Why in Journey to the West, Buddha Tathagata asked many times about the origin of Sun Wukong?

The special background of Sun Wukong is an interesting highlight of this movie.

Until now, many viewers are still curious about why Buddha Tathagata repeatedly asked about Sun Wukong's origin during their first meeting. To explain this, in the seventh chapter of the original work, Sun Wukong escaped from the Bagua furnace, not only destroying the Taishang Laojun's elixir furnace, but also causing chaos in the entire heavenly palace.

At that time, the Jade Emperor immediately gave an order and sent two gods to the West to inform Tathagata to come and destroy the demon monkey. Because Sun Wukong could not be killed on the demon-slaying platform before, Lao Jun had no choice but to throw him into the alchemy furnace, but not only could he not destroy Sun Wukong, he also helped him cultivate a pair of fiery golden eyes.

Sun Wukong caused a stir in Heaven, and the Jade Emperor could not let him go because he originally wanted to ask Tathagata to subdue the demon. But after Tathagata arrived at the Heavenly Palace, his behavior was unusual. Tathagata told the gods to stop fighting and asked about Sun Wukong's background.

The first thing Tathagata said was: "I heard that you are rebelling against the heavenly palace, so I came to inquire. I wonder where you were born, when you attained enlightenment, and why you are causing such chaos?" In fact, Tathagata was probing and asking about Sun Wukong's background.

Previously, the author mentioned that Tathagata had a pair of bright eyes of wisdom, which could see through the past and the future. Moreover, when he arrived in heaven, the two gods who were ordered by the Jade Emperor to go to Linh Son to ask for Tathagata's help recounted the story in detail. When he met Sun Wukong, Tathagata could have immediately subdued the demon monkey, but he did not do so.

Hearing Sun Wukong boast, Tathagata laughed and said: “You are nothing more than a monkey spirit, how dare you usurp the throne of the Supreme Being? Moreover, the Supreme Being has cultivated for 1550 lifetimes, each lifetime is many years, how much merit do you have, do you want to compete for the throne? Why aren't you afraid of death, you should focus on cultivating, if you continue to act arrogantly, and meet someone with high moral standards, you will waste your life?"

At this time, Tathagata had already revealed Sun Wukong's background, and was also reminding him not to talk nonsense, to cultivate his mind and study the Tao, otherwise he would not know how he died. In fact, Tathagata asked Sun Wukong about his background for two purposes.

The Supreme Elder Lord is one of the gods of the Three Purities, the leader of Taoism, and has a very high position in Heaven. So Tathagata knows that the Supreme Elder Lord is also the one who "manipulates" Sun Wukong. He did not kill the demon monkey, but only used tricks to suppress Sun Wukong under the Five Elements Mountain, to "probe" the true purpose of the Supreme Elder Lord with Sun Wukong.

In the eighth chapter, Tathagata said: “People in the Western Niu Xia Continent do not covet or kill, and nourish their vital energy. Although they do not become immortals, they all live long lives.”

The sentence “Although he did not become an immortal in the Western Niu Xia Continent,” in the original text clearly states that Patriarch Bodhi was in the Western Niu Xia Continent. Although Bodhi was preaching in the Western Niu Xia Continent, he was able to avoid the Tathagata’s Dharma eye, and Bodhi was not inferior to the Tathagata.

After knowing that Sun Wukong's act of causing trouble in the Heavenly Palace and wanting to seize the Jade Emperor's throne was just a spontaneous personal action, without any guidance from his master, Tathagata was reassured and suppressed Sun Wukong for five hundred years with just one big slap of his hand.

Duong Chung (according to 24h.com.vn)

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