great works ii – 2850 jta 12:25-2:05: love letters from the world

1. Life of a Sensous Woman satirizes the Japanese lifestyle. Through the sensuous woman, what does the author argue the role of women in society is? How do the roles of women contribute to the pleasure-seeking society?
2. In Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, Gregor works diligently to support his family. After his physical transformation into a cockroach, he is ostracized and treated as an outcast by his family. What are the limits to familial love? What does his family’s intolerance say about unconditional love?

Tripitaka is on the Heroic Journey throughout Journey to the West. Tripitaka crosses the threshold when he meets an old woman after the encounter with the burglars. The old woman, who turned out to be Bodhisattva Kuan-yin, gave Tripitaka a cap and a coat. She said to him, “If he disobeys you, say the spell, and he’ll give you no more trouble and never dare to leave you.” By accepting her gifts, Tripitaka also accepts the journey he is on. Monkey returns to Tripitaka shortly after. Tripitaka admits to Monkey, “I hadn’t the heart to go on, and was just sitting here waiting for you.” Tripitaka realizes he could not go back to the ordinary world, which is a life without Monkey. In addition, Tripitaka realizes he could not continue his journey without Monkey by his side. Tripitaka crossed the threshold since he could not turn back and had to finish the journey.

-Joseph Morreale

In the heroic journey, stage two, Monkey gets his call to adventure. He goes out to look for immortality and it takes him almost 8 years before getting to his destination. Before leaving to his “adventure” Monkey leaves everything behind and all the other Monkeys. This is an act of heroism because sometimes you have to go away and do whats right for yourself in order to guide your people better. The cause of the trip was because Monkey was agonized about the future , mainly afraid of the afterlife as well as the other monkeys . The other monkeys around him explain to him about the immortals beyond the mountain. In Monkey’s words, “Tomorrow I shall take leave of you all and go down the mountain.” As their leader, the Monkey king takes it upon himself to go out and search for the immortals.

-Bintou Samura

According to the Monkey he was cast out of heaven by Buddha for causing trouble. It’s been 500 years and all the while he was trapped under the mountain Buddha brought upon him. Although the Monkey did make the title of the Great Sage, he must once again prove himself to Buddha so he can find salvation. So how was he going to do that? The Monkey had to become the disciple of a priest, by the name of Tripitaka and follow/protect him on his journey to India for Scriptures. Now after the “adventurous” stage of the Money’s journey, he finds himself in many stages after. Such as “trials”, where he faces a challenge. This challenge is the Monkey having to humble himself and not be so ill-tempered. For instance, whilst on the road to India, Tripitaka and the Monkey find themselves in danger. The first time is with a tiger, who the Monkey quickly kills, impressing the priest. However, their second encounter is with robbers whom the Monkey kills as well. This time Tripitaka is angered by the Monkey actions saying “…if now that you have repented and become a priest you go on behaving as in old days, you can’t come with me to India. You’ve made a very bad start.” Highly offended the Monkey retorts and leaves Tripitaka behind. We are then introduced to the Dragon King of the Eastern Ocean, where he basically tells the Monkey “Great Sage, you must learn to control yourself and submit to the will of others, if you are not to spoil all your chances.” Realizing what he’s done the Monkey says that he will go back.

-Keauna

At the end of the chapter, Monkey was given the name “Wake-to-Vacuity” which refers to the emptiness he is feeling. He desires to become immortal to avoid death, but without the wisdom of immortals he may never achieve his goal. Monkey has a vacuity of wisdom, which explains why he abandoned his kingdom in pursuit of his self-fulfilling interests. Monkey journeys to the immortals to fill the void in his life. He lacks wisdom because he does not accept the fact that only the Buddhas, immortals, and holy sages “can avoid the Wheel of Transmigration as well as the process of birth and destruction and live as long as heaven and earth, the mountains and the streams.” Instead of accepting death as a part of life, Monkey tries to evade his fate and live in eternity. Along the way Monkey finds a woodcutter who is caring for his mother. While speaking to the woodcutter, the woodcutter claimed, “…So there is no alternative but for me alone to support and care for my mother.” This is something that Monkey totally ignored previously in the beginning of the chapter. Unlike the woodcutter, Monkey abandoned his subjects who are lost without his leadership.

                                                                                                        -Joseph Morreale

When the Patriarch tells the Monkey King “though your features are not the most attractive, you do resemble a monkey that feeds on pine seeds.” It makes me think about a Buddhist term adopted in Daoism, called monkey mind. Meaning unsettled, restless, confused and so forth. Which is connected to what The Patriarch then proceeds to name him “Wake-to-Vacuity” and like Joseph said it refers to the emptiness the Monkey King is feeling. The Monkey King spent years trying to find the way to immortality. And when he gets to the mountain and runs into the woodcutter, we are able to really get the sense of how empty he is without the gift of immortality. He believes immortality is the only way to be happy and get the most out of life. For instance, once the woodcutter told the Monkey King where to find the immortal one, he still insisted on the woodcutter to join him. However, the woodcutter basically tells him that they have separate paths and his is not to find immortality. His path is to continue to work and take care of his mother for the rest of his life. Like he said here “if I go with you, won’t I be neglecting my livelihood? And who will take care of my mother? I must chop my firewood. You go on by yourself!”

                                                                                                      -Keauna

“ … If we die, shall we not haved lived in vain, not being able to rank forever among the Heavenly beings?” – The Monkey says this to other monkeys informing that they, as well as him should not live a life in vain and to be one of the highest in the heavens. By using his words of wisdom the monkeys now understood his reasoning , his actions and his search for immortality. In a way the monkey king is not only searching for immorality but also searching for wisdom. Along the way he meets a woodcutter who contradicts his story. The woodcutter explains how he has responsibilities which he cannot drop to go looking for immortality vs the monkey king who left the other monkeys behind. “ According to what you have said, you are indeed a gentleman of filial piety, and you will be rewarded in the future.” said by the monkey king to the woodcutter.  This is another act of wisdom by the monkey king , showing he is fathom and respectful of the woodcutters views and does not suppress it but rather open to it.

                                                                                                       -Bintou Samura

“One” by Tao Te Ching alludes to the theme of divinity by describing Tao as a supreme being. The poet describes the eternal Tao as the “beginning of heaven and Earth” and the “mother of the ten thousand things” to demonstrate its power as the creator of the universe. Similar to Christians, believers in Tao credit their supreme being with the creation of the universe. The poet explains when one is “ever desireless, one can see the mystery. Ever desiring, one sees the manifestations.” The mystery of Tao disappears when one places their faith in Tao and lets go of their selfish desires. However, if one is motivated by their desires they cannot see Tao’s true self as a supreme being and creator of the universe. Tao’s external manifestations and internal self are intertwined, since “these two spring from the same source but differ in name,” and adds to the mystery that is divinity.