The Old Monk was silent for a long while before speaking slowly.
“It is said that when Venerable Wu Dao vanished back then, he transformed into three thousand Illusory Selves…” The Old Monk’s voice carried less solemnity and austerity than before, tinged instead with a measure of complex emotion.
Gu Qingfeng furrowed his brow and asked softly, “What is an Illusory Self?”
“Unseeable, unspeakable, unthinkable, undebatable. Neither true nor false, neither empty nor solid, neither mysterious nor wondrous. A blend of truth and falsehood, emptiness and solidity, mystery and wonder.”
“This…
Old Monk, look, I’m already confused as it is. My vision isn’t great, my mind isn’t sharp anymore, and my comprehension has grown terribly dull. What you’re saying sounds like heavenly scripture to me—I truly don’t understand. Could you put it more simply?”
The Old Monk merely sighed but did not explain further.
“Alright, if you won’t say, you won’t say. But…” Gu Qingfeng said helplessly, “where did these so-called Illusory Selves end up?”
“They all arise in response to Sin.”
“Arise in response to Sin?”
Hearing these four words, Gu Qingfeng’s heart gave a lurch, for he himself was a person born in response to Original Sin. Thinking of this, he asked, “So, my existence is one of the three thousand Illusory Selves that Venerable Wu Dao transformed into back then?”
“Not only Layman Gu, but anyone born in response to Original Sin could be one of Venerable Wu Dao’s three thousand Illusory Selves.”
Good heavens!
This was no small matter.
He was actually an Illusory Self of Venerable Wu Dao?
And anyone born in response to Sin could be one?
What the hell was an Illusory Self, anyway?
Gu Qingfeng pondered for a long time but couldn’t figure it out. Gazing at the misty, elusive Jiemie Mountain, he asked again, “What is the relationship between an Illusory Self and Venerable Wu Dao?
Is it past life and present life?”
“It is past life and present life, yet it is not. It is more about Karma.”
“How so?”
“Because an Illusory Self contains far too many ‘selves’: the selfless self, the Ego, the Id, the True Self…” After listening to the Old Monk’s words, Gu Qingfeng seemed to understand a little.
The so-called Illusory Self exists, yet does not exist; it is true, yet also false. It is like a mysterious, unknown chaos. This chaos changes according to Karma, and what it ultimately becomes depends entirely on that Karma.
In other words,
the current Illusory Self might not share a past-life-present-life relationship with Venerable Wu Dao. But as Karma shifts, these three thousand Illusory Selves might transform into the selfless self, the Ego, the Id, or the True Self. By then, their relationship with Venerable Wu Dao would be more than just Karma—it would become past life and present life. It might even become possible for them to ultimately become Venerable Wu Dao himself!
“So-called past life and present life, how much Karma, how much illusion, how much selflessness, how much Ego, how much Id, how much True Self…
So that’s how it is.”
Gu Qingfeng murmured to himself. Suddenly, he remembered Original Sin.
Original Sin has distinctions: Incarnation, Retribution Body, Dharmakaya, and True Body.
Now it seemed that the so-called Original Sin bodies and Venerable Wu Dao’s Illusory Selves were cut from the same cloth.
The Original Sin body was like Venerable Wu Dao’s Illusory Self.
The Illusory Self—true and false, solid and empty—is said to be ‘me’ yet also ‘not-me’.
Similarly, the Original Sin body is the same: true and false, solid and empty—said to be Original Sin, yet also not Original Sin.
The Illusory Self changes according to Karma; so too does the Original Sin body.
The Illusory Self generates the selfless self. And after the Original Sin body becomes an Incarnation, one is no longer one’s former self but an Incarnation of Original Sin. This is just like the illusory selflessness.
Then, through Karmic changes, the Original Sin Incarnation becomes the Retribution Body. Isn’t this precisely the process of the Illusory Self, through Karmic change, going from non-existence to existence?
It is also the selfless self giving birth to the Ego.
After the Retribution Body comes the Original Sin Dharmakaya.
The Dharmakaya is the original source; the Incarnation and Retribution Body are both transformations of the Dharmakaya. This is the Id within the Illusory Self.
As for the Original Sin True Body, it is likely akin to the True Self within the Illusory Self.
Thinking this far, Gu Qingfeng couldn’t help but feel his heart race with trepidation.
Although he still couldn’t confirm exactly what relationship he currently had with Original Sin,
based on all the signs, especially the fact that he had awakened the slumbering Original Sin when he ignited it back then…
If this were truly the case,
Gu Qingfeng reckoned that he now most likely was no longer some Original Sin Incarnation, nor some Original Sin Retribution Body, but had instead become the Original Sin Dharmakaya!
If that were true, wouldn’t that make him like the Id within the Illusory Self?
The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
Especially since his current confusion stemmed not from an inability to transcend his Ego, but from an inability to recognize himself.
Perhaps the reason he couldn’t recognize himself was that he didn’t know which one was his original self—the Id.
Damn it all!
If this really were the case, then this matter had just blown up into something enormous.
Just then, the Old Monk’s voice came again: “Layman Gu need not worry.”
“Worry about what?”
Gu Qingfeng thought carefully, then asked, “Old Monk, do you know what I’m worrying about?”
“This old monk can tell Layman Gu with certainty that Venerable Wu Dao and Original Sin are not the same existence.”
“What do you mean?”
Gazing at the misty Jiemie Mountain, Gu Qingfeng asked, “Are you saying that Venerable Wu Dao and Original Sin are ultimately not the same thing?”
“Amitabha.”
The Old Monk responded, “Venerable Wu Dao is Original Sin, but Original Sin is not Venerable Wu Dao. Between Venerable Wu Dao and Original Sin, there is only Karma; they are not the same existence.”
“But in the legends, isn’t it said that Venerable Wu Dao ultimately transformed into the Original Sin Source, hailed as the Original Sin Progenitor?”
“That is merely legend, not to be taken as truth.”
“If Venerable Wu Dao isn’t the Original Sin Progenitor, then where did the Original Sin Source come from?
And why is it connected to Venerable Wu Dao?”
“This old monk does not know.”
“Aren’t you from the Wu Dao Era?
How can you not know even this?
Is it that you don’t know, or that you don’t wish to say?”
“This old monk truly does not know.”
Whether the Old Monk truly didn’t know or didn’t wish to say, Gu Qingfeng had no way of knowing. Nor did he press further. Having dealt with the Old Monk for so long, he understood clearly that even if the Old Monk knew but didn’t want to speak, there was nothing he could do about it. He asked another question.
“Why did Venerable Wu Dao transform into three thousand Illusory Selves when he vanished back then?”
“This old monk does not know.”
“Another case of ‘ask three times and get three don’t-knows’.”
Gu Qingfeng shook his head helplessly. “But, Old Monk, when you said just now that I need not worry, were you deliberately teasing me?
If Venerable Wu Dao and Original Sin were the same thing, that would already be terrifying enough. But if Venerable Wu Dao and Original Sin are not the same thing, then it’s even more terrifying.”
“Why?”
“Why even ask?”
Gu Qingfeng laughed. “I used to think that as long as I could shake off Original Sin, I’d be free. Now you’re telling me that not only am I an Original Sin body, but I’m also an Illusory Self. In other words, what I’m facing now isn’t just Original Sin, but also, damn it, Venerable Wu Dao.”