Friends who have read Journey to the West are very interested in a mysterious figure - Sun Wukong's master, Patriarch Bodhi. Because this person created a master like Sun Wukong in just a few years, and then mysteriously disappeared, and no trace of it can be found in the book. Who he is has always been a mystery. There are many different opinions on the identity of Patriarch Bodhi on the Internet. Let me share my views.
First, the theory that "Bodhi is the quasi-dhi, and the Tathagata is the Tathagata" is not very credible.
There is a popular version of "Bodhi is the quasi-dhi, and the Tathagata is the Tathagata." I respect other people's opinions, and it is certainly a good thing for a hundred schools of thought to contend. But when I posted in the past, many commenters held up their so-called "truth" and "standard answer" that "Bodhi is a quasi-teaching" and directly rejected my point of view without even reading my post. I think this is unfair. Everyone has their own arguments. Don't use your own "answer" to arbitrarily deny a new theory. This is unfair to the new theory. In fact, there are several obvious loopholes in that view. I will refute it first and then establish it. Let's first talk about the shortcomings of the theory of "Bodhi is Zhunti":
1. This view says that later Zhunti was dissatisfied with the dictatorship and lived in seclusion in Fangcun Mountain in anger. This is obviously related to YY and two books. There are no foreshadowings or clues, so this is not enough evidence!
2. This view cannot explain the reasons why Ran Deng, Manjusri and other five people abandoned Taoism and became Buddhists, nor can it explain why the younger generation who served as guides for Ran Deng became an ancient Buddha above the Tathagata.
3. Novelists must create characters out of their own will. Bodhi’s mysterious identity was given by Lao Wu. In other words, Lao Wu knew Bodhi’s true identity in his heart. Only Lao Wu can say the identity of Bodhi. Have the final say. It's just a secret or foreshadowing in the novel. It's hard to explain clearly. There are many such secrets in The Red Mansion.
But everyone knows that if the characters in novel A are to be verified as characters in novel B, novel B must be written before novel A, otherwise it is nonsense. If Conferring Gods was written before Journey to the West, then it is understandable that when Lao Wu created the character of Bodhi, he intentionally related him to Taoist Zhunti. But the fact is that Journey to the West was written before Conferred the Gods!
Think about it, when Lao Wu wrote Bodhi, he had no idea that Zhunti existed in the world. How could he bring these two people together? It can be seen that the Bodhi identity in Lao Wu's heart cannot be Zhunti, because he has no idea who Zhunti is. Novels written later can refer to novels written earlier to shape characters, but conversely, research cannot. For example, I am writing a novel now, and the description of a certain person in it uses the poem about Bodhi in Journey to the West. If my novel becomes popular, can you say, "The identity of Bodhi in Journey to the West is so-and-so in Ruixiang's novel." Poetry is proof. "If this is the case, it will be a mess, because it is impossible for Lao Wu to think of the characters I wrote when he wrote Bodhi. Therefore, considering the age of the book, Bodhi cannot be Zhunti, because Bodhi was established by Lao Wu and could not be changed by Lao Xu.
4. There are dozens of poems about people and scenery in Fengshen that are copied from Journey to the West. I read the poem quoted from Tathagata carefully and it made me dumbfounded. The first line of the poem about Tathagata in Journey to the West is "The Immortal's Barefoot Jujube and Pear Fragrance". The situation at that time was that Tathagata captured Wukong, and there was an Tiantian Conference in the sky. Many gods offered fruits to Tathagata, and the Barefoot Immortal offered two immortals to Tathagata. Jujube, and then there is the poem. It is obvious that the first sentence is about the Barefoot Immortal, not the Tathagata. However, Lao Xu only changed the seven-level lotus platform in the poem to the twelve-level lotus platform, thinking that he could get away with it, and even wrote the line "Barefoot Immortal" to directly introduce it. It is really ridiculous.
It can be seen that the poems in Fengshen are obviously directly plagiarized from Journey to the West, no matter the scenery or people, some of them are not even modified, causing a big joke. It can be seen that Lao Xu did not intentionally connect Zhunti and Bodhi, Jieyin and Tathagata, but simply copied the poem directly. What's more, he is not qualified to give Bodhi an identity. After all, this is a character created by others.
Other landscape poems, such as Fire Cloud Cave, Kunlun Mountain, and Beihai in Fengshen, are obviously copied from Wudang Mountain, Fangcun Mountain, etc. in Journey to the West. Poems written about people such as Zhunti in Fengshen, Kong Xuan copied the Golden Summit Immortal and Tang Monk in Journey to the West.
If we can only determine the identity of Bodhi and the Tathagata, is Kong Xuan the Tang Monk?
To sum up, it can be seen that the credibility of the theory that "Bodhi is quasi-dhi, Tathagata is guidance" is not high.
Second, the Bodhi Patriarch should be the incarnation of a certain master.
Some friends may ask, could the Bodhi Patriarch be a real and extraordinary master? I personally don’t think so. He should be the phantom of an expert. The reasons are as follows:
1. Bodhi is so powerful, but no one in the sky knows about it, and there is no such thing among mythical figures.
2. Bodhi is proficient in hundreds of schools of thought and understands Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. How can a person with such ability in Taoism and Buddhism remain unknown?
3. Sun Wukong’s talent is something that can only be met but cannot be sought. If Bodhi was a real and extraordinary person, he could not have predicted that the monkey would come to him. But he still teaches disciples and preaches in Fangcun Mountain. Judging from his ability to teach Wukong, his ability should be very high, but he has taught so many students, but they are all useless. Even if they don't reach the realm of Wukong, they should still have some reputation. Why are they unknown? What is Bodhi busy with? The appearance of Wukong reflects his value. So what if Wukong doesn't show up? Is he so capable that he just runs a school in the human world and cultivates garbage? It can be seen that Bodhi does not actually exist, but is an illusion by someone. He foresaw the place where Wukong was going, so he transformed into Bodhi there. It didn't matter that his disciples were rubbish. Maybe they were all conjured by him, and they were all temporary. of.
4. Bodhi does not allow Wukong to tell his master’s heritage precisely because there is no one with the name Bodhi in heaven and earth. If Wukong said in heaven that his master is Bodhi, the gods in the sky will check and there is no such person. Man, after investigation, he will definitely be able to find out who incarnated as Bodhi and taught Wukong his skills, so he asked Wukong not to reveal his inheritance.
5. What Bodhi teaches are all techniques from the Taoist sect, such as asking immortals to ask for divination, collecting yin and replenishing yang, etc., all of which are from the Taoist sect. Wukong originally sought immortality and visited Taoism. It can be seen that Bodhisattva's disciples should be Taoist priests. But Lao Wu used Buddhist techniques when he wrote Bodhisattva poems. Isn’t this strange? If he is a real person, the Tao is the Tao, the monk is the monk, why should it be like this? It can be seen that it must be an illusion.
In summary, it can be seen that Bodhi is not a real master, but an illusion of immortals and Buddhas. And the above has overturned the saying that "Bodhi is a quasi-dhi". So who is Bodhi? Let me share my opinion.
Third, conjecture about the identity of Patriarch Bodhi
I have explained above that to analyze the identity of Patriarch Bodhi, we can only find the answer in Journey to the West, and whether to find it in Fengshen. scientific. However, the original cast members with the same names and surnames in the two books can learn from the two books Fengshen and Journey to the West, which is not a contradiction. To clarify, I am only researching from the perspective of pure fiction and mythology, and do not involve any history or Taoist or Buddhist classics, so as not to cause trouble, please pay attention to it, friends.
In Journey to the West, the Tathagata once said that the supreme truth is in Xiniu Hezhou, and Bodhi happens to be in Xiniu Hezhou. Tathagata has great power. He once said that he can recognize things and things in the world. How can Bodhi hide it from the Tathagata? Where is Dharma Eye? There are only two possibilities. One is that Bodhi is temporarily staying in Xiniu Hezhou and is here only to teach Sun Wukong. The other is that Bodhi's magical power is equal to or even exceeds that of Tathagata.
Let’s look at the introduction of Patriarch Bodhi when he appeared on the stage,
“The Great Enlightened Golden Immortal has no stained appearance, the Patriarch of the Western Wonderful Dharma, Bodhi;
There are three things that are neither born nor destroyed Three elements, full energy, full spirit and infinite kindness.
The emptiness and silence will change naturally, just like the original nature;
With the same life as the heaven, the majestic body, the great master of clear mind through all the calamities. ”
This poem was written by Lao Wu, and it obviously describes a Buddhist figure. However, Wukong was seeking immortals and visiting Taoism. Later, Wukong mentioned many times that he abandoned Taoism and followed Buddhism. It can be judged that Bodhi's disciples must have been dressed as Taoists at that time, and although Bodhi taught both Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, most of them were Taoist. In the poem, he is also highly praised as "the ancestor of the West" and "lives as long as heaven". Who can be both a Taoist and a Buddha, live as long as Heaven, and be the ancestor of the West? The answer is Lao Tzu, also known as Taishang Laojun. Friends will be surprised when they see this, please listen to me slowly.
Everyone knows that I am the ancestor of Taoism, so why is he the ancestor of the West?
Four, starting from Laozi turning nonsense
Although there are many people who deny this objection on the Internet, they are all refuted from history or Buddhist scriptures. I will talk about books, and I will only talk about two novels. Let’s look at the original text. In Fengshen Yanyi, there are three poems when Lao Tzu appears.
“In the dark and yellow world, I worship the Master. In the chaotic time, let me do what I want;
The five elements are in my control. The great road leads to the gathering of sages.
It is pure and built into a golden pagoda. It has been a leisurely journey out of Kansai;
My two hands embrace the world, and my belly is safe with the Five Mountains and Sumeru.”
"At the beginning of the Hunyuan Dynasty, I judged the Tao as before, and it is natural to always have it and always not get it;
Purple air comes from the east for 30,000 miles, and it reaches Hanguan for the first time for 5,000 years."
"When Hanguan first came out to Kunlun, he unified the Huayi and Taoist sects;
My body is the same as the heaven and the earth, but the inverted nature of Mount Xumi still exists."
It is clearly stated here that "the crossing "Join the virtuous people", it can be seen that Lao Tzu taught many disciples and preached many things. It is also said that "I once left Guanxi" and "I visited Hanguan for the first time", which shows that I once went outside Hangu Pass. He also said "unify the Chinese and the barbarians", which shows that Laozi did go out to the west to transform Hu. Everyone should know that "Five Mountains" and "Kunlun" allude to China and Taoism, and "Xumi" refers to Hu Yi and Buddhism.
Looking at Journey to the West again, when Laojun and Guanyin watched Erlang fight against Wukong, Laojun once introduced King Kong Zhuo to Guanyin and said, "This weapon is made of Kun steel, and it was touched by my general." When he is successful, he cultivates a spiritual energy that is good at transformation, invulnerable to water and fire, and can trap all things. He is called "Jingangzhuo", also known as "Jingangzhuo". He passed through Hanguan and turned Hu into a Buddha. It was a great loss to him. "Please note the importance of this sentence! Laojun was speaking to an important person in Buddhism like Guanyin Bodhisattva. Since he said "turn the tiger into a Buddha" and Guanyin had no objection, it shows that this is indeed a fact. Taishang Laojun is indeed the ancestor of the West, and he himself is the ancestor of Taoism. This is consistent with the poem of Bodhi. This is the argument that Taishang Laojun is the ancestor of Bodhi.
Fifth, the relationship between Laozi and the Western Sect
Everyone knows that in Fengshenyan, during the Zhuxian Formation and the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation, there were two leaders of the Western Sect who guided the Taoist and the Zhunti Taoist appears. What are the identities of these two people, and what is the Western religion? Judging from the descriptions of this religion in later stories and books, there is no doubt that this is Buddhism in Journey to the West.
As can be seen from the above, Laozi once went west to Hangu to transform Hu into a Buddha. It can be seen that before becoming a god, I had already turned into a beast. Since Western Buddhism later became Buddhism, it can be seen that the people transformed by Laozi were the followers of Western religions such as Yin Yin Zhunti. This also explains why at the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, there were many followers in the Tongtian sect, but the only one in the Laozi sect was Master Xuandu, and he also said "crossing into the sages", which shows that the Western sect is actually the sect initiated by Laozi. However, in Fengshen, Jieyin Zhunti and Laozi did not know each other. It can be seen that when enlightening Western religions, Laozi also carried out incarnations like he taught Sun Wukong. A very important clue is that the names of the official positions in the list of gods are written down. Only the three leaders Laozi, Yuanshi and Tongtian know this. Second-generation disciples such as Ran Deng, Zhao Gongming and others do not know the names in the list of gods. Zhunti has rescued people from the Jie Cult many times, and said that there is no name on the list of gods. As a Western leader, how can he know the secret of the list of gods in the sect? I think this should have been secretly told by Taishang Laojun, because it was he who inspired and established Western religion!
Six, the master-disciple relationship between Laojun and Sun Wukong
Since we think that Patriarch Bodhi is Supreme Laojun, let’s take a look at the master-disciple relationship between Laojun and Sun Wukong emotion.
1. The original text of Journey to the West once said, "At the beginning of the world, there was an ancestor who resolved the name of Nuwa, refined stones to mend the sky, and saved the world of Jambu." It can be seen that only Laojun knows this. The identity of Wukong's spiritual stone can predict his coming to seek immortality and visit Taoism. This establishes the fate of master and disciple with Wukong. How can others such as Zhunti know about it.
2. The original text of Journey to the West When Wukong asked for weapons in the East China Sea, Long Po said to the Dragon King, "Your Majesty, it is no small matter to see this saint. In our sea treasure, that piece of sacred iron at the bottom of the Tianhe River, These days the sun is shining brightly and the auspicious air is rising. How dare you meet this saint when you should appear? "As we all know, magic weapons are formed by the infusion of certain thoughts and magic power by immortals. Its aura is injected and influenced by the maker.
Although Wukong's abilities were high, he never became a real person. He was just a loose immortal. Although he later became the Monkey King, he caused trouble in the Heavenly Palace and could no longer stay in the Heavenly Palace. Laojun therefore asked him to participate in Buddhist scriptures and enter Buddhism.
Speaking of this matter, we have to mention an important figure who cooperated with Laojun in arranging this matter, namely the Randen Taoist in the Conferred Gods, who later became a Buddhist monk, and the Randen Ancient Buddha in Journey to the West. This person is only mentioned twice in Journey to the West, once at the beginning and once at the end of the book. When Wukong entered the Tusita Palace by mistake, the book clearly stated that Laojun was outside discussing important matters with the ancient Buddha of Ran Deng. We can guess that Ran Deng told Laojun that the Tathagata will preach the scriptures in China, and those who learn the scriptures will achieve enlightenment after success. Lao Jun recommended his beloved disciple Sun Wukong to Ran Deng. The second mention of Ran Deng is at the end of the book, when he sends people to help Wukong and the others discover the wordless scripture.
There are also two obvious pieces of evidence. First, there are many Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in Buddhism, but those who are related to sutra-seeking in the book are Guanyin, Manjushri, Samantabhadra and others. It is obvious that these are Laojun deliberately arranged it. They were all Laojun's nephews and acquaintances. Secondly, on the way to obtain the scriptures, Wukong killed innocent people many times. In terms of age and qualifications, he was still relatively young. How could he be granted the title of Buddha? It was obvious. It's Laojun's arrangement.
To sum up, we can conclude that the founder of Buddhism and its predecessor Western religion is Taishang Laojun, who is Sun Wukong’s master, Bodhi Patriarch. Sun Wukong’s Buddhist scriptures are also arranged by Taishang Laojun. , this should be the best result that Wukong can get after causing trouble in the Heavenly Palace and committing treason.
This article is the latest version and I would like to discuss it with my friends. Finally, I would like to state that I only conducted research from two novels and did not involve history or Buddhist and Taoist classics. Please do not use this to refute me. Regardless of whether you support or oppose my research results, I am very happy to have a peaceful discussion with you, let a hundred schools of thought contend, and make progress together!