Tang Monk was the core figure of the Journey to the West Sutra Group, and he was able to withstand the eighty-one difficulties and become a Buddha on the ground.
In "Journey to the West", he is not smart enough, his ability is average, and he has no kung fu, but he can lead three apprentices with different personalities and strong martial arts to complete the great cause of no one who has never come before.
It is said that the reason why Tang Monk did such a thing was because he was the reincarnation of the Golden Cicada and had made the Three Realms feel frightened, is it true?
Tang monk character examination
In history, tang monks really existed, his common family name was Chen, the legal name Xuanzang, by his own strength, traveled 50,000 miles west, round trip for seventeen years, brought back 657 Buddhist scriptures, and became one of the four major translators of Chinese Buddhism.
In "Journey to the West", the real deeds of the Tang monks are borrowed, and the Tang monks are given a grander background and a more fantastic experience.
Tang Monk and Tang Taizong had a close relationship, had "customs clearance documents", and were official representatives.
The Tang monks were chosen by the Buddha rulai and were personally inspected and approved by Guanyin Bodhisattva.
Guanyin Bodhisattva also personally selected three high disciples and a white dragon horse for him.
At the same time, the demons and ghosts of the Nether realm received a message, which can be described as the headline news of the earth-shattering ghost god.
That is, after eating the meat of Tang monks, you can live forever.
This news immediately caused an uproar, you can live forever, who does not want it, and Tang Monk is now a mortal, no kung fu leaning body.
Moreover, there are too few objects that can prolong life, and most of them are only in heaven, and there are few times in the world.
I would like to ask, such a confidential event, so quickly known to everyone, who released this news?
Most likely it was Guanyin Bodhisattva or Rulai Buddha himself.
So, why are they doing this?
It is said that the Tang monk was the reincarnation of The Golden Cicada, a disciple of rulai Buddha, who went to xiafan to cross the robbery.
Was the Tang monk a disciple of the Buddha in his previous life?
Zhen Yuan Daxian, who planted ginseng fruit, introduced the lineage of Tang Monk to his disciples, saying that Tang Monk was the second disciple of the Western Heavenly Buddha, Rulai Buddha, named Golden Cicada.
Later, the Buddha himself admitted this statement and confirmed the identity of the golden cicada.
Who is the Golden Cicada, and is he a disciple of the Buddha?
According to historical records, the second disciple of Rulai Buddha was named Mu Qianlian, who was the protagonist of the mythical story "Mu Lian Saving Mother".
Mu Qianlian and The Golden Cicada sounded as if they had nothing to do with each other.
Moreover, the Buddha said that the reason why the golden cicada was demoted to the netherworld was that he fell asleep while listening to the teachings of the Buddha, and he did not respect the teacher and the Dharma.
Come to think of it, Rulai's mood is similar to Confucius's feelings when he "Zaiyu Day Sleeps", it is really "rotten wood cannot be carved, and the wall of dung and soil cannot be polluted."
However, the eyes in the history books, filial piety, and sincerity are touching the heavens, and it is unlikely that they will sleep in class.
Moreover, Mu Qianlian's past life was mortal, unlike the golden cicadas that made the Three Realms feel frightened.
From this, it can be seen that the golden cicada should not be a blind man, but the Buddha calls him his second disciple, why is this?
Perhaps, literary works and historical records are different after all, and the author Luo Guanzhong added such a past life to the Tang monks in order to make the journey to the west itself more legendary.
Who is the Golden Cicada?
Since the prototype of the golden cicada is not a blind eye, who is it?
This still has to start with the golden cicada.
The golden cicada eats wind and drinks dew and does not eat human fireworks, which is a symbol of "high purity".
The golden cicada can "shed its shell" and "reborn", which is very much in line with the original intention of Buddhism to purify people's hearts and take refuge in Buddhism.
Therefore, it is not surprising that golden cicadas appear in Buddhism.
In fact, the golden cicada is the six-winged silkworm in ancient mythology.
The six-winged silkworm has six wings, which are as hard as a steel knife, and its shell is also invincible. It is born of the greed of heaven and earth, with endless desires and excellent appetites, and nothing in the Three Realms can escape its control.
So it became the head of the five insects, and no one in the Three Realms could shake its status.
However, it has a fatal flaw, that is, the time when it was promoted to the six-winged cicada by "golden cicada shed its shell".
But during this period, it encountered the Receiving Buddha who had gone to Kunlun West to listen to the book, only to see that the Receiving Buddha emitted eighty-one golden rays of light to trap the six-winged Heavenly Silkworm, and then, it grabbed it with the Rulai Divine Palm.
The six-winged silkworm had to surrender and followed the Buddha to the Western Heavens to practice.
Later, the Buddha became the Buddha of Rulai, and the six-winged golden silkworm became a golden cicada, incarnated as the second disciple of Rulai, and was also the best of Rulai's five thousand disciples, and was promoted to become one of the ten arhats.
However, the golden cicada is after all a six-winged silkworm, which has been contaminated by Buddhism for many years, but it still has some inferior roots. When dealing with the Buddha, the attitude may not be enough respect; As for the essence of Buddhism, there seems to be a limited understanding.
Although the golden cicada made a mistake, the Dharma was boundless, and the Buddha gave him a chance.
Thus, there is a story of the later lessons learned.
However, the question came again, it was also degraded to the netherworld, why, the Eight Precepts of the Pig and the Sand Monk could still maintain their combat effectiveness, while the Tang Monk, who had boundless mana, had no power to bind the chicken.
The tenth incarnation of the Buddha
To put it bluntly, the small team has made mistakes, although the punishment is different, but the basic skills are still there.
Not only did the Tang monk not have any skill, but he was degraded for five hundred years and experienced ten lifetimes, and the first nine lifetimes were all dead on the way to the Western Heavens.
Perhaps, the Buddha was to cultivate his firm belief in Buddhism and to cultivate a successor for himself.
After nine reincarnations, the Tang monks' desire for Buddhism and Buddhism has reached its peak, and at this time, the most crucial link has come.
He specially equipped his apprentices with three high disciples to ensure his safety to the greatest extent.
At the same time, afraid that his journey would be tiring and his body would not be able to bear it, he specially improved a horse for him.
In order to maximize his abilities on the Journey to the West, he deliberately released the sound of the wind, so that the demons and ghosts of the Nether Realm appeared one after another, and then surrendered to the Dharma.
It's a well-intentioned one.
And the Tang monk really lived up to the expectations of the people, how many times his life was hanging on the line, how many times he was coerced and seduced, how many times he was sugar-coated with cannonballs, his determination to learn the scriptures never stopped, he went all the way forward, every temple must be worshipped, every tower must be swept, that pious heart, touching the heavens and the earth.
Of course, in the end, he obtained the true sutras and became a Buddha on the spot.
epilogue
When I was a teenager, I read Journey to the West and only felt lively.
When I read Journey to the West in middle age, I suddenly realized that I could refer to life.
Ability is necessary to accomplish something, but an unwavering heart is even more precious.
Tang Monk is like this.
He is the initiator of the scriptures and a firm activist, he has a firm ambition, a strong heart, he can tolerate subordinates who are stronger than himself, and he can tolerate the problems of subordinates.
Although his ability is average, he has the strongest cohesion and the firmest faith, so he is the biggest winner in the journey to the west.