Tang's monk is called "the Buddha who has made great contributions to the West" because of his experiences and qualities in the Journey to the West.
the word "sandalwood" comes from Sanskrit, which means sandalwood tree, and it is also a Buddhist incense offering, symbolizing fragrance and cleanliness. The "merit Buddha" is a respectful name for the Buddha, especially the Buddha who has achieved remarkable merits in the process of practice. The merit Buddha of the sandalwood indicates that the Tang Priest also showed a very noble quality in the process of learning the scriptures, as pure and noble as the fragrance.
In addition, when Tang Priest was ordained, he adopted the dharma name "Golden cicada is good at wisdom", which was also called "Bodhisattva with wisdom in the circulation of precepts" because he advocated tongue-breaking as a practice. In the Journey to the West, he received three disciples, the Monkey King, Pig Bajie and Sha Wujing, and mounted Bai Longma. After going through eighty-one difficult, he finally got the true scriptures and returned to the Tang Dynasty, where he made a positive result, and was named as the "Buddha of Tan Gong De" by the Tathagata Buddha.
Tang Priest's personality characteristics
Tang Priest's perseverance and persistent pursuit have become a model for many people to learn from. As a master, he is very strict with his disciples and often teaches them to be "compassionate". Despite his extraordinary wit and high skill, the great disciple was driven back to his hometown without regard for his feelings after he repeatedly injured the lives of three good families. As a monk, he does good deeds, harms the people, and sows good seeds for people; As a scholar, people are amazed by his strong will and persistent pursuit spirit.
He is not only strict with his disciples, but also never slacks himself, and he is not confused by money or conquered by death. The strong belief that you will never give up until you reach your goal will eventually lead to positive results.
Reference to the above content: Baidu Encyclopedia-the Buddha of Sandalwood