Who can be a sage? Who can be Buddha? 谁人齐天，谁人成佛？

I used to think the Monkey King from the Great Sage as dauntless, and likes to roam everywhere by hook or by crook. Until the day came, he became 斗战胜佛(Buddha Fighter, a title Sun Wukong received after he procured the Taoist scroll). At that moment, he became indifferent to everything, as if he has seen 红尘 [literal translate “red dust”, it is a form of spiritual world that makes you desire nothing]

Therefore, I wanted to meet the Monkey God of the Great Sage again, not of the “Buddha fighter”.

I flew from the Western Regions to Mount Huaguo (花果山) in a blink of an eye. At the Water Curtain Cave of the Mount Huaguo, it is amazing to see the waters still flowing in the cold winter. It was simply spectacular.

As you walk in the Water Curtain Cave, you will see a phrase, “花果山福地，水帘洞洞天” which translate as “Mount Huaguo is the land of blessing, and the Water Curtain Cave is the cave to heaven” One couldn’t help but feel in awe. At this time, a monk walked out, with kind eyes and silken robes, the long hairy body that allows people to recognize him as a monkey. I knew at once, that he is the Great Sage.

“Greetings, Great Sage.”I give a light bow and greeted politely. The eyes showed gentleness and kindness, as he only replied, “Amitabha Buddha”

Dressed in golden armor, a shining crown upon his head
The goldenrod in one hand, he walks with his cloud shoes
With strange eyes that glimmer like the stars, with hard brows and two ears over his shoulder
He can transfigure, and his voice as loud as the bell
The ambitious stricken hearts showed he wants to be the Great Sage

At this point, the Great Sage had changed its appearance into something I can’t recognize.
"Great Sage, what do you do every day?"
" fast, pray, and bring people(to Buddha)."
"What ways the Great Sage use to bring people there?"
"fast and pray."
"Where is the Great Sage?"
" fast and pray."
"Fasting, praying. How to bring people across? ( to Buddha)"
"Just make sure I cross."
"What about the rest?"
"Fast, pray, and follow our fate."
"What about your monkeys here?"
I saw him shudder, but his answer remained, “follow our fate, fast and pray”
I turned and walked away. This isn’t the Great Sage I knew. He is a Buddha. It was just a Buddha. As I was about to leave I find the surroundings whirling, it felt familiar…
Everything began to turn backward, even the time swirl back and pretty soon I find myself going back to the past. I saw a monkey appeared and cried out “Great Sage, when will you return?”
Soon, monkeys from old and young started to appear in the mountains and shout “LONG LIVE THE GREAT SAGE!!!” I looked up and finally saw a figure.

身穿金甲亮堂堂，头戴金冠光映映。
手举金箍棒一根，足踏云鞋皆相称。
一双怪眼似明星，两耳过肩眉又硬。
挺挺身才变化多，声音响亮如钟磬。
尖嘴咨牙弼马温，心高要做齐天圣。

"Great Sage. ....." Subconsciously I shouted out. He turned to look at me; his eyes were showing significance of arrogant and pride. Behold, the Great Sage!

The great Sage took his golden rod and flew to the sky, as the warriors of heavens approach; he defeated them with one swing of the mighty rod. I keep up with him, and as he stood majestically at the skies. I kept thinking, is this Great Sage?
”Great Sage, is that you?”
“Yes, I am. Who are you?”
“I’m Jiangchen from梦幻辰风. I have a question, will you get used to the simple life of fasting and praying?”
“What??? Isn’t it no different to death?”
“But what if you became such person?”
“I might as well kill myself!”
Suddenly, his has his silken robe, and I couldn’t help but close my eyes. And when I opened them again, he is already at the Five Elements Mountain, cursing Tathagata with no reconciliation. He could only lie there and let time goes by.

I began to tear up as I see the Great Sage left with Xuanzang
I discreetly asked the Great Sage about the reason he wanted to retrieve the Buddhist Sutras.
"To fast and pray."
"Didn't you say?"
"He who has lost his liberty is already dead."

I saw the Great Sage under the Five Elements Mountain, defeated and helpless. So everything ends there.

who can be a sage?
Who can be Buddha?
Young and frivolous as we are, we always want to go against the law of nature till we appreciate the value of freedom. For the sake of freedom, we wear a chain, for the sake of freedom, we choose submission, and by that time, we would already be dead.

Original post written by @jiangchen: 谁人齐天，谁人成佛？ | 月旦评
Translator: @asianetwork

曾经我以为齐天大圣是无所畏惧的，上天入地，肆意遨游。直到有一天，他成了斗战胜佛。那一刻，他淡薄一切，如同看穿了红尘一样，化作了如同石像一般的，过去的人物。

于是，我想重新去见见大圣，是大圣，不是胜佛。

我御剑而飞，从西域到花果山，不过眨眼之间。花果山上，水帘洞前，我看着冬日里依然生机勃勃的山水，竟有几分呆了。

走进水帘洞，看着“花果山福地，水帘洞洞天”几字，心中唏嘘不已。而此时，一个佛陀从中走出，他慈眉善目，身披绫罗袈裟，浑身的长毛让人可以认出来是一只猴子，我知道，这就是大圣。

“大圣，你好。”我看着他，行礼问好。只看他双目之中，温柔谦和，只看他念了句，“阿弥陀佛。”而他，再也不是曾经那般了。

身穿金甲亮堂堂，头戴金冠光映映。
手举金箍棒一根，足踏云鞋皆相称。
一双怪眼似明星，两耳过肩眉又硬。
挺挺身才变化多，声音响亮如钟磬。
尖嘴咨牙弼马温，心高要做齐天圣。

此时，大圣已经变成了这般模样，这个模样，让我已经认不出来了。

“容虽毛脸，已露慈悲之相；眼尚金睛，却含智慧之光。雷公嘴，仗佛力渐次长平；猴子腮，弄神通依稀补满。合眼低眉，全部以力；关唇闭口，似不能言。善痕可掬，疑不是出身山洞；恶气尽除，若未曾闹过天宫。”

“大圣，如今你每天都干什么？”

“吃斋，念佛，渡人。”

“大圣用什么渡人？”

“吃斋，念佛。”

“曾经那个大圣呢？”

“吃斋，念佛。”

“吃斋，念佛，怎么渡人？”

“渡我自己便可。”

“那剩下的呢？”

“吃斋，念佛，随缘。”

“那你这里的猴子们呢？”

我看着他颤抖一下，但是却依然说出那几个宠辱不惊的字，“随缘，吃斋，念佛。”

我转身而走，这已经不再是大圣了，是佛，一个佛陀而已。我正欲走，发现所有的景物在这一刻旋转起来，我感觉到一种熟悉的气息，这......

所有的景物在这一刻倒退，那是时间的在倒退，我看着走出来一个猴子，只看它哭嚎着，“大圣，您何时回来啊？”

而那只猴子，从老到年轻，然后山上，慢慢出现更多的猴子，那一刻，他们都在喊万岁。而我向上看去，一道身影，终于出现。

身穿金甲亮堂堂，头戴金冠光映映。
手举金箍棒一根，足踏云鞋皆相称。
一双怪眼似明星，两耳过肩眉又硬。
挺挺身才变化多，声音响亮如钟磬。
尖嘴咨牙弼马温，心高要做齐天圣。

“大圣......”我下意识的喊出来，却发现他转过头看着我，眼中是凌傲天下的傲气，睥睨乾坤的勇气。这才是大圣！

他拿起金箍棒一飞而上，天兵天将而来，只看大圣指东打西，无人是其对手。我御剑跟上，他打上凌霄，踏过南天，当他站在天上威风凛凛时，我在想，这是不是大圣。

“大圣，是你吗？”

“是我。你是谁？”

“我是梦幻辰风的姜辰，我问你，那你以后会习惯平淡的生活吗？每天吃斋，念佛。”

“哼，那样的我，与死何异？”

“如果你变成那样呢？”

“那我不如杀了我自己！”

那一刻，他绫罗彩褂在身，那一刻，风云由他而舞。那一刻，我竟不由自主的闭上眼睛，而再次睁眼的时候，他已经在五行山下，骂着如来，心中纵然不甘，但是已经只能躺在其中，任由时间的冲刷。

那一刻，我泪眼婆娑。擦干眼泪的时候，大圣已经跟着唐僧走了。

私下里，我问大圣，为什么要去取经。

“为了，吃斋，念佛。”

“你不是说？”

“失去自由，早已经死亡。”

那一刻，我眼中再次浮现那五行山压下的时候，那齐天大圣无力反抗的时候，原来，这一切早已经在那一刻死亡，原来，这一切早已经在那一刻停止。生命的旋律，已经在那一刻平息。

这世间，谁人齐天？

这世界，谁人成佛？

初出茅庐的年少轻狂，我们想打破这天地之间一切约束，直到我们明白，自由的可贵。

为了自由我们戴上枷锁，为了自由我们选择驯服，这一刻，我们早已经死亡。