Great Works of Literature II

• Reading Journey to the West was much more different than what I typically read. Usually, with my limited knowledge of Chinese literature, I know they teach us life lessons with symbolic figures. The stone monkey is an interesting character. I do not fully understand the story or the point of it yet, but what I know is that the stone monkey is very wise.
• Although he found this heavenly place for him and his companions to live with,  there was something troubling him. The chapter ends with him trying to search for the truth. He was determined to find it so he can clear his mind. I am very curious to find out what he encounters what the truths end up being.
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I really enjoyed stepping out of my reading comfort zone and delving into The Journey to the West. The grandiose, mythical story telling mixed with beautiful poetic narratives makes for a very interesting and unique read. But while the story contains a lot of mythical/fictional elements, such as having a stone monkey as the protagonist, I like how the story is seemingly very deeply rooted in Chinese culture. It’s also very interesting how the poetic narratives through out the chapter help explain situations in beautiful detail. I think they help create an atmosphere in a fresh and more detailed way then typical prose of the story. The way the story unfolds it seems impossible to summarize certain scenes or present the beautiful imagery without using poetic narration. I really enjoyed the character of The Stone Monkey and can already see parallels between him and Candide. There’s an underlying optimism about Stone Monkey which, much like Candide, is only outdone by his blind faith in everyone and everything. From being the first one to jump into the waterfall in order to become king, to blindly following the woodcutters path and calling him an immortal, the monkey is clearly somewhat naive like our friend Candide.

In class we have studied the ideas of enlightenment through the eyes of great enlightenment figures. Through their beliefs, enlightenment is a tangible goal. It is one that can be achieved by the use of knowledge and reason. In The Heart Sutra we realize that this school of tangible knowledge is not the only form of enlightenment. In Buddhist philosophy, enlightenment takes on a different form outside of western ideals. To be enlightened is to let go of the physical pulls that keep us to this earth.

What is Enlightenment in the eyes of a Buddhist? To understand this concept of Enlightenment, we as westerners must open our eyes and expose ourselves to a new train of thought. The perception of what is knowledge is strikingly different to that of western ideals. The knowledge we seek in this case is that nothing is real, that all of these physical distractions keep us here in the physical plane and prevent us from reaching nirvana. Enlightenment is freedom it is letting go, knowing that there is nothing.

How vastly different two cultures view the same word, enlightenment. It is refreshing to read a different viewpoint on the subject, one that isn’t concerned with the same values and concepts as our own. I think it would be a disservice to these readings if we as a culture overlook these views points because they do not coincide with our own.