Legendary Daoist N Buddhist Tales

[C T]

A favorite pastime as a child growing up in the Far East was reading about the fantastic and legendary tales of the ancients, the Sages and Immortals of old China and their cool adventures.

 

Some of these tales were so popular they were made into films, like "The 8 Immortals Crossing The Ocean", "Nezha", and "The Monkey King".

 

These legends are all woven into the Chinese culture like a beautiful tapestry, one that is continuously unfolding, even to this day.

 

If any of the Tao Bums here have such tales to share, please do not hesitate to contribute. To get the ball rolling, here is one of my favorites:

THE BUDDHA AND MONKEY KING(Sun Wukong).

 

Sun Wukong(meaning the Monkey who is aware of Emptiness) was born from a mythical stone

created by the primal forces of chaos, somewhere deep in the mountains called HuaGou Shan, or

Mountain of Flower and Fruit.

 

Shortly after birth, he joined a clan of homeless monkeys, where he earned their respect by

discovering the WaterCurtain Cave behind a large waterfall, where the clan delighted in making

this their new permanent home.

 

Despite being made the King of the clan, Sun Wukong was still unhappy and dissatisfied due to

the fact that he was not beyond mortality. Determined to discover the secrets of everlasting life,

he left the clan, and travelled far and wide in his search for the elixir that would grant him the

power to overcome death, and eventually found the Patriach Bodhi, and after much persuasion,

was accepted as a disciple.

 

With the Patriach, he mastered everything taught to him in a short span of time, and this impressed

Bodhi so much that he became one of his closest and most favorite disciple.

 

He acquired a vast array of magical teachings, like shape-shifting, known as the 72 Transformations,

cloud traveling, including a technique known as Cloud Somersault, whereby he can travel 108,000 li,

(or 54,000 km) in a single flip! His final attainment as Bodhi's disciple was to acquire the power to

transform each of the 84,000 hairs on his body into various animate and inanimate objects, and could

even conjure up clones of himself when necessary.

 

To cut the story shorter, he became extremely proud and haughty, arrogantly displaying his supra-

natural powers, and began boasting and bullying his fellow disciples, thereupon he was kicked out of

Bodhi's sanctuary.

 

Furious, he set out to wreak havoc on earth, in the Four Seas, and even in the Highest Realms of

Heaven! At one point, he defied and mocked the Hell Emperor who attempted but failed to collect his

soul, and somehow, amidst the chaos, Wukong managed to cheekily erase his name from the "Book of Life

and Death", meaning he was no longer subject to reincarnation. Exasperated, the Dragon Kings

of the Four Seas and the Hell Emperor decided to report him to the Jade Emperor of Heaven.

 

Hoping to pacify Sun Wukong, the Jade Emperor made the mistake of promoting him to the rank

of the lesser gods, but assigned him the lowliest of duties as Protector of the Heavenly Horses, where

he was put in charge of the stables. That drove him mad, he rebelled, and loudly proclaimed himself

"The Great Sage, Equal to Heaven"! Again, he wreaked havoc, and the Imperial Heavenly Guards were

unable to subdue him, so the failed attempt forced the Jade Emperor to recognize his title. He was allowed

to remain, but when he found out he was excluded from attending a royal banquet, all 'heaven' broke

loose, and Sun Wukong, to show his defiance, stole Xi Wangmu's Peaches of Immortality, Lao Tzu's

Pills of Longevity, and the Jade Emperor's Elixir of Life, and then escaped back to his own kingdom

in preparation of a major rebellion.

 

A major battle ensued not long after, and he defeated all the armies, the Generals, and even

Nezha himself. Finally, it took the combined effort of Buddhist and Taoist Supreme Deities to capture

Sun Wukong. After several failed attempts to execute him, he was locked into Lao Tzu's Bagua cauldron

to be distilled into an elixir by the most sacred and severe Samadhi Fire. After 49 days, the cauldron

was opened, and out jumped Sun Wukong, stronger than ever! This also gifted him the extra power

of recognizing evil in any shape or form.

 

Having exhausted all options, the Jade Emperor appealed to Buddha's Infinite Compassion, who arrived

from His abode in the West. The Buddha then met Sun Wukong, and made a bet with him that he will not

be able to escape from Buddha's palm. Sun Wukong laughed at Buddha, and smugly proclaimed that he,

Sun Wukong, could cover 108,000 li in one flip, hence the bet was accepted without a moment's hesitation.

 

Immediately, he made a great somersault, and flew to the very end of the universe in seconds! Nothing

was visible there, except for 5 massive pillars, and Wukong surmised he had reached the very end of the

cosmos. To prove his feat, he marked one of the pillars, declaring himself *The Great Sage Equal

to Heaven*, and before he left, he urinated at the base of the pillar where he had left his signature.

After that, he made another somersault, and 'landed' back on Buddha's palm. There, he shocked himself

greatly when he discovered that the 5 pillars were in fact the 5 fingers of the Buddha's hand! Immediately,

he attempted a getaway, but the Buddha manifested an enormous mountain and placed it over Wukong,

who tried in vain to shrug it off. The Buddha then sealed him inside using a talisman inscribed with the

mantra Om Mani Padme Hum in gold letters, wherein Sun Wukong remained imprisoned for 5 centuries.

 

The legend continues...

Edited November 17, 2009 by CowTao

[nac]

http://www.thetaobums.com/Journey-to-the-West-t11372.html