Journey to the West

16

The Monks of the Guanyin Monastery Plot to Take the Treasure

The Monster of the Black Wind Mountain Steals the Cassock

The master whipped on his horse and hurried straight to the temple gate with his disciple to have a look. They saw that it was indeed a monastery:

Hall upon hall,

Cloister after cloister. Beyond the triple gates Countless coloured clouds are massed; Before the Hall of Five Blessings Coil a thousand wisps of red mist. Two rows of pine and bamboo, A forest of locust and cypress trees. The two rows of pine and bamboo Are ageless in their elegant purity; The forest of locust and cypress trees Has color and beauty.

See how high the drum and bell towers are, How tall the pagoda.

In peaceful mediation the monks make firm their natures, As birds sing in the trees outside.

Peace beyond mortal dust is the only true peace; Emptiness with the Way is the real emptiness.

As the poem goes,

A supreme Jetavana hidden in a green valley, A monastery set in scenery unbeaten in the world. Such pure lands are rare on earth;

On most of the famous mountains dwell monks.

Sanzang dismounted, Monkey laid down his burden, and they were just on the point of going in when a crowd of monks came out. This is how they were dressed:

On their heads they wore hats pinned on the left, On their bodies were clothes of purity. Copper rings hung from their ears, And silken belts were tied around their waists.

Slowly they walked on sandals of straw, As they held wooden clappers in their hands. With their mouths they were always chanting Their devotion to the Wisdom.

When Sanzang saw them he stood respectfully beside the gate and greeted them. A monk hastily returned his greeting and apologized for not noticing them before.

"Where are you from?" he asked, "please come to the abbot's rooms and have some tea."

"I have been sent from the East on an imperial mission to worship the Buddha in the Thunder Monastery and ask for the scriptures," Sanzang replied, "and as it is almost night we would like to ask for a night's lodging now that we are here."

"Come inside and sit down, come inside and sit down," the monk said. When Sanzang told Monkey to lead the horse over, the monk was frightened at the sudden sight of him and asked, "What's that thing leading the horse?"

"Keep your voice down," Sanzang urged, "keep your voice down. He has a quick temper, and if he hears you referring to him as 'that thing,' he'll be furious. He's my disciple."

The monk shuddered and bit his finger as he remarked, "Fancy taking a monstrously ugly creature like that for a disciple."

"He may not look it," Sanzang replied, "but ugly as he is, he has his uses."

The monk had no choice but to go through the monastery gate with Sanzang and Monkey, and inside they saw the words CHAN MONASTERY OF GUANYIN written in large letters on the main hall. Sanzang was delighted.

"I have often been the grateful beneficiary of the Bodhisattva's divine mercy," he exclaimed, "but I have not yet been able to kowtow to her in thanks. To worship her in this monastery will be just as good as seeing her in person." On hearing this, the monk, ordering a lay brother to open the doors, invited Sanzang to go in and worship. Monkey tethered the horse, put the luggage down, and went up into the hall with Sanzang, who prostrated himself and put his head on the floor before the golden statue. When the monk went to beat the drum, Monkey started striking the bell. Sanzang lay before the image, praying with all his heart, and when he had finished the monk stopped beating the drum. Monkey, however, was so engrossed in striking the bell, sometimes fast and sometimes slow, that he went on for a very long time.