Chapter 6 Chapter Five: Zen Master Wuchao—Who Are You?

In the book, there are two very mysterious and powerful characters, one is Sun Wukong's mentor, Patriarch Subhuti, and the other is Wuchao Zen Master, who Sun Wukong met when he subdued Zhu Bajie. The mystery of Patriarch Subhuti is that he has a head but no tail and is short-lived (as mentioned above), but Zen Master Wuchao is even more mysterious than him. Zen Master Wuchao didn't even cover one-fifth of a chapter from his appearance to his exit. Moreover, this person's origin and whereabouts are unknown, his intentions are mysterious, and his magic power is boundless. He can be said to be the most mysterious and peerless master in a book.

In the nineteenth chapter, it is written that—(Tang Seng, Wukong, Bajie) the journey of the three people to the west was stable for a month.After passing through the Tibetan border of Uzbekistan, I suddenly looked up and saw a high mountain.Sanzang stopped his whip and reined in his horse and said, "Wukong and Wuneng, the mountains ahead are high, so you must search carefully." Bajie said, "It's all right. This mountain is called Futu Mountain, and there is a Zen master Wuchao in the mountain. Meet him." Sanzang said, "What kind of business does he have?" Bajie said, "He also has some Taoism. He once advised me to practice with him, but I never went."

This is where Zen Master Wuchao comes on stage. From Zhu Bajie's mouth, we can know that Zen Master Wuchao once wanted to accept Zhu Bajie as an apprentice, but Zhu Bajie never went because he had the task of learning scriptures from Guanyin Bodhisattva.But why Zen Master Wuchao accepted Zhu Bajie to practice, the reason is unknown, maybe it is the loneliness of the empty mountain, or maybe it is because of a certain aspect of Zhu Bajie, in short, the intention is very mysterious.Moreover, Zhu Bajie did evil and evil, Zen Master Wuchao lived nearby, and with his magic power, he didn't do anything about it, and the reason was unknown.

The next section——but said that the Zen master saw his three groups coming, even if he left the nest, he jumped off the tree.Sanzang got off his horse to worship, the Zen master helped him with his hand and said, "Holy Monk, please get up, I'm not welcome, I'm not welcome." Bajie said: "Old Zen master, bow." The Zen master asked in surprise, "You are Fuling Mountain Pig Gang Mane , how can there be such a great destiny to walk with the holy monk?" Bajie said: "I was persuaded by Guanyin Bodhisattva the year before last, and I would like to be an apprentice with him." The Zen master said happily: "Okay, good, good!" He also appointed a practitioner and asked Said: "Who is this person?" The traveler said with a smile: "How can this old Zen recognize him, but not me?" The Zen master said: "Because I don't know my ears." Sanzang said: "He is my great disciple Sun Wukong." The Zen master smiled and said: "I owe you the courtesy, I owe you the courtesy." Sanzang bowed again and asked if the Great Leiyin Temple in Xitian is still there.The Zen master said: "It's a long way, it's a long way! It's just that there are so many roads that tigers and leopards can't walk." Sanzang paid his respects attentively, and then asked, "How far is the journey?" The Zen master said, "Although the journey is long, there must be a day when it will arrive. It's just that the miasma is hard to get rid of. I have a volume of "Multi-Heart Sutra", with fifty-four lines, totaling 270 points. If you encounter a miasma, just recite this sutra, and it will not hurt you." Sanzang prostrated himself on the ground and begged , the Zen master recited it orally.

This passage shows that Zen Master Wuchao knew Tang Seng, but not Sun Wukong, and seemed to be waiting for Tang Seng to come, telling him that the future is difficult, the spiritual mountain is still far away, and that when he thinks of Da Leiyin Temple, he must first get rid of his demons and teach him. The intention is still very mysterious, what is the mystery? When Tang Seng asked about the good and bad future, the Zen master said with a smile: "The road is not difficult, just listen to my order: Thousands of mountains and deep waters, many miasmas and many demons."If you encounter Jietianya, don't worry, don't be afraid.Come to Moer Rock, step sideways.Careful in the black pine forest, there are many demon foxes blocking the way.The city is full of elves, and the demon lord lives in the mountains.The tiger sits in the piano hall, and the wolf is the master.All lions and elephants are kings, and tigers and leopards are kings.The wild boar carries the burden, and the water monster meets first.The old stone monkey has been angry for many years.You ask that acquaintance, he knows the way to go west.

This passage almost foretells the whole experience of learning Buddhist scriptures. Zen Master Wuchao's supernatural powers are so great that it is terrifying.Moreover, Zen Master Wuchao told the origin of Sun Wukong here - the old stone monkey for many years, which is contrary to the previous ignorance. Strange too! Continue to be mysterious! Leaving aside this mystery for the time being, let's find out from elsewhere. Let's take a look at the magic power of Zen Master Wuchao. In the original text, the traveler was furious and held up an iron stick to look up at the chaos. He saw thousands of lotus flowers and auspicious mist covering thousands of layers.Even if a traveler has the power to stir up the sea and turn the river, don't want to hold a wisp of vine from the Wuchao... Bajie said: "Brother, calm down. This Zen master also knows the past and the future, but he doesn't know the truth from his words 'the water monster met before' No, let him go." The traveler saw the lotus and mist approaching the nest, so he had to ask the master to get on the horse and go down the mountain to the west.

Sun Wukong's fight in front of Zen Master Wuchao is like child's play against a strong man, and with Sun Wukong's ability, he can't get close to Zen Master Wuchao's lair. Zen Master Wuchao's mana has reached a terrifying level, and he is truly a master ! Based on the analysis of all the information in the book, the author draws the following conclusions: First of all, Zen Master Wuchao is a Buddhist. Because judging from the performance of Zen Master Wuchao, he came to encourage Tang Seng to go west to learn scriptures, and he gave Tang Seng a vaccination and gave Tang Seng a stabilizer-"Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra".

Its importance is self-evident. If Zen Master Wuchao is not a Buddhist, how could he understand it and pass it on to Tang Seng?In addition, when Monkey King hit Wuchao, he saw thousands of lotus flowers and auspicious mist covering thousands of layers, which is clearly the Buddha's dharma. Secondly, Zen Master Wuchao is a figure at the level of Tathagata Buddha, but he is not a Tathagata. Wuchao is very similar to Tathagata with his supernatural powers of knowing the past and future and his boundless mana, but he also said that he doesn't know Sun Wukong (because he lacks ear knowledge), so he is not Tathagata.But he had heard about Sun Wukong's deeds and knew who Tang Seng's great apprentice was, so when Tang Seng said "he is my great apprentice Sun Wukong", Wu Chao suddenly realized.This shows that Wu Chao is one of the core figures in the formulation of the scripture learning plan, otherwise he would not know that Tang Seng's chief apprentice is a long-standing stone monkey without knowing Sun Wukong, which also shows that the candidates for the scripture learning are internally determined.

In the end, the ins and outs of Zen Master Wuchao have not been explained, so it can be seen that the author has hidden clues in the book.Throughout the whole book, the only thing that the author feels possible is—Zen Master Wuchao is the incarnation of the ancient Buddha on Randeng! Inferred in this way, all problems are easily solved. The strength of the ancient Buddha who burns the lamp is comparable to that of the Tathagata. He also needs to encourage the Tang monk to learn from the scriptures, and he once met with the Taishang Laojun to learn from the scriptures (as mentioned above), so he is one of the planners of the Buddhist scriptures. Who is the apprentice.When Sun Wukong made a big disturbance in the Heavenly Palace, Ran Deng met with the Taishang Laojun, but he had never met Sun Wukong, so he said, because he lacked ear recognition.

So far, all the secrets of Zen Master Wuchao have been cracked. Since it is believed that Zen Master Wuchao is the illusion of the ancient Buddha on the burning lamp in Lingshan, many issues need to be further analyzed. First of all, what is the position of the ancient Buddha of burning lamps in the Lingshan forces? In the book, the Immortal World and Lingshan, on the surface, seem to be a happy and harmonious situation, but after careful study, both of them are hidden waves, even turbulent waves. Take the fairy world as an example, there are five factions in heaven, earth, gods, men and ghosts, and there are intrigues among the factions, and each faction is also intriguing.At that time, one hundred thousand heavenly soldiers and generals captured Sun Wukong and suffered a disastrous defeat. Although the strength is not good, it does not rule out the disharmony among the heavenly soldiers and generals.When Sun Wukong was thwarted by the one-horned king, Li Jing, Nezha, Lei Jiang, Xingxiu and other gods were invited to help catch the monster, and let's see how these people behaved-the demon king was not afraid, and took out the white forest with one hand. He came in a circle, threw it in the sky, and shouted "Hey!" With a hula, he put down the six weapons, so that Prince Nezha escaped with his bare hands in a panic, and the devil returned victorious.Deng Zhang Erleigong laughed secretly in the air: "I was the one who checked the situation first, and I never let Lei Yun go. If I was caught by him, how would I see Tianzun?" He said to Li Tianwang: "The demon fruit is supernatural!"

Look again—but it said that Li Tianwang led the crowd back to the peak, Huo De blamed Nezha for his impatience, Lei Gong blamed the Tian Wang for being unreasonable, and Wei Boshui was silent by the side.Seeing that they didn't see each other, the traveler was haunted, he had no choice but to hold grudges and love, and smiled to the crowd: "You don't need to worry. Since ancient times, victory and defeat have been common in military strategists. That's the only way I discussed martial arts with him; but It’s just that he has more circles, so he caused harm, and used my weapons again. Don’t worry, I’ll wait for the old grandson to check his role.” This is the true portrayal of the heavenly soldiers and generals. The same is true of the Lingshan forces. On the surface, Tathagata Buddha is the boss of the Lingshan forces, but in fact, he is only one of the three Buddhas. There are two other big bosses in Lingshan. One is the future Buddha—— Maitreya Buddha, who is later The Donglai Buddha who helped Sun Wukong conquer the old monster with yellow eyebrows; one is the past Buddha, that is, the ancient Buddha who burned the lamp; the Tathagata Buddha is the present Buddha. Among the three factions, Tathagata is the most powerful, but Maitreya Buddha is not impatient with Tathagata. Maitreya Buddha is a typical pro-Taoist faction among Lingshan forces (see details later), while the ancient Buddha who burns lamps has no political ambitions, but I can't understand Tathagata's hypocritical approach. The ancient Buddha who burned the lamp once participated in the formulation of the scripture-learning plan, but deep down in his heart he really hoped that people with predestined relationship would come to learn the scriptures and benefit the world. political conspiracy. In the ninety-eighth chapter, it is said that there is an ancient lamp-burning Buddha on the treasure pavilion. He listened to the scripture transmission secretly in the pavilion, and he knew very well that it was Anuo and Jiaye who passed on the scripture without words. , but laughed to himself and said: "The monks in the Eastern land are foolish and do not know the wordless scriptures, but the holy monk's trek is not in vain?" Asked: "Who is here?" Only the Venerable Baixiong flashed out.The ancient Buddha said: "You can act like a god, Feixing catches up with Tang Monk, snatches the scripture without words, and teaches him to come to get the scripture with words." Four points are pointed out here. Firstly, Randeng does not sit under Tathagata, but in another treasure house; secondly, Randeng has been secretly paying attention to the movement of learning scriptures; The fourth burning lamp can act directly without listening to the Tathagata's orders or discussing with the Tathagata. It can be seen that Randeng is really a major faction in the Lingshan forces. In the last big ranking of the Buddhist world, the ancient Buddha of Randeng ranked first, which is verifying the supremacy of the Buddha in the past. The Tathagata Buddha has great powers, and he still needs to live deep in Leiyin and sit on a lotus platform to practice. However, Zen Master Wuchao has no mansion, no temple, no hall, and only builds a hut on the top of a tree. Even so, he still has great supernatural powers and boundless mana. It can be seen that practice can be practiced everywhere in the world, and the level of practice depends on people, not things. The lotus platform is a sacred object of Buddhist practice. Its function is to purify the mind and calm the body, so that the practitioner can have a good external environment, while the branches and leaves of the big tree will sway with the wind, so it is very difficult to practice on the tree, which is like the outside world The environment is messy, and people can’t study with peace of mind, but Zen Master Wuchao chose to live on the top of the tree, and he can still gain something and realize something. The foundation of practice and learning lies in the heart, not the outside world. Zen Master Wuchao taught Tang Seng and told Tang Seng in advance that the journey to learn the scriptures was very dangerous. It just shows that the future is long and there are many hardships.