said, “I am in search of Truth and Immortality, and therefore of all places I would not make a noise here.” The Immortal Student smiled “and said, “Are you a Seeker after Truth?” The king replied, “I am.” The Immortal Student said, “My teacher has just gone up and mounted the platform to preach, and without giving me the reason why, he told me to come and open the door as a Truth Seeker had come, and I was to welcome him. I suppose it is you.” The Monkey King smiled and said, “Yes, I am the one, I am the one.” The Immortal Student said, “Follow me inside.”
The Monkey King adjusted his clothes and moved on respectfully after the student far into the Cave of The Slanting Moon and Three Stars through corridor after corridor, between high places of carnation marble, vermillion mansions, and precious gates of indescribable beauty, right up to the inner sanctum and there saw Wisdom sitting above. On either side of him were ranged his thirty disciples, standing on a platform below.
Greatest learning of Immortals,
Unstained Purity,
Western Heaven’s greatest wonder,
Wisdom’s Fountain.
Nor birth nor death experienced he,
Perfect Model.
Forces complete, godlike are all
His myriad mercies.
Silent, unseen, work all the forces
As need requires.
Instincts grow from roots of True Model
Without forcing.
His years like Heaven’s endless are,
Glorious his form.
Lasting Wisdom throughout all kalpas,
Teacher of the Law.
Seeing him the Monkey King fell on his knees and knocked his head upon the ground innumerable times, and said, “Master, I want you to accept me as your disciple.” The Master said, “Tell me where you are from and what your name is, and then you can perform the disciple ceremony.” The Monkey King said, “I am from the Continent of the East, the Country of Aolai, the Mountain Garden and the Cave with the Water Screen.” The Master cried, “Turn him out. He is a sower of discord, a false disciple. How can he bring forth any good fruit?” The Monkey King grew alarmed, went on knocking his head without stopping, saying, “What your disciple says is strictly true. I am an honest man.” The Master said, “If you are honest, how can you say that you come from the East Continent? Between us and that place there are two great oceans and the Southern Continent. How could you come here?” The Monkey King knocked his head and said, “I sailed across the seas, came ashore and traveled overland in search of Immortals for over ten years before I arrived here.” “Since you have traveled so long and so far let it be. What is your surname?” The Monkey King replied, “I have none.” The Master said, “What surnames had your parents?” The Monkey King replied, “I never had parents.” “Since you had no parents, did you grow like fruit on a tree?” The Monkey King replied, “Although not grown on a tree, I grew from a stone. I only remember that in the mountain orchard there was a fairy stone. One year the stone split open and I was born.”
The Master was glad to hear this and said, “This speech shows that you are a child of the Divine Power above Nature. Rise up and let me see you walk.” The Monkey King jumped up and walked round twice. The Master smiled and said, “Though your body is not beautiful, you seem like a monkey who lives on evergreen pine and cones. I will give you a surname according to your nature and call you Sun, which means macaque.” The Monkey King was delighted, knelt on the ground again and said, “Good! Good! Good! Now that I have a surname, I beg that the Master will be kind and give me another name, to which I can answer when called.” The Master said, “We have twelve names, such as Breadth, Greatness, Wisdom, Model, Ocean, Nature, Versatile, and Seeker after Complete Learning, and so forth, from which to choose. The most suitable for you would be Seeker of Secrets. Will that do?” The Monkey King laughed and said, “Good! Good! Henceforth call me Sun, Seeker of Secrets.”
2
Monkey Studies Magic
AFTER THE MONKEY HAD RECEIVED A NAME, he settled down to study and remained there over six years. Once the Master lectured and taught:
Mysterious are the three Religions
In essence and fruitage all complete
Now preaching, now praying
All unite in one essential
Repentance and sincerity
As the path of life for all.
The Seeker of Secrets, on hearing this, felt like dancing for very joy, and moved his hands in great excitement. The Master asked him what was the matter. He replied, “Please pardon me, it is nothing but inexpressible delight at hearing such joyful tidings from you.” The Master said, “You have now been here seven years. What more do you wish to study? There are hundreds of interesting subjects; which do you want to take up? Do you wish to study the inactive subject, such as the art of calling up genii and obtaining oracles from the gods to avert evil and secure happiness, or do you wish to learn the six Schools of Thought: Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Dualism, the Universal Love of Mozi or the Principles of Medicine? Or do you wish to study Quietism, which means stillness, prayer, and meditation, silence and fasting, sleeping merit, standing merit, and trances? Or do you wish to study various objective activities, such as men and women, inward massage with the breath, the compounding of male and female essences, the use of human milk and such like?” The Monkey asked, “Will any of these show me how not to grow old?” The Master said, “No, not one.” The Monkey King replied, “Not one of them will I study then.” The Master jumped down from his platform and said, “You monkey, what will you learn since you will study none of these?” and he hit the king three times on his head and went inside. The Monkey King thought this was only the Master’s private hint for him to come and see him at the third watch that night, and he would tell him the secret. At the third watch the Monkey King went in and found his Master’s door half open. He went in and waked him. On waking the Master chanted:
Hard it is, hard it is,
Mystery of mysteries to solve.
The Golden Pill give out to man with care.
The faithless ne’er can prize the gift divine.
Your breath is spent, you preach in vain.
At this the Monkey King said, “Since you signaled to me to come and get the secret of religion at this time, I have come here and have been kneeling to receive it for some time.” The Master thought, “What a rare creature I have in this monkey!” He said, “I will tell you this great secret.”
To discover secret doctrine, perfect and profound,
One must train the spirit’s nature, only this the art,
This involves three primal forces, sex, mind, and spirit.
Secret keep this no divulging, fatal to reveal,
