Why in Journey to the West, Buddha 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 the fact that Buddha Tathagata repeatedly asked about Sun Wukong's origin in their first meeting. Explaining that issue, in the seventh chapter of the original work, Sun Wukong escaped from the Bagua furnace, not only destroying the elixir furnace of the Supreme Elder Lord, but also causing chaos in the entire heavenly palace.

At that time, the Jade Emperor immediately ordered two gods to go to the West to inform Tathagata to 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 kill 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 the Tathagata to subdue the demon. But after the Tathagata arrived at the Heavenly Palace, his behavior changed. The Tathagata told the gods to stop fighting and asked about Sun Wukong's background.

The first thing Tathagata said was: "I heard that you have been 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 has a pair of clear eyes of wisdom, which can see through the past and the future. Moreover, when they arrived in the heavens, 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 they met Sun Wukong, Tathagata could have immediately subdued the demon monkey, but he did not do so.

Hearing Sun Wukong's boasting, 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, how dare you compete for the throne? Why aren't you afraid of death, you should focus on cultivating, if you continue to act arrogantly, and meet a person of high morality, 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, but nourish their vital energy and essence. 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 Dharma eye of the Tathagata, 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 only 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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