Immortality has always been the dream of many ancient people to pursue the ultimate, after all, under the constraints of various conditions in ancient times, the average life expectancy of people is only about 30 years old.
Up to the emperor of brocade clothes and jade food, he did everything possible to find a panacea, and there were sect monks, looking for immortals and asking, trying to seek longevity.
In the mythological novel Journey to the West, a group of monsters came one after another to trouble the four masters and apprentices, and the main reason was immortality.
It is conceivable that in this story system, immortality is the lifelong desire of many people.
Even Sun Wukong, when he first went to Sanxingdong to study, was to see a little monkey die, hoping to cultivate the ability to live forever.
"The king of Hades wants you to die in the third watch, who dares to keep people until the fifth watch", even if it is Sun Dasheng who has returned from his studies, he will inevitably go to the palace of the king of Hades.
In addition to the super high spells in the story, the peach in the peach orchard and the ginseng fruit in the Wuzhuang Temple can also have the effect of prolonging life, but how can these be obtained by mortals?
Therefore, among the Three Realms described in the book, all those who are a little older are either immortals or demons.
But there are always exceptions to everything, and if you think about it, there is a person who, with his mortal body, lived to the age of 270.
This person is the Elder Jinchi who is in charge of the Guanyin Monastery.
Elder Jinchi of the Kannon Monastery
Unlike those monsters who hope to live forever by eating Tang monk's meat, what Elder Jinchi hopes to get in this catastrophe is not Tang Seng, but the magic weapon "Jinlan robe" given by Guanyin Bodhisattva.
This robe has an extraordinary origin, and it is a treasure given by the Buddha when Guanyin Bodhisattva set out to find the person who learned the scriptures, which can protect the wearer from falling into reincarnation.
Such a treasure was originally collected by Tang Seng in his bag, but under the hospitality of Elder Jinchi, he showed his hobby of collecting robes, seven or eight hundred dazzling fine robes, which made Sun Wukong's impetuous temperament make a fuss, showing off the master's treasure robes.
This behavior successfully aroused the jealousy of Elder Jinchi, and he couldn't help but covet Tang Seng's robe in his heart, and stayed up late at night in the room crying and howling, and finally had evil thoughts at the instigation of the monk Guangzhi of the child, killed people and sold goods, and finally burned down the entire Guanyin Monastery under the impetus of Wukong, and died by hitting the pillar.
However, Elder Jinchi's death was not caused by natural causes, and years of cultivation allowed him to overcome the Heavenly Dao, and Yang Shou had reached more than two hundred years old. You must know that before the Yama Palace, Wukong's Yangshou was only three hundred years, which shows that Jinchi has its own way of cultivating in terms of prolonging life.
So what is the reason for his age? The main aspects are as follows:
Reason 1: Elder Jinchi's past and present lives.
As the founder of the Guanyin Monastery, Elder Jinchi has a very high reputation and can be called a high-ranking monk in the mortal world.
Countless robes flaunt his diligence in Buddhist practice, but when Tang Seng's Jinlan robe appeared, he showed incomparable greed.
As a monk who is out of the dust, he has such a jealous and unwilling mood, and will even be instigated to make a murderous move, which is obviously contrary to common sense.
And all of this can be traced back to the karma of Elder Jin Chi and Tang Seng in their previous lives.
We know that Tang Seng's predecessor, Jin Chanzi, was a disciple of Rulai, and because of his extremely high qualifications, he was selected to become a scripture learner, and the senior brother who competed with him at the beginning was Jin Chi in his previous life.
Jin Chi thought that his cultivation was much higher than that of his junior disciple, but he was eliminated miserably, and he was resentful, and the Buddha thought that his mind still needed to be sharpened, so he expelled him from Lingshan.
Before becoming Xuanzang, Jin Chanzi had failed nine times, and if it was counted according to the thirty-year-old life, it would be exactly 270 years.
That is to say, when the golden cicada learns from the lower realm, the golden pool is waiting here because of old grudges.
Because the cause and effect of the previous life are not over, Jin Chi has a reason to keep waiting.
Reason 2: The black bear spirit subtly helps.
Adjacent to the Guanyin Monastery is the Black Wind Cave of the Black Bear Spirit, which is only twenty miles away.
The combat power of the black bear spirit can almost compete with Sun Wukong, with a lot of magical powers, several grappling battles did not let Wukong bargain, and in the end it was Guanyin Bodhisattva who surrendered and became the god of guarding the mountain under the seat of Guanyin.
The black bear spirit likes to preach and cultivate the Tao on weekdays, has a Buddha heart, often goes to the Guanyin Zen Temple in Jinchi to practice Buddha, a person and a demon have a deep friendship, the reason for stealing the robe is also because of the fire in the Guanyin Zen Temple to help fight the fire, and there is no other idea.
His fairy friends are also elegant people.
The white snake spirit likes to transform into a white-clothed talent, loves Confucianism, and is proficient in literature and ink; The blue wolf spirit likes to incarnate as a Taoist priest and practice Taoist techniques, and the gathering is also to discuss some Buddhist classics and other cultivation-related content.
Not only is it elegant and polite to others, but even the Batu Caves are well organized, with a temperament that is beyond the mundane, and anyone looks like a hermit's abode, and it has been recognized by the Bodhisattva.
In the process of interacting with Elder Jinchi, I also hope that my friends can accompany him for a longer time, talk about the scriptures and discuss the Tao together, and participate in Zen and worship the Buddha.
Therefore, when he came and went, he would also teach some spells to nourish his spirits and convince him, and these spells would help Elder Jinchi maintain his longevity to a certain extent.
But the effect of mortal Qi cultivation is not high, and Jin Chi is not the kind of monk who is dedicated to the Buddha and the four major emptiness, he also has a strong jealousy and possessiveness, and the materialistic desire is extremely high, so in addition to the method taught by the black bear spirit, there are bound to be other methods.
Reason 3: The treasure of the Zen monastery - young children.
Guanyin Monastery is a well-known temple, and the number of Taoist priests, courtyard masters, and monks in the courtyard is also quite large.
As the abbot of the hospital, Jin Chi has a very high rank and status, and because of his advanced age, he needs to be taken care of by others every day, but the two little monks are responsible for his diet and daily life.
The combination of old and young is not uncommon in Journey to the West, for example, the boy under the seat of Taishang Laojun and the little disciples around Zhen Yuanzi are all children.
But they are only young in appearance, and their actual age is not small, which is really different from the children around Elder Jinchi.
These two little boys and Elder Jin Chi are almost inseparable, and even the behavior of the elder crying in the middle of the night is also clear, and it is these young boys who make plans to forcibly take away the robe, and the other monks have no second words about such behavior arrangements. It is enough to see that they have a lot of status and voice in the courtyard.
In the following chapters, we can see that children have a great effect on immortality, and the carp spirit of the Tongtian River and the king of the bhikshu kingdom all need the flesh of a boy and a girl to seek immortality.
Then the secret method of Elder Jinchi's longevity is likely to be in these boys who serve themselves, similar to collecting yin and supplementing yang, using the vigorous vitality of children to extend their lifespan.
Although the specific method is not explained, for more than 200 years, Elder Jinchi's research on longevity has been fruitful.
Immortality is good, but the meaning of life is not how long it lasts, but the experience gained during that time.
Perhaps the short life of ordinary people does not necessarily leave any traces, but as long as death comes, it is enough to be able to make the trip worthwhile with a clear conscience.
Source: CNKI ""Immortality" and "Reincarnation": A Brief Discussion on the Concept of Life and Death in "Journey to the West" Zhao Dongxu