CHAPTER 100 

The Journey Back to the East Is Made; The Five Immortals Achieve Nirvana

We will tell not of how the four travelers escaped and rose on the wind with the vajrapanis, but of the many people in the Temple of Deliverance in Chen Village. After they rose at dawn to prepare more fruit and delicacies to offer they came to the ground floor of the tower and found the Tang Priest gone. Some asked questions and others searched. They were all thrown into panic and did not know what to do.

“We’ve let those living Buddhas all get clean away,” they lamented as their howls rose to the skies. As there was nothing else they could do about it they carried all the food they had prepared to the ground floor of the tower as offerings and burned imitation paper money. From then on four major sacrifices and twenty-four minor sacrifices were held every year. In addition people praying for cures or safety, seeking marriages, making vows, and seeking wealth or sons came at every hour of every day to bum incense and make offerings. Indeed:

Incense smoked in the golden burner for a thousand years;

The light burned in the lamps of jade through eternity.

We will say no more of this, but tell of how the Eight Vajrapanis used a second fragrant wind to carry the four pilgrims off again. Some days later they reached the East, and Chang’an came gradually into view. Now after seeing the Tang Priest off from the city on the twelfth day of the ninth month in the thirteenth year of Then Guan the emperor Taizong had in the sixteenth year sent officials of his Department of Works to build a Watching For the Scriptures Tower outside the city of Chang’an to receive the scriptures. Here Taizong went in person every year. It so happened that on the very day the emperor went to the tower the western sky was filled with auspicious light and gusts of scented wind.

“Holy monk,” the vajrapanis said, stopping in mid air, “this is the city of Chang’an. We cannot come down as the people here are too clever: we are afraid that they might give away what we look like. The Great Sage Sun and the other two gentlemen cannot go there either. You must go there yourself to hand the scriptures to your monarch then come back here. We will be waiting for you up in the clouds ready to go to report back on your mission.”

“Although what you respected gentlemen say is right,” replied the Great Sage, “how could my master possibly shoulder the pole for carrying the scriptures? And how could he lead this horse? We’ll have to take him there. May I trouble you to wait a moment up in the air? We wouldn’t dare keep you waiting.”

“The other day the Bodhisattva Guanyin informed the Rulai,” the vajrapanis replied, “that the return journey would take only eight days, so as to make up the number of rolls of scriptures in the Three Stores. We have already spent over four days, and we are worried that Bajie will be so greedy for blessings and honors that he will make us overrun the time limit.”

“The master’s a Buddha now,” Bajie replied with a smile, “and I want to become one too. So why should I want to be greedy? Cheeky great fools! Wait here while we hand the scriptures over, then we’ll come back to return with you.” The idiot then shouldered a pole while Friar Sand held the horse and Pilgrim Sun led the holy monk as they brought their cloud down to land beside the Watching For the Scriptures Tower.

When Taizong and his officials all saw this they came down to greet the travelers with the words, “You are back, Imperial Younger Brother.”

The Tang Priest fell to the ground in a kowtow, only to be helped back to his feet by Taizong, who asked, “Who are these three?”

“They are disciples I took on along the way,” Sanzang replied.

Taizong was delighted. “Harness the horses to our imperial carriage,” he ordered his aides, “and invite the Imperial Younger Brother to mount his steed and return to the palace with us.” The Tang Priest thanked him and mounted his horse. The Great Sage followed closely behind, whirling his golden cudgel. Bajie and Friar Sand led the horse and shouldered the pole as they followed the emperor back to Chang’an. Indeed:

In that year of peace and rising prosperity

Civil and military officials are calm and magnificent.

At a land and water mass the clergy displayed the dharma;

The monarch commands his ministers in the throne hall of the palace.

A passport was given to Tang Sanzang;

The primal cause of the scriptures has been matched to the Five Elements.

Through painful tempering all monsters have been destroyed;

Now he returns in triumph to the capital.

The Tang Priest and his three disciples followed the imperial carriage back to the palace. Everybody in the capital knew that the pilgrim who had gone to fetch the scriptures had now returned.

When the monks, young and old, of the Hongfu Monastery in Chang’an where the Tang Priest used to live saw that the tops of a number of pine trees were all leaning towards the east they exclaimed in astonishment, “Odd, very odd! There’s been no wind today, so why are the tops of these trees all bent?”

“Fetch our vestments at once,” said one of them who was a former disciple of Sanzang. “The master who went to fetch the scriptures is back.”

“How do you know?” the other monks all asked.

“When the master left many years ago,” the former disciple replied, “he said that when the branches and tops of the pines turned east three, four, six or seven years after he had gone he would be back. My master speaks with the holy voice of a Buddha: that is how I know.” They quickly put on their habits and went out.

By the time they reached the western street, messengers had arrived to say, “The pilgrim who went for the scriptures has just returned, and His Majesty is bringing him into the city.” As soon as they heard this the monks all hurried over to meet him. When they saw the imperial carriage they dared not come close, but followed it to the palace gates, where the Tang Priest dismounted and went inside with his disciples.

The Tang Priest stood at the foot of the steps to the throne hall with the dragon horse, the load of sutras, Wukong, Bajie and Friar Sand. Emperor Taizong then summoned the younger brother to enter the throne hall and invited him to sit down, which the Tang Priest did with thanks. He then had the scriptures carried up. Wukong and the others unpacked the scrolls, which the officials in personal attendance handed to the emperor.

“How many scriptures are there?” the emperor asked. “And how did you fetch them?”

“When your clerical subject reached Vulture Peak and saw the Lord Buddha,” Sanzang replied, “he told the arhats Ananda and Kasyapa to take us first to a precious tower where we were given meatless food, then to the library, where we were handed the scriptures. The arhats demanded presents, but as we had not brought any we had none to give. Then they gave us the scriptures. When we had thanked the Buddha for his goodness and were travelling east the scriptures were snatched away by a demonic gale. Luckily my disciples were able to recover them by using magic powers, but they had been blown all over the place. On opening them out to look at them we found that they were all blank, wordless versions. We were so shocked that we went back to report to the Buddha and plead for the real ones. What the Lord Buddha said was, ‘When these scriptures were composed, bhiksus and holy monks went down the mountain and recited them to the family of Elder Zhao in the land of Sravasti. This ensured peace and safety for the living and deliverance for the dead members of the family. All that was asked for was three bushels and three pecks of granular gold. I thought that they sold the scriptures too cheap, so I saw to it that Zhao’s sons and grandsons would be poor.’ When we realized that the two arhats were demanding a present and that the Lord Buddha knew all about it we had no choice but to give them our begging bowl of purple-gold. Only then did they hand over the true scriptures with words. There are thirty-five of them, and a number of rolls from each of them was selected to be given us, making a total of rolls. This corresponds to the number of rolls in a single Store.”

At this Taizong was more delighted than ever. “Let the Protocol Office arrange a thanksgiving banquet in the eastern hall,” he ordered, at which he suddenly saw the three disciples standing at the foot of the steps, looking very strange indeed. “Are your distinguished disciples foreigners?” he asked.

“My senior disciple’s surname is Sun,” the venerable elder replied with a bow, “his Buddhist name is Wukong, and I also call him Sun Xingzhe. He originally came from the Water Curtain Cave on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit in the country of Aolai in the Eastern Continent of Divine Body. For making great havoc in the palaces of heaven five hundred years ago he was crashed by the Lord Buddha in a stone cell in the Double Boundary Mountain on the western frontier. After the Bodhisattva Guanyin persuaded him to mend his ways he accepted conversion, so when I arrived there I delivered him. I am greatly indebted to him for my protection. My second disciple Zhu has the Buddhist name Wuneng, and I also call him Bajie. He came from the Cloud Pathway Cave on the Mountain of Blessing, and was a monster in Gao Village in the land of Stubet until he was converted by the Bodhisattva and subdued by Wukong. He has made great efforts, carrying the load all along the way, and been very useful in crossing rivers. My third disciple’s surname is Sha and his Buddhist name Wujing. He used to be a monster in the Rowing Sands River. He too was converted by the Bodhisattva and now believes in the Buddhist faith. The horse is not the one that my sovereign gave me.”

“How is that?” Taizong asked. “Its markings are the same.”

“When your subject was going to cross the waters of the Eagle’s Sorrow Gorge by Coiled Snake Mountain my original horse was devoured by this one,” Sanzang replied. “Sun Wukong obliged me by having the Bodhisattva asked about the horse’s background. It was originally the son of the Dragon King of the Western Sea who had been sent there because of an offence. He too, was saved by the Bodhisattva, who told him to work for me and turned him into a horse with the same markings as the original one. He has been very helpful in climbing mountains, crossing ridges, fording rivers and negotiating difficult country. On the outward journey I rode him, and he carried the scriptures on the way back: I have depended greatly on his efforts.”

Taizong was full of boundless praise on learning this. “How long in fact was your journey to the far West?” he asked.

“I remember the Bodhisattva saying that it was 36,000 miles,” Sanzang replied, “but I kept no record of the distances along the way. All I know is that we experienced fourteen winters and summers. Every day there was a mountain or a ridge. The woods were big and the rivers wide. I also met several kings who inspected and stamped my passport. Disciples,” he ordered, “fetch the passport and hand it to His Majesty.”

When Taizong examined it he saw that it had been issued on the twelfth day of the ninth month of the thirteenth year of Zhen Guan. “You did indeed make a long and protracted journey,” he observed with a touch of a smile. “It is now the twenty-seventh year of Zhen Guan.” On the passport were the seals of the monarchs of Elephantia, Wuji, Tarrycart, the Womanland of Western Liang, Jisai, Purpuria, Leonia, Bhiksuland and Dharmadestructia; as well as the seals of the chief officials of Fengxian, Yuhua and Jinping. When Taizong had read through the passport he put it away.

Soon the officials in personal attendance on the emperor came to invite them to go to the banquet, whereupon Taizong led Sanzang by the hand out of the throne hall, asking, “Do your distinguished disciples know how to behave themselves?”

“My disciples were all demons from mountain villages and from the wilderness,” Sanzang replied, “so they do not understand the etiquette of the sacred court of China. I beg you to forgive them for any offences, Your Majesty.”

“We won’t blame them,” Taizong said with a smile, “we won’t blame them. They are all invited to come with us to the banquet in the eastern pavilion.” Thanking him once again, Sanzang called his three disciples, and they all went to the eastern pavilion to look. This was indeed the great land of China, no ordinary place. Just look;

Coloured silks hung from the gates,

Red carpets were spread on the floor.

Heavy, rare fragrances,

Fresh and exotic foods.

Amber cups,

Glazed dishes,

Set with gold and nephrite;

Plates of yellow gold,

White jade bowls,

Inlaid with patterns.

Tender braised turnips,

Sugar-dredged taros,

Wonderful sweet mushrooms,

Fine fresh seaweed,

Several servings of bamboo shoots with ginger,

A number of rounds of mallows with honey,

Wheat gluten with leaves of the tree of heaven,

Tree fungus and thin strips of beancurd,

Agar and aster,

Noodles with ferns and dried rose-petals,

Peppers stewed with radish,

Melon shredded with mustard.

The dishes of vegetables were fine enough,

But the rare and wonderful fruit was outstanding:

Walnuts and persimmon cakes,

Longans and lichees,

Chestnuts from Xuanzhou and Shandong jujubes,

Gingko fruit from south of the Yangtse and hare-head pears,

Hazelnuts, pine nuts and lotus seeds, all big as grapes,

Torreya nuts and melon seeds the size of water chestnuts,

Olives and wild apples,

Pippins and crabs,

Lotus root and arrowhead,

Crisp plums and red baybfenies.

Nothing was missing,

All was complete.

There were steamed honey pastries and other confections,

Best wines and fragrant tea and things out of the ordinary.

Words could not describe the countless delicacies:

The great land of China was not western barbary.

The master and his three disciples, together with the civil and military officials, stood to left and right as Emperor Taizong took his seat in the middle. There was singing, dancing and instrumental music, and all was ordered and solemn as the celebration lasted for the rest of the day. Indeed:

The monarch’s banquet was finer than those of ancient Tang and Yu;

Great was the blessing of the true scriptures obtained.

This was a story to be told with glory forever:

The light of the Buddha shines throughout the imperial capital.

That evening they thanked the emperor for his kindness, after which Taizong returned to the living quarters of the palace and the officials went home. The Tang Priest went back with his followers to the Hongfu Monastery, where the monks welcomed him with kowtows.

No sooner had he gone in through the gates than the monks reported, “Master, these tree-tops all suddenly leaned east this morning. As we remembered what you had said we went out of the city to meet you, and you had indeed come.” Overcome with delight, the venerable elder then entered the abbot’s lodgings. This time Bajie neither shouted for tea and food nor made a row. Pilgrim Sun and Friar Sand also both behaved well. As the achievement was now complete they were naturally peaceful. At nightfall they went to bed.

Early the next morning Taizong announced to his officials at his dawn audience, “When we thought of the most profound and great achievement of our younger brother that we have no way of rewarding we were unable to sleep all night. We managed to draft a few colloquial sentences with which to express our thanks, but could not write them out. Officials of the Secretariat,” he ordered, “write them all down while we recite them to you.” This is the text he dictated:

It is known that Heaven and Earth have their forms as a demonstration of how they provide the cover and support in which life is contained, whereas the four seasons are invisible, hiding the cold and heat with which they transform all creatures. Thus it is that by examining Heaven and looking at the Earth even the stupid can know about their origins, but few are the wise who can exhaust the numbers of the Negative and the Positive. Heaven and Earth, which are enveloped by the Negative and Positive, are easily understood because of their images, but the Negative and Positive are hard to fathom because they are formless. If images are clear and can be grasped even the stupid will not be confused; if forms are hidden and invisible even the wise will be at a loss.

The way of the Buddha honors emptiness, rides on the mystery and controls silence, yet saves all beings and dominates all regions. When it raises up the numinous there is nothing higher; when it represses its own divine strength there is nothing lower. When it is big it extends throughout the cosmos; when tiny it can be contained in a fraction of an inch. It does not die and it is not born; it endures a thousand aeons and is eternal. Half hidden and half manifest, it controls all blessings and makes them exist forever. Mysterious is the wonderful Way; none of those who follow it know its limits. Silent is the flow of the Dharma: of those who grasp it none finds its source. So how can mortal fools in their stupidity follow it without doubts or delusion?

The great teaching arose in the West. Later a wondrous dream came to the Han court, spreading its brilliance and charity to the East. In ancient times, when the Buddha’s forms and traces were shared around, they converted people before word could be spread abroad. In the age when they were sometimes visible and sometimes invisible, the people looked up to them and followed them. But later the image was obscures and nirvana was reached, it moved away and left the world, the golden countenance was hidden away and no longer radiated its brilliance in the three thousand worlds. Pictures of the lovely image were made, vainly trying to show the Buddha’s thirty-two holy marks. Thereafter his subtle words were widely propagated, rescuing birds on the three roads of life; the teachings he left behind were spread afar, guiding all living beings along the ten stages of development. The Buddha has scriptures that can be divided into the Greater and Lesser Vehicles. There is also magic, the art of spreading mistakes and making right into wrong.

Now our priest Xuanzang, the Master of the Law, is the leader of the Dharma faith. In his youth he was so careful and perceptive that he soon became aware of the value of the three voids. As he grew up the clarity of his spirit embraced the four kinds of patience in his conduct. Not even a pine tree in a wind or the moon reflected in water could be compared with his purity; immortals’ dew and bright pearls are no match for his lustrous splendor. His wisdom encompasses all without encumbrance; his spirit fathoms the formless. Rising far above the six impurities, he extends his fragrance through a thousand ages. When he concentrated his mind on the inner sphere he grieved at the torments suffered by the true Dharma; when he settled his thoughts on the gate of mystery he was distressed by the distortion of the profound writings. He longed to put them back into order so that the teachings of the past could be propagated again; and to root out apocryphal texts, enabling the true ones to stay in circulation so as to open the way for later scholars. That is why he lifted up his heart towards the Pure Land, and made a Dharma journey to the West, braving the dangers of distant lands as he walked alone, trusting to his staff. When the snow whirled around at dawn the land would disappear in a moment; and when the dust started to fly at evening the sky was blotted out. He advanced through the mists across a thousand leagues of mountains and rivers, making his way forward through the frosts and rains of a hundred changes of season. With great single-mindedness and making light of his efforts he longed deeply to reach his goal. He wandered around the Western World for fourteen years, visiting every one of those exotic countries in his search for the true teaching. He visited the Twin Trees and the Eight Rivers, savoring the Way and braving the wind. In Deer Park and on Vulture Peak he gazed upon wonders and marvels. He received the good word from ancient sages and the true teaching from superior worthies, probing deep within the wonderful gates, and exhausting the mysteries. The Way of the Three Vehicles and the Six Disciplines gallop across the field of his heart; a hundred cases of texts belonging to one Store roll like waves in the sea of his eloquence. Infinitely many are the countries he has visited; and vast the number of the scriptures he has collected.

He has obtained 5,048 rolls of all thirty-five of the essential texts of the Great Vehicle to be translated and made known in China so that the wonderful cause may be promoted. The clouds of mercy he has drawn from the far West will shed their Dharma rain here in the East. The holy teachings that had been incomplete are now complete once more; the common folk who had sinned are brought back to blessings. The searing flames of fire have been damped down, and all have been saved from the ways of delusion; the muddied waves in the water of wisdom have been made clear once more as all gather on the other bank. From this it can be learned that the evil fall because of their karma, while the good rise because of their destiny. The origins of these rises and falls lie in one’s own actions. This can be compared with a cassia growing on a high mountain, where only clouds and dew can nourish its blossom, or a lotus emerging from green waters, its leaves unsullied by flying dust. It is not that the lotus is pure by nature and the cassia unsullied: they are good because one attaches itself to what is lofty, where mean and trivial things cannot encumber it, while the other depends on what is clean, where filth cannot dirty it. Now if plants that know nothing can become good by building themselves up through goodness, how much the more so should conscientious people achieve blessing through blessed cause and effect. It is now to be hoped that the true scriptures will be propagated as endlessly as the alternation of sun and moon; and that this blessing will extend forever, eternal like heaven and earth.

As soon as this had been written out the holy monk, who was waiting outside the palace gates to express his thanks, was summoned. The moment he heard the summons, Sanzang hurried and performed the ritual of kowtows. Taizong then invited him into the throne room and handed him the document, Sanzang read it through, prostrated himself once more in thanks, and submitted this memorial: “Your Majesty’s writing is both lofty and in the ancient style; it is reasoned, profound and subtle. But I do not know what its title is.”

“What we drafted orally last night,” Taizong replied, “We would call a ‘Preface to the Holy Teaching.’ Would that be acceptable?” The venerable elder kowtowed and expressed his thanks at great length.

Taizong then said, “Our talent makes us ashamed by comparison with what is recorded on jade tablets; our words are not worthy of what is inscribed on metal or stone. As for the Inner Scriptures, we are even more ignorant of them. The text we drafted orally is truly a base and clumsy composition that sullies golden tablets with brush and ink, and is like placing pebbles in a forest of pearls. When we reflect on it we are filled with embarrassment. It is most unworthy of merit; we have put you to the trouble of thanking us for nothing.”

The officials all expressed their congratulations and kowtowed before the imperial text on the holy teaching, which was going to be published everywhere in the capital and the provinces.

“Would you be willing to recite some of the true scriptures for us, Younger Brother?” Taizong asked.

“Your Majesty,” Sanzang replied, “if true scriptures are to be recited it must be done in the Buddha’s ground. A throne hall is no place for the recital of scriptures.”

Taizong was most pleased to accept this. “Which is the purest monastery in the city of Chang’an?” he asked his officers it attendance, at which the Academician Xiao Yu slipped forward from his rank to memorialize, “The Monastery of the Wild Goose Stupa in the city is the purest of them all.”

Taizong then ordered his officials, “Each of you is reverently to bring a few rolls of the true scriptures and accompany us to the Monastery of the Wild Goose Stupa, where we shall invite our younger brother to preach on the scriptures.” The officials, all carrying some rolls of the scriptures, went with Taizong to the monastery, where a high platform was erected and everything was neatly set out.

“Wuneng, Wujing,” the venerable elder commanded, “bring the dragon horse with you and put the luggage in order. Wukong will stay beside me.” He then addressed the emperor, saying, “If Your Majesty wishes to spread the true scriptures throughout the world copies must be made before they can be published. The original texts must be stored as great treasures. They may not be shown any disrespect or be defiled.”

“Younger Brother,” replied Taizong with a smile, “what you say is very correct, very correct.” He then ordered the officials of the Hanlin Academy and the Palace Secretariat to copy out the true scriptures and had another monastery, the Copying Monastery, founded to the east of the city wall.

The venerable elder mounted the platform with several scriptures in his hands. He was just about to begin reciting them when scented breezes began to waft around and the Eight Great Vajrapanis appeared in mid-air to shout aloud, “Scripture-reciter, put those scriptures down and come back to the West with us.” Wukong and the other two, who were standing below Sanzang, all rose up above the ground together with the white horse. Sanzang put the scriptures down and also rose up to the ninth level of clouds, then went away with them through the air. Taizong and his officials were all so alarmed that they kowtowed to the sky. This was indeed a case of

The holy monk long strove to fetch the scriptures;

For fourteen years across the West he strayed.

He journeyed hard and met with much disaster;

By mountains and by rivers long delayed.

Completing eight times nine and one nine more,

His deeds filled worlds in numbers beyond measure.

He went back to his country taking sutras

That people in the East will always treasure.

When Taizong and all the officials had finished worshipping, eminent monks were selected to prepare a great Land and Sea Mass in the Monastery of the Wild Goose Stupa at which the true scriptures of the Great Store would be recited, and by which all evil-doing ghosts in the underworld would be saved, and goodness would spread all around. We will not describe how copies were made of the scriptures and published throughout the empire.

The story tells instead how the Eight Vajrapanis led the venerable elder, his three disciples and the horse, all five of them back to Vulture Peak. The journey to Chang’an and back had taken eight days. Just when all the deities of Vulture Peak were listening to the Buddha preaching, the Eight Vajrapanis led master and disciples in.

“In obedience to the golden command,” they reported to the Rulai, “your disciples have carried the holy monks back to the land of Tang, where they handed the scriptures over. We have now come to report our mission completed.” The Tang Priest and his disciples were then told to step forward and be given their jobs.

“Holy Monk,” the Rulai said, “in an earlier life you were my second disciple, and called Master Golden Cicada. But because you would not listen to my sermon on the Dharma and had no respect for my great teaching I demoted your soul to be reborn in the East. Now, happily, you have come over to the faith and rely on our support; and in following our teaching your achievement in fetching the true scriptures has been very great. Your reward will be to be promoted to high office as the Candana-punya Buddha. Sun Wukong, when you made great havoc in the palaces of heaven I had to use powerful magic to crush you under the Five Elements Mountain until, happily, your heaven-sent punishment was completed and you were converted to the Sakyamuni’s faith. It was also fortunate that you suppressed your evil side and gave play to your good side as you won glory by defeating monsters and demons along the journey. All that was begun has now been completed and you too will be rewarded with high office as the Victorious Fighting Buddha. Zhu Wuneng; you used to be a water god in the River of Heaven as Marshal Tian Peng. Because of your drunken flirtation with an immortal maiden at the Peach Banquet you were sent down to be born in the lower world as a beast. From your love of the human body you sinned in the Cloud Pathway Cave on the Mount of Blessing before your conversion to the great faith and entry into our Buddhist sect. You guarded the holy monk on his journey, but your heart is still unregenerate, and you are not yet purged of your lust. But as you won merit by carrying the luggage you will be rewarded with promotion as the Altar Cleanser.”

“They’ve both been made Buddhas,” Bajie shouted, “so why am I only the Altar Cleanser?”

“Because you have a voracious appetite, a lazy body and a huge belly,” the Rulai replied. “Now very many people in the world’s four continents believe in our teachings. I will ask you to clean up the altars after all Buddhist services: your post is of a rank that provides plenty to eat. What is wrong with that?

“Sha Wujing, you used to be the Curtain-raising General until you were banished to the lower world for smashing a crystal bowl at a Peach Banquet. You fell into the River of Flowing Sands where you sinned by killing and eating people, until, thank goodness, you were converted to our teaching, sincerely relied on our support, and won merit by protecting the holy monk and leading the horse up the mountain. Your reward will be elevation to high office as the Golden Arhat.”

Then he said to the white horse. “You were originally the son of Guangjin, the Dragon King of the Western Ocean. Because you disobeyed your father you were punished for being unfilial until you too were converted to the Dharma and to our faith. Every day you carried the holy monk to the West, and after that you carried the holy scriptures back to the East. For these achievements you will be rewarded by being made a Heavenly Dragon of the Eight Classes of Being.”

The venerable elder and his three disciples all kowtowed to express their thanks, and the horse showed its gratitude too. A protector was then ordered to take the horse straight down to the Dragon-transforming Pool by the precipice at the back of Vulture Peak and push him into the pool. At once the horse stretched itself out, shed all its hair, and acquired horns. Golden scales grew all over its body and a silver beard sprouted on its cheeks and chin. Then, shining all over with auspicious aura and with clouds of good omen in every claw, it flew up from the Dragon-transforming Pool to coil itself around the Heaven-supporting Winged Column. All the Buddhas expressed their admiration for the Rulai’s great magic.

“Master,” Wukong said to the Tang Priest, “now that I’ve become a Buddha just like you, surely I don’t have to go on wearing this golden band. Do you plan to say any more Band-tightening Spells to tighten it round my head? Say a Band-loosening Spell as quickly as you can, take it off, and smash it to smithereens. Don’t let that Bodhisattva or whatever she is make life miserable for anyone else with it.”

“It was because you were so uncontrollable in those days that this magic was needed to keep you in order.” Sanzang replied. “Now that you are a Buddha it can of course go. There is no reason for it to stay on your head any longer. Feel there now.” When Wukong raised his hands to feel he found that it had indeed gone. The Candana-punya Buddha, the Victorious Fighting Buddha, the Altar Cleanser and the Golden Arhat had all completed the true achievement and reached their proper places. The heavenly dragon horse had also come back to its true self. There is a poem to prove this that goes:

All of reality turns to dust;

When the four appearances combine the body is renewed.

The substance of the Five Elements is all void;

Forget about the passing fame of fiends.

With Candana-punya comes the great awakening;

When duties are completed they escape from suffering.

Great is the blessing of scriptures spread abroad;

Within the only gate five sages dwell on high.

When the five holy ones had taken their places all the Buddhas, bodhisattvas, holy monks, arhats, protectors, bhiksus, lay people, deities and immortals from every cave and every mountain, great gods, Ding and Jia gods, duty gods, guardians, local deities, and all teachers and immortals who had achieved the Way—all of whom had originally come to hear the preaching—resumed their own places. Just look at it:

The coloured mists surround the Vulture Peak;

Auspicious clouds are massed in the world of bliss.

Golden dragons lie at peace,

Jade tigers all are quiet.

Black hares come and go at will;

Tortoises and snakes coil all around.

Phoenixes red and green are in high spirits;

Happy the dark apes and white deer.

Throughout the year amazing flowers bloom;

Immortal fruit grows in all four seasons.

Lofty pine and ancient juniper,

Blue-green cypress and slender bamboo.

Plums of every color, in blossom or in fruit,

Eternal peaches, sometimes ripe and sometimes new.

A thousand kinds of fruit and flower vie in beauty;

All of the sky is filled with auspicious mists.

They all put their hands together in front of their chests in salutation and recited together:

“Homage to the ancient Dipamkara Buddha.

Homage to Bhaisajya-guru-vaiduryaprabhasa Buddha.

Homage to Sakyamuni Buddha.

Homage to the Buddhas of Past, Present and Future.

Homage to the Pure and Happy Buddha.

Homage to Vairocana Buddha.

Homage to Ramadhvaja-raja Buddha.

Homage to Maitreya Buddha.

Homage to Amitabha Buddha.

Homage to Amitayus Buddha.

Homage to Buddha Who Leads to the Truth.

Homage to the Imperishable Vajra Buddha.

Homage to Ratnaprabhasa Buddha.

Homage to the Nagaraja Buddha.

Homage to the Buddha of Zealous Goodness.

Homage to the Precious Moonlight Buddha.

Homage to the Buddha Free of Stupidity.

Homage to Varuna Buddha.

Homage to Narayana Buddha.

Homage to Punyapuspa Buddha.

Homage to the Buddha of Meritorious Talent.

Homage to the Good Wandering Buddha.

Homage to the Illustrious Candana-punya Buddha

Homage to the Manidhvaja Buddha.

Homage to the Buddha of the Torch of Wisdom.

Homage to the Buddha of Great Virtues.

Homage to the Brilliant Buddha of Great Compassion.

Homage to the Maitribala-raja Buddha.

Homage to the Wise and Good Leader Buddha.

Homage to the Vyuharaja Buddha.

Homage to the Buddha of Golden Splendor.

Homage to the Buddha of Brilliant Talent

Homage to the Buddha of Wisdom.

Homage to the Buddha of the World’s Calm Light.

Homage to the Sunlight and Moonlight Buddha.

Homage to the Sunlight and Moonlight Pearl Buddha.

Homage to the Supreme Buddha King of the Banner of Wisdom.

Homage to the Sughosa Buddha.

Homage to the Buddha of the Banner of Unceasing Radiance.

Homage to the Buddha of the World-watching Lamp.

Homage to the Supreme Dhanna King Buddha.

Homage to the Buddha of Sumeru Light.

Homage to the Buddha Prajnabala King.

Homage to the Brilliant Buddha of the Golden sea.

Homage to the Buddha of Universal Light.

Homage to the Buddha of Illustrious Talent.

Homage to Candana-punya Achievement Buddha.

Homage to the Victorious Fighting Buddha.

Homage to the Bodhisattva Guanyin.

Homage to the Bodhisattva Mahasthama.

Homage to the Bodhisattva Manjusri

Homage to the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra.

Homage to the Bodhisattvas of the Ocean of Purity.

Homage to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the Lotus Pool Assembly.

Homage to all the Bodhisattvas of the Utterly Blissful Western Heaven.

Homage to the Three Thousand Protector Bodhisattvas.

Homage to the Five Hundred Arhat Bodhisattvas.

Homage to the Bhiksu, Bhiksuni, Upasaka and Upasaka Bodhisattvas.

Homage to the Bodhisattvas of the Boundless Dharma.

Homage to the Holy Vajra Bodhisattvas.

Homage to the Altar-cleansing Bodhisattva.

Homage to the Golden Arhat Bodhisattva of the Eight Treasures.

Homage to the Bodhisattva Heavenly Dragon of Eight Classes of Being.

Thus it is that all the Buddhas of every world:

Are willing with this achievement

To adorn the Pure Land of the Buddha.

Above we can repay the fourfold kindness,

Below we save those suffering in the three paths of life.

Let anyone who sees or hears

Cherish the enlightened mind.

May all be reborn in the Land of Bliss,

To end this present life of retribution.

All the Buddhas of Past, Present and Future in the Ten Regions,

All the Bodhisattvas and Mahasattvas,

Maha-prajnaparamita.”

Here ends the Journey to the West.