The novel The Journey to The West is about Life in the same way the story of Adam and Eve is about life. Both are fascinating and too good to be untrue. The purpose of this post is to dwell on the lessons of life we can learn from the two stories.
The journey of life is where the learning is. The journey of life involves men as a group but men though on same journey and same goal lead different lives, have different attributes and different priorities and concerns.
Thus in the story of The Journey to The West, the restless monkey god Sun Wu Kong, the lazy sensual Pigsy and the knowledgeable but not street wise monk have differences once too often. This reflects the situation in any temple, in any family and society.
There will be differences and clashes and that is inevitable but they have to bury the hatchet. But life is about learning from life itself, our own and from the lives of others. Life is the best gift of life. There are lessons in life. Life is the living gospel. This has been stressed by Lord Bo Tien as also by the saints of any religion or sects.
Any temple, family or society will ever be a bunch of people who may be incompatible but their lives intertwine for them to be in the same temple of the saint, in the same family or society. Strangely, they share the same temple, family or society but have different concerns and lead very different lives.
Though strange bed fellows of sorts, they have to learn differently, make different mistakes and be wiser from the learning in their respective ways - yet they have to make it as a team. This is very much like the yin and yang.
Though strange bed fellows of sorts, they have to learn differently, make different mistakes and be wiser from the learning in their respective ways - yet they have to make it as a team. This is very much like the yin and yang.
Coming to the Genesis story of Adam and Eve, it is simply just a wonderful story that to many may be too good to be true. But people still want to be enthralled by the fantasy and would never dismiss it at all as inspiring and spinner of fantasy to add spice and color to life.
To men of Tao, it is about the male and female, the yin and yang that though meant to complement can be at odds. The problems of Adam are supposed to be solved by having Eve.
Yes, there was the solving of problems in life but due to lack of balance of yin and yang, there arose the one commitment of the taking of the forbidden fruit - the apple. Eve too was the apple of the eye of Adam who was of course blinded by love to take the apple.
With lack of yin and yang harmony, problems will arise. That is why they say that humans create problems by solving problems. That way there will be problems and issues in life for indefinite time. This results in no peace. Conflicts abound and obviously there will be strive and less of peace.
The Bible teaches men how to have more peace through the teachings of Jesus. The teachings are in a way a close cousin of the principles of Tao by sages of old in China though presented differently to fit the context of the time and society. In short and to put it in another refreshing way, there will be no more transgressions or conflicts when there is proper union and synergy of yin and yang depicted as Adam and Eve.
The story of Adam and Eve is just too good to be untrue and all will be fascinated by the story. To men of Tao, it reinforces their belief in Tao, the harmony of opposites - the yin and yang.
With regards to the story of The Journey to The West, the influence of Tao is obvious as well. The team members in the journey denote combination of varied yin and yang. For the journey to go on and to succeed, team members cannot change or dictate to one another significantly but must work with one another to produce harmony and peace if they are to succeed and be enlightened. This applies to the journey of any temple, church, family or society.
It is simply interesting that the good lord Lord Bo Tien in his parting annual message in the early 1980s stressed on the need to have insight of yin and yang. Even the crucifix has to do with yin and yang - as represented by the two arms of the cross with God at the top of the cross and men at the foot or bottom end.
A saint like Jesus is at the center to try to bridge the guff between men and God. Men must learn to bring together yin and yang to be at peace and to be with God. Men generally cannot do so on their own and they need saints like Jesus.
Stories like Adam and Eve will continue to capture the hearts and imagination of the many. They awaken the child-like imagination of men and bring to them the magic of religion, never mind if there is contradiction with science which at times can be dry and hard put to capture the hearts of men.
The story of The Journey to the West captures the imagination and hearts of many in China and catapulted the Monkey God as the Great Sage.
From just being part of the Hindu Pantheon of gods in India, he became very much a Chinese god and part of Chinese folklore. Some will insist that he is not Hanuman in Hinduism.
With the march of time and assimilation into Chinese culture, Lord Jesus too will be catching up as integral part of the Chinese cultural landscape and that will be the day of days. Let this be and it will be for sure.
But any such assimilation or integration will be in accord with Tao and seen subconsciously as such. Why is this so? Tao had become part of the culture of Old China as it is of the modern ethnic Chinese. It will also be so where Chinese culture has become part of other cultures with globalization.
Modern men live in a globalized world unlike the ancestors of old. This is not an overstatement for sure... Tao in time will increasingly no longer be for Chinese but for all humanity.
Tao is not a religion on its own but part of humanity and humanity is behind religions as religions are man-made. Tao or Way is already in all religions and thinking systems of humanity in some way, forms or other.
Tao is logic, isn't it? Some may not agree... Let us then agree to disagree and have the peace. This alone is Tao as well. Tao is basic and innate to humanity - in fact all of humanity.
Tao is about having the peace and balance amid the diversity, the differences or polarities - the yin and yang. Tao is often depicted in temples as the double dragon supporting pearl. Pearl refers to the peace divine that comes from synergy of the two dragons, the yin and yang.
In some Asian cultures, the snake replaces the dragon. If yin and yang are not managed by man, either can be the cause of woes. Thus the snake tempted Eve to take the forbidden fruit the apple.
It is not that the snakes or dragons are bad but that man fails to manage them (the yin and the yang) to bring out the peace and goodness in life that is the pearl. We cannot run or avoid them. They are everywhere. We must learn to balance and optimise them. We must be able to harness the peace in the ocean of unease that is in the very nature of life itself.
The problem lies not in the serpents or snakes but in us men who cannot manage the yin and yang to have the peace. We blame them as the devils when the devil is in us to begin with. We think we are at the mercy of the devils when we bedevil ourselves in the first place. Well, we are men after all, aren't we? By this truth, may all have their piece and be at peace.
Yes, there was the solving of problems in life but due to lack of balance of yin and yang, there arose the one commitment of the taking of the forbidden fruit - the apple. Eve too was the apple of the eye of Adam who was of course blinded by love to take the apple.
With lack of yin and yang harmony, problems will arise. That is why they say that humans create problems by solving problems. That way there will be problems and issues in life for indefinite time. This results in no peace. Conflicts abound and obviously there will be strive and less of peace.
The Bible teaches men how to have more peace through the teachings of Jesus. The teachings are in a way a close cousin of the principles of Tao by sages of old in China though presented differently to fit the context of the time and society. In short and to put it in another refreshing way, there will be no more transgressions or conflicts when there is proper union and synergy of yin and yang depicted as Adam and Eve.
The story of Adam and Eve is just too good to be untrue and all will be fascinated by the story. To men of Tao, it reinforces their belief in Tao, the harmony of opposites - the yin and yang.
With regards to the story of The Journey to The West, the influence of Tao is obvious as well. The team members in the journey denote combination of varied yin and yang. For the journey to go on and to succeed, team members cannot change or dictate to one another significantly but must work with one another to produce harmony and peace if they are to succeed and be enlightened. This applies to the journey of any temple, church, family or society.
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| Lord Bo Tien |
It is simply interesting that the good lord Lord Bo Tien in his parting annual message in the early 1980s stressed on the need to have insight of yin and yang. Even the crucifix has to do with yin and yang - as represented by the two arms of the cross with God at the top of the cross and men at the foot or bottom end.
A saint like Jesus is at the center to try to bridge the guff between men and God. Men must learn to bring together yin and yang to be at peace and to be with God. Men generally cannot do so on their own and they need saints like Jesus.
Stories like Adam and Eve will continue to capture the hearts and imagination of the many. They awaken the child-like imagination of men and bring to them the magic of religion, never mind if there is contradiction with science which at times can be dry and hard put to capture the hearts of men.
The story of The Journey to the West captures the imagination and hearts of many in China and catapulted the Monkey God as the Great Sage.
 |
| Sun Wu Kong The Great Sage |
From just being part of the Hindu Pantheon of gods in India, he became very much a Chinese god and part of Chinese folklore. Some will insist that he is not Hanuman in Hinduism.
With the march of time and assimilation into Chinese culture, Lord Jesus too will be catching up as integral part of the Chinese cultural landscape and that will be the day of days. Let this be and it will be for sure.
But any such assimilation or integration will be in accord with Tao and seen subconsciously as such. Why is this so? Tao had become part of the culture of Old China as it is of the modern ethnic Chinese. It will also be so where Chinese culture has become part of other cultures with globalization.
Modern men live in a globalized world unlike the ancestors of old. This is not an overstatement for sure... Tao in time will increasingly no longer be for Chinese but for all humanity.
Tao is not a religion on its own but part of humanity and humanity is behind religions as religions are man-made. Tao or Way is already in all religions and thinking systems of humanity in some way, forms or other.
Tao is logic, isn't it? Some may not agree... Let us then agree to disagree and have the peace. This alone is Tao as well. Tao is basic and innate to humanity - in fact all of humanity.
Tao is about having the peace and balance amid the diversity, the differences or polarities - the yin and yang. Tao is often depicted in temples as the double dragon supporting pearl. Pearl refers to the peace divine that comes from synergy of the two dragons, the yin and yang.
It is not that the snakes or dragons are bad but that man fails to manage them (the yin and the yang) to bring out the peace and goodness in life that is the pearl. We cannot run or avoid them. They are everywhere. We must learn to balance and optimise them. We must be able to harness the peace in the ocean of unease that is in the very nature of life itself.
The problem lies not in the serpents or snakes but in us men who cannot manage the yin and yang to have the peace. We blame them as the devils when the devil is in us to begin with. We think we are at the mercy of the devils when we bedevil ourselves in the first place. Well, we are men after all, aren't we? By this truth, may all have their piece and be at peace.
 |
| Blame not the snake for the devil in men The snake is not meant to be a scapegoat for men. In fact Gotama was sheltered by the snake while meditating under the Bodhi Tree |
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| The meditating Buddha was once protected by the Naga Snake Mucalinda. |
