Chinese twist to the Monkey tale (5)

Final part. Continued from here 

Folklore additions

The Crow Demon – part of Chinese myth [Source*]

The inclusion of magic, spirits and demons does not necessarily mean, as the critics of Mahayana state, that this form of Buddhism violates the spirit of Buddhism by including exotica of these types. It can be argued that many of Mahayana Buddhism's adherents over the centuries have not advanced far enough spiritually to see beyond the manifestations of magic and continue to be trapped in illusion, but Mahayana, like Hinduism, is reasonably tolerant towards the limitations of human insight. After the appropriate series of rebirths and a proper lifestyle in these incarnations, the person eventually will be reborn capable of coping with a more sophisticated view of human existence.


Mahayana and Theravada differences

The Buddhists who follow the "purer" Theravadin path say that this is the long way to salvation, and that failing to attempt to correct imperfect interpretations of the human condition is a dereliction of duty.

    The Mahayana response is to point out that in attempting to correct those views, confusion is also bound to arise if the Buddhist devotee is not intellectually or spiritually ready to accept the more sophisticated approach. Consequently, gods and demons exist for as long as people need to believe in them.

 
Violence?

In Buddhism, the boundaries between life and death, so stark in the Western tradition, are not so absolute. Death is no more than a transition to a new state of being. In destruction, something new is inevitably created. 

Yulan demon [Source*]

    It is this fact which brings into focus the violent aspect of Monkey so vividly portrayed on the television screen. When demons are killed one after another, what is it that is actually destroyed? What dies is only the belief in the reality of that demon. When we see something in the dark that we take to be a ghost, what dies is our perception of it as something it is not once we find it to be only a sheet on the clothesline. The ghost existed for as long as we believed in it, and then it vanished from the face of the earth. Who needs to feel remorse for killing a false idea?

    So it is with Monkey, and perhaps this is a partial resolution at least of the contradiction apparent in the violent scenes so fascinating to many of the children. Why then, does Tripitaka denounce Monkey's killing of demons?


The Ultimate Message

Calling up the Cloud Chariot [Source*]

That is not fully resolved, but it may well lie in the fact that the basic Buddhist teaching is one of peace. The transition to peaceful awareness should not arise out of conflict if it can be avoided. It is too easy to move on to the killing of human beings after justifying the killing of demons, however grotesque they may appear to be.

    As Tripitaka would say, let them disappear by themselves, at the appropriate time, merely by correcting our perception of the nature of this world. The taking of life in any form is a violation of the laws of karma, a crime against the universe. There is no justification in Buddhism strong enough for that, and no encouragement should be given to any tendencies which promote slaughter.

Tripitaka as we know him best [Source*]

    At the most fundamental level, Tripitaka represents the self. He is not immune from error, and admits to serious mistakes at times. But he stands for all that is good and noble in the individual. As such, he is latent in every human soul – indeed, in all life, since everything has consciousness even if it is at a very low level, which explains even more clearly why killing is to be avoided. To kill the organism is to disorientate its latent power for advancement. Through the apparent violence of Monkey Magic, this fundamental Buddhist precept shines.

    Monkey, Pigsy and Sandy are the latent strengths and weaknesses within that same self; pride, greed, wantonness, and yearning to be something other than what it is. The voyage is the journey through life, its danger as real as ignorance of the true nature of things allows them to be.

    It will be a long and difficult pilgrimage, with experience doing most of the teaching, and the wise words of the better self contributing the remainder. Viewed this way, Monkey gives its admirers no more and no less than they are capable of comprehending, but from the youngest to the oldest, they must surely learn some of the essential truths of this very sophisticated religion.

___
*Modified. Unmodified illustration source: http://www.greatsage.net

[end]

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