{"id":4489,"date":"2016-11-19T22:28:09","date_gmt":"2016-11-20T03:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/heroes\/?p=4489"},"modified":"2016-11-19T22:28:09","modified_gmt":"2016-11-20T03:28:09","slug":"keep-calm-and-carry-on-heroism-as-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/heroes\/2016\/11\/19\/keep-calm-and-carry-on-heroism-as-process\/","title":{"rendered":"Keep Calm and Carry On: Heroism as Process"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"JourneytotheWest\"By Dick Mercer<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Chinese Chan (Zen) master Yunmen (c.860–949) was asked,\u00a0 \u201cWhat are the teachings of a lifetime?\u201d\u00a0 He replied, \u201cAn appropriate statement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Close to the end of Wu Cheng-en\u2019s famous Ming dynasty novel Journey to the West<\/a> (Hsi-yu Chi) the Buddhist monk Tripitaka and his four animal disciples–Monkey, Pigsy, Sandy–a dragon, and White Horse–are drawing close to India after a long, arduous, and dangerous journey from China.\u00a0 The reason for their quest is to receive Mahayana scriptures from the Buddha, Shakyamuni, and return to China with them.<\/p>\n

Each animal member of this dharma posse has committed to the quest as a means of gaining freedom from punishment for the misuse of an extraordinary, superhuman power.\u00a0 Tripitaka, on the other hand, is no more than an ordinary Buddhist monk who has been given a very big job to do.<\/p>\n

Having come a very long way, the Tang monk and his disciples, who fed on the wind and slept by the waters, one day find themselves before a tall mountain, yet another formidable obstacle to overcome.\u00a0 \"Buddha-Prajnaparamita\"Tripitaka says they must be cautious as there might be danger here; Monkey responds, \u201cMaster, you should relax and not worry.\u201d<\/p>\n

What follows is a little argument about a very big Buddhist idea — prajnaparamita<\/em> — the perfection of wisdom.\u00a0 It ends when both Tripitaka and Monkey fall silent.\u00a0 Pigsy collapses in laughter.\u00a0 Obviously Monkey doesn\u2019t know what he\u2019s talking about, but Tripitaka corrects Pigsy.\u00a0 Monkey\u2019s silence is the true interpretation of prajnaparamita.\u00a0\u00a0 In fact, one of his epithets is Aware of Vacuity<\/em> — emptiness, a crucial part of the perfection of wisdom.<\/p>\n

They move on.\u00a0 After crossing a wide river in a boat with no bottom, a paradoxical experience to be sure, the pilgrims are changed.\u00a0 Exhibiting a decorous self-control unusual for them, they meet the Buddha, Shakyamuni, and receive 35 major dharma works comprising over 5,000 scrolls.\u00a0 They set out on the journey back to China but before long a wind scatters all the scrolls on the ground.\u00a0 Opening one of them they discover \u201cit was snowy white; there was not so much as half a letter on it.\u201d\u00a0 In fact, all the scrolls are blank!<\/p>\n

The posse returns to the Buddha who explains the blank scrolls are indeed the true scriptures, just as good as those with words, but because people are foolish and ignorant \u201cthere is nothing for it but to give them copies with some writing on.\u201d\u00a0 The paradox of the truth of perfect wisdom is that it is wordless, but this is too hard for people who need language and must talk.<\/p>\n

The implicit lesson is that it is more important to cultivate a negative capability — the patient, mindful toleration of uncertainty and paradox — and to carry on with equanimity than to hold on to the idea of scriptural truth that\u2019s written down.\u00a0 Relax and don\u2019t worry, as Monkey says.\u00a0 \"img_8470\"So, freshly taught, the pilgrims set out again for China with the newly inscribed scrolls.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile Kuan-yin, reviewing a summary of the dharma posse\u2019s quest, discovers the pilgrims must experience one more crisis, the 81st, before returning home.\u00a0 They find themselves stopped on the bank of a wide river they crossed on the way out to India.\u00a0 The great white turtle that ferried them across earlier offers to help them again, but when Tripitaka reveals he forgot to follow through on a promise he made to the turtle, they are all dumped in the water as the turtle submerges and swims away.<\/p>\n

The pilgrims manage to save themselves and the scrolls.\u00a0 Tripitaka admits his careless mistake.\u00a0 He should have taken more care.\u00a0 Though they still have the scrolls, this fresh calamity makes clear that constant effort is required.\u00a0 There\u2019s always something else.\u00a0 A hero\u2019s work is never done.<\/p>\n

They move on and are welcomed by friendly people they had earlier delivered from the terrible domination of a river demon.\u00a0 In gratitude for what the posse had accomplished for them, the people make statues of Tripitaka, Monkey, Pigsy, and Sandy.\u00a0 When the four view the figures they react with an unusual and charming humanity.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2018Yours is very like,\u2019 said Pigsy nudging Monkey.\u00a0 \u2018I think yours<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 is a wonderful likeness too,\u2019 said Sandy to Pigsy, \u2018but Master\u2019s<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 really makes him out a little too handsome.\u2019\u00a0 \u2018I think it\u2019s very good,\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 said Tripitaka.<\/em><\/p>\n

It quickly becomes clear the people of the village have other honors ready for the pilgrims.\u00a0 That evening Tripitaka tells Monkey the villagers know they have mastered the secrets of the Way<\/em>.\u00a0 We better creep away quickly he says, because \u201can adept does not reveal himself; if he reveals himself he is not an adept.\u201d\u00a0 They all agree.\u00a0 Monkey controls his temper, Pigsy is no longer a fool, Sandy attains perfect discretion, Horse is well able to see the point of a discussion.<\/p>\n

They move on.\u00a0 Returning to Chang-an, the imperial capital, they are received by the emperor himself.\u00a0 Monkey, Pigsy, Sandy attend the court despite their outlandish appearance.\u00a0 They behave.\u00a0 Tripitaka is seated next to the emperor and the scrolls are presented.\u00a0 That evening the pilgrims go the Tripitaka\u2019s old temple for lodging.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Inside the temple, Pigsy did not shout for more food or create<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 any disturbance.\u00a0 Monkey and Sandy behaved with perfect<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 decorum.\u00a0 For all three were now illumined, and it cost them<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 no pains to stay quiet.\u00a0 When night came they all went to sleep.<\/em><\/p>\n

All the pilgrims behave themselves with perfect mindfulness and self-control, qualities only recently acquired.\u00a0 The flaws that caused their original confinement and suffering have been reduced to nothing.\u00a0 They retain their powers, but they are now under control.<\/p>\n

When morning comes the emperor reads a statement of thanks to Tripitaka for accomplishing his task.\u00a0 After settling on the disposition of the scrolls, Tripitaka is asked to do a reading from them on a platform in front of the pagoda that will house them.\u00a0 \"Shakyamuni_under_Bodhi_tree\"The members of the dharma posse are attending him when he starts his recitation, but just as he begins, they are all miraculously lifted into the air and transported back to the presence of the Buddha in India where each is rewarded with an appropriate title. Perhaps best of all the terrible little migraine cap used to control Monkey when he gave in to bad temper and anger is removed.\u00a0 It is no longer necessary.<\/p>\n

The novel ends with a grand sense of accomplishment.\u00a0 The journey is done, the goal is realized, rewards are handed down, but the balance of power and behavior all the pilgrims now enjoy is the real reward and conclusion.\u00a0 This is a state of mind free of the suffering caused by the contamination of anger, sensuality,\u00a0 carelessness, upsetting emotional attachment, short-sightedness, and other untransformed human weaknesses.<\/p>\n

Certainly their journey is finished, but the lesson implicit in the circular, wandering movement of the quest and the oddly conceived requirement of another calamity, the 81st, is one of non-attainment.<\/p>\n

In this view enlightenment is a continual process of coming to terms with oneself, of overcoming flaws.\u00a0 Monkey\u2019s original vision of the hero as a winner-take-all kind of strong guy is replaced by the idea of constantly repairing the disorder of the mind.\u00a0 This isn\u2019t done by any final achievement, though he achieves it.\u00a0 This is a paradoxical conclusion like the mutual silence that ends the discussion between Tripitaka and Monkey about prajnaparamita — the perfection of wisdom.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the sense of closure the novel ends with is an illustration of just what the\u00a0 Buddha,\u00a0 Shakyamuni, means when he says the blank scrolls, the empty scrolls, are the true scriptures, but people are too foolish and ignorant to realize this and they need something to hold on to.<\/p>\n

The real issue, however,\u00a0 is one of behavior, not words.\u00a0 Left unstated at the end is that the end isn\u2019t an end; the end is, indeed, a process of constantly maintaining mental focus and taming one\u2019s monkey mind — making the appropriate response in the face of unending — often unexpected — change.<\/p>\n

\u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013<\/p>\n

This essay is Richard Mercer\u2019s fifth analysis of heroism from the Buddhist perspective. His first essay focused on the Bodhisattva<\/a>. Mercer has been a Visiting Instructor of English and Core (especially Edgar Allan Poe and Samuel Beckett) at the University of Richmond. He has studied Buddhism since the early 1990s. Only recently has he realized that the Bodhisattva ideal is a wonderful and practicable model to follow.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Dick Mercer The Chinese Chan (Zen) master Yunmen (c.860–949) was asked,\u00a0 \u201cWhat are the teachings of a lifetime?\u201d\u00a0 He replied, \u201cAn appropriate statement.\u201d Close to the end of Wu Cheng-en\u2019s famous Ming dynasty novel Journey to the West (Hsi-yu Chi) the Buddhist monk Tripitaka and his four animal disciples–Monkey, Pigsy, Sandy–a dragon, and White … Continue reading Keep Calm and Carry On: Heroism as Process<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1182,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1177],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spiritual-heroes"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/phawtM-1ap","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/heroes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/heroes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/heroes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/heroes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1182"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/heroes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/heroes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4489\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/heroes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/heroes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/heroes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}