Chapter 14 Chapter 7: Solving Mysteries on Strange Events on the Way to Learn Buddhist Scriptures

In the process of learning scriptures described in the book, many interesting stories actually appeared, and many interesting problems were derived from it. These problems are not easy to solve, and are even called by many readers as loopholes in Wu Chengen’s writing. Here, I can justify a few words, but the author is limited in ability after all, and it is impossible to cover everything. Therefore, the author is not talking about it, and everyone is just talking about it. There are some small questions, for example, why didn't Sun Wukong go to learn Buddhist scriptures with Tang Seng on his back, instead of wasting so much time traveling across mountains and rivers on horseback?The answer to this question has been clearly stated in the book. Ordinary people are as heavy as Mount Tai. It is okay to carry it on your back, but it is very difficult. The scriptures can only be obtained after the nine or eighty-one disasters, so how can it be possible for Tang Seng to come and go easily?In fact, except for these so-called high-sounding reasons, if you answer this question with a simple answer, there will be no doubts—Monkey King flew to the west with Tang Seng on his back, so where is the specific process of eighty-one difficulties?What other stories can you read besides Monkey King making havoc in the Heavenly Palace?

Therefore, for this problem, the author will not delve too much into it, and let me talk about some more difficult ones. Everyone on the earth knows that eating the meat of a Tang monk can lead to immortality, but the veracity of this rumor remains to be tested.After all, none of the many monsters who wanted to eat Tang's monk's meat succeeded, and they all ended in dismal ending. No one could confirm the truth of this rumor.In fact, if you want to find out whether eating Tang monk meat will really make you immortal, you just need to figure out the following three questions. First of all, why does Tang Monk meat make people live forever?You may be able to find two plausible answers from the book: first, Tang Seng is the reincarnation of Jin Chanzi, the second disciple of Tathagata Buddha;These two plausible answers seem to be passable at first glance, but they cannot withstand scrutiny, because the reincarnation of Jin Chanzi and the good people who have practiced in the tenth life have nothing to do with immortality. What kind of logic is this?

Secondly, who said that eating Tang Monk meat would lead to immortality?There is no explanation in this book, but the book explains the first monster who believed the rumor and made it his goal to catch Tang Seng and eat him.In the twenty-seventh chapter, she (Bone Essence) was in the clouds, stepping on the dark wind, and saw the elder sitting on the ground, she was overjoyed and said: "Good luck! Good luck! For several years, my family has said that the Tang monk in the eastern land took the Mahayana. He was originally The incarnation of the golden cicada, the original body of ten generations of practice. Some people eat a piece of his meat, and live a long life. Really today has come.” Therefore, the white bone demon is the first demon who believes in eating Tang monks to obtain eternal life, so why is the white bone demon the first ?Why didn't the black bear spirit and the yellow wind monster before the bone spirit behave like this?The black bear spirit became enemies with Sun Wukong for the sake of the beautiful cassock, and the yellow wind monster became enemies with Sun Wukong for the death of Tiger Pioneer, neither of which was for Tang Seng flesh.Why?

Again, do all monsters know that eating Tang Monk meat can lead to immortality?Of course not, neither the black bear spirit nor the yellow wind monster before the bone spirit, nor do many monsters after the bone spirit, such as the three demons of Chechi Kingdom, such as the scorpion spirit, such as the mouse spirit, such as the yellow lion spirit, such as the bull demon king, etc. These monsters never thought of capturing Tang Seng and eating Tang Seng's meat.Why is that? In fact, it’s not surprising if you figure it out. There is only one reason, and it’s very simple. It’s a rumor that you can live forever by eating Tang’s monk meat. It’s a lie made out of nothing!Its function is nothing more than to increase Tang Seng's social status, create a political star effect, and at the same time attract the attention of monsters on the way to learn Buddhist scriptures, increasing the difficulty of learning Buddhist scriptures.Further analysis shows that this rumor spread around the time when Avalokitesvara was looking for Buddhist scriptures, because Baigujing said that eating Tang monk meat has been said to make him immortal for several years, so it can be seen that this rumor spread relatively early.But this rumor was not so successful, some monsters knew about it, and some monsters didn't know about it.

So who made the rumor? Rumors were spread in order to increase Tang Seng's social status, and in order to increase the difficulty of learning scriptures. After thinking about the needs of these two purposes, it is not difficult to figure out who is the rumor maker. Without him, there is Guanyin Bodhisattva. Tang Seng was caught many times by monsters on the way to learn Buddhist scriptures, and many of the monsters who caught him wanted to eat him, but in the end they couldn't eat him. This is a common phenomenon, and it is also an intriguing phenomenon. , what is the reason? Maybe we can get some inspiration from the Yellow Wind Monster.

First of all, after the monsters caught Tang Seng, they were afraid that Monkey King and others would come to make trouble, so they had to wait until they killed Monkey King and others or waited until Monkey King and others gave up rescuing Tang Seng before they dared to eat with confidence.For example, after the Tiger Pioneer of the Yellow Wind Monster captured Tang Seng, he said that he would offer it to the Huang Feng Monster to try something new, but the Huang Feng Monster said: "Don't eat him." , call it bad kick." The Yellow Wind Monster then explained: "You don't know, it doesn't matter if he eats it, but I'm afraid that his two apprentices will come to make a noise, and if it's not convenient, he will be tied to the wind-fixing stake in the back garden. Wait for three to five days, and the two of them will not disturb you. At that time, one wants him to be clean, and the other doesn’t speak up, but doesn’t let us do what we want? Either boil or steam, or fry or fry, and enjoy it slowly and freely. Not too late."

Second, just after catching people, there are still some unclean things in the stomach and intestines that have not been cleaned up. It is unhygienic to eat, so you have to put them away for a few days, and eat them after the body is clean so as not to hurt the body.In what Huang Fengguai said to Hu Xianfeng, there is also such a sentence, "I want him to be clean". Thirdly, Tang Seng is also a person sent to learn Buddhist scriptures after all, he is an important figure in Buddhism, and someone is covering him!Therefore, even though the monsters who are fighting against the Heavenly Court want to eat Tang Monk's meat to live forever, they still have to hide their rumors and cannot openly oppose the above.After you catch it, put it away for a few days to see if there is any effect. If there is no effect, eat it again, this is the only way to be safe.

Fourth, Tang monk meat is not easy to distribute.If you are alone, you can eat whatever you want, steamed, boiled, fried or roasted; you can eat as much as you like, half or whole, or an arm or a thigh.However, I have raised so many people under my command, all of whom want to live forever, and if I can’t take care of one of them, I might report to the police or have a leak, so the way of eating and distribution has become a major issue, how to divide?Is it a democratic vote or is it distributed according to the merits of catching Tang Seng?Disaster!I can't figure it out for a while!This will take a few days of work.

Fifth, the big monsters are almost all involved with other big monsters, and they all have Tang Seng's idea, and they probably have eyeliner. This is also a problem that must be considered. The demon king and the devil king turned against him, and he was immortalized just now, and then he was beaten to death by the group, wouldn't that be too worthless. Finally, Tang Seng recited the "Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra" by Zen Master Wuchao at a critical moment. This may also be a protective measure. With Zen Master Wuchao as a person, the possibility of lying is very small, so the saying of memorizing and saving one's life should be reliable Some.Of course, there should also be those who secretly protected Tang Seng's four-valued meritorious service, Wufang Jiedi, Liuding Liujia, and Guardian Jialan, who had also made efforts, at least to prevent those little monsters who were stealing.

Therefore, Tang monk meat is not so delicious. Sun Wukong encountered underwater monsters many times in the process of learning scriptures, such as Inspiration King, Bibotan Jiaolongjing, Nine-Headed Insect, Heishuihe Little Turtle Dragon, etc. Every time he encountered these monsters, Monkey King would give many reasons, such as It is said that his water skills are not good, and he has to hold the water avoidance formula when he enters the water, he can't open the golden cudgel, it is inconvenient to fight, etc., so he asks Zhu Bajie and Monk Sha to help.Even when subduing Monk Sha, Monkey King has already begun to express this attitude.

This seemingly no problem phenomenon, after careful study, is there really no problem? If we read the book carefully, we will know that Sun Wukong can dive into the waters at will before learning the scriptures. He even dared to ask for weapons from the Dragon King of the East China Sea alone, and even dared to snatch the Dinghai Shenzhen Needle.If Sun Wukong's underwater skills are really bad, how dare he be so tyrannical?And how could the dragon kings be afraid of him who is not good at water? You must know that Mo Ang, the prince of the Dragon King of the West Sea alone, is a very powerful character. I believe everyone is familiar with Prince Mo Ang.He once made great efforts in subduing the small turtle dragon in Heishuihe and chasing down the rhinoceros in Xuanying Cave. If Monkey King's underwater skills are really as unbearable as he said, the Dragon King of the Four Seas plus the dragon's son and grandson plus How could the countless aquariums in the world be afraid of a Monkey King who couldn't drive an iron rod? And when Sun Wukong was drinking and chatting with the Dragon King in the East China Sea, he didn't see him holding on to some water-avoiding formula and couldn't let go of his hands and feet. When encountering the little white dragon in Yingshoujian, Monkey King showed his talents even more, "Using the supernatural power of turning the river and disturbing the sea, he stirred up the completely clear water of Yingshoujian like the swollen waves of the Jiuqu Yellow River", The little white dragon was forced to find it hard to stay, so he had to turn into a little loach and escape. How can it be said that Monkey King is not the opponent of the underwater monster? What's more, Sun Wukong himself said that he went in both water and fire, jumped out of the three realms, and was not in the five elements.That being the case, the waters in the Three Realms and the water element in the Five Elements certainly cannot trap Monkey King. What is the mystery of such inconsistent performance before and after learning from the scriptures? According to the author's analysis, there are three reasons. First of all, Sun Wukong is a man who is very proficient in the essence of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism under the teaching of the ancestor Subhuti. Stay out of danger.Sun Wukong is a person who follows this principle very much. He is only cautious in doing things in his life. He thinks before and after. For things that are not sure, he would rather seek help than do it himself. This is very similar to Guanyin.Sun Wukong is not familiar with the underwater world. A world full of unknown dangers is a place Sun Wukong doesn't want to set foot in, so Sun Wukong reasoned that his underwater skills are not good. Whenever he encounters underwater monsters, Zhu Bajie and Monk Sha will take the lead.Even if there is no helper, Sun Wukong will not go into the water easily even if he is in a hurry to go crazy. Instead, he will turn the world upside down with a golden cudgel, force the monster to sacrifice himself, and subdue him in broad daylight.This is a characteristic of Sun Wukong, a very commendable characteristic. Secondly, Monkey King knows the Taoist essence of "things must be reversed" and "willing to give up". No matter how capable he is, he can't perform everything perfectly. What are monks doing?If you perform too well, it will have a bad influence in the eyes of others. You have to share some of the credit with others, and it may not be a blessing if you take it all yourself. Again, Sun Wukong is very tactful, he knows the truth of "doing things for the leaders to see", Tang Seng can't see things underwater, no matter how brave and tenacious he goes down, Tang Seng can't appreciate it, so let Zhu Bajie and Monk Sha do it. Use bait to lure the monster ashore and show it to Tang Seng. Therefore, Sun Wukong just pretended to be in the end and never admitted that he was good at underwater. Sun Wukong has extraordinary skills. In addition to the seventy-two transformations and somersaulting clouds, he also developed a rare stunt in the Taishang Laojun's gossip furnace--sparkling eyes. The supernatural power of the golden eyes can be described as a sign of Sun Wukong. According to Sun Wukong himself: "My grandson has golden eyes and can recognize good and evil." And he can indeed distinguish the incarnations of gods, demons, and Bodhisattvas, except for the wise eyes of the Tathagata Buddha. In addition to being comparable, even the Great Immortal Zhenyuan, who has all-hands and eyes to the sky, can't see the transformation of Monkey King using a stone statue as a substitute, so this ability of Monkey King can almost be said to be possessed by Zhu Bajie, Sha Monk, even the gods and Buddhas in the sky, and the monsters of the Three Realms. of. On the way to learn the scriptures, Sun Wukong's golden eyes have also been of great use many times, but many times he will be questioned by Tang Seng, who has naked eyes, but this does not prevent the magical impression of the golden eyes in the hearts of readers. However, readers who read the book carefully will find that the sharp eye does not work every time, and Sun Wukong also misses it sometimes, and more than once. When he was in the Wuji Kingdom, Sun Wukong saw the king who was transformed into a monster, so he fought with him. The two of them fought together, and the monster couldn't resist the Monkey King, so he hurriedly turned back and jumped into the city from the old road. In the first two groups of civil and military groups, they suddenly changed into the same appearance as Tang Sanzang, and stood in front of the steps holding hands.When the great sage caught up with him, he wanted to raise his stick to beat him, but the strange man said: "Don't hit me, apprentice, it's me!" Pulling his stick eagerly, he wanted to hit that Tang monk, but he said, "Don't hit me, apprentice, it's me!" , it is difficult to identify. "If I kill Tang Monk who is transformed into a monster with one stick, it will be a successful result; but if I kill my real master with one stick, it will be so good!" I had to stop. This is the first time that Sun Wukong can't distinguish the monster with his piercing eyes. When borrowing the banana fan for the third time, Monkey King deceived the banana fan from Princess Iron Fan, and the Bull Demon King used a trick to deceive the precious fan back.He also has seventy-two transformations, and his martial arts are as good as the great sage's, but his body is cut off like a wolf, he is not as sharp as a drill, and he is not alive; Lu, facing the great sage face to face, shouted: "Senior brother, I'm coming!" The great sage was really happy.The ancients said that a victorious cat is as happy as a tiger. It only relies on its strength, and doesn't pay attention to the intentions of others. When it sees the appearance of Bajie, it calls out: "Brother, where are you going?" This is the second time that the illusion of a demon has not been distinguished. When the pilgrimage team reached Shituoling, Taibai Jinxing turned into an old man and came to report the news, but Sun Wukong didn't see it. After Taibai Jinxing disappeared, Drifting said: "He is a monster. I’m afraid you’re going to scare us.” The traveler said: “Don’t be busy, wait for me to go and have a look.” Great sage, he jumped up to the peak, looked around without a trace, turned his face quickly, and saw a bright rosy cloud in the mid-air, that is, Zong Yun caught up with him. At that time, it was Taibaijinxing.Walked to the side, grabbed him with his hands, and kept calling him by his nickname: "Li Changgeng, Li Changgeng! You are so lazy! If you have anything to say, just say it face to face. How can you pretend to be an old nightmare of the mountains? I!" This is the third mistake of the sharp eye. Then why does the sharp eye make mistakes? The author believes that Wu Chengen wrote such a supernatural power to show that there are too many people in the world who are like Tang Seng, Zhu Bajie, and Monk Sha. Being kind, but not listening to others, always ruins great things.So, there's a lot of irony here. So how can we distinguish the good and see the good from the bad? It is difficult to distinguish with the naked eye. Seeing with piercing eyes is actually seeing with your heart.Observe with your heart, speculate with your heart, and think with your heart, so that you can distinguish right from wrong, see virtuous and foolish, and identify loyalty, evil, and goodness. But to see with the heart, there must be a prerequisite, that is, the mind must be calm, and if the mind is not calm, you will not be able to see clearly. The mind is like a pool of water. When the water is not still, you can't see anything when it shakes back and forth; when the water is as quiet as a mirror, you can see everything in it at a glance. So, we know why Monkey King's piercing eyes made mistakes. For the first time, the monster turned into Tang Seng. Tang Seng was Monkey King's master. Monkey King was afraid of misjudging his master and killing his master, so he was confused and restless when he cared about it; The second time, Sun Wukong tricked the plantain fan, he was full of joy, carried away with complacency, and was not as cautious as usual, just ecstasy, ecstasy, so extreme joy begets sorrow, and his heart is restless; For the third time, in order to ask people for news, Monkey King himself first became a human being, and after hearing a few flattering words from Zhu Bajie and Tang Seng, he was always thinking about whether the person he changed was handsome or not, and whether he would be in the same position as the old man. In front of him, how can he care about seeing if other people have also changed.Half-hearted, still restless. Three times I was restless, once my mind was in a mess, once I was carried away, and once I was half-hearted. Of course, the sharp eyes will fail. Therefore, when people act today, they must learn a lesson. No matter what they do, they must first calm down. "University" says: "After being quiet, you can be at peace, when you are at ease, you can worry, and after thinking, you can gain."This is a wise saying, if you can do it, then you also have a pair of sharp eyes, and everything is not difficult to see.