The Record of Tathagata Becoming a Buddha Through Ten Thousand Tribulations

Everyone knows that the Tathagata is perfectly enlightened and sits enthroned on Vulture Peak. Few know, however, that the supreme being of the Three Realms did not achieve Buddhahood through some tale of innate glory and effortless success. His path was a hilarious, heartbreaking saga of an ordinary man overcoming the odds and enduring tribulations across countless eons.

The Tathagata was once an inexperienced mortal cultivator named Shanhui. From the start, he had no talent, no connections, and no cheat codes. With sheer, stubborn naivete, he blundered his way through the myriad heavens. He once spent his entire fortune buying flowers to offer to the Buddha, and laid himself down in the mud to make a path, painstakingly accumulating tiny bits of merit. He also became the Great Being of Snow Mountain, sacrificing himself and forgetting his own life just to hear half a line of true scripture, and somehow overtaking senior cultivators through sheer effort. He endured countless cycles of reincarnation, once becoming the Bodhisattva Never Disparaging, who humbly spread the Dharma, and also tasted the full range of mortal suffering: birth, aging, sickness, and death.

From an inexperienced mortal to the Bodhisattva awaiting succession in Tushita Heaven, from receiving a prophecy of Buddhahood directly from Dipankara Buddha to Prince Siddhartha leaving the palace to become a monk, subduing demons, and attaining enlightenment, he endured endless, monotonous cultivation, navigated the traps and schemes of the myriad heavens, and overcame the mortal flaws of obsession, anger, and delusion. With a humorous, accessible style, this book unpacks the details of the Tathagata's cultivation across countless eons in past lives, overturning the stereotypical image of solemn divinity. It recounts the hilarious and thrilling tales of battles among the Buddhas, trials in the mortal world, and enlightenment through demon-slaying.

This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to actual people or events is purely coincidental. Do not imitate.