“Who awakens first from the great dream? Who knows the truth of life?”
I closed my eyes, then opened them again to find myself an outsider in the world of Journey to the West.
Now, beneath Five-Finger Mountain, the Great Sage has gone a hundred years without anyone asking after him, watching the world’s warmth and cold pass by.
All he can do is dream into the void, seeking a sliver of freedom, and wait until autumn, when the flowers are gone, to strike.
Now, beneath Chang’an, three thousand guests fill a bookshop of ten thousand volumes. What does it matter if they bow to neither gods nor Buddhas?
All that remains is to endure until endurance fails. When the Great Sage returns, he will turn Heaven upside down and overturn the earth.
Begin again!
The real world has its constraints, but dreams know no bounds;
If you wish to mend the Way of Heaven, first break free of your own attachments.
Inscribed by the Great Master Lin Yuan on the lintel of the Chang’an Bookshop
