Journey to the West: Beginning with the Apprenticeship of Bodhi Patriarch

Chapter 106: The Great Sage descends from the Five Elements Mountain, and the true practice begins

But it is said that the Bull Demon King paid homage to the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara of the South China Sea and asked where he came from.

The traveler Hui An asked, "Is your master the Taoist Master Guangxin?"

The Bull Demon King said: "My master is the Master Guangxin."

Upon hearing this, Guanyin Bodhisattva stepped forward, clasped his hands and said, "I have come here to tell the Great Sage Equaling Heaven that he has caused trouble in the Heavenly Palace. Please ask the Bull King to inform Master Guangxin and Brother Bodhi."

The Bull Demon King bowed and said, "Please wait a moment, Bodhisattva. I will go and inform you."

Say it.

The Bull King entered the cave and did not dare to make any mistakes.

Traveler Hui An watched the Bull King enter the cave and said, "This Bull King is quite capable. Master and I watched him from afar at the South Heaven Gate before. His martial arts skills are not inferior to those of the Great Sage."

Guanyin Bodhisattva said: "In the past, this Bull King was in Xiniuhezhou and had some fame and ability. Now that he is practicing with Master Guangxin, he should be returning to the right path."

……

Not long after, the master who was meditating and cultivating his nature came out of the cave with Jiang Yuan, and greeted Guanyin Bodhisattva. They then invited the Bodhisattva and the monk Hui'an into the cave, entered the pavilion, and sat down at a table, without any discrepancy in manners.

The master asked, "I wonder why the Bodhisattva has come?"

Guanyin Bodhisattva clasped his hands and bowed, saying, "Brother Daoist, you have come here for a great sacred cause."

The master asked, "How do you say that?"

The Bodhisattva said, "To be honest, Brother Dao, recently the World Honored One was sitting in the Dharma Hall and preaching. I heard that Youyi Lingguan and Yisheng Zhenjun, two saints, came and told me the will of the Jade Emperor. So the Great Saint was captured by Zhenren and sent to the Heavenly Realm, but he could not be hurt by knives, axes, fire, or lightning. So Laojun used civil and military fire to calcine him for seven times, but he could not be hurt. The Great Saint came out of the furnace and made a big fuss in the Heavenly Palace. He almost entered the Lingxiao Palace and alarmed the Jade Emperor. Fortunately, Wang Lingguan and thirty-six thunder generals fought to the death to stop the Great Saint. Now the Jade Emperor has ordered the World Honored One to rescue and refine the demon. The World Honored One sent me here to talk to you about this."

The master said, "Please ask the Bodhisattva to report to the Buddha that this disciple left the sect long ago and cannot be counted."

The Bodhisattva said, "I know this matter, but I am not your disciple, so I am telling you about it."

The master said: "If one's mind is unsteady and one has two minds, disaster will occur. Such disasters are destined by heaven."

The Bodhisattva said: "Brother Dao, you have so many outstanding people under your tutelage. When I entered the mansion, I saw someone who had achieved the right result. There is also Master Guangxin under your tutelage, a great saint who left the same sect as you. It is something to be envied."

The master smiled and said, "It is not worthy of a Bodhisattva to explain it, but just some of the Dharma of fate."

The Bodhisattva said, "In this case, I will leave."

The master tried to keep him.

The Bodhisattva said, "Now that the World Honored One has left the Dharma Hall, I am afraid that there will be more chaos, so I will go back."

The ancestor said, "In this case, I will not keep you."

The master and his disciple escorted the Bodhisattva and the monk Hui'an out of the cave before returning to the quiet room in Yaotai.

In the quiet room, the real person waited for the ancestor to sit down, and Fang sat down and asked, "Master."

The master asked, "Boy, what you are asking is about Wukong."

Jiang Yuan nodded and said, "Master, I can't hide it from you."

The master said: "You can practice with peace of mind. Wukong's immortal body will be flawless and his life will not be in danger."

Jiang Yuan said: "Master, is Wukong's fate predetermined?"

The master replied, "If one does not cultivate his mind, disasters will come upon him."

Jiang Yuan said: "There are so many changes, is there any way to avoid the disaster?"

The ancestor said: "This calamity comes from within the body. Even if there are thousands of changes, it cannot be avoided. When the mind is settled, the five people will be subdued, the original spirit will be used, and the calamity will disappear."

Jiang Yuan sighed and said, "Master, this is so difficult. My supernatural power is already complete, and now I have to subdue five more people and use their minds. This is not a trivial task."

The master said, "My boy, it is not easy for you to achieve enlightenment."

Jiang Yuan then bowed and said, "Master, I understand now."

The master asked, "Tong'er, how is your practice going recently?"

Jiang Yuan replied: "My disciple has developed some Dharma nature recently, and has mastered the 108 Great Dharmas, the Universe in My Sleeves, etc."

The ancestor nodded and said, "You should cultivate your nature and wait for a while. The old man will come soon."

Jiang Yuan sang a yes.

……

It is said that outside the Tongming Hall in the Heavenly Palace, the Monkey King was tireless and still fighting with the thirty-seven gods. With his three heads and six arms, he danced three iron rods like spinning wheels, fighting against the gods in an unruly manner.

After a while, Tathagata received the order and came, entered the South Heaven Gate, and with deep wisdom, he looked at the Tongming Palace from afar. Seeing this fierce battle, he issued an order: "Tell the Thunder General and the Spirit Officer to stop fighting, make way, and let the Great Sage come out. I will ask him what magic power he has to cause such a disturbance in the Heavenly Palace."

The decree was passed down, and the generals put away their magical powers, retreated far away, and guarded the Lingxiao Palace.

The Great Sage withdrew his three heads and six arms, and upon hearing the command, and seeing Tathagata approaching, he swung up his golden cudgel, and became extremely angry, shouting, "Where are you from? How dare you block my path!"

Tathagata said with a smile: "I am the Venerable Sakyamuni from the Western Paradise, Namo Amitabha. I heard that you are rampant and making a big fuss in the Heavenly Palace. I don't know where you are from and why you are so violent."

The Great Sage said, "I am from the Water Curtain Cave in the Flower-Fruit Mountain in the Eastern Continent of the Gods. I have many supernatural powers, including eternal life, seventy-two transformations, the ability to ride the somersault cloud, and a leap of 108,000 miles, and many other supernatural powers. Now that the Jade Emperor is unvirtuous, it is fitting that I should be placed on the throne of heaven."

The Monkey King is so arrogant that he wants to occupy the sky. How can anyone tell?

Tathagata said, "You are a monkey spirit, how can you claim to occupy the heavenly palace? Do you know that the Jade Emperor has practiced since childhood and experienced 1,750 kalpas? You have only calculated how many years a kalpa takes. You are a monkey spirit, born as a human being, and you have practiced so hard that you have not experienced a kalpa. Your mind is restless and your thoughts are unsettled. How dare you speak so wildly? I hope you will convert as soon as possible and stop talking nonsense. Otherwise, you will be killed sooner or later. It's a pity that your true face will be lost and your cries will be unknown."

The Great Sage said, "How can the beauty of the Heavenly Palace be measured in years of calamity? If so, I have cultivated to such an extent that no calamity can come, and I have defeated all the gods so that they are helpless. Shouldn't I be the one to sit in Heavenly Palace? As the saying goes, 'The throne is passed in turns, and next year it will be my turn.' If I only ask the old Jade Emperor to move out, and Heavenly Palace will be given to me, I will put an end to the war. What's the use of talking about the mind, talking about the will, and talking about cultivating the mind? It's useless, useless! Look at my boundless magical power, who can do anything to me?"

Tathagata said with a smile: "Since you have boundless magical powers, why don't I make a bet with you?"

The Great Sage swung his golden cudgel and asked, "What do you mean?"

Tathagata said, "You say that your magic power is boundless. In this case, if you can jump out of my palm with a somersault, you win. I will not persuade you any more and will retreat on my own. If you cannot jump out of my palm, you can go down to the mortal world as a demon and cultivate for a few more kalpas before you come to argue with me. How do you think?"

When the Great Sage heard this, he laughed inwardly, thinking that since Tathagata had the Somersault Cloud and could fly a great distance of 180,000 miles, how could he not jump out of his palm? This Tathagata was very stupid.

The Great Sage agreed and said, "In this case, you may watch carefully."

Tathagata said: "Of course I am optimistic."

Say it.

Tathagata stretched out his right hand, which was as big as a lotus leaf.

The Great Sage leaped down and entered the palm of Tathagata, but saw green air rising from the palm of Tathagata. The Great Sage was confused and didn't know what to do, so he shouted "Get out", somersaulted and leaped out.

The Tathagata used his magical powers, and saw that the Great Sage never left his palm, but just somersaulted in his palm like a windmill, moving back and forth non-stop. The Tathagata thought to himself, "This monkey spirit was born from heaven and earth, and learned from Bodhi, so he has great magical powers. But I didn't expect that he practiced cultivation without cultivating his mind, and now he can't even see my magical powers. He should suffer a calamity, so that he can be perfected and recognize his true face."

He lowered his head to take a closer look. He saw that the monkey spirit had been spinning for who knows how long, and it actually urinated on his fingertips, then transformed it into a double-bristled brush with thick ink and began to write on his fingertips, writing 'The Great Sage Equaling Heaven was here'.

Tathagata was not annoyed and smiled at the monkey spirit in his palm.

Not long after, the Great Sage looked up, as if awakening from a dream, and looked at Tathagata, saying, "I have gone before, but now I am here, and you should leave."

Tathagata asked, "When have you ever been there?"

The Great Sage said, "You have little magical power, but you don't know that I can jump out of your palm and travel a great distance. When I reach the end of the sky, there are five pillars. I will leave a mark there for you to recognize."

Tathagata scolded, "You monkey spirit, just keep your head down."

When the Great Sage heard this, he looked down and saw that on his finger was written the words 'The Great Sage Equaling Heaven was here'. He panicked and said, "How can this be possible? I don't believe it. Let me go and take another look."

Having said this, the Great Sage leaped away.

How could Tathagata tolerate his insolence? He took advantage of the situation and flipped his palm over, using his great supernatural power. Infinite light appeared and he pushed the Great Sage out of the Western Paradise. He then transformed the Five Finger Mountain into five elements and pressed him down in the Southern Continent.

The Monkey King was submissive and used his mountain-carrying ability to overturn the Five Elements Mountain. However, the Five Elements Mountain could not hold the Monkey King.

The Tathagata ordered the two venerables, Ananda and Kasyapa, to take a piece of paper with the golden words "Om Mani Padme Hum" on it and to post it on the mountain to satisfy the great sage's desire.

The Tathagata is compassionate and summoned the local land and the five Jiedis to live in this mountain to guard the Great Sage and prevent him from escaping. If the Great Sage is hungry, he will give him iron balls to eat, and if he is thirsty, he will give him copper juice to drink. He will suffer from the disaster. This is to stop the five people in his body from causing trouble. When the disaster is over, he will be free.

After the demon monkey was subdued in the Heavenly Palace, a heavenly assembly was held to invite the Tathagata. We will not discuss this here for the time being.

……

Lingtai Fangcun Mountain, Xieyue Sanxing Cave, in a quiet room.

The immortal sat cross-legged on a cushion, cultivating his nature and practicing Taoism. He felt something in his heart and looked towards the southern continent of Jambudvīpa. He did not have great magical powers to observe the three realms, but he knew that the monkey might be pressed under the mountain by Tathagata and could not move.

Jiang Yuan knew what was going on, and thought to himself, "Monkey, your true cultivation begins today. What's the point of supernatural powers? Only when you practice tranquility and return to the truth can you achieve true cultivation. Monkey, you should know the difference between true cultivation and false cultivation."

The real person closed his eyes and rested, not thinking any more.

……

Time flies, and before I knew it, three years have passed.

One day, purple air came from the east, and a distinguished person was about to arrive. In the Sanxing Immortal Cave, the ancestor and the immortal both felt something in their hearts. They came out of the quiet room and walked outside the mansion together to wait for the distinguished person.

Not long after, Taishang Laojun came riding a green ox on auspicious clouds and landed in front of the mansion.

The ancestor came forward to greet him.

Jiang Yuan bowed and said, "Greetings to the Lord Lao."

The old man handed the cow rope to Jiang Yuan and said with a smile: "Don't be so polite, you keep an eye on this cow, don't let it get away."

Jiang Yuan took the rope and led the cow to the side of the mansion. After a closer look, he found that the rope in his hand was actually a robe belt tied to the cow's nose ring. He was a Taoist immortal and knew that both the rope and the nose ring were treasures.

He tied the rope outside the mansion, patted the blue ox gently, and asked, "I haven't seen you for many years. How are you?"

The blue ox raised its head and called out, as if in response.

The old man laughed and said, "You, Guangxin, what do you have to say to that cow? Follow me and Bodhi into the palace."

Jiang Yuan responded and called the Bull Demon King who was not far away, asking him to keep an eye on the green bull and not let it escape.

The Bull King took the order and sat outside the palace, staring at the green bull. One was the Green Bull of Laojun, and the other was the White Bull of Zhenren.

……

In the Sanxing Immortal Cave, Laojun and the Patriarch, along with Jiang Yuan, sat on the pavilion.

The ancestor ordered the immortal to get red dates, fragrant tea and other things and offer them to Laojun. After the offerings were made, the immortal sat down.

Laojun said, "Bodhi, the monkeys you taught can cause chaos in the Heavenly Palace for a long time."

The master said: "That monkey was created by heaven and earth, and he left the sect long ago. Don't say this. Now that monkey has been subdued, the Heavenly Palace will be at peace."

Laojun smiled and said, "That monkey is quite clever. He hid himself in the Xun position so that the fire could not burn him. If he could concentrate and cultivate for a few kalpas, he would be quite capable. He still does not know Bodhi. What is the matter with you inviting me here today?"

The master pointed to Jiang Yuan and said, "It is for this matter of the boy that we invite Laojun to come."

Laojun looked at Jiang Yuan for a long time and said, "What's the matter with Guangxin? His immortal body is flawless, his holy fetus resides in the Niwan, he has achieved immortal appearance, he is invulnerable to all kinds of magic, and he has cultivated his mind in a proper way. Moreover, I have seen Guangxin's supernatural powers subdue that monkey. He achieved his supernatural powers in the blink of an eye. What's the matter with him?"

The master said, "I will teach him to practice 'alchemy'. I cannot pass on this magical power, so I ask Laojun to teach him. I wonder if Laojun is willing to teach this boy a few magical powers."

When Laojun heard this, he was surprised and asked, "How could you teach him such magical powers so early?"

He looked at Jiang Yuan again and said, "It's not too early for Guangxin to do this. However, this supernatural power is difficult to learn. It is impossible to learn it unless one has an unshakable heart of Taoism."

The master looked at Jiang Yuan with a smile.

Jiang Yuan then stood up and bowed, saying, "Laojun, I do have a heart for Taoism."

Laojun said: "Guangxin, you and I are destined to be together. In the past, you protected me on my journey to the west. If you want to learn this magical power, I will teach you, but you must know that alchemy is difficult to learn."

Jiang Yuan said, "In the past, I was deeply blessed by my master, who accepted me as his disciple and gave me the Dharma name Guangxin. I have practiced hard for hundreds of years, subdued five people, set up the tripod, collected herbs, controlled the fire, cooked, nurtured, had sex, and finally made the elixir. I don't know how many times I have been in life and death. I was born in Jambudvīpa, not created by heaven and earth. How can practicing be difficult? My life is really thinner than paper. It's not that my heart of Taoism is unshakable. I would have died long ago, but now I am here, why am I afraid of difficulties and not moving forward?"

After hearing this, Laojun pondered for a long time and said, "Since Guangxin has a heart for Taoism, I should pass on this magical power of alchemy to you."

The master smiled and thanked him.

Jiang Yuan also performed a great ceremony to express his gratitude to Laojun.

Laojun shook his head and said, "I can only teach you this magical power. Whether you can learn it depends entirely on you, Guangxin. You must have an unwavering heart to have the opportunity to learn it fully. Therefore, there is no need for such a great gift."

The ancestor shook his head and said, "It is alright to pay respect to you for your kindness in imparting the teachings. I'll trouble you, Old Master, to look after my child."

Laojun said: "Guangxin and I have a predestined relationship. Don't say that. I have some predestined relationship with you when I come to the lower world this time. After a few years, when I return to heaven, how about asking Guangxin to return to Tushita Palace with me?"

The ancestor said: "Of course there is nothing wrong with that."

Jiang Yuan thanked Laojun again.

Laojun smiled and said, "No need to be so polite. I wonder what the matter is that caused you, Bodhi, to call me here. I will not stay for long. I will go to the human world to teach those who are predestined to follow the Dharma so that they will not lose their true nature. If they lose their true nature, they will have to wait until they are reincarnated."

The master was unable to persuade Laojun to stay, so he had to see him off from Sanxing Immortal Cave with Jiang Yuan.

Laojun left the Sanxing Cave, rode on the green ox, and flew away to the southern continent on a cloud...

(End of this chapter)