Monkey See Pelosi — Monkey Do Gadoosh!

WU CHENG’EN (1500–1582) — JOURNEY TO THE WEST — 1994–2011

Let’s be clear first. This is a picaresque epic that tells the story of how Buddhism was brought to China from what they call India, which is, in fact, either Tibet or Nepal, which is to say high in the Himalayas. The version of Buddhism depicted in the saga is very close to the Tibetan version with strict reference to reincarnation, strict reference to dying not being death but rebirth, though the pilgrims are, at first, very human despite them being one man, one monkey, one pig, and one “fish.” By human I mean they are constantly suffering from fear, torture, violence, and fighting. They should not be afraid of dying since they will — not would, no doubt about it — be reincarnated, but true enough what will they be reincarnated into? Merit is hard to accumulate, and you may lose it for any small misdeed. I say this from the very start because it is important to understand the end. The four pilgrims, in fact, three of them only, become living Buddhas at the end because of their long trip to get the scriptures. This is not at all in keeping with Theravada Buddhism, the Buddhism of the Dhammapada. Reincarnation is not…