed worriedly at their presence.
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The Empress Wǔl Zénder-Tan’ said, “The mansion of the Imperial Family of the Fan-Chucks?" She has a broad face and wore a fan-like hat arisen from the back of her knotted flock of hair tangled with some accessories that she would only wear when she was done with and had stepped away from the convening court where important ministers and lieutenants had had gathered to debate and decide on governing issues of the imperial. Sensei who counted the horizontal joint marks of his fingers would have cross-referenced the manual of the position and movement of stars stored in his memories. To his astonishment, he figured out that the empress who was still a baby girl was born on the date where aupiciously powerful stars had moved and rearranged themselves in a rather unusual way. He deduced that the baby girl would grow up to be a great leader for the country.
“That seems to be improper to trace the pillow’s whereabouts based on the oral evidence given by a thief”
“You mean he was tortured before confessing?”
The old mage did not attempt to respond.
The mansion with an adorned pillow of Princess Gourd’-Yang found a way to re-define the barely 30-year old young mage named Pan G. His found its way so direly intertwined.
“Yes？” She lifted her brows. Another short remark still sounded like a statement instead of a question that came out from the mouth that didn't move its lips of the recently throned, first and ever female emperor in the history of the City.
The Empress waited for the response of the old mage and looked somewhat impatient. Yet she must have felt differently judging from the condition of the mage. She knew what she had hinted and he would have understood her subtext perfectly. She would think that she knew what was on his mind.
"What would that matter to you that you needed to show yourself?" She wanted to pose the question. Immediately she realized that it was uncalled for. The monk was adorned with so much powers that the former emperors did not need him to express many emotions.As contexts demanded, the interaction needed to be subtle, as underlying intentions had supposedly been made clear.
She then decided to swallow her question that seemed to bury forever in her heart.Things needn't be said anymore. Minds' eyes see each other.
Then she started to talk about her demised emperor, The Great 2nd emperor of the Táme’ Dynasty, named The Emperor Táme’ Tie’-Zeon.
Simultaneously, memories had also flashbacked his mind.
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One looks down from the skies, sees The Emperor Táme’ Tie’-Zeon on horseback escorted by rows of clan horses with bodyguards. He always wore a coifa disliking the beads tangling on the heavy crown. He was in his forties, sturdy, skillful with swordsmanship on horseback. His cheeks high with face darkened from sun burn after so many heaty exposures at sites of warzones tackling the Jurchen Warlords who were equally skillful with saddles on their left hands and eagles on their right hands, in the North East of the City of Forever-Peace. Sometimes he would wear a flat-board crown with strings of light-colored crystal beads hanging inches away in front of his face. It was said that for certain occasions an emperor should disregard what he sees and hears during the convening sessions with the ministers and lieutenants.
"I am glad you gave me the merits to appoint Pan G. Monk."
Emperor Táme’ Tie’-Zeon said. The old mage remembered he adored young mage Pan G’s ability to compose beautifully poetic verses, so much so that the Emperor had passed down a decree appointing him as the assistant translator at under the pupilege of the old mage. The young mage was granted powers to take charge of the ever-important portfolio of the textual-affirmation to confirm the accuracy of both the Chinese and Sanskrit-Devanāgarī Scripts.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
At the same juncture, The emperor defended the colonies won by his predecessor emperor father and he had fought fiercely to the detriment of the enemies. He was always a servant of the dust, wars, swords, and bayonets, and recently he dreamed. And now that he knew of the dead souls functioning in a revengeful mystical way. As heat had turned unbearable to him, he would deviate from the war zone to travel through the lush forests.
“I will need to see you, my venerable royal brethren, and more frequently.”
The emperor was always a servant of the warship. Dust stirred up at the valleys and by the rivers on horsebacks, thrusting bayonets into rebels or enemies.
He witnessed necessary gushing bloodshed in his fate. The karmic powers cycling for lifetimes, of many magnitudes, swords, and bayonets, swords and blades, blades and swords, blood overflew, bodies lied next to weapons destroyed, lied inside or under the sharpened bayonets, some faced down, some together with the sharp edges facing the skies.
To an extent, The emperor started to dream.
Meeting The emperor upon his requests in summonses at The emperor’s resting palace amidst his wars in the North-East of the City, the old mage had had made long-distance travels from his temple to meet and listen tentatively to The emperor’s defensive confession.
“Hells, slaughtering, and pain and grievances beyond imagination……Master.”
“Yes, they were horrible.”
“I had to kill him.” The emperor said after a long pause. The old mage nodded. He knew that he referred to the demised first emperor, his assassination of his father twenty-odd years ago. But he pretended that he referred to one of his warlords.
“People knew that I had to do that for the sake of the country. It already spanned as far as the Western Regions. “
People knew that he did it for the throne. Citizens knew. Ministers knew and kept silent. The new emperor to the extent had to resort to poison the first emperor until he suffered unimaginable pain before dying.
People also found it more disturbing that the emperor had further admitted and shamelessly allowed his officer of the historiography to record his another killing. He slaughtered his own blood imperial-brother, the eldest prince when had traveled from the forefront fort for the funeral.
“I feel your plights and dilemma.”
The old mage's heart had sunk immediately after hearing himself utter such an endorsee remark. But as water had been poured out, regrets could never be retrievable.
“The karmic powers cycling for lifetimes, of many magnitudes, swords, and bayonets, swords and blades, blades and swords, blood overflew.”
Apparently, the emperor had learned some jargons from the old mage.
“Bodies lay next to weapons destroyed, lying inside or under the sharpened bayonets, some faced down, some together with the sharp edges facing the skies.
The old mage nodded slightly and appropriately as he so deemed.
“To an extent, I’ve started to dream.” The emperor lowered his eyebrows, stroking gently his grey beard.
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Now that the empress had broken the wandering mind of the old mage who had looked like an ancient mage called out from his profoundly deep trance.
“The late emperor told me that he had led important ministers and lieutenants in files and all of them were thrust by a scarily dark force and they fell heavily onto the hell of the sword-mountains which many governors and ruthless rulers knew of. As the name denoted and the dimension displayed, innumerable deaths under the swords occurred.” It so appeared that she had also learned some wise words from the old mage.
“They faced the skies bleeding and dying; and immediately life came back to them with guts of windblown onto their distorted faces, so that they would have to repeat the same experience thousands of times the same day.”
“That would be a set-up of hells within humans’ hearts judging themselves.” The old mage came out of his flashbacks and immediately found an appropriate response.
He showed no expression, standing a 6-foot burly posture in a full-fledged cassock that monks would only put on when meeting the empress in a somewhat peculiar situation. He was capable of showing emotions after all those years. Yes, forty-odd years since he left home. He recorded certain breakdowns he had experienced in his Travel Diary to Nepal and India, which made up the most recognized geographical and philosophical contribution to humankind of the era.
Except that it was rare.
"Master, you never told us how you felt when you were in pain and at the brink of death."
"What to tell? What to relate to? Monk's are supposed to be calm." He actually wanted to say monks do not have moods, yet immediately found it cliché even for himself, therefore, he paused and pretended to contemplate.
"I thought we are still sentient beings, sentient beings still are sensible, thus, feelings follow?"
He heard that question made in a statement. Now, he heard the question of the Empress made in a statement as well. He was reluctant to show much emotion and a prolonged silence followed as a result and it had rather disturbed the Empress
“Master, it’s not like I couldn’t be careless. No predecessors would care. And neither the successors.”
She lowered her eyes. The old mage remembered how she would have done that.
People had said that her eyes had expressed the spirits of the Grand-Khan Jurchen's Warlords of the North East Desert, grey and blue-like.
As it seemed apparent, she had still missed her demised emperor of the Táme’ Tie’-Zeon. However, nothing seemed to concern her except the throne from his successor. Not even the plights concerning the fates of Pan G. Monk and her Princess Cowe’-Yank that lost her adorned-pillow from the palace found at Fang-Chucks' Mansion.
"Princess Le’Long-Peace resembles me." She would divert the subject out of the blues. The mage found that it had made himself feel head cracking trying to express his intention.
Both knew what the meeting was for. Neither was willing to come forth straight to the point. No one seemed to have reached any meaningful interaction.
Her tone changed, though, when she intentionally mentioned the eldest princess.
The old mage and other pertinent ministers contemplated, and at the flash of the second, they grasped her motivation.
So, a so-called inheritance arrangement planned and descended from her heaven has supposedly been fated, claimed, and verified in her smartly subtle way, as if a renewed fate found ways to diminish the impacts of the dreams.
Except for gossiping, no one seemed to discern his motivation.
She glanced at the old mage.
"Isn't that The Heart Sutra has said that--Lust Differs Not The Emptiness, and The Emptiness Differs Not The Lust? --Why what is that?”
"O! My Old Buddha Father, people in the world misunderstood that the script carries only a meaning of lust.”
The old mage couldn’t help but use a strong word to subdue the extraordinarily strong subtext she had uttered.
It was rather disturbing, the Master found himself distracted easily not only by wandering mind but also his newly developed tastes in judging the intentions of others.
Some would address her further in a nicked-name deserved of a Buddhist Senior Enlightened Being: the Bhagavan-Enlightened GrandFather of Suffering Beings.
Others, who dared to die for the sake of their Great Them-Dynasty, would find subtle ways to reprimand her supposedly superstition.
The first and only female emperor of the Great Them-Dynasty cared too much of the merits accumulated in this life; looking forward to the forthcoming after-life reincarnation in the Tusita Heaven [4],
She had to make decrees purely for those reasons. Save that she had to put appropriate weight to contemplate ways to sustain the reverence and recognition to be displayed towards an empress in her condition. The intertwining relationships with the Grand-Khan Jurchen Warlords included.
“That's not right. It should rightly be comprehended as 'Matter'.”
“O? ‘That so?”
“Yes, My Lord, ‘Matter’ refers to all shapes of nature for all things seen and sensed. It means all the shapes of the true nature of humankind within phenomena."
"I love the image of Maitreya-Buddha, His solemn clothes, and His shining grace......"
The Abbott Master heard her uttering something rather irrelevant.
He came out of his wandering mind, whereby the deep-down sub-conscious mind could incur flashbacks of thoughts and memory; simultaneously the conscious mind could carry out interaction.
And felt the pain of sharp disturbance. She seemed so distracted. Perhaps, she needed to distract both herself and the mage…
Acute sharp pains as if poked by knife points had gradually developed desecration of willpower. They were the result of snow and mist that had pushed coldness and wind through his neck making the entrance to attacking the bloodstream and bones.
The empress had suddenly asked and sobbed, “The late emperor die in your presence, did he suffer?” And now the old mage cared only not her moruning but the sorrowful fate of the Pan G. to Pan G. He couldn't imagine the Post-Autumn Guillotine cutting his waits in halves in the City Square. And a large crowd of spectators would shout him off and complete their witnesses of the execution
Old wounds, illnesses, and panics attacked the Master over his long trip from his incumbent Monastery Translation Site called the Jade-Buddha Temple in the lush forests.
His disciples seemed to notice The Kiṃnara worried about the recent presence of the carnivorous eyes of thestral on the edges of the clouds. They had made bordered dark rings overseeing the dark, humid, and lushly forests above the Temple. No one dared to comment.They were afraid that practitioners fell onto superstition. They were worried about the health conditions of the old mage that others either couldn’t be careless or simply overlooked for the necessity to tackle one’s impending karma.
“Master, did you manage to come up with a plan to visit Brother Pan G. at the forbidden death-row prison?” He had been asked.
He lowered his brows, face flared with flush, and he told himself, “Yes, I have to do that, as of now, lest nights get prolonged, dreams will crop up aflow.”
He had to come up with a plan to save a young life, so lively…
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[Footnote]
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[1] The Deadly Five Poisons refers to the five deadly aggregation of the five physical and mental elements of Matter, Energy and Meaning penetrating condition of human kind: which are (1) The Matter, (2)The Feeling, (3)The Contemplating, (4)The Mental Movement, (5) The Consciousness Arisen. They bring deadly poisons to the equanimity against a cultivator.
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[2] The Precept, Stillness, Wisdom refers to the Three (3) fundamentals required of a mage cultivator for the anticipated results, constituting:
(i) practice rules---verbally and later recorded and called The Vinaya-Precepts; as of those required of in The Ten Commandmentts;
(ii) stillness ---beyond trance-like and dis-focus of mystical power embodies in the equanimity; s the entrance to the eternal result of a mage practitiner verbal and textual teaching;
(iii）eternal result ---the opening up of the Original Wisdom of Loving-Kindness-Equnamity-Enlightenment; embodied in a humans' origianl , insurmountable potetiality beyond that of a mundane geniusness and wittyness; attained upon a mage having fully practiced accordinlgy all levels of the above said cultivation . The result is replete with the Original Omnipresent Ability as present in a God; or in a human, in that matter of fact,. The mage will then shine through the True Nature of the eternal result , to see the True Nature of the Five Aggregates (as above mentined)--- bieng void of dependant, control and self.
Jargons are (I) The Precepts, (II) The Deep-Active-Meditative Flow of Equanimity Samādhi, and (III)The Prajñā-Wisdom-Enlightened_Potentiality
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Endnote
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Part I : Exceprts
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“Together mundanes fight for matters which are not urgent. Amid severe vice and extreme pain, they work hard but can hardly support themselves.
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"All the same for the noble, humble, rich, poor, young, and elderly, men and women, they gather thoughts, accumulate worries and move to work for their heart.
Those without land worry about land, those without property worry about property, as of spouses and children and possession, they worry the same while in the possession or otherwise;
while if one has been gained they will feel as if lacking of the other one, contemplating and longing for the simultaneous gaining of both; while something rather replete, they then will worry about the unexpected.
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"Such as flood, flame, robber, the rivalry, and debtor; that will burn down, wash away, rob, and seize away.
And with stingy heart and stubborn mind, no one could cease feeling nor to let go, until life span ends and body dismantling, still no one will be there make a company,
irrespectively if they are poor or rich, all will suffer innumerable worries and pains....
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“In the Samsaric-Suffering of love and desire, one could only be alone to incarnate and demise, be alone to arrive and depart, in self to experience pains and joys;
no one could be there to substitute. Fluctuating and transformation of virtues and vices projected as results of the chasing-after, leading to a different path of reincarnation that no one knows when there will be the next time to ever meet again.
As such, what you are waiting for, instead of cultivating diligently while you are strong and healthy? “
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(Excerpt from The Sukhāvatī-vyūhaḥ-sūtra, The Longevity-scripture)
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