Wu Cheng-en - Journey to the West (vol. 1)

This lyric poem is set to the tune Su Wu Man. Our story goes on to how our Buddha, the Tathagata, left the Jade Emperor and went back to the Thunder Monastery, where he saw the three thousand Buddhas, five hundred Arhats, eight great Vajrapanis and countless Bodhisattvas standing under the pairs of sala trees at the foot of the Vulture Peak, all holding banners, canopies, jewels and magical flowers. The Tathagata brought his propitious cloud to a halt and addressed them thus:

“With my deep insight

I surveyed the Three Worlds.

The origin of nature

Is ultimately emptiness,

Like the great void,

Containing nothing at all.

The subjection of this evil monkey

Was a mystery beyond understanding.

It is called the beginning of life and death:

Such is the appearance of things.

When he had spoken a sacred light filled the sky with forty-two rainbows that linked North and South together. All who saw them bowed, and a moment later the Buddha gathered together some felicitous cloud and climbed to the supreme Lotus Throne, where he seated himself in majesty.

Then the three thousand Buddhas, the five hundred Arhats, the eight Vajrapanis and the four Bodhisattvas came forward to bow to him with their hands together and ask, “Who was it who wrecked the Heavenly Palace and ruined the Peach Banquet?”

“The wretch was a monkey fiend born on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit,” the Buddha replied, “whose towering crimes would beggar description. None of the heavenly generals were able to subdue him, and when Lord Lao Zi refined him with fire after Erlang had captured him, he was unharmed. When I went there he was in the middle of the thunder generals, giving a great display of his martial prowess and his spirit. I stopped the fighting and asked him what it was all about. He said that he had divine powers, was able to do transformations, and could ride a somersault cloud for thirty-six thousand miles at a single jump. I made a wager with him that he could not jump out of my hand, then grabbed him, turned my fingers into the Five Elements Mountain, and sealed him under it. The Jade Emperor opened wide the golden gates of the Jade Palace, and invited me to be the guest of honour at a Banquet to Celebrate Peace in Heaven he gave to thank me. After that I took my leave of him and came back here.” They were all delighted by the news and they congratulated him effusively, after which they withdrew group by group, each to go about his duties as all rejoiced in the divine truth. Indeed:

Propitious vapours filled Paradise,

Rainbows surround the Venerable One.

The Western Paradise, known as the best,

Is ruled by the dharma King of non-phenomenon.

Black apes are always offering fruit,

Deer hold flowers in their mouths;

Blue phoenixes dance,

Coloured birds call;

Sacred turtles offer long life,

Immortal cranes present magic mushrooms.

Here they peacefully enjoy the Pure Land of the Jetavana Park,

The infinite realms of the Dragon Palace.

Every day flowers bloom,

Fruit is always ripe.

Through practicing silence they return to the truth,

Achieving reality by contemplation.

There is no birth nor death;

They neither wax nor wane.

Mists follow them as they come and go;

Untouched by heat or cold, they do not notice the years.

One day, as the Buddha dwelt in the Thunder Monastery on the Vulture Peak, he called together all the other Buddhas, Arhats, guardian deities, Bodhisattvas, Vajrapanis, monks and nuns and said, “As we are beyond time, I don't know how long it has been since the crafty ape was subdued and Heaven pacified, but by earthly reckoning it must be about five hundred years. As today is a fine early autumn day and I have a precious bowl filled with a hundred kinds of rare flowers and a thousand varieties of exotic fruit, what would you say to our having an Ullambana Feast?” They all put their hands together and performed the reverence of going round him three times in acceptance. The Buddha then ordered Ananda to hold the bowl of flowers and fruit while Kasyapa laid them out. The hosts were moved to gratitude, which they expressed in verse.

The poem on happiness went:

The Star of Happiness shines bright before the Venerable One;

Gifts of happiness spread wide and deep, ever richer.

Fortune is boundless and lasts as long as the Earth;

A happy fate has the luck to be linked with Heaven.

Fields of happiness are widely sown and flourish every year;

The sea of happiness is mighty and deep, never changing.

Happiness fills Heaven and Earth, leaving legacies of happiness

Happiness grows beyond measure, eternally complete.

The poem on official rank went:

With rank as high as a mountain, coloured phoenixes call;

With rank ever increasing, we praise the evening star.

Salary raised to ten thousand bushels, and a healthy body;

Salary raised to a thousand tons, and the world at peace.

Rank and salary equaling Heaven, and eternal too;

Rank and fame as great as the sea, and even clearer.

Rank and favour continuing for ever, greatly to be admired;

Rank and nobility without bounds, like ten thousand kingdoms.

The poem on longevity went:

The Star of Longevity shines towards the Buddha;

The glories of the land of longevity start from here.

Fruits of longevity fill the bowls, glowing with good omen;

Longevity's flowers are newly plucked and placed on the lotus throne.

Poems of longevity, pure and elegant, full of rare conceits,

Songs of longevity sung with exquisite talent.

Life as long as sun and moon,

Life that will outlast both mountains and seas.

When the Bodhisattvas had presented all the poems they asked the Buddha to expound the fundamentals to them. Then the Tathagata opened his excellent mouth and expounded the great Law and retribution. He spoke about the wonderful scriptures of the Three Vehicles and the theory of the Five Aggregates as contained in the Surangama-sutra; the deities and nagas gathered round, and flowers came raining down in profusion. Indeed:

The meditating heart shines like the moon in a thousand rivers;

The true nature embraces ten thousand miles of sky.

When the Buddha had finished his sermon he said to the host, “I have observed that the morality of the living creatures of the four continents varies. In the Eastern Continent of Superior Body they worship Heaven and Earth, their minds are livery and they are even-tempered. In the Northern Kuru Continent they are given to killing living things, but they only do it to feed themselves; they are stupid and lazy by nature, but they do not trample much on others. Our Western Continent of Cattle-gift has people who neither covet nor kill. They nourish the vital essence and submerge the spirit; and although they produce no saints of the highest order, they all live to a ripe old age. But in the Southern Jambu Continent they are greedy and lecherous and delight in the sufferings of others; they go in for a great deal of killing and quarrelling. That continent can with truth be called a vicious field of tongues and mouths, an evil sea of disputation. I now have Three Stores of True Scriptures with which they can be persuaded to be good.”

On hearing this, all the Bodhisattvas put their hands together in submission, then went forward to ask, “What Three Stores of True Scriptures does the Tathagata have?”

“I have one store of the Vinaya, the law, which is about Heaven; one of Sastras, expositions which are concerned with Earth; and one of Sutras, or scriptures, which save ghosts. The Three Stores consist of fifteen thousand one hundred and forty-four scrolls in thirty-five classes. They are the scriptures for cultivating the truth, and the gate to real goodness. I want to send them to the Eastern lands because it is intolerable that the beings of that quarter should all be such stupid wretches who slander and defame the true word, do not understand the gist of my Law, and have lapsed from the orthodox Yogacara Sect. How am I to find one with the magic powers to go to the East, choose a worthy believer and bid him make the arduous crossing of a thousand mountain and ten thousand rivers in search of the scriptures until he finally comes to this abode of mine to receive them? When he does come they will be sent to the East for ever to convert all living beings, which will be a blessing as big as a mountain, a cause for congratulation as deep as the sea. Is anyone willing to go and find him?”