by Unknown
For he needs must let go in every instant.
Once the mind’s made immovable,
All your actions are perfected.
But if you dwell on picking the yin to nourish the yang,
You speak but foolish words;
And to bait the eye with long life
Amounts to an empty promise.
You must abandon all particles of defilement,
Regard all phenomena as emptiness.
When you, plain and simple, reduce your desire,
You will with ease an endless life acquire.11
When that royal father-in-law heard these words, he smiled sarcastically and pointed his finger at the Tang Monk. “Ha! Ha! Ha!” he cried. “Your mouth, monk, is full of balderdash! Those within the fold of Nirvāṇa all talk about the knowledge of reality. But you don’t even know how reality is to be extinguished! Sedentary meditation—why, that’s nothing but the practice of blind cultivation! As the proverb says,
‘Sit, sit, sit!
Your ass will split!
Play with fire
And you’ll land in the pit!’
You have no idea that I,
Who seek immortality,
Possess the hardiest of bones;
Who comprehend the Way,
Am most intelligent in spirit.
I carry basket and gourd to visit friends in the mountain;
I gather a hundred herbs to help people in the world.
Divine flowers I pick to make a hat;
Fragrant orchids I pluck to form a mat.
I sing to clapping of hands
And rest on clouds after I dance.
Explaining the principles of Dao,
I exalt the true teachings of Laozi;
Dispensing amulets and water,
I rid the human world of monstrous miasmas.
I rob Heaven and Earth of their energies
And pluck from sun and moon their essences.
Yin and yang activated, the elixir gels;
Fire and Water harmonized, the embryo’s formed.
When the yin of Two Eights12 recedes,
It’s both dim and blurry;
When the yang of Three Nines13 expands,
It’s both dark and obscure.
In accord with the four seasons I gather herbs;
By nine cylindrical turns my elixir’s perfected.
Astride the blue phoenix,
I ascend the purple mansion;
Mounting the white crane,
I reach the capital of jade,
Where I join all Heaven’s luminaries
In zealous display of the wondrous Way.
Could this be compared with the quiescence of your Buddhism,
The dark divinity of your tranquillity?
The stinking corpse bequeathed by Nirvāṇa
That can never leave the mortal dust?
Of the Three Religions mine’s the highest mystery.
Dao alone is noble since the dawn of history!”14
On hearing this, the king was filled with delight, while the officials of the entire court shouted, “Bravo! Indeed, Dao alone is noble since the dawn of history! Dao alone is noble since the dawn of history!” When the elder saw that everyone had praise for the Daoist, he was terribly embarrassed. The king, nevertheless, asked the Court of Imperial Entertainments to prepare a vegetarian meal so that the priest from distant lands could eat before he departed again for the West.
Tripitaka gave thanks as he withdrew; he descended from the main hall and was just about to walk out when Pilgrim flew down from his hat and whispered in his ear: “Master, this royal father-in-law is a perverse fiend, and the king is under his influence. You go back first to the postal station to wait for the meal. Let old Monkey remain here to learn something more of him.” Tripitaka understood and left, and we shall leave him for the moment.
Look at our Pilgrim! He soared up and alighted on one of the kingfisher screens in the Hall of Golden Chimes, when the Commander of Five Military Commissions stepped from the ranks to say, “My lord, there was a gust of cold wind last night which swept away, without a trace, all the little boys lodged in the geese coops in front of the houses.”
When the king heard this memorial, he was both frightened and angered. “This means,” said he to the royal father-in-law, “that Heaven wants to destroy us! We have been sick for months, and the imperial physician has been wholly ineffectual. It was fortunate that the royal father-in-law has bestowed on us a divine prescription. We were just waiting for the noon hour today to lift the knife and take out these boys’ hearts and use them as our medical supplement. How could they all be swept away by a gust of cold wind? What explanation could there be other than that Heaven wanted to destroy us?”
With a smile, the royal father-in-law said, “Your Majesty, please do not worry. The fact that these boys have been swept away means quite the contrary; this is precisely a gift of long life that Heaven is sending to Your Majesty.” “How could you say that,” asked the king, “when those boys in the coops have all been blown away?”
“When I entered court just now,” replied the royal father-in-law, “I noticed an absolutely marvelous medical supplement, far surpassing those one thousand one hundred and eleven young boys’ hearts. Those hearts, you see, could only lengthen your life for about a thousand years. But taken with the newfound supplement, my divine medicine will lengthen your Majesty’s life for thousands and thousands of years.” Since the king, however, did not understand at all what medical supplement the Daoist was referring to, he pressed for an explanation.
Then the royal father-in-law said, “I have noticed that the monk who has been sent by the Land of the East to seek scriptures is possessed of pure and orderly features. They reveal that he has, in fact, a true body which has practiced religion for at least ten incarnations, and that he has been a monk since childhood. He is, in truth, someone who has never dissipated his original yang, someone ten thousand times better than all those little boys put together. If you can get his heart to make soup and take my divine medicine, you will certainly acquire the age of ten thousand years.”
Believing completely what he had heard, the befuddled ruler said, “Why didn’t you tell us sooner? If it had that kind of efficacy, I would have detained him just now and not let him go.”
“But that’s not difficult!” said the royal father-in-law. “Just now the Court of Imperial Entertainments was told to prepare a vegetarian meal for him. He will undoubtedly eat first before leaving the city. Issue an edict right now for all the city gates to be closed. Call up the troops, have the Golden Pavilion Postal Station surrounded, and tell them to bring back the monk. First, ask for his heart politely. If he agrees, cut him up and take it out at once. You may promise him an imperial burial and a shrine erected in his honor, so that he may enjoy perpetual sacrifice. If he does not comply with your request, we’ll show him the ugly power of force. Tie him up at once, and then cut out his heart. Isn’t that easy?” The befuddled ruler indeed followed his suggestion; he gave the decree at once that the city gates should be shut. The imperial guards and their captains were sent to have the postal station surrounded.
When Pilgrim heard this, he spread his wings and darted back to the postal station and changed back to his true form to say to the Tang Monk, “Master, disaster! Disaster!” Tripitaka was just enjoying the imperial banquet with Eight Rules and Sha Monk. These sudden words so terrified him that the spirits of Three Cadavers left him and smoke poured out of his seven apertures. He fell to the ground at once, his body covered with sweat. All he could do was roll his eyeballs; he could not utter a word. Sha Monk hurried forward to take hold of him, crying, “Master, wake up! Master, wake up!”
“What disaster? What disaster?” asked Eight Rules. “Speak slowly, will you please! Must you frighten Master like that?”
“Since Master left the court,” replied Pilgrim, “old Monkey stayed behind and ascertained that that royal father-in-law was indeed a mo
nster-spirit. Soon afterward, the Commander of Five Military Commissions reported that the cold wind had blown away the little boys. The king was frustrated, but the Daoist told him to be happy instead, saying that it was actually Heaven’s gift of long life to him. He wanted to ask for Master’s heart to be the medical supplement, something he claimed would grant the king an age of ten thousand years. Believing such a perverse suggestion, the befuddled ruler called up his troops to come and surround the postal station. Moreover, the Embroidered-uniform Guards have been sent here to ask for Master’s heart.”
“You have exercised marvelous compassion!” said Eight Rules with a laugh. “You have saved marvelous boys! You have called up marvelous cold wind! But this time you have also brought disaster on us!”
Trembling all over, Tripitaka scrambled up to tug at Pilgrim and plead with him, “O worthy disciple! How will we face this?” “If you want to face this,” said Pilgrim, “the old must become the young.”
“What do you mean by that?” asked Sha Monk. Pilgrim said, “If you want to preserve your life, the master will have to become the disciple, and the disciple will have to become the master.” “If you can save my life,” said Tripitaka, “I’m willing to be your disciple and grand disciple.”
“In that case,” said Pilgrim, “no need to hesitate any longer. Eight Rules, hurry and get me some mud.” Idiot immediately used his muckrake to rake up some dirt; not daring, however, to go outside to fetch water, he hitched up his clothes instead and pissed on the ground. With the urine he managed to mix a lump of stinking mud, which he handed to Pilgrim. Pilgrim, too, had little alternative but to flatten the mud and press it on his own face and, after a little while, succeeded in making an apelike mask. Asking the Tang Monk to stand up but without uttering another word, Pilgrim pasted the mask on his master’s face and recited a magic spell. He then blew his immortal breath onto the mask, crying, “Change!” At once the elder took on the appearance of Pilgrim. He was told to take off his own garments and switch clothes with Pilgrim, who made the magic sign and then recited another spell to change into the form of the Tang Monk. The two of them looked so alike their own true selves that even Eight Rules and Sha Monk could not distinguish them.
As soon as they finished dressing, they heard the sounds of gongs and drums and saw a forest of scimitars and lances approaching. The captains of the imperial guards, you see, had arrived with three thousand troops to have the postal station surrounded. Then an Embroidered-uniform guard walked into the courtyard to ask, “Where is the elder from the Tang court in the Land of the East?”
Shaking and quaking, the station master went to his knees and said, pointing with his finger, “In one of those guest rooms down there.” The guard walked to the guest room and said, “Elder Tang, my king invites you to the palace.”
While Eight Rules and Sha Monk stood on two sides to guard the false Pilgrim, the false Tang Monk came out the door and bowed, saying, “Sir Embroidered-uniform, what does His Majesty have to say when he asks for this poor cleric?” Rushing forward to grab him, the guard replied, “I’ll go with you into court. He must have some use for you.” Also, so it is that
Fiendish lies triumph o’er compassion;
Compassion’s met instead with violence.
We do not know what will happen to his life when he leaves; let’s listen to the explanation in the next chapter.
SEVENTY-NINE
Searching the cave for the fiend he meets Long Life;
The proper lord of the court sees the babies.1
We were telling you about that Embroidered-uniform Guard, who yanked the spurious Tang Monk out of the postal station. At once the imperial guards had them surrounded before they all headed for the gate of the court. There they said to the Custodian of the Yellow Gate: “We have brought the Tang Monk here. Please report this for us.”
The custodian sent in the memorial hurriedly, and the befuddled king sent for the guest at once. While all the officials knelt down at the foot of the steps to bow to the king, the spurious Tang Monk stood erect at the center of the steps and shouted, “King Bhikṣu, why did you ask this humble cleric to come?”
With a smile, the king said, “An illness has afflicted us for many days and no cure has been found. Fortunately, our royal father-in-law has bestowed on us a prescription for which all the medicines have been prepared. All we need now is one particular supplement, which we must seek from you. If we are cured of our illness, we promise that we shall build a shrine for the elder. You will enjoy sacrifices in all four seasons and perpetual incense fires of the state.”
“I am a person who has left the family,” replied the spurious Tang Monk. “I came here with hardly any possessions on me. Would Your Majesty please ask the royal father-in-law what sort of thing he wants of me for the medical supplement?” “What we need,” said the befuddled king, “is the heart of the elder.”
The spurious Tang Monk said, “To tell you the truth, Your Majesty, I have quite a few hearts. Which color or shape would you like?”
“Priest,” said the royal father-in-law, who was standing on one side, pointing with his finger, “we want your black heart.”
“In that case,” said the spurious Tang Monk, “bring me the knife quickly, so that I may cut open my chest. If I have a black heart, I’ll be pleased to present it to you.” Delighted, the befuddled king thanked him and asked the attendant to the throne to hand the spurious monk a curved dagger. Taking the dagger, the monk untied his robe and stuck out his chest. As he rubbed his belly with his left hand, he plunged the dagger into himself with his right hand and, with a loud ripping noise, tore open his own chest. A mass of hearts rolled out, so terrifying the onlookers that the civil officials paled in fright and the military officers turned numb. When he saw that, the royal father-in-law said in the hall, “This is a monk of many hearts!”2
The spurious monk took those bloody hearts and manipulated them one by one for all to see: a red heart, a white heart, a yellow heart, an avaricious heart, a greedy heart, an envious heart, a petty heart, a competitive heart, an ambitious heart, a scornful heart, a murderous heart, a vicious heart, a fearful heart, a cautious heart, a perverse heart, a nameless obscure heart, and all kinds of wicked hearts. There was, however, not one single black heart!
That befuddled king was so stupefied that he could hardly utter a word. Trembling all over, he could only mutter: “Take them away! Take them away!” Unable to hold back any longer, the spurious Tang Monk retrieved his magic. As he changed back into his original form, he said to the befuddled ruler, “Your Majesty, you have no perception whatever. In priests like us there are only good hearts, but your father-in-law is the one who has a black heart that can be used as the medical supplement.3 If you don’t believe me, let me take it out for you to see.”
On hearing this, that royal father-in-law opened his eyes wide to take a careful look, and he saw that the monk had quite changed his appearance. He no longer looked the same. Aha!
He recognized the Great Sage Sun of old,
Who had great fame five hundred years ago.
Swirling around, he mounted the clouds to rise up, only to be blocked by Pilgrim, who bounded into the air with one somersault. “Where are you running to?” he bellowed. “Have a taste of my rod!”
The royal father-in-law wielded his coiled-dragon staff to meet his adversary, and the two of them began a marvelous battle in midair.
The compliant rod,
The coiled-dragon staff
Spread out the clouds to fill the airy void.
The father-in-law, a monster-spirit,
Claimed for his fiendish daughter beauteous looks.
The ruler’s indulgence brought him disease;
The monster wanted to slaughter young boys.
The Great Sage came to show his magic might:
He seized the fiend and saved the populace.
The iron rod aimed fiercely at the head
Was met by a praiseworthy crooked staff.
They fought till a skyful of mist darkened the city,
Each member of the households paled with fright;
Till souls of all officials left in flight,
All palace girls and consorts changed their looks.
They frightened Bhikṣu’s muddled ruler into frantic hiding
And violent trembling, not knowing what to do.
The rod rose like a tiger springing from the mount;
The staff soared like a dragon breaking from the sea.
Now this great disturbance at Bhikṣu state
Would make distinct the righteous and perverse.
That monster-spirit fought bitterly with Pilgrim for some twenty rounds, but the coiled-dragon staff was no match for the golden-hooped rod. After one half-hearted blow, the royal father-in-law changed into a cold beam of light and sped into the inner chamber of the palace to pick up the fiendish queen whom he had presented as a tribute to the king. Both of them changed into cold beams of light and vanished at once.
Dropping down from the clouds, Pilgrim went to the palace to say to the various officials, “You people have some royal father-in-law!” The officials all began to bow to give thanks to the divine monk. “Stop bowing,” said Pilgrim. “See where your befuddled lord has gone.”
“When our lord saw the fight,” one of the officials replied, “he was driven by fear into hiding. We have no idea which palace he has gone to.” “Search for him quickly!” commanded Pilgrim. “Don’t let Queen Beauty abduct him.” When they heard these words, the officials did not care whether they were permitted to enter the inner chambers or not. Together with Pilgrim they headed straight for the room of Queen Beauty, but not a trace of the king could be found. Even Queen Beauty herself had disappeared. Meanwhile, the queen, the girl’s consort of the Eastern Palace, the consort of the Western Palace, and the concubines of the Six Chambers all came to bow to give thanks to the Great Sage.
“Please rise, all of you,” said the Great Sage. “It’s not time for you to thank me yet. Let’s go find your lord first.” In a little while they saw four or five eunuchs support the befuddled ruler walking out from behind the Hall of Careful Conduct.4 Prostrating themselves on the ground, the various officials said in unison, “Our lord! Our lord! We are indebted to the divine monk, who came to distinguish for us the true from the false. That royal father-in-law is a perverse fiend. Even Queen Beauty has disappeared.” When the king heard that, he immediately asked Pilgrim to leave the inner palace and go to the treasure hall with him. “Elder,” he said, as he bowed to Pilgrim to thank him, “when you arrived this morning, you looked so handsome. How is it that you’ve changed your appearance now?”