by Unknown
Having tethered the horse and set down the poles, Tripitaka led his three disciples to bow to Buddha, each pressing his palms together in front of him. Tathāgata said to the Tang Monk, “The efficacy of these scriptures cannot be measured. Not only are they the mirror of our faith, but they are also the source of the Three Religions. They must not be lightly handled, especially when you return to your South Jambūdvīpa Continent and display them to the multitude. No one should open a scroll without fasting and bathing first. Treasure them! Honor them! Therein will be found the mysteries of gaining immortality and comprehending the Way, the wondrous formulas for the execution of ten thousand transformations.” Tripitaka kowtowed to thank him and to express his faith and obedience. As before, he prostrated himself in homage three times to the Buddhist Patriarch with all earnestness and sincerity before he took the scriptures and left. As he went through the three monastery gates, he again thanked each of the sages, and we shall speak no more of him for the moment.
After he had sent away the Tang Monk, Tathāgata dismissed the assembly for the transmission of scriptures. From one side stepped forth the Bodhisattva Guanshiyin, who pressed her palms together to say to the Buddhist Patriarch, “This disciple received your golden decree that year to search for someone in the Land of the East to be a scripture seeker. Today he has succeeded. Altogether, his journey took fourteen years, or five thousand and forty days. Eight more days and the perfect canonical number will be attained. Would you permit me to surrender in return your golden decree?”
Highly pleased, Tathāgata said, “What you said is most appropriate. You are certainly permitted to surrender my golden decree.” He then gave this instruction to the Eight Vajra Guardians: “Quickly exercise your magic powers to lift the sage monk back to the East. As soon as he has imparted the true scriptures to the people there, bring him back here to the West. You must accomplish all this within eight days, so as to fulfill the perfect canonical number of five thousand and forty-eight. Do not delay.” The Vajra Guardians at once caught up with the Tang Monk, crying, “Scripture seekers, follow us!” The Tang Monk and his companions, all with healthy frames and buoyant bodies, followed the Vajra Guardians to rise in the air astride the clouds. Truly
Their minds enlightened, they bowed to Buddha;
Merit perfected, they ascended on high.
We do not know how they will pass on the scriptures after they have returned to the Land of the East; let’s listen to the explanation in the next chapter.
NINETY-NINE
Nine times nine ends the count and Māra’s all destroyed;
The work of three times three1 done, the Dao reverts to its root.
We shall not speak of the Eight Vajra Guardians escorting the Tang Monk back to his nation. We turn instead to those Guardians of the Five Quarters, the Four Sentinels, the Six Gods of Darkness and the Six Gods of Light, and the Guardians of Monasteries, who appeared before the triple gates and said to the Bodhisattva Guanyin, “Your disciples had received the Bodhisattva’s dharma decree to give secret protection to the sage monk. Now that the work of the sage monk is completed, and the Bodhisattva has returned the Buddhist Patriarch’s golden decree to him, we too request permission from the Bodhisattva to return your dharma decree to you.”
Highly pleased also, the Bodhisattva said, “Yes, yes! You have my permission.” Then she asked, “What was the disposition of the four pilgrims during their journey?”
“They showed genuine devotion and determination,” replied the various deities, “which could hardly have escaped the penetrating observation of the Bodhisattva. The Tang Monk, after all, had endured unspeakable sufferings. Indeed, all the ordeals that he had to undergo throughout his journey have been recorded by your disciples. Here is the complete account.” The Bodhisattva started to read the registry from its beginning, and this was the content:
The Guardians in obedience to your decree
Record with care the Tang Monk’s calamities.
Gold Cicada banished is the first ordeal [see chap. 8];2
Being almost killed after birth is the second ordeal [chap. 9];
Being thrown in the river hardly a month old is the third ordeal [chap. 9];
Seeking parents and their vengeance is the fourth ordeal [chap. 9];
Meeting a tiger after leaving the city is the fifth ordeal [chap. 13];
Falling into a pit and losing followers is the sixth ordeal [chap. 13];
The Double-Fork Ridge is the seventh ordeal [chap. 13];
The Mountain of Two Frontiers is the eighth ordeal [chap. 13];
Changing horse at a steep brook is the ninth ordeal [chap. 15];
Burning by fire at night is the tenth ordeal [chap. 16];
Losing the cassock is the eleventh ordeal [chap. 16];
Bringing Eight Rules to submission is the twelfth ordeal [chaps. 18–19];
Being blocked by the Yellow Wind Fiend is the thirteenth ordeal [chap. 20];
Seeking aid with Lingji is the fourteenth ordeal [chap. 21];
Hard to cross Flowing-Sand is the fifteenth ordeal [chap. 22];
Taking in Sha Monk is the sixteenth ordeal [chap. 22];
The Four Sages’ epiphany is the seventeenth ordeal [chap. 23];
The Five Villages Temple is the eighteenth ordeal [chap. 24];
The ginseng hard to revive is the nineteenth ordeal [chap. 26];
Banishing the Mind Monkey is the twentieth ordeal [chap. 27];
Getting lost at Black Pine Forest is the twenty-first ordeal [chap. 28];
Sending a letter to Precious Image Kingdom is the twenty-second ordeal [chap. 29];
Changing into a tiger at the Golden Chimes Hall is the twenty-third ordeal [chap. 30];
Meeting demons at Level-Top Mountain is the twenty-fourth ordeal [chap. 32];
Being hung high at Lotus-Flower Cave is the twenty-fifth ordeal [chap. 33];
Saving the ruler of Black Rooster Kingdom is the twenty-sixth ordeal [chap. 37];
Running into a demon’s transformed body is the twenty-seventh ordeal [chap. 37];
Meeting a fiend in Roaring Mountain is the twenty-eighth ordeal [chap. 40];
The sage monk abducted by wind is the twenty-ninth ordeal [chap. 40];
The Mind Monkey being injured is the thirtieth ordeal [chap. 41];
Asking the sage to subdue monsters is the thirty-first ordeal [chap. 42];
Sinking in the Black River is the thirty-second ordeal [chap. 43];
Hauling at Cart Slow Kingdom is the thirty-third ordeal [chap. 44];
A mighty contest is the thirty-fourth ordeal [chaps. 45–46];
Expelling Daoists to prosper Buddhists is the thirty-fifth ordeal [chap. 47];
Meeting a great water on the road is the thirty-sixth ordeal [chap. 47];
Falling into the Heaven-Reaching River is the thirty-seventh ordeal [chap. 48];
The Fish-Basket revealing her body is the thirty-eighth ordeal [chap. 49];
Meeting a fiend at Golden Helmet Mountain is the thirty-ninth ordeal [chap. 50];
Heaven’s gods find it hard to win is the fortieth ordeal [chaps. 51–52];
Asking the Buddha for the source is the forty-first ordeal [chap. 52];
Being poisoned after drinking water is the forty-second ordeal [chap. 53];
Detained for marriage at Western Liang Kingdom is the forty-third ordeal [chap. 54];
Suffering at the Cave of the Lute is the forty-fourth ordeal [chap. 55];
Banishing again the Mind Monkey is the forty-fifth ordeal [chap. 56];
The macaque hard to distinguish is the forty-sixth ordeal [chaps. 57–58];
The road blocked at the Mountain of Flames is the forty-seventh ordeal [chap. 59];
Seeking the palm-leaf fan is the forty-eighth ordeal [chaps. 59–60];
Binding the demon king is the forty-ninth ordeal [chap. 61];
Sweeping the pagoda at Sacrifice Kingdom is the fiftieth ordeal [chap. 62];
Recovering the treasure t
o save the monks is the fifty-first ordeal [chap. 63];
Chanting poetry at the Brambled Forest is the fifty-second ordeal [chap. 64];
Meeting disaster at Little Thunderclap is the fifty-third ordeal [chap. 65];
The celestial gods being imprisoned is the fifty-fourth ordeal [chap. 66];
Being blocked by filth at Pulpy Persimmon Alley is the fifty-fifth ordeal [chap. 67];
Applying medication at the Scarlet-Purple Kingdom is the fifty-sixth ordeal [chaps. 68–69];
Healing fatigue and infirmity is the fifty-seventh ordeal [chaps. 68–69];
Subduing monster to recover a queen is the fifty-eighth ordeal [chaps. 69–71];
Delusion by the seven passions is the fifty-ninth ordeal [chap. 72];
Being wounded by Many Eyes is the sixtieth ordeal [chap. 73];
The way blocked at the Lion-Camel Kingdom is the sixty-first ordeal [chaps. 74–75];
The fiends divided into three colors is the sixty-second ordeal [chaps. 74–77];
Meeting calamity in the city is the sixty-third ordeal [chaps. 76–77];
Requesting Buddha to subdue the demons is the sixty-fourth ordeal [chap. 77];
Rescuing the lads at Bhikṣu is the sixty-fifth ordeal [chap. 78];
Distinguishing the true from the deviate is the sixty-sixth ordeal [chap. 79];
Saving a fiend at a pine forest is the sixty-seventh ordeal [chap. 80]:
Falling sick in a priestly chamber is the sixty-eighth ordeal [chap. 81];
Being imprisoned at the Bottomless Cave is the sixty-ninth ordeal [chaps. 81–83];
Difficulty in going through Dharma-Destroying Kingdom is the seventieth ordeal [chap. 84];
Meeting demons at Mist-Concealing Mountain is the seventy-first ordeal [chaps. 85–86];
Seeking rain at Phoenix-Immortal Prefecture is the seventy-second ordeal [chap. 87];
Losing their weapons is the seventy-third ordeal [chap. 88];
The festival of the rake is the seventy-fourth ordeal [chap. 89];
Meeting disaster at Bamboo-Knot Mountain is the seventy-fifth ordeal [chap. 90];
Suffering at Mysterious Flower Cave is the seventy-sixth ordeal [chap. 91];
Capturing the rhinoceroses is the seventy-seventh ordeal [chap. 92];
Being forced to marry at India is the seventy-eighth ordeal [chaps. 93–95];
Jailed at Bronze Estrade Prefecture is the seventy-ninth ordeal [chap. 97];
Delivered of mortal stock at Cloud-Transcending Ferry is the eightieth ordeal [chap. 98];
The journey: one hundred and eight thousand miles.
The sage monk’s ordeals are clearly on file.
After the Bodhisattva had read through the entire registry of ordeals, she said hurriedly, “Within our gate of Buddhism, nine times nine is the crucial means by which one returns to perfection. The sage monk has undergone eighty ordeals. Because one ordeal, therefore, is still lacking, the sacred number is not yet complete.”
At once she gave this order to one of the Guardians: “Catch the Vajra Guardians and create one more ordeal.” Having received this command, the Guardian soared toward the east astride the clouds. After a night and a day he caught the Vajra Guardians and whispered in their ears, “Do this and this . . . ! Don’t fail to obey the dharma decree of the Bodhisattva.” On hearing these words, the Eight Vajra Guardians immediately retrieved the wind that had borne aloft the four pilgrims, dropping them and the horse bearing the scriptures to the ground. Alas! Truly such is
Nine times nine, hard task of immortality!
Firmness of will yields the mysterious key.
By bitter toil you must the demons spurn;
Cultivation will the proper way return.
Regard not the scriptures as easy things.
So many are the sage monk’s sufferings!
Learn of the old, wondrous Kinship of the Three:3
Elixir won’t gel if there’s slight errancy.
When his feet touched profane ground, Tripitaka became terribly frightened. Eight Rules, however, roared with laughter, saying, “Good! Good! Good! This is exactly a case of ‘More haste, less speed’!”
“Good! Good! Good!” said Sha Monk. “Because we’ve speeded up too much, they want us to take a little rest here.” “Have no worry,” said the Great Sage. “As the proverb says,
For ten days you sit on the shore;
In one day you may pass nine beaches.”
“Stop matching your wits, you three!” said Tripitaka. “Let’s see if we can tell where we are.” Looking all around, Sha Monk said, “I know the place! I know the place! Master, listen to the sound of water!”
Pilgrim said, “The sound of water, I suppose, reminds you of your ancestral home.” “Which is the Flowing-Sand River,” said Eight Rules. “No! No!” said Sha Monk. “This happens to be the Heaven-Reaching River.” Tripitaka said, “O Disciples! Take a careful look and see which side of the river we’re on.”
Vaulting into the air, Pilgrim shielded his eyes with his hand and took a careful survey of the place before dropping down once more. “Master,” he said, “this is the west bank of the Heaven-Reaching River.”
“Now I remember,”4 said Tripitaka. “There was a Chen Village on the east bank. When we arrived here that year, you rescued their son and daughter. In their gratitude to us, they wanted to make a boat to take us across. Eventually we were fortunate enough to get across on the back of a white turtle. I recall, too, that there was no human habitation whatever on the west bank. What shall we do this time?”
“I thought that only profane people would practice this sort of fraud,” said Eight Rules. “Now I know that even the Vajra Guardians before the face of Buddha can practice fraud! Buddha commanded them to take us back east. How could they just abandon us in mid-journey? Now we’re in quite a bind! How are we going to get across?” “Stop grumbling, Second Elder Brother!” said Sha Monk. “Our master has already attained the Way, for he had already been delivered from his mortal frame previously at the Cloud-Transcending Ferry. This time he can’t possibly sink in water. Let’s all of us exercise our magic of Displacement and take Master across.”
“You can’t take him over! You can’t take him over!” said Pilgrim, chuckling to himself. Now, why did he say that? If he were willing to exercise his magic powers and reveal the mystery of flight, master and disciples could cross even a thousand rivers. He knew, however, that the Tang Monk had not yet perfected the sacred number of nine times nine. That one remaining ordeal made it necessary for them to be detained at the spot.
As master and disciples conversed and walked slowly up to the edge of the water, they suddenly heard someone calling, “Tang Sage Monk! Tang Sage Monk! Come this way! Come this way!” Startled, the four of them looked all around but could not see any sign of a human being or a boat. Then they caught sight of a huge, white, scabby-headed turtle at the shoreline. “Old Master,” he cried with outstretched neck, “I have waited for you for so many years! Have you returned only at this time?”
“Old Turtle,” replied Pilgrim, smiling, “we troubled you in a year past, and today we meet again.” Tripitaka, Eight Rules, and Sha Monk could not have been more pleased. “If indeed you want to serve us,” said Pilgrim, “come up on the shore.” The turtle crawled up the bank. Pilgrim told his companions to guide the horse onto the turtle’s back. As before, Eight Rules squatted at the rear of the horse, while the Tang Monk and Sha Monk took up positions to the left and to the right of the horse. With one foot on the turtle’s head and another on his neck, Pilgrim said, “Old Turtle, go steadily.”
His four legs outstretched, the old turtle moved through the water as if he were on dry level ground, carrying all five of them—master, disciples, and the horse—straight toward the eastern shore. Thus it is that
In Advaya’s5 gate will Dharma profound
Reveal Heav’n and Earth and demons confound.
The original visage now they see;
Causes find per
fection in one body.
Freely they move when Triyāna’s won,
And when the elixir’s nine turns are done.
The luggage and the staff there’s no need to tote,
Glad to return on old turtle afloat.
Carrying the pilgrims on his back, the old turtle trod on the waves and proceeded for more than half a day. Late in the afternoon they were near the eastern shore when he suddenly asked this question: “Old Master, in that year when I took you across, I begged you to question Tathāgata, once you got to see him, when I would find my sought-after refuge and how much longer would I live. Did you do that?”
Now, that elder, since his arrival at the Western Heaven, had been preoccupied with bathing in the Jade Perfection Abbey, being renewed at Cloud-Transcending Ferry, and bowing to the various sage monks, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas. When he walked up the Spirit Mountain, he fixed his thought on the worship of Buddha and on the acquisition of scriptures, completely banishing from his mind all other concerns. He did not, of course, ask about the allotted age of the old turtle. Not daring to lie, however, he fell silent and did not answer the question for a long time. Perceiving that Tripitaka had not asked the Buddha for him, the old turtle shook his body once and dove with a splash into the depths. The four pilgrims, the horse, and the scriptures all fell into the water as well. Ah! It was fortunate that the Tang Monk had cast off his mortal frame and attained the Way. If he were like the person he had been before, he would have sunk straight to the bottom. The white horse, moreover, was originally a dragon, while Eight Rules and Sha Monk both were quite at home in the water. Smiling broadly, Pilgrim made a great display of his magic powers by hauling the Tang Monk right out of the water and onto the eastern shore. But the scriptures, the clothing, and the saddle were completely soaked.
Master and disciples had just climbed up the riverbank when suddenly a violent gale arose; the sky darkened immediately and both thunder and lightning began as rocks and grit flew everywhere. What they felt was
