Bodhi: The Great Sage Returns

“Sun Wukong, that is the name I gave you.

The Somersault Cloud was taught to you by me. So were the Seventy-Two Transformations.

Your skills, your pride, your refusal to bow to Heaven or Earth: which of them didn’t come from my abode, the Three Stars Cave on the Slanting Moon Mountain?

And what did they give you?

They gave you a headband to bind your head, a place among the Buddhas to shackle your heart, and enlightenment in exchange for your freedom.

Then they draped you in a Buddha’s robes and bestowed on you the title of Victorious Fighting Buddha.

After that, they made you bow your head, obey their orders, and fight for them!

Sun Wukong, when I named you Wukong, I hoped that one day you would see through all things, unbound by form, unconfined by a name, and beholden to no one.

I didn’t name you so that, after all your cultivation, you would nearly forget who you are.

Look at yourself now. You never attained true emptiness; instead, you’ve turned yourself into an empty shell.

If you kneel there again, don’t call yourself my disciple.”