From Under One Person: Sincere Journey Through the Heavens

For Tang Sanzang, this ordeal marked the beginning of his cultivation of the Golden Elixir.

But for Sun Wukong, subduing the Bull Demon King meant that he had completely cultivated the Elixir of Immortality and transformed his Bodhi Wisdom Mind into the Light Tathagata Mind, marking the beginning of his Buddhahood!

What solution?

The names of the Taoist "three carts"—sheep cart, deer cart, and ox cart—originate from their origins...

In fact, it is similar to Mr. Lu Xun's "borrowing" approach, and the name is directly borrowed from the "Parable of the Three Chariots" in the "Parable Chapter" of the Buddhist "Lotus Sutra".

In terms of origin, the Buddhist parable of the three carts predates the Taoist parable of the three carts of power by a great deal, and there is a story behind it:

The elders saw their own house on fire, while the children were still playing inside, unaware of the danger.

To save his sons, the elder promised them their favorite sheep cart, deer cart, and ox cart outside the door, enticing the children to escape the burning house.

After everyone escaped danger, the elder did not give them the three small carts, but instead bestowed upon each person a large white ox-cart—highly decorated, with many treasures and a straight gait, and as swift as the wind, far surpassing the previous three types of carts.

The elder is a metaphor for the Buddha, also known as Shakyamuni.

Children are a metaphor for all living beings.

The three small cars represent three different methods of cultivation:

The Hearer Vehicle of the Sheep Cart, which involves practicing the Four Noble Truths and seeking personal liberation, is like a sheep running away without looking back.

The Pratyekabuddha Vehicle of the Deer-Cart: Through contemplating the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination, one attains enlightenment and develops a slight capacity to help others, just as a deer can look after its herd.

The Bodhisattva vehicle of the oxcart cultivates the six perfections and myriad practices, carrying heavy burdens to reach far and wide, and universally saving all sentient beings.

Although Sun Wukong was also bloodthirsty and killed two Taoist priests during his ordeal in Chechi Kingdom, he ultimately saved five hundred monks, thus practicing the Bodhisattva path.

In the ordeal of subduing the Bull Demon King at Flaming Mountain, the giant white bull, whose body was about a thousand feet long and eight hundred feet tall, symbolized that Sun Wukong had gradually unified the three expedient methods of cultivation and realized the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle!

The way of returning to the elixir is to return to one's original nature and trace back to the source. Using the ox as a metaphor, one transforms the black ox into a white ox, washes away all the superficialities, and restores one's true nature.

Furthermore, the author of "Journey to the West" was afraid that others would not see his intention, so he arranged a scene in which Sun Wukong's ten-thousand-foot-long Dharma Body was put to the test against the white ox, which was a thousand feet long and eight hundred feet tall.

Just looking at the height difference between the two, they are not even in the same league; it's like the difference between an adult and an adult southern rat.

However, the author's purpose in arranging such a battle was not merely to showcase a major conflict, but to use the height difference between the two to remind readers of the true meaning behind the Bull Demon King!

The white bull, which was a thousand feet long and eight hundred feet tall, was nearly the same size as the heart of Wukong, whose body was ten thousand feet tall and could transform into the heavens and the earth!

Otherwise, even if the author of Journey to the West had no concept of numbers, he couldn't have set such a large difference in height between the two characters during the battle.

If we're just talking about the story, if we really wanted a pure, exhilarating battle, giving the Bull Demon King a massive, earth-shattering spectacle would be a piece of cake. What's so difficult about that?

In terms of cultivation, the Bull Demon King, as Wukong's mind, can only be a thousand feet tall and eight hundred feet long, not an inch taller or a foot shorter.

Furthermore.

Sun Wukong's "Transformation of Heaven and Earth" is a supernatural power, while the Bull Demon King's thousand-zhang height and eight-hundred-zhang stature are his true form, that is, his real form.

This aligns perfectly with the Buddhist path of the One Buddha Vehicle, which follows the paths of the Śrāvaka Vehicle, Pratyekabuddha Vehicle, and Bodhisattva Vehicle. It is the path of the "True Reality," which is the Great White Ox Cart that transcends the three carts of sheep, deer, and ox!

in short.

When Tang Sanzang passed the three trials and attained enlightenment, he officially began to cultivate the golden elixir of body and mind and the sacred embryo of qi. Meanwhile, Sun Wukong was already practicing the way of returning to the elixir, cultivating the Hearer Vehicle, the Pratyekabuddha Vehicle, and the Bodhisattva Vehicle. He even eventually subdued the Mind Ox and attained the One Buddha Vehicle.

This is also the fundamental reason why the principles of cultivation contained in "Journey to the West" form their own school of thought. The common Taoist understanding of the elixir of immortality can be described in the "Collection of Teachings of Zhong and Lü":

When the dragon and tiger intersect, they transform into yellow sprouts. Lead is extracted and mercury is added to create the great medicine. Then, the River Chariot circulates, and true qi flows from the lower dantian to the upper dantian, circulating throughout the body, thus forming the Great Elixir.

However, there are only two kinds of pills in "Journey to the West": the Golden Pill and the Rejuvenating Pill. These two can refer to pills made outside the body, or they can refer to the path of cultivation that is done step by step.

The Golden Elixir cultivates the mind and body, solely for the purpose of strengthening the foundation.

Gathering the five elements to establish the central palace, controlling the eight meridians and nine orifices, body and mind together paint the scenery of the three realms.

Refining the mind and consciousness with the elixir is called attaining enlightenment.

Sever the three corpses and subdue the six thieves, then refine the nine insects to harmonize yin and yang, the three vehicles return to the one source of non-nature...

···

Let's get back to the present.

In this primordial wilderness.

Tiger Power Immortal, Deer Power Immortal, and Sheep Power Immortal are heretical practitioners who follow the orthodox methods that Jiang Liu believes to be true.

It is said to be a righteous path—

This is because these three demons did not become disciples of the Primordial Daoist sect, nor were they taught by anyone. After they attained human form and were able to read, they devised the Five Thunder Method, which uses their bodies as talismans, based on the Daoist scriptures. They could summon wind and rain by communicating with the heavens without burning talismans or issuing commands.

They call them heretical and evil.

There are two reasons.

Firstly, their ability to summon wind and rain without burning talismans or issuing commands infringes upon the interests of the Heavenly Court, leading to them being labeled as "heretical and unorthodox."

Secondly, their intentions were impure; they did not wish for good weather and abundant harvests for the Kingdom of Chechi, but rather wanted to seize the kingdom and become kings.

Now these three demons have returned, only because the Taoist sects of the prehistoric world do not protect them. The Tiger Power Immortal remembered that he was killed by the monkeys of the Buddhist sect back then, and felt that the Buddha was powerful, so he abandoned Taoism and followed the Buddha.

Join if you can't beat it!

What's intriguing is that the way these three demons learned Buddhism was almost identical to their practice of Taoism back then. Instead of seeking out temples to learn from masters, they directly pondered the Buddhist scriptures on their own and actually figured out some orthodox methods of Buddhist practice.

Furthermore, they even gave themselves Dharma names such as Arhat, Pratyekabuddha, and Bodhisattva!

The only pity is that these three still don't realize that the method they've devised is different from the methods of the Primordial Buddhism; they only hope to gain the approval of the Primordial Buddha, and their intentions remain impure.

Now, everyone in Chechi Kingdom, young and old, is forced to shave their heads, and Taoist priests are being persecuted. Heaven knows what absurd state this kingdom will become in a while...

Chapter 1488 Like a Spring Breeze Overnight

"But I cannot teach you to continue!"

Having made up his mind, Jiang Liu took out his Ruyi Jingu Bang (the magic staff), but instead of striking the three demons on the head, he struck the golden body of the Three Buddhas.

Boom!

But then a sound was heard.

The three Buddha statues shattered into dust, which scattered across the sky and returned to their original state as earth.

The three demons were terrified and fell to their knees, kowtowing repeatedly.

The monks behind them were also so frightened that they prostrated themselves on the ground and kowtowed forcefully.

They couldn't see the true spirit of the river flowing, which was in harmony with the Dao, and they thought that the Three Buddhas were angry because they had failed in their duty and let the five hundred Daoists go!

"Do not worship Buddha statues, for they are nothing but clay! If you wish to attain enlightenment, simply cultivate your mind!"

That's all.

His primordial spirit returned to his physical body in an instant, no longer caring about the three demons.

Jiang Liu gave the three demons a chance simply because they showed some understanding and had figured out the true principles of Buddhist practice.

If one can repent and sincerely cultivate oneself, refraining from worshipping clay or golden statues, and abandoning the desire to rule as a demon in the mountains, one might truly attain enlightenment in the future, adding a glimmer of light to this dark and desolate world...

···

"It's Buddha who has appeared to us!"

"Yuanjue exclaimed in surprise."

"It must be a hint from the Buddha!"

The sage was also greatly surprised, "Only cultivate the mind... Could it be that Buddha is telling us that we don't need to worship Buddha statues? We just need to concentrate on our practice?"

"shut up!"

Tiger Force interrupted their discussion, furious. "It wasn't Buddha, it was that monkey who came back! He smashed our Buddha statue!"

"monkey?"

The Arhats and Pratyekabuddhas looked at each other, puzzled.

"It must be him! Who else would be so bold as to attack a Buddha statue?"

Hu Li gritted his teeth, "Back then, he dared to throw the statues of the Three Pure Ones into the latrine, and now he's become even bolder, actually smashing the golden statue of Buddha!"

It is said that after he became a Buddha, he resigned from his position and was killed by Erlang Shen...

It seems that the person who just arrived was the chosen one, his reincarnation. He used some kind of invisibility or escape technique to deceive us and smash the Buddha statue.

"What a despicable person!"

The Arhats and Pratyekabuddhas had no recollection of their past lives and had little memory of the monkey who supposedly became a Buddha. They simply said, "Since he is so powerful, it's best not to provoke him. Let's rebuild the Buddha's golden body."

"Hmph! You two have forgotten your past lives, only keeping this one. You've let go of your attachments, and I don't blame you. But I still remember the grudge of drinking urine! I swear I will not rest until I avenge this!" Tiger Power's eyes were full of hatred. He was unwilling to let go of the grudge from his past life and wanted to fight Sun Wukong to the death!

"But we don't know when he will come, nor when he will leave. What can we do?" The Śrāvaka was indeed as his Dharma name suggested, seeking only self-awareness and unwilling to meddle.

"Yes, brother."

Yuanjue chimed in, "He came silently. If he had intended to kill us, he would have been dead already. Maybe we should just let it go."

"Hmph! I cultivated Taoism back then, and now I cultivate Buddhism. I have cultivated both Taoism and Buddhism, and my magical power is boundless. Why would I be afraid of him? I will definitely confront him in the palace later!"

Tiger Power was unwilling to give up and declared that he would fight that monkey to the very end...

···

After Jiang Liu's primordial spirit returned to his true form, he ignored the bandits who were binding them and carrying them to their lair. He simply plucked a hair from the back of his hand, blew on it gently, and the hair floated into the city, transforming into small rivers that, under the moonlight, slipped into the doors of every household.

Then the little river flowed to the bedside and blew a breath into their hearts and minds, passing through the nine orifices and five internal organs, finally concentrating at the Baihui acupoint on the top of their heads, spreading to their scalps, causing them to grow hair.

From street beggars to kings and generals, everyone had long hair.

Once everyone's hair had grown back, those little streams turned back into tiny hairs, drifting in the wind and returning to the streams.

Let's leave that aside for now.

Meanwhile, as the bandits were running, they suddenly saw scattered government soldiers appearing in the woods ahead. Terrified, they immediately abandoned Jiang Liu and his men, dropped their luggage, and fled in all directions.

"Come on!"

Upon seeing this, the soldiers quickly split up to chase after the bandits, while some remained to guard Jiang Liu and his group who were still pretending to be asleep.

Seeing that Jiang Liu and his group looked strange, the leading officer said, "Lucky! Lucky! When we went to hunt down the fake monks and real Taoists, those Taoists used some kind of magic to summon the Victorious Fighting Buddha, and we were defeated and sent back in defeat. We never expected to actually capture these fake monks!"

As the soldiers lifted the large bed board, Jiang Liu used a heavy-body technique to make the bed board weigh a thousand pounds, instantly knocking the ten people carrying it to the ground, causing them to cry out in pain.