Chapter 8: Our Buddha Prepares the Scriptures for Paradise; Guanyin Receives the Charge and Goes to Chang'an

Ask at the gate of Chan. Countless have sought and sought,
only to grow old in vain at the end.
They grind brick for mirrors, hoard snow for grain,
and lose the best years of their youth.
Hair may swallow the sea, a mustard seed contain Mount Sumeru,
and the golden ascetic only smile.

But when awakening comes, it leaps beyond the ten stages and the three vehicles,
and leaves the four births and six roads stuck fast behind.
Who can hear, before the cliff where thought is cut off,
beneath the tree without shadow,
the cuckoo crying dawn in spring?
The road to Caoxi is perilous, the clouds over Vulture Peak run deep,
and the old friend's voice is lost there.

A thousand-zhang wall of ice, five-petaled lotuses opening,
old temple curtains hanging in fragrant threads.
In that hour, once the source and current are seen through,
the Dragon King's three treasures appear at last.

This lyric is set to the tune Su Wu Man.

To return to the tale: after taking leave of the Jade Emperor, the Tathagata returned to Thunderclap in the holy realm of Lingshan. There the three thousand Buddhas, the five hundred arhats, the eight Vajra Kings, and innumerable bodhisattvas stood waiting for him beneath the twin sala trees, each holding jeweled banners, precious canopies, strange treasures, or immortal flowers in welcome.

The Tathagata drew up his auspicious cloud and said to them:

"With deep prajna I have surveyed the Three Realms. At root, original nature is stillness itself, the final extinction. It is one with empty space and possesses nothing. The subduing of that crooked monkey was a matter beyond knowing. From the name of birth and death onward, the marks of the Law are thus."

When he had spoken, he released the light of the relics. At once forty-two white rainbows filled the sky and stretched from south to north. The assembly, seeing this, bowed their whole bodies to the ground.

Soon afterward, amid clouds of celebration and colored mists, the Tathagata mounted the highest lotus throne and sat upright. Then the three thousand Buddhas, the five hundred arhats, the eight Vajra Kings, and the four great bodhisattvas came forward with palms joined and asked:

"What was that creature who threw Heaven into uproar and laid waste the Peach Banquet?"

The Tathagata said, "The wretch was a demon monkey born from Flower-Fruit Mountain. His crimes were sky-high and past telling. None of Heaven's generals could subdue him. Erlang Shen did manage to seize him, and Laozi refined him with fire, yet even then he took no hurt. When I arrived, he was in the midst of the thunder-generals showing off his might and his spirit. I halted the war and questioned him about his origin.

"He said he had powers, could transform himself, and rode a somersault-cloud that carried him a hundred and eight thousand li in one leap. So I made a wager with him. He could not escape my hand. I caught him in one grasp, turned my fingers into Five Elements Mountain, and pinned him there. The Jade Emperor then threw open his golden halls and jade palaces, seated me in the place of honor, and established the Peace-of-Heaven Assembly to thank me. Only after that did I take my leave and return."

The whole assembly rejoiced to hear it and praised him without restraint. When they had given thanks, each retired to his own rank, each took up his own charge, and all delighted together in the truth of Heaven.

Truly:

Auspicious haze spread across all India,
and rainbow light gathered about the World-Honored One.
In the West it was counted first of all places,
the gate of the formless Dharma-King.
There one forever saw dark apes offering fruit,
deer carrying flowers in their mouths,
green luan-birds dancing, bright phoenixes crying,
spirit turtles bearing longevity, immortal cranes carrying lingzhi.
There they enjoyed in peace the pure land and the Jeta Grove,
and made use of the Dragon Palace and the Dharma Realm.
Every day flowers opened; every hour fruit ripened.
They practiced stillness and returned to truth;
they studied Chan and made their fruition sure.
No death, no birth, no increase, no decrease.
Mists and sunset-clouds drifted where they would,
and neither heat nor cold touched them, so that years were no longer counted.

A verse says:

They come and go at ease, wandering as they please,
with neither fear nor sorrow.
In the field of utter bliss all lies open and level,
and in the great thousand-world no spring or autumn is known.

The Buddha dwelt in the Great Thunderclap Monastery on Lingshan. One day he summoned the Buddhas, arhats, jiedi, bodhisattvas, vajras, monks, and nuns, and said:

"Since subduing the crooked ape and bringing peace to Heaven, I have paid no heed to time. By now, I suppose, some five hundred years have passed in the mortal world. It is now the fifteenth day of the seventh month, the time of Ullambana. I have a precious basin prepared with a hundred kinds of rare flowers and a thousand kinds of strange fruits. Shall we share this Ullambana feast together?"

The whole assembly joined their palms, circled the Buddha three times in reverence, and received the command. The Tathagata then had Ananda hold the basin while Kasyapa distributed its flowers and fruits. The assembly, grateful, each offered verses in return.

The verse of Blessing said:

Blessing's star shines before the World-Honored One,
and blessing received grows deeper still and farther-reaching.
Blessing and virtue without bound endure as long as earth itself;
blessing and happy fate join with Heaven.
In blessing's field the seeds are sown wide, and year by year they flourish;
blessing's sea is broad and deep, and year by year it stands more firm.
Blessing fills Heaven and Earth with shade abundant,
and blessing grows measureless, complete forever.

The verse of Emolument said:

Emolument stands high as a mountain while colored phoenixes cry;
emolument follows the age's good fortune and blesses the Gold Star.
Ten thousand bushels more of it make the body sound and strong;
a thousand cups of it bring peace to the world.
Emolument equal to Heaven remains forever secure;
its fame like the sea grows only clearer.
The grace of emolument passes on afar and draws all eyes;
rank and title without bound bring glory to ten thousand lands.

The verse of Long Life said:

The Longevity Star sheds radiance before the Tathagata,
and from this point the realm of long life opens bright.
Longevity fruits piled on the tray breathe auspicious haze;
fresh longevity flowers are tucked into the lotus throne.
The poem of long life is pure and elegant, strange and fine;
the song of long life is set in noble tune.
May the span of life lengthen like sun and moon;
may long life stretch like mountain and sea, at ease forever.

When the bodhisattvas had finished their offerings, they asked the Tathagata to set forth the root and explain the source. The Tathagata slightly opened his kindly mouth and expounded the Great Law, proclaiming true fruition and preaching the wondrous canon of the Three Vehicles and the deep teachings on the Five Aggregates and the Shurangama. Heavenly dragons gathered all around, and a rain of flowers fell thick through the air.

It was exactly so:

The Chan-mind shone clear as moonlight on a thousand rivers;
true nature lay pure as the sky over ten thousand li.

When the Tathagata had finished, he said to the assembly:

"I have surveyed the Four Great Continents and found that the goodness and evil of living beings vary from region to region. In the Eastern Continent of Victorious Divine Root, men honor Heaven and respect the earth; their hearts are open and their tempers mild. In the Northern Continent of Kuru, though men delight in killing, it is mostly for the sake of food, and their natures are dull and sparse, with little wanton cruelty. In our own Western Continent of Cattle-Gift, men are not greedy and do not kill; they nurture the breath and guard the spirit. Though none among them may reach highest truth, every one of them is long-lived. But in the Southern Continent, greed and lust rejoice in disaster, men kill much and contend much, and it is truly a place where the tongue is a field of slaughter and right and wrong an evil sea. I have three collections of true scripture that can persuade men to do good."

The bodhisattvas, hearing this, joined their palms and asked, "What are these three collections of true scripture that the Tathagata has?"

The Tathagata replied, "I have one store of the Law that speaks of Heaven, one store of treatises that speaks of earth, and one store of sutras that saves ghosts. Altogether they make thirty-five sections and fifteen thousand one hundred and forty-four scrolls. They are scriptures for cultivating the true and the gate to upright goodness.

"I would send them eastward, but the people there are foolish. They slander true words, do not understand the heart of my teaching, and treat with negligence the right tradition of yoga. How are we to find one with the power to go east, seek out a faithful soul, and teach him to endure a thousand mountains and inquire across ten thousand waters until he comes here to ask for the true scriptures? If they were then carried forever into the East to instruct living beings, it would be a blessing as great as mountains and a joy as deep as seas.

"Who will make the journey?"

At once Guanyin drew near the lotus dais, circled the Buddha three times in reverence, and said, "Your disciple is not equal to much, but I am willing to go east and seek out a scripture pilgrim."

Everyone in the assembly lifted their heads to look. The Bodhisattva was:

Perfect in the four virtues, wisdom full in her golden body.
Jewels hung bright from the necklet; precious rings tied shining fragrance.
Dark cloud-black hair was coiled into a dragon-knot,
embroidered ribbons drifted light as phoenix plumes.
Jade clasps, white silk robe, all wrapped in auspicious light;
brocade skirt and golden girdle swallowed up the rising radiance.
Her brows were like a narrow moon, her eyes like paired stars.
Joy was born into her jade face, and one touch of red lit her lips.
From the pure vase sweet dew never failed year after year;
the willow branch slanted green forever.
She who unties the eight calamities, saves all beings, and is vast in pity;
she who dwells by South Sea, sits firm as Mount Tai, and answers every cry.
Ten thousand invocations, ten thousand responses;
a thousand saints, a thousand proofs.
Her orchid-heart delights in purple bamboo,
her orchid-nature loves fragrant vine.
She is the merciful lord of Mount Putuo,
the living Guanyin of the Cave of Tidal Sound.

The Tathagata looked on and was glad at heart.

"No one else can go. It must be Guanyin, whose powers are broad enough for the task."

Guanyin said, "What instructions has the Tathagata for your disciple on this journey to the East?"

The Tathagata answered, "You must inspect the road itself. You are not to travel through the sky. Go half in cloud and half in mist, pass the mountains and rivers with your own eyes, remember carefully the length and closeness of the route, and speak plainly to the scripture pilgrim when you find him. Since the faithful one may find the road too hard to travel, I will give you five treasures."

He ordered Ananda and Kasyapa to bring out one brocade cassock and a nine-ringed monk's staff, then said to Guanyin:

"These two may be given for the scripture pilgrim's own use. If he is willing to keep his heart fixed and come here, then by wearing my cassock he will be spared the fall into rebirth, and by bearing my staff he will not suffer poisonous harm."

The Bodhisattva bowed and received them.

The Tathagata then took out three circlets and handed them to her.

"These treasures are called fillets. Though the three look alike, each is used differently. I also have three spells for fastening, tightening, and forbidding. If, on the road, you should happen upon demons or spirits of great power, you must urge them toward goodness and have them follow the scripture pilgrim as disciples. If one refuses to obey, place one of these fillets upon his head. It will root itself into the flesh. Then recite the proper spell for its use, and at once his eyes will bulge, his head will ache, and his skull feel as though it were splitting apart. That will surely bring him into my gate."

When the Bodhisattva heard this, she rejoiced, bowed, and withdrew. She then called Hui'an to go with her. Hui'an bore a solid iron staff that weighed a thousand catties, standing always at her side as a mighty protector who subdued demons.

The Bodhisattva wrapped the brocade cassock into a bundle and had him carry it on his back. She herself hid away the golden fillets, took up the monk's staff, and went straight down from Lingshan.

That departure was one to teach:

The Buddha's son returned to fulfill his first vow,
and the elder cicada of gold wrapped himself in sandalwood.

At the foot of the mountain, the Gold-Crowned Great Immortal of Jade Truth Monastery met the Bodhisattva at the gate and invited her in for tea. She did not dare delay long.

"I travel now under the Buddha's command, going east to seek the scripture pilgrim."

The immortal asked, "And when will the pilgrim arrive?"

Guanyin said, "That is not yet fixed. By rough reckoning, perhaps within two or three years he will come this far."

Then she took her leave and traveled on, half in cloud and half in mist, marking the road in her memory. A verse bears witness:

To seek across ten thousand li and say nothing of it,
then murmur only that no man gets all he longs for.
If asking after others is always like this,
how could it be mere chance in all my life?
To preach the Way with method may still become vain speech;
to explain with no trust behind it is emptier still.
Would that I could pour out liver and gall to find one true companion;
I reckon there must be one with fate waiting ahead.

Master and disciple were still on the road when they came upon the border of the Flowing Sands River, where the Weak Water stretched three thousand leagues.

Guanyin said, "Disciple, this place will be hard to cross. The scripture pilgrim will be made of mortal flesh and muddy bone. How is he to get over?"

Hui'an said, "Master, see how wide the river runs."

The Bodhisattva halted upon her cloud-step and looked. She saw:

Eastward it linked to the desert reaches;
westward it touched the foreign lands;
southward it ran to Wuge;
northward it opened toward Tatar ground.
Its crossing alone was eight hundred li across,
and its reach from above to below seemed ten thousand more.
The water ran as if the earth itself were turning over,
and the waves rolled like mountain ridges lifting their backs.
Vast and heaving, blurred and boundless,
you could hear the flood ten miles away.
No immortal raft could make it there;
no lotus leaf could float upon it.
Withered grass and slanting sun edged the winding banks;
yellow clouds dimmed the long levees under the day.
No merchant ever came and went there;
no fisherman ever made his home.
No geese dropped on the level sand;
only apes cried from the far shore.
Red smartweed and white duckweed alone knew the place's beauty.

As Guanyin stood looking, there came from the river a violent splash, and out of the water leapt a demon of hideous aspect. His face was neither green nor black but a dead unlucky color; his body was neither long nor short but hard-muscled and bare-footed. His eyes flashed like a pair of lamps under a stove. His mouth split wide like the furnace-basin of a butcher's shop. Fangs jutted like sword-blades. His red hair hung in a wild mat. One roar of his voice was like thunder, and the rush of his two feet like a rolling gale.

He held a precious monk's staff in his hands. The moment he reached the bank, he lunged straight for Guanyin, only to be met by Hui'an, who whipped out his iron staff and shouted, "Don't run!"

The monster raised his own staff to meet him, and there beside the Flowing Sands River the two fought a murderous battle. It was enough to take the breath away:

Hui'an with his solid iron staff,
showing the power of Dharma's guard;
the monster with his demon-quelling staff,
straining every nerve to show himself a hero.
Two silver pythons danced at the riverbank,
two holy monks charged upon the shore.
One displayed his old skill in ruling the Flowing Sands,
one won his first great merit by guarding Guanyin.
One churned wave and leapt on billow,
one breathed mist and spat wind.
Wave over wave made Heaven and Earth go dark;
mist and wind dimmed sun and moon.
That demon-quelling staff was like a white tiger coming down a mountain;
this iron staff like a yellow dragon lying across the road.
One wielded his weapon like a hand searching grass for a snake;
one cast his like a hawk striking open the pines.
So they fought till the stars shone through the gloom
and the world lay smothered in vapor and cloud.
One had long dwelt by the Weak Water and was savage in his strength;
one had just come out from Lingshan to win his first great deed.

They exchanged dozens of bouts without either prevailing. At last the monster locked Hui'an's staff and said:

"What monk are you, to dare stand against me?"

Hui'an replied, "I am Muzha, second son of Li the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, now Hui'an, disciple of Guanyin of the South Sea. I am guarding my master on her way east to seek the scripture pilgrim. What sort of monster are you, bold enough to block our road?"

Only then did the creature wake to who he faced.

"I remember you. You practiced with Guanyin in the Purple Bamboo Grove. Why have you come here?"

Hui'an said, "Is that not my master standing there on the bank?"

The monster, hearing this, cried out submission at once and lowered his staff. Hui'an hauled him forward to Guanyin, before whom he dropped his head and bowed.

"Bodhisattva, forgive my offense and let me explain. I am no evil fiend. I was once the Curtain-Lifting General who attended the imperial chariot below Lingxiao Hall. At the Peach Banquet I let slip and broke a crystal cup. For that the Jade Emperor had me beaten eight hundred blows and cast down into the lower world, where I became this shape. On top of that he ordered a flying sword sent every seven days to pierce my chest and flanks more than a hundred times before returning. That is the misery I endure. With no help for it, and unable to bear hunger and cold, every two or three days I come up from the waves to catch a passerby and eat him.

"I never expected that in my ignorance today I would collide with the Great Compassionate Bodhisattva."

Guanyin said, "If you sinned in Heaven and were already cast down, then why heap fresh slaughter upon yourself here below? That is crime on top of crime. I have received the Buddha's command to go east and seek the scripture pilgrim. Why not enter my gate, return to the good fruit, and follow that pilgrim as a disciple to the Western Heaven to worship the Buddha and seek the scriptures? I will see that the flying sword no longer comes to pierce you. When merit is complete and your guilt remitted, your former office may yet be restored. What say you?"

The monster answered, "I am willing to turn toward true fruition."

Then he stepped forward again and said, "Bodhisattva, I have eaten many men here. Several scripture pilgrims have come this way before now, and I ate them all. Whenever I ate a man, I threw his skull into the Flowing Sands, yet they did not sink like all else. This water will not float so much as a goose feather. Yet the skulls of those nine pilgrims drift upon the surface and will not go down. I thought them strange things and threaded them on a rope for play.

"If the scripture pilgrim cannot reach this place after all, then will not my own future be spoiled instead?"

Guanyin said, "How could he fail to come? Hang those skulls around your neck and wait for the pilgrim. They will have their use in due time."

The monster said, "Since that is so, I accept your teaching."

Thereupon the Bodhisattva rubbed the crown of his head and gave him the precepts. She pointed to sand and gave him that as a surname: thus he became Sha. Then she bestowed on him the religious name Wujing, so that he became Sha Wujing. At once he entered the Buddhist gate. He ferried the Bodhisattva across the river, washed his heart clean, gave up killing forever, and waited there only for the scripture pilgrim.

Guanyin parted from him and went on eastward with Hui'an. After traveling a long while, they came to another high mountain, wreathed in a foul vapor too thick to climb through. Just as they meant to ride their cloud over it, a violent wind broke out and another demon sprang forth.

He was a terrifying sight indeed:

A dirty lotus-stalk face and a hanging snout,
ears like rush fans and golden eyes aflame.
His fangs were sharp as steel rasps,
his long jaws spread open like a furnace-mouth.
A golden helm strapped tight along his cheeks,
armor bound with silk cords scaled like a giant snake.
In his hands he held a rake, nine-pronged like a dragon's claw,
at his waist a bent bow half a moon in shape.
Fierce of bearing, he bullied even the Year-Spirit;
his lifted will seemed to press down gods themselves.

The moment he met them, he cared nothing what they were and swung the rake straight at Guanyin. Hui'an blocked it, shouting, "You damned fiend, don't be rude. Taste the staff!"

The monster laughed. "This monk is tired of life. Then take the rake."

So they clashed at the foot of the mountain, meeting head-on and throwing all their strength into the wager. It was a fine slaughter:

The demon was fierce, Hui'an mighty.
The iron staff stabbed for the heart;
the nine-pronged rake split toward the face.
Earth flew, dust whirled, Heaven and Earth went dark;
sand and stone leapt till ghosts and gods were shaken.
The nine-pronged rake flashed bright,
its twin rings ringing loud;
the single staff moved dark and deep,
flying in both hands.
One was the Heavenly King's son;
one the spirit of a Marshal.
One guarded the Dharma at Mount Putuo;
one played the demon in his mountain cave.
That encounter was for high and low alike,
and no one knew which of them would lose.

They were in the thick of it when Guanyin, from midair, cast down a lotus blossom that parted rake and staff between them.

The monster started and said, "What monk are you, throwing phantom flowers in my face?"

Hui'an snapped, "You flesh-eyed fool! I am a disciple of the Bodhisattva of the South Sea. That lotus was cast by my master, and you don't even know it."

The monster said, "The Bodhisattva of the South Sea? Is that Guanyin who sweeps away the three calamities and saves from the eight disasters?"

"Who else?"

At that the creature flung down the rake, bowed his head to the ground, and shouted up, "Bodhisattva, forgive me, forgive me!"

Guanyin lowered her cloud and came forward.

"What wild hog-spirit are you, what old boar-fiend from what place, to dare block my road?"

The creature said, "I am no wild hog, nor old boar-fiend by birth. I was once Marshal Tianpeng of the Heavenly River. Because, drunk with wine, I teased the Lady of the Moon, the Jade Emperor had me beaten two thousand blows and cast down to the dust below. A single spark of true spirit came down to seize a body and be born anew, but I missed the path and fell into the womb of a sow instead. That is why I wear this shape. I bit my sow-mother to death, killed the whole herd of pigs, and took this mountain for my own ground, living by eating men. I never thought I would run into the Bodhisattva. I beg for rescue, I beg for rescue."

Guanyin asked, "What mountain is this?"

The creature answered, "It is called Fuling Mountain. In it there is a cave called Cloud-Road Cave. There used to be a woman there called Second Sister Mao. Seeing I had some skill, she took me in as the master of the house, so folk called me the man who married into the family. Less than a year passed before she died, and all the goods in the cave came into my keeping. Time has gone by here, but I have no honest means to support myself, so I follow my old trade and eat men to live. I beg the Bodhisattva to pardon me."

Guanyin said, "The old saying runs: if you want a future, do not do what destroys your future. You broke the law in Heaven and still have not changed your savage heart below, harming life and making evil. Is that not two crimes punished together?"

The monster said, "Future, future! If I did as you say, would you have me live on the wind? There's another saying: by the law of officials you're beaten to death, by the law of Buddha you're starved to death. Enough, enough. Better catch a traveler and eat him fat and greasy. What do I care for two crimes, three crimes, a thousand crimes, ten thousand crimes?"

Guanyin said, "When a man holds a good wish, Heaven must follow it. If you are willing to return to true fruition, there will be a way to keep body and life together. There are five grains in the world to stay hunger. Why live by eating men?"

The monster heard this and seemed to wake from a dream.

"I would follow the right path, but what can I do? The saying runs: if Heaven itself is offended, there is nowhere left to pray."

Guanyin said, "I have received the Buddha's command to seek the scripture pilgrim in the East. You may follow him as a disciple, travel once to the Western Heaven, and by your merit offset your guilt. I guarantee you will come out of this miasma and disaster."

The creature answered at once, "I am willing, willing."

So the Bodhisattva rubbed his head and gave him the precepts. She pointed to his very body and gave him that as a surname: thus he became Zhu. Then she bestowed on him the religious name Wuneng, and so he became Zhu Wuneng. From that time he accepted the command and returned to the truth, keeping fasts, eating only plain food, cutting off the five rank smells and the three loathsome meats, and waiting solely for the scripture pilgrim.

The Bodhisattva and Hui'an then took leave of Wuneng and went on, rising half into cloud and mist again. They had not gone far when they saw a jade dragon crying out in the sky.

Guanyin drew near and asked, "What dragon are you, suffering punishment here?"

The dragon answered, "I am the son of Ao Run, Dragon King of the Western Sea. Because I set fire to a bright pearl in the palace, my father sent a memorial to Heaven accusing me of rebellion. The Jade Emperor had me hung here in the sky and beaten three hundred blows. Soon I am to be executed. Bodhisattva, I beg for rescue."

When Guanyin heard this, she and Hui'an entered by the Southern Gate of Heaven, where the two celestial masters Qiu and Zhang came forward to meet them.

"Where are you bound?"

Guanyin said, "This poor monk would see the Jade Emperor."

The two masters hurried in to report it, and the Jade Emperor came down from the hall to greet her. After the proper salutations, Guanyin said:

"I have received the Buddha's command to go east and seek the scripture pilgrim. On the road I met an evil dragon hanging under punishment. I have come to ask that his life be spared and granted to me, that he may serve the pilgrim as a mount."

The Jade Emperor, hearing this, immediately issued an order of pardon, telling a heavenly general to release the dragon and deliver him to the Bodhisattva. Guanyin thanked the throne and withdrew. The little dragon kowtowed in gratitude for his life and submitted himself to her command.

The Bodhisattva placed him in a deep ravine to wait until the scripture pilgrim arrived. Then he was to become a white horse and travel westward, earning merit on the road. The dragon accepted the order and hid himself away; we need say no more of him for now.

Guanyin and Hui'an crossed that mountain and continued east. Before long they saw ten thousand shafts of golden light and a thousand streaks of auspicious glow.

Hui'an said, "Master, the place shining there ahead is Five Elements Mountain. The Tathagata's seal is still fixed there."

Guanyin said, "And there beneath it is the Great Sage Equal to Heaven who ruined the Peach Banquet and threw Heaven into uproar."

"Exactly, exactly."

Master and disciple climbed the mountain and looked upon the seal. It was the six true words:

Om mani padme hum

When the Bodhisattva had read them, she sighed in pity and composed a verse:

It grieves one to see the demon monkey refuse all duty
and play the hero in his reckless pride.
False to his own heart, he wrecked the Peach Banquet;
bold beyond measure, he broke into the Tusita Palace.
In armies of a hundred thousand he found no equal hand;
above the ninefold Heaven his force was plain to see.
But now the Tathagata has him trapped at last.
In what year will he stretch himself and show that power again?

Even as they spoke, the Great Sage was roused. From the foot of the mountain he shouted:

"Who's up there on the mountain chanting poems and telling my shame aloud?"

Guanyin went down at once to see. There beneath the rocky cliff the earth gods, mountain spirits, and heavenly generals who kept watch over the Great Sage all came forward and bowed to receive her, leading her to the prisoner.

There he was indeed, pinned in a stone cleft: mouth able to speak, body unable to move. The Bodhisattva said:

"Sun, do you know me?"

The Great Sage opened his Fire-Eyes and Golden Gaze, nodded, and cried:

"How could I not know you? You are Guanyin of Mount Putuo in the South Sea, the Great Compassionate Bodhisattva who saves the suffering and rescues the distressed. Thank you for looking in on me, thank you indeed. I have spent my years here as though each day were a year, and not one old acquaintance has come to see me. Where have you come from?"

Guanyin said, "I travel under the Buddha's command, going east to seek the scripture pilgrim. I passed by this way and left a few steps of my road to look in on you."

The Great Sage said, "The Tathagata tricked me and pinned me beneath this mountain. It has been more than five hundred years, and I cannot stretch myself free. I beg you, Bodhisattva, show a little mercy and save old Sun if you can."

Guanyin said, "Your crimes are deep indeed. If I let you out now, I fear you would only stir up fresh disaster."

The Great Sage replied, "I know repentance now. If only the Great Compassionate One would show me a road, I am willing to cultivate myself."

That is truly the case: once a single thought rises in a human heart, Heaven and Earth know it through and through. If there were no reward for good and evil, then surely Heaven and Earth would themselves be unjust.

When Guanyin heard this, she was glad at heart and said:

"The sacred books say: when one sends forth good words, they are answered a thousand li away; when one sends forth evil words, they are opposed a thousand li away. Since you have set your heart in this way, then when I reach the Great Tang in the East and find a pilgrim for the scriptures, I will have him rescue you. You may follow him as a disciple, uphold the teaching, enter the Buddha's gate, and cultivate true fruition anew. What say you?"

The Great Sage cried again and again, "I will go, I will go."

Guanyin said, "Since good fruit lies ahead, I will give you a religious name."

The Great Sage said, "I have one already. I am called Sun Wukong."

The Bodhisattva smiled again.

"Two others have already submitted before you, and both are of the Wu generation. Since you too bear Wu, the line fits well together. Very good, very good. Then there is no more need for warning. I am going."

So it was that the Great Sage, seeing his nature and understanding his mind, turned at last toward the Buddha's teaching, while the Bodhisattva kept her compassion fixed on the task of finding the holy monk.

She and Hui'an left that place and came directly east. Before a single day had passed they reached Chang'an, capital of Great Tang. They gathered in their cloud and mist, then transformed themselves into two ragged wandering monks with scabbed heads and entered the city. Before they knew it, evening had fallen.

Walking beside the Great Market Street, they saw a shrine to the local earth god and went straight in. The earth god nearly died of fright, and his ghost-soldiers shook in terror. Recognizing the Bodhisattva, he kowtowed and received her.

Then the earth god hurried to report the matter to the City God, the district spirit, and all the temple gods of Chang'an. They all came to pay their respects and said:

"Bodhisattva, forgive your servants for receiving you too late."

Guanyin said, "You must not let so much as a trace of this news leak out. I have received the Buddha's command and have come here to seek the scripture pilgrim. Lend me your shrine for a few days as a place to stay until I have found the true monk. Then I will depart."

The gods each returned to his own place. They drove the earth god off to lodge for the time being in the City God's temple, while master and disciple concealed their true forms there.

But which monk they found at last is another matter, and must wait for the next chapter.