Reflections on Spiritual Cultivation through the tale of Journey to the West (3)

Translated from Vietnamese. Article written based on the teachings of dharma master Heng Chang (Hằng Trường) on a Radio Khai Tâm show.

Hello everyone,

I have already spoken in two previous sessions about the story Journey to the West. The main purpose of this series is to explain the symbolic meanings of the main characters in Journey to the West, so that we can understand the deeper intention of the author because Journey to the West is like a map, a handbook or a manual for those who practice spiritual cultivation or the path of inner training.

Journey to the West (continued)

In order to seek the Way, the Monkey King had to travel south to reach the Southern Continent (Nam Thiện Bộ Châu). That place was far away; he had to cross a vast ocean to get there. However, the Monkey King was determined to go, so he built a raft, sail out on the ocean, letting the wind carry him southward. He went through countless waves and storms, and after about seven, eight, or nine years, he finally arrived at the Southern Continent.

A. The meaning of the numbers 7, 8, and 9 years: a measure of time.

We often want everything to happen quickly, whether in life or on the spiritual path. We want to learn fast, to arrive quickly, and so on.Those nine years drifting on the ocean are similar to the time before we meet our teacher, before we truly begin our practice. That period is very long, and often we must sail alone, not knowing what to do, with no one to share the journey with. When we finally find companions, people close to us with whom we can share the path of cultivation, it feels as if we have already reached the shores of the Southern Continent. But that is not yet the destination — we still must meet our true teacher.

Journey to the West (continued)

The Monkey King reached the shore and came ashore. At that time, he was very naïve. He had grown up among monkeys, and life on Flower-Fruit Mountain was entirely with monkeys. So when he arrived in the Southern Continent and saw human beings for the first time, he was extremely astonished. He jumped toward them, bowed respectfully, and tried to speak with them — but everyone who saw him ran away in fear.

The Monkey King then came up with a plan. He leapt onto one person, pinned him down, took his clothes, put them on, wrapped a scarf around his head, and covered his face so that he would not look so strange.

Then the Monkey King set off toward the mountains, in the belief that those who practice the Way must live in the mountains. As he was joyfully wandering along, he heard someone reciting beautiful verses about the Way. The Monkey King immediately leapt out, bowed deeply, and exclaimed:

“Ah! I have met the Patriarch! I have met the Patriarch! I have met a divine immortal! Please teach me the Way!”

That man stood up and said,“I am not a patriarch, nor am I any kind of immortal. I am just an ordinary woodcutter. Who are you?”

“Respectfully, I am the Monkey King, a stone monkey from Flower-Fruit Mountain in the Eastern Victory Divine Continent. I have come here to seek the Way.”

“Oh, you wish to study the Way? Very well. Follow this path, go up to Spirit Platform and Square-Inch Mountain, and look for the Cave of the Slanted Moon and Three Stars. There you will find a patriarch named Subhuti. He is a being of great wisdom, great awakening, and great enlightenment — a true master. If you go there to study, you will certainly obtain what you seek.”

Hearing this, the Monkey King was overjoyed and hurried along the path up to the mountain peak.

When he arrived, he saw many people dressed in beautiful uniforms, their flowing robes fluttering gently in the wind, moving with great grace and serenity. The Monkey King was filled with joy. He felt that this was truly a community of those who cultivated the Way, and naturally, a sincere and reverent aspiration arose in his heart.

The Monkey King knocked on the door, and a young attendant came out and asked,“Who are you?”

“I am a stone monkey seeking an audience with the Patriarch in order to study the Way,” the Monkey King replied, and then he told his story.

Inside, the Patriarch heard the commotion and came out. He saw a monkey jumping about excitedly. As soon as the Monkey King saw the Patriarch, he immediately prostrated himself, bowing deeply with joy and innocence.

This monkey represents ourselves. At this stage, in the early chapters of the story, the monkey symbolizes the mind that longs to seek the Way — very naïve, completely pure, and without the slightest doubt. It desires only one thing: to seek the Way and to make progress. Therefore, there is no sense of comparison, no calculation, no hidden agenda at all.

Yet many times when we ourselves begin the spiritual path, we carry many calculations with us. We wonder: If I make offerings this way, will the teacher care for me more? If I make offerings that way, how will the teacher treat me? All kinds of thoughts arise. Sometimes we even compare ourselves with others.

The Patriarch asked,“Where do you come from? Who are your parents?”

The monkey replied,“I have no parents.”

“Everyone has parents — how could you have none?”“No, I truly have no parents. I was born from a stone.”

The Patriarch examined him and, seeing his long face and shaggy hair, said,“Very well. Yes, you are indeed a monkey.What is your name?”

“Respectfully, I have no name either. I am only a stone monkey. Later, when I became king, others called me the Monkey King.”

The Patriarch said,“If you wish to cultivate the Way, I must give you a name. You must have a name in order to practice. Are you willing?”

“Yes, I am.”

“You do look like a monkey. I first thought of giving you the surname ‘Hou’ (monkey). But the character ‘Hou’ has ‘Ancient’ on the left and ‘Moon’ on the right — Ancient Moon suggests something too old-fashioned and does not sound auspicious. I should give you a surname that better suits your nature. The character ‘Sun’ (monkey) is better. One side of the character resembles a monkey, and the other resembles descendants and offspring. That way, in the future, you will have many disciples and generations of students.”

Hearing this, the monkey was overjoyed. “So now I have the surname Sun. But if you have given me a surname, please also give me a personal name.”

The Patriarch said, “Since ancient times, names have always had two characters. Our lineage has a verse for transmitting the Dharma:

‘Vast and Great Wisdom, True Suchness Nature, Oceanic Radiance, Awakening Perfect Enlightenment.’

I belong to the character Ying. You, as my disciple, shall take the character Wu. Therefore, I now name you Wukong — Awakened to Emptiness.”

The stone monkey, who had been born without surname nor name, now received the surname Sun and the name Wukong. Oh, how happy he was! He leapt and danced with pure joy.

B. The most important meaning of this story is: How do we transform “Stubborn Emptiness” into “Awakened Emptiness” (Wukong)?

Stubborn Emptiness

Our attachment to states of mind that do not lead to awakening is called stubborn emptiness. Attachment to illusory realms is stubborn emptiness. Clinging and obstinacy are also stubborn emptiness.

Wukong - Awakened to Emptiness is the realization of the true nature of Buddhahood.

C. Symbolic Meaning of the Spirit Platform and Square-Inch Mountain & Slanted Moon and Three Stars Cave.

What does it mean that the Stone Monkey travels from Flower-Fruit Mountain to Spirit Platform and Square-Inch Mountain?

Flower-Fruit Mountain represents the third chakra. Flowers symbolize beauty and compassion. Fruit symbolizes the benefits we bring to others.

Spirit Platform is a sacred platform, but it also represents the point between the eyebrows — often very smooth and level.

Square Inch means very small but stable and balanced.

Spirit Platform and Square-Inch Mountain: the third eye, also known as the sixth chakra, although an extremely small place, it is the seat of supreme wisdom.

Thus, the spiritual path is the journey from the third chakra to the sixth chakra. This transformation is an extremely profound shift that allows wisdom to unfold.

To achieve that, one must move from Water-Curtain Cave to Slanted Moon and Three Stars Cave.

Water Curtain Cave represents compassion. At the third chakra, we must break through attachment and clinging by upholding moral precepts while cultivating compassion and strengthening our commitment to ethical conduct.

Slanted Moon and Three Stars Cave

The Slanted Moon is accompanied by Three Stars. For those who study Chinese characters, when the three stars and the crescent moon are combined, they form the character “Tâm” — the Heart / Mind.

But the three stars also represent three directions of development on the spiritual path.

What are these three directions?They are Truth, Goodness, Beauty.

Slanted Moon means the moon is not full. A full moon represents Enlightenment. When the moon is not full, it represents the Bodhi Mind - The Mind of Awakening. But we only see a full moon on 2 or 3 days each month, most of the time we see a ‘slanted moon’. Which means we must constantly behold the Bodhi Mind.

And what is the Bodhi Mind?

The Bodhi Mind always points upward; it always moves us toward growth and transformation. It is an attitude of continuous change — toward improvement, virtue, refinement, and completion.

Thus, the journey from Water-Curtain Cave to Slanted Moon and Three Stars Cave means:

We move from simply generating compassion, developing kindness and ethical discipline, to cultivating Truth, Goodness, and Beauty (harmony, authenticity, and aesthetic refinement) and thereby nurturing the Bodhi Mind, the mind that never ceases to evolve.

The path of cultivation now becomes much clearer.

It is not good or not enough that we remain at Water-Curtain Cave on the Flower-Fruit Mountain, we must take another step forward. After cultivating the third chakra, we must continue through the fourth and reach the sixth in order to attain realization.

Cultivating the sixth chakra is the cultivation of the Wisdom Eye.

If we do not have the resolve to endure nine years of drifting across the vast ocean, spiritual practice becomes very difficult. And even after arriving, if we remain aggressive, arrogant, lacking humility, believing we already know everything — then cultivation becomes an almost impossible task.

In the story, when the Stone Monkey arrives in the Southern Continent, he bows to everyone he meets. People fear him and avoid him because he does not look human, yet he remains humble and pursue to seek the Way.

D. The three essential qualities at the beginning of the spiritual path are:

Patience, humility, and perseverance.

When someone who has been very successful in life enters spiritual practice without humility — or feels that the teacher is not equal to or greater than themselves — this becomes a serious obstacle.

The starting point of the Way — the most important beginning — is simply this:

I am zero.

E. The Name of the Patriarch: Subhuti

This is the name of one of the great disciples of Śākyamuni Buddha. The Buddha had many outstanding disciples: the greatest preachers of the Dharma, the highest spiritual powers, the most skillful in human relations, and the most extraordinary memory.

Subhuti was the disciple who realized True Emptiness and Dharma Nature. Thus, the deeper meaning here is that when we study the Way, we must study the Prajñā (Wisdom) philosophy and cultivate toward the realization of Prajñā.

After Sun Wukong received his name, he was filled with joy. Every day he followed the young attendants —sweeping fallen leaves, studying the Way, and working.Every day he carried water, cleaned the altar, and tended the plants.

One day he went to listen to a lecture. The teaching was so profound and wonderful that he became overjoyed, forgot everyone around him, clapped his hands, jumped up and down, and made such noise that it disturbed the entire assembly.

Patriarch Subhuti asked,“Who is making such noise? I am teaching — why is there such disturbance?”

Sun Wukong immediately stepped forward, knelt, bowed deeply, and begged forgiveness: “Master, the teaching was so beautiful that I could not restrain my joy.

I clapped my hands and became carried away.”

Subhuti said, “If you find joy and attain insight so easily, it shows that you possess great spiritual potential. But how long have you been here?”

“I do not know exactly how long,” Sun Wukong replied, “but in the Peach Garden on Mount Lang behind this mountain, the trees blossom and bear fruit once a year, and I have eaten from them seven times.”

The Patriarch said, “Then you have been here quite a long time. What have you learned?”

Sun Wukong answered, “I simply do whatever everyone else does. When they go to the hall, I go. When they leave the hall, I leave. When cooking is needed, I cook. When sweeping is needed, I sweep. I do everything.”

Subhuti asked,“What do you truly wish to learn? What is your deepest aspiration?”

Sun Wukong replied,“I only wish that you would teach me the art of immortality, so that I will never die.”

In the era of this story, spiritual ideals were different from today. People did not speak of cultivating in order to be reborn in the Pure Land. Seeking rebirth in the Pure Land is a search for safety, be free from hell and sufferings. Sun Wukong’s wish for immortality was also essentially a wish for safety. But to obtain such safety requires great effort in cultivation.

During the time of the author Wu Cheng’en, Taoist influence was very strong. Therefore, he spoke of cultivation for immortality rather than of awakening, Buddhahood, or Bodhisattvahood — because in Taoism everyone cultivates to become an immortal.

In our time, we should reinterpret this as: we cultivate to become Bodhisattvas.

When Subhuti heard Sun Wukong’s wish, he said,“So you wish to cultivate to become an immortal, a divine being, a sage, to attain everlasting life. Very well, I will teach you. But the Way has 360 methods — many paths, not just one or two.

Would you like to study the arts?”

What are these arts? Today we might use the word technology or specialized skills — like medicine, engineering, or various technical sciences. These arts are broad and include astrology, divination, and the ability to foresee fortune and misfortune.

Sun Wukong asked, “Master, if I study these arts, will I become immortal?”

“No. No.”

“Then I will not study them!”

Subhuti replied, “Ah — you are difficult indeed.”

The Patriarch explained: “These methods are not bad. They have their own value.They are not heretical or evil. But they cannot grant you immortality.”

In the next session, we will speak about the teachings that the Patriarch intended to transmit to Sun Wukong.