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

Monkey was locked away for his behavior in the heavens and was eventually released from captivity when he accepted his new life and journey that was about to begin once he agreed to the new terms. He served his time for his punishment and was given a second chance and joined Tripitaka on his mission and I feel that was the threshold on the heroic journey list. He realized he couldn’t go back to his old life and accepted and was ready to move on and help himself and Tripitaka on this new journey he was about to embark. “Not long ago the Bodhisattva Kuan-yin, whom Buddha had ordered to look around for someone to fetch Scriptures from India, came here and promised me that if I would amend my ways and faithfully protect the pilgrim on his way, I was to be released, and afterwards would find salvation.” That is the deal and that was his ways to accept his fate and to move on to achieve what was needed. “I will protect you faithfully to the end”, after a small retaliation, he realized that this journey was the only way to get to the life he must have had at one time or achieve something greater.

• Onu Mezbah

Continuing with what my classmate said, Monkey had to undertake a personal journey of self discovery that he was not really happy to do.  He did not like the idea to respond to Tripitaka and even though at the beginning of their journey he promised to help him he struggled with authority.  “All right, I’ll give up being a priest, and won’t go with you to India.” Monkey’s reaction to his differences with Tripitaka wasn’t look for common ground but to fight and constantly go against him.  It is only when Tripitaka learned the magic spell that dominated Monkey that he surrendered and accepted the fact that he had to obey and follow his word of helping and accompanying Tripitaka through his journey to India.  Even when Tripitaka first used the spell on Monkey he dared to fight him and once he realized the spell was stronger than him and there was nothing he could do he accepted his fate, “I’ll give in, I’ll give in”.  This personal journey in which Monkey doesn’t make the decisions and has to follow somebody’s else way of thinking is a huge challenge for him.  This journey will force Monkey to grow and mature if he really wants to complete his journey, achieve something greater and understand his true self.  

• Joaquin Azcue

Throughout Tripitakas heroic journey I noticed that he faced many challenges before he was able to reach bliss. For an example when Tripitaka and the hunter began the journey to find the scriptures they were attacked by a tiger,  when monkey joined the journey another tiger attacked them. According to the text in these two examples Tripitaka was scared to face the tiger, the hunter dealt with the first attack and monkey dealt with the second attack. Tripitaka has heroic qualities and goes through the heroic journey but he is not the hero of this story.  In my opinion a hero must be a leader and Tripitaka is not, he needs protection of others in order to find bliss.  When monkey killed the robbers Tripitaka said, “One has no right to kill robbers, however violent and wicked they may be.”  This portrays that Tripitaka has a good soul, which is a heroic quality, but when monkey left Tripitaka because of their argument he was unable to continue the journey alone. Tripitaka said, “I hadn’t the heart to go on, and was just sitting here waiting for you” which to me shows he isn’t the hero because he couldn’t face what was coming, in order to be a hero you must find a way to overcome your fears which is something Tripitaka couldn’t do.

• Katarina Stojanovic

During Tripitaka’s expedition with his three disciples (Monkey, Sandy, & Pigsy), they face excruciating circumstances in their journey to find Buddhist scrolls and scriptures. These challenges ranged from attacks from tigers to trials. As my partner previously stated, Tripitaka (the Monk) could not have completed his voyage to the West if it were not for his disciples, especially for Monkey who was his most valuable asset. Monkey provided protection for him against the tigers and Tripitaka was dependent upon this to find his bliss. Tripitaka is described as being caring and compassionate. But when his enemies take advantage of this, Monkey along with the rest of his disciples are there to defend him. “What you must do is lure the monster from its hiding place, but be certain it is a fight you can survive.” This advice was given by Monkey before facing one of his enemies. These are the traits of a true hero, unlike Tripitaka. However, despite Tripitaka’s lack of leadership skills he does indeed have a kind soul like my partner previously mentioned once again. When monkey killed the violent thieves, Tripitaka was the one who had the kind heart and felt some sort of sympathy. “To save one life is better than to build a seven-story pagoda.” In other words, the life of a human is far more important than to achieve  any materialistic things in life. Lastly, in order to be a hero, one has to have the ability to overcome all these challenges which Tripitaka proves otherwise.

• Farhan Zaman