The Twelve Divisions of the Spiritual Terrace

The Patriarch Bodhi is a strange old man incarnate as “the first bodhi tree under heaven, born at the dawn of creation.” Instead of accepting immortal officials from the Celestial Court, he specifically chooses “problem children”: Guang Yuan, a Kunlun jade lump; Da Xu, a battle god gone blood-mad; and Ying Jie, a brash young man who secretly learned his skills. Waving a whisk made from the roots of the bodhi tree, he smiles and says, “The Dao gives birth to One, One gives birth to Two, Two gives birth to Three, and Three gives birth to all things.” Human or demon, anyone who can get through his chess puzzles and secret cave trials can enter the Cave of the Slanting Moon and Three Stars.

But this is no simple tale of cultivating immortality and fighting monsters. The Patriarch’s principle of “teaching without discrimination” is taken up and “developed” by Tongtian, a disciple of Hongjun, who forms the Heart-Destroying Alliance and causes trouble wherever it goes. The twelve disciples have to deal with “workplace harassment” from the Celestial Court and the “Buddha-like schemes” of Mount Ling, all while clashing head-on with the Heart-Destroying Alliance. They are just like a band of overworked employees struggling to get by in the Three Realms’ workplace.

Best of all is their growth. Wukong learns restraint and grows beyond being an impulsive stone monkey; Hai Rong learns to say no instead of being a do-gooder; and Zhi Tong learns to be flexible instead of stubbornly insisting on being right. As the Patriarch says, “Cultivating the heart” is not about chanting sutras. First, you have to recognize what you’re made of. As the Dao De Jing puts it, “Those who know others are wise; those who know themselves are enlightened.”