Chapter 100: Straight Back to the Eastern Land; the Five Saints Attain True Fruition

Let us not dwell on the four travelers being borne aloft by the Vajra Guardians and carried off on the wind. At Chen Family Village and Rescue Life Temple, the people rose at dawn and once more prepared fruit and savory dishes for their offerings. But when they came below the tower, Tripitaka was nowhere to be found. This one searched here, that one called there, and soon the whole crowd was in uproar, crying that they had let a living Buddha slip away.

In the end they had no way to help it, so they carried the provisions up to the tower and burned paper as offerings. After that there were the four great seasonal sacrifices and the twenty-four smaller ones every year. There were also those who came in illness and those who came seeking peace, those who prayed for marriage, wealth, and children; day and night there was never a moment when incense and vows were not being offered. Truly the golden burner did not let its fire go out for a thousand years, nor did the jade lamp fail to shine for ten thousand. We need not speak of that further.

Now to return to the Eight Vajra Guardians. They used a second fragrant wind to carry the four travelers eastward, and before one day had passed they could already see Chang'an in the distance. As it happened, the Tang Emperor had sent Tripitaka out of the city on the third day before the full moon of the ninth month in the thirteenth year of Zhenguan. By the sixteenth year he had already ordered the Ministry of Works to build a scripture-watching tower outside the western pass, and each year he came there in person.

That very day he had again come in royal procession to the tower. At that moment the whole western sky filled with auspicious haze, and fragrant wind drifted down in waves. The Vajras halted in midair and called out, "Holy monk, this is Chang'an. We cannot descend here. The people are sharp-eyed, and our forms may be revealed. The Great Sage Sun and the other two need not come down either. You alone should go and deliver the scriptures to your lord, then return. We will wait in the clouds and receive your report together."

Wukong said, "Your honored words are right enough. But how could my master carry the scripture pack alone? How could he lead the horse? We must all go down and deliver them together. Please wait in the air a moment longer. We would not dare delay."

The Vajra Guardians said, "The other day Guanyin Bodhisattva petitioned the Buddha. The round trip was to take only eight days, just enough to fulfill the number of scriptures. Now more than four days have already passed. I only fear that Bajie may be greedy for wealth and rank and so delay the deadline."

Bajie laughed. "When my master becomes a Buddha, I also hope to become a Buddha. Why would I ever covet wealth and office? You rude brutes, all of you stay here and wait for me. Once the scriptures are delivered, I will come back and return thanks with you."

So the fool took the pack, Sha Wujing led the horse, and Wukong escorted the holy monk. They all descended on the clouds and landed beside the scripture-watching tower.

The Tang Emperor and all the ministers saw them at once and came down from the tower to greet them. The emperor said, "Is my brother-in-law come back?"

Tripitaka immediately bowed to the ground. The emperor helped him up and asked, "Who are these three gentlemen?"

Tripitaka said, "They are disciples I gathered along the way."

The emperor was overjoyed and ordered the attendants, "Harness my carriage and horse. Invite my brother-in-law to mount and return to court with me."

Tripitaka thanked him for his grace and mounted the horse. The Great Sage twirled the Golden-Hooped Rod and followed close behind. Bajie and Sha Wujing held the horse and carried the pack, escorting the imperial procession back into Chang'an.

It was indeed:

In years of peace and harmony, the sage's triumph matched the reigns of ancient Yao and Shun.
The true scriptures were gained, and blessings came in abundance.
Through all ages the tale would be handed down in glory,
and the Buddha's light would shine forever in the emperor's dwelling.

That evening the banquet of thanks was over, and the emperor returned to the palace while the ministers went back to their homes. Tripitaka and the others returned to Hongfu Temple, where the monks bowed low to greet them.

As soon as they entered the mountain gate, the monks reported, "Master, the tops of the trees all turned east this morning. We remembered your words and came out of the city to welcome you. Sure enough, you had returned."

The elder was delighted beyond measure and went into the abbot's quarters. By now Bajie was no longer shouting for tea and rice, and no longer making a racket. Wukong and Sha Wujing were all measured calm. Their fruit had been completed, and so they were naturally still. That night they slept.

The next morning the Tang Emperor ascended the throne and said to the ministers, "I have thought deeply of my brother-in-law's merits. They are too vast to repay. I spent the whole night without sleep and composed a few crude lines to express my thanks, though I have not yet put them in writing." He called to the Secretariat, "Come here. I will recite them to you, and you are to write every line down."

This is what he said:

I have heard that the two powers take form and reveal the bearing of heaven and earth, so that all living things may be contained within them. The four seasons have no shape, yet they secretly transform cold and heat and thereby bring forth the world. Therefore, to look up to heaven and down upon the earth is something even the foolish may understand in outline; but to discern yin and probe yang is a matter few among the wise can exhaust. The reason the shapes of heaven and earth are easy to know is that they are visible; the reason yin and yang are hard to fathom is that they are formless. Thus what is shown plainly may be verified even by the dull, while what lies hidden may still bewilder the clever.

As for the Buddha's Way, it is vast and empty, riding upon stillness and concealment. It embraces the ten thousand kinds, and governs the ten directions. Raise it high and it fills the universe; take it small and it gathers to a hair's breadth. It knows neither death nor birth, and through a thousand cliffs it stretches across ancient time. Whether hidden or manifest, it turns a hundred blessings and remains ever new. The wondrous Way condenses the dark mystery, and none know its limit; the flowing Dharma is deep and still, and none can sound its source. How could the petty and the vulgar, if they seek to taste it, fail to feel doubt?

Yet the rise of the Great Teaching began in the Western Lands. It flashed through the Han court in a bright dream and spread its mercy to the eastern border. In the age when forms and traces were first sought, words had not yet flown and transformation was already complete. In the age when the Buddha was plainly seen and then withdrawn from sight, the people looked up to his virtue and learned the proper path. When the shadow faded and truth returned, and when the world shifted from age to age, the golden visage was veiled so that no light of the three thousand worlds could be mirrored in it; yet the splendid image was drawn forth, and the empty expanse revealed the signs of the four and eight. Thus the subtle words spread wide and saved the birds and beasts from the three evil paths; the far-reaching injunctions guided all living beings through the ten stages. The Buddha has scriptures that distinguish the great vehicle from the small, and he has Dharma that reveals true from false.

Our monk Tripitaka is the leader of the gate of the Dharma. From childhood he held true keenness in his heart and early awakened to the work of the three emptinesses. As he grew, he was in harmony with stillness and purity, and from the start he embodied the practice of the four forbearances. Pine wind and moonlit water were not enough to match his clarity; immortal dew and pearl light could not rival his brightness. Thus his wisdom traveled without burden, and his spirit could measure what had no form. He rose beyond the six dusts and stood far above them, so that his name might be fragrant through a thousand ages.

He concentrated his heart on the inner realm, grieving for the hidden spirits and turning his mind toward the gate of mystery. Yet many schools are confused and many doctrines have gone astray. He wished to sort them out one by one, and so he set his heart on the Pure Land and took up his staff to travel alone. At dawn, snow flew and the road was lost; at dusk, sand rose and the sky beyond the void grew dim. Through ten thousand li of mountains and rivers he pressed ahead through mist and clouds; through a hundred layers of cold and heat he forged on through frost and rain. Though the labor was heavy and the goal exalted, he traveled through the Western Lands for fourteen years, exploring strange kingdoms and seeking the true teaching.

At Twin Trees and Eight Waters he tasted the Way and dined on wind; at Deer Grove and Vulture Peak he gazed upon wonders and bowed before marvels. He received the highest sayings from the sages of old and the true teaching from the noble ones above. He probed the wondrous gate to its deepest depths and exhausted the hidden books to their uttermost. The doctrines of the Three Vehicles and the Six Rules raced through his heartfield; the writings of one canon and a hundred chests surged through his mouth like waves.

From the lands he crossed there was no boundary, and the scriptures he sought had a number. In all he obtained thirty-five great-vehicle works, totaling five thousand and forty-eight scrolls, to be translated into Chinese and spread abroad so that the great work might shine.

I hope that these scriptures may spread like sun and moon and never end; that great blessings may be flung far abroad and endure as long as heaven and earth. May they bring the cooling of the burning house, and may they help all beings cross together from the muddy waves to the farther shore. For evil falls by the workings of karma, and good rises through auspicious causes. The root of ascent and descent lies in what each person makes of himself. The cassia tree only blooms with its blossoms shining through the clouds because it grows on a high ridge; the lotus only rises pure from the green waves because dust cannot stain its leaves. It is not that the lotus is pure by nature and the cassia faithful by birth. It is because what they bear is high, so the smallest thing cannot burden them, and what they rely on is clean, so the turbid can never cling. Even plants and trees, which know nothing, depend on goodness to become good; how much more should people, who know the way, not depend on blessing to become blessed? I only hope that these scriptures may be handed down forever, together with sun and moon, and that their good fortune may spread far and grow vast with heaven and earth.

When the writing was finished, the emperor summoned the holy monk. By then Tripitaka was waiting outside the palace gate, ready to give thanks. When he heard the summons, he hurried in and performed the full prostration rite. The emperor had him brought up to the hall and handed him the text.

Tripitaka read it all through, then bowed again and thanked him, saying, "Your Majesty's writing is lofty and ancient, with deep meaning and subtle truth. Only I do not know what name it bears."

The emperor said, "I composed it by night to answer my brother-in-law's kindness. I have named it the Preface to the Sacred Teachings. I do not know whether it is good."

Tripitaka knocked his head to the floor and thanked him again and again.

The emperor said, "My own talent is no more than that of a jade vessel in name only, and my words shame even stone. As for the inner canon, I know even less. To compose this preface on the spur of the moment was indeed crude. I have stained the golden slips with my clumsy brush and set pebbles among the pearl groves. Looking within and reflecting, I blush and feel shame. It is far from worthy of praise, and my thanks have only burdened you."

The ministers all offered congratulations, bowed before the imperial text, and had it copied throughout the inner and outer courts.

The emperor then said, "Brother-in-law, what if you recite the true scriptures once?"

Tripitaka said, "Your Majesty, if one is to recite the true scriptures, one must seek a Buddha place. The imperial hall is not a proper place for recitation."

The emperor was delighted and immediately asked the officer of the royal carriage, "Which temple in Chang'an is cleanest?"

The great scholar Xiao Yu stepped forward and said, "There is a clean temple in the city called Wild Goose Pagoda Temple."

The emperor at once ordered the ministers, "Each of you carry a few volumes of the true scriptures with care, and follow me to Wild Goose Pagoda Temple, where my brother-in-law can lecture on the scriptures."

The ministers each lifted the books and followed the imperial procession to the temple, where a high platform was set up and everything laid out in good order. The elder then ordered Bajie and Sha Wujing to lead the white horse and arrange the luggage, while Wukong stayed at his side.

He then said to the emperor, "If Your Majesty wishes to spread the true scriptures through the world, you must have copies transcribed before they can be distributed. The original volumes should still be treasured and not lightly handled."

The emperor laughed. "Your words are quite right. Quite right."

He then summoned the ministers of the Hanlin Academy and the Secretariat to transcribe the true scriptures. He also built another temple in the east of the city and named it Transcript Temple.

Tripitaka took several volumes and mounted the platform, ready to begin recitation. A fragrant wind stirred around him, and in midair the Eight Vajra Guardians appeared, shouting, "You who recite the scriptures, set down the scrolls and come back west with us!"

At that, the three disciples and the white horse rose from the ground. Tripitaka cast down the scrolls and lifted from the platform into the ninth heaven, following them into the air. The emperor and the ministers were so alarmed that they threw themselves down and prostrated themselves toward the sky.

It is exactly:

The holy monk toiled to seek the scriptures and wandered through the Western Lands for fourteen years.
Through a bitter road of hardship he met sorrow and disaster, and through many mountains and rivers he endured grief and delay.
Eight and nine were already fulfilled, and then yet another nine was added;
his journey through three thousand and ten thousand worlds was now complete.
The wondrous texts of Great Awakening have returned to the realm of China,
and to this day they remain forever handed down in the Eastern Land.

When the emperor and the ministers had finished bowing, they chose a high monk and set up a great water-land rite in Wild Goose Pagoda Temple, where they recited the Great Canon and saved the wronged ghosts of the nether world, bestowing blessings everywhere. The copied scriptures were then spread throughout the realm. We need not dwell on that further.

Now to return to the Eight Vajra Guardians. They rode the fragrant wind and led the elder and his four companions, horse included, back once more to Lingshan. Their round trip took only eight days. By then all the gods of Lingshan were already before the Buddha hearing his teaching.

The Eight Vajras led Tripitaka and the others inside and said to the Tathagata, "We were earlier entrusted by your golden decree to escort the holy monk and his party to the Tang country, where we delivered the scriptures. We now return to report."

Then they called Tripitaka and the others forward to receive their honors. The Tathagata said, "Holy monk, in a former life you were my second disciple, named Golden Cicada. Because you did not listen to the teaching and slighted my Great Law, I banished your true spirit to be born in the East. Now that you have gladly returned to the refuge, upheld my discipline, and ridden my teaching to bring back the true scriptures, your merit is very great. I now raise you to a high rank of true fruition and make you Sandalwood Merit Buddha.

Sun Wukong, because you once made havoc in Heaven, I used my profound power to press you under Five Elements Mountain. Happily your allotted punishment has been fulfilled and you have returned to the Buddhist teaching. Moreover, you concealed evil and praised good, and on the road you refined demons and subdued monsters with merit from beginning to end. I now raise you to a high rank of true fruition and make you Victorious Combat Buddha.

Zhu Wuneng, you were once Marshal Tianpeng, a water deity of the Heavenly River. Because you drank and made a drunken mockery of the celestial maidens at the Peach Banquet, you were banished to the lower world and took on a beast's body. Happily, you still remembered the worth of human form, repented of your sins in the Cloud-Stack Cave of Mount Fuling, and returned to the Great Teaching. You entered the monastic gate and protected the holy monk along the road, though your stubborn heart and love of desire were not yet entirely gone. Because you carried the luggage with merit, I now raise you to a high rank of true fruition and make you Altar-Cleansing Messenger.

Sha Wujing, you were originally the Curtain-Lifting General. Because you broke a glass goblet at the Peach Banquet, you were banished to the lower world. You fell into the Flowing-Sand River and committed sins by harming life and eating men. Happily, you returned to my teaching with sincerity and reverence, protected the holy monk, and won merit by climbing mountains and leading the horse. I now raise you to a high rank of true fruition and make you Golden-Body Arhat.

White Dragon Horse, you were originally the son of the Dragon King of the Vast Western Sea. Because you disobeyed your father's command, you committed the sin of unfilial conduct. Happily you took refuge in body, Dharma, and the monastic order. Every day you bore the holy monk westward, and every day you bore the sacred scriptures eastward. You too have merit, and I now raise you to a high rank of true fruition and make you Eight-Section Heavenly Dragon Horse."

The elder and his four companions all bowed their heads and gave thanks. The horse also finished giving thanks. The Vajra Guardians were again ordered to lead the horse to the side of the Rebirth Pool behind Lingshan and thrust it into the water.

In a moment the horse stretched itself, shed its skin and hair, and changed its head and horns. Golden scales grew all over its body, silver whiskers sprouted beneath its jaw, a full body of auspicious radiance appeared, and four claws stepped on clouds of good omen. It flew out of the Rebirth Pool and wound itself around the column of the sky-piercing white tower by the mountain gate. The Buddhas all praised the Tathagata's vast Dharma.

Wukong then said to Tripitaka, "Master, since I have now become a Buddha just as you have, you should not still have that gold circlet on my head. Why do you go on chanting the Tightening Spell and tormenting me? You ought to recite the loosening spell at once, take it off, and smash it to pieces. Never again let that bodhisattva use it to toy with others."

Tripitaka said, "At the time I only used it because you were hard to govern. Now that you have become a Buddha, of course it is gone. How could it still remain on your head? Try touching it."

Wukong reached up and felt. Indeed, it was gone.

At this point Sandalwood Buddha, Victorious Combat Buddha, Altar-Cleansing Messenger, Golden-Body Arhat, and the Heavenly Dragon Horse had all attained their proper fruitions. There is a poem to prove it:

One body of true suchness turns and falls into dust; the four aspects are gathered and the self is repaired.
The five phases, when spoken of, are only color and emptiness returning to stillness.
A hundred phantom names need never be mentioned.
Sandalwood, at true fruition, returns to the Great Awakening; ranks completed, it is freed from sinking.
The scriptures are spread through the world, their grace wide and vast;
the five saints sit high at the gate of nonduality.

When the five saints attained their fruitions, all the Buddhas, bodhisattvas, holy monks, arhats, Vajra Guardians, bhikshus, upasakas and upasikas, the immortals and teacher-immortals of every mountain and cave, the great gods, the Ding and Jia, the duty officers, the protective temple guardians, and all those who had attained the Way came at first to listen to the teaching, and now returned to their proper stations.

Look at that:

The peaks of Spirit Eagle gathered rosy clouds; the Pure Land assembled its auspicious haze.
Golden dragons lay quietly, and jade tigers were at peace.
The sun crow and the moon hare came and went as they wished;
the tortoise and serpent were free to coil and turn.
Red phoenixes and azure phoenixes were all bright with joy;
mysterious apes and white deer were calm and at ease.
Rare flowers bloomed in the eight seasons; immortal fruit ripened in all four.
Lofty pines and ancient cypresses stood together with green cedars and long bamboo.
Five-colored plums blossomed and fruited by turns; ten-thousand-year peaches ripened and came anew.
A thousand fruits and a thousand flowers competed in beauty, and one sky of auspicious haze filled the heavens.

The multitude joined their palms and took refuge, all chanting:

Namo Lamps of Ancient Ages Buddha. Namo Medicine Master Lapis Lazuli Light King Buddha. Namo Sakyamuni Buddha. Namo Buddhas of the Past, Present, and Future. Namo Pure Joy Buddha. Namo Vairocana Buddha. Namo Precious Banner King Buddha. Namo Maitreya Honored Buddha. Namo Amitabha Buddha. Namo Buddha of Boundless Life. Namo Guiding-to-Truth Buddha. Namo Vajra-Imperishable Buddha. Namo Precious Light Buddha. Namo Dragon-Honored King Buddha. Namo Diligent Good Buddha. Namo Precious Moonlight Buddha. Namo Manifest-Unknowing Buddha. Namo Varuna Buddha. Namo Narayana Buddha. Namo Lotus of Merit Buddha. Namo Talented Merit Buddha. Namo Good-Walking Buddha. Namo Sandalwood Light Buddha. Namo Jeweled-Pillar Buddha. Namo Wisdom-Torch Buddha. Namo Ocean-Virtue Light Buddha. Namo Great Compassion Light Buddha. Namo Compassionate Power King Buddha. Namo Excellent Good-Head Buddha. Namo Great Splendor Buddha. Namo Golden-Flower Light Buddha. Namo Talented Light Buddha. Namo Wisdom-Victory Buddha. Namo World-Still Light Buddha. Namo Sun-Moon Light Buddha. Namo Sun-Moon Pearl-Light Buddha. Namo Wisdom-Pillar Victorious King Buddha. Namo Wonderful Voice Buddha. Namo Constant-Light Pillar Buddha. Namo Seeing-World Lamp Buddha. Namo Dharma-Victorious King Buddha. Namo Sumeru Light Buddha. Namo Great Wisdom Power King Buddha. Namo Golden-Sea Light Buddha. Namo Great-Path Light Buddha. Namo Talented Light Buddha. Namo Sandalwood Merit Buddha. Namo Victorious Combat Buddha. Namo Guanyin Bodhisattva. Namo Great Strength Bodhisattva. Namo Manjushri Bodhisattva. Namo Samantabhadra Bodhisattva. Namo Pure Great Ocean Assembly Bodhisattvas. Namo Lotus-Pool Ocean Assembly Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Namo the bodhisattvas of the Pure Bliss Realm of the Western Heaven. Namo the great bodhisattvas of the three thousand guardians. Namo the great bodhisattvas of the five hundred Arhats. Namo the bodhisattvas of bhikshu, upasaka, and upasika. Namo the bodhisattvas of boundless and measureless Dharma. Namo the holy bodhisattvas of the great vajra adepts. Namo Altar-Cleansing Messenger Bodhisattva. Namo Eight-Jeweled Golden-Body Arhat Bodhisattva. Namo Eight-Section Heavenly Dragon of Vast Power Bodhisattva. May the merit of this be used to adorn the Buddha land. May it repay the fourfold kindness above and rescue the three evil paths below. If any who see or hear this, let them all awaken the bodhi mind. May they be born together in the Land of Bliss, and may this one body fully repay the debt of life.

The Buddhas of the ten directions and the three ages, all honored bodhisattvas and maha sattvas, maha prajna paramita.

Here ends Journey to the West.