The Kasaya

"Buddha Robe Gathering?"

At those words, a peculiar smile appeared on the Black Bear Spirit's dark face.

Though he was a demon, he loved putting on cultured airs, and nothing rankled him more than being called a brute with nothing but strength. Now this monk from the Great Tang had come without weapons or cries for blood, treating him courteously instead and saying he had come for the gathering. Those words scratched him right where he itched.

"Good! What courage!"

The Black Bear Spirit swept his hand out, throwing the gates wide, then stepped aside with an inviting gesture:

"Since a holy monk has graced us with his presence to congratulate me on obtaining this treasure, you are my guest. Come in! This is the perfect chance to open your eyes and show you what true 'affinity with the Buddha' means."

Sun Wukong followed behind, gripping the Golden Cudgel and baring his teeth at the Black Bear Spirit. The Black Bear Spirit merely pretended not to notice and led everyone into his cave dwelling.

Within the cave lay a world unto itself.

Pearls studded the stone walls, animal skins carpeted the floor, and ambergris burned on the tables. On a raised dais in the very center, the wondrous Brocade Kasaya hung high, its shimmering colors utterly out of place in the gloomy demon cave, yet radiating a solemn, sacred splendor.

The Black Bear Spirit proudly pointed to the kasaya and smiled at Xuanzang:

"Holy monk, what do you think of my dwelling? Is it worthy of this Buddhist treasure?"

Xuanzang did not take a seat. He stood quietly before the kasaya, his gaze passing over the familiar gold threads and seven treasures.

"A fine cave, and fine incense."

Xuanzang turned to face the Black Bear Spirit, his voice calm but tinged with regret:

"But it is rather a pity to hang this kasaya here."

The Black Bear Spirit's expression changed slightly. "A pity how?"

Xuanzang said, "A kasaya is meant to cover the body and ward off the cold, to embody the Dharma and guide others to salvation. Now it has been shelved on high, exposed to smoke and flame, reduced to an object for admiration. If it had a spirit, it would not wish for this."

"Not wish for this? That was because it hadn't met a worthy master!"

The Black Bear Spirit sneered. "That old fool Jin Chi would only hide it in a cabinet, but I understand it! Though I am a demon, my heart is devoted to the Buddha, and I chant sutras every day. Only in my hands has this kasaya found its rightful home!"

With that, the Black Bear Spirit strode up onto the dais and snatched down the Brocade Kasaya. Though his movements were somewhat eager, he draped it over himself with a measure of reverence.

He was powerfully built, while the kasaya had originally been tailored to Xuanzang's frame, leaving it rather tight on him. Black fur sprouted from the collar, but he paid it no mind, pacing back and forth across the dais to display the treasured robe as he declared proudly:

"Look! Last night, this treasure sent rosy radiance soaring into the sky, coming to me with that auspicious omen. Its exquisite workmanship and innate Buddhist grace are the very image of me. Since you are here, holy monk, why not appraise it? Does this kasaya fit me well?"

"Brother Lingxu, what do you think?"

Lingxu Zi huddled in a corner, wiping away cold sweat as he forced a laugh. "Wonderful... absolutely wonderful! Great King, you look mighty indeed, just like a vajra Arhat descended to earth!"

Below the dais, Sun Wukong rolled his eyes at the sight. He was about to mock the Black Bear Spirit's ridiculous appearance when Xuanzang raised a hand to stop him.

The Black Bear Spirit roared with laughter, then turned back to Xuanzang, a hint of challenge in his eyes:

"Holy monk, what do you think?"

Xuanzang set down his teacup, looked calmly at the Black Bear Spirit, and spoke slowly:

"Great King, you have a powerful frame. In size, this kasaya does fit you."

"However, Master Lingxu was mistaken. Wearing it does not make you look like an Arhat."

The Black Bear Spirit's smile froze, and his eyes instantly darkened. "Monk, what do you mean by that?"

Xuanzang rose, looking straight at the demon clad in Buddhist robes, and approached him step by step.

"Great King, you claim devotion to the Buddha and a love of reading sutras. Then do you know what a kasaya is?"

"'Kasaya' means a spoiled color, an impure color. It is the Dharma robe through which Buddhist disciples show that they have severed the three poisons of greed, hatred, and delusion, expressing a pure heart that upholds the precepts."

"Great King."

Xuanzang spoke, his voice echoing through the stone chamber:

"Do you think this kasaya is heavy?"

The Black Bear Spirit blinked, then shook his shoulders. "Heavy? It's light as a swan's feather!"

"No. It is very heavy."

Xuanzang shook his head and took two slow steps toward the dais, gazing directly into the Black Bear Spirit's eyes:

"If a dragon wears a single strand from this kasaya, it is spared the calamity of being devoured by the Golden-Winged Great Peng; if a crane drapes itself in one thread, it gains the wonder of transcending the ordinary and entering the sacred. It bears Buddhism's compassion and the power of its vows, born to deliver all living beings from suffering."

"Only if you can shoulder the suffering of this world while wearing it does it truly fit."

Xuanzang's voice grew increasingly solemn:

"Great King, you have seen only its precious radiance, not its weight."

"You obtained it through theft and wear it to flaunt it. With the three poisons of greed, hatred, and delusion still within you, what you wear is not a Buddhist robe, but a shackle."

The smile gradually vanished from the Black Bear Spirit's face.

"You... what nonsense are you talking!" the Black Bear Spirit snapped, growing angry. "My heart is devoted to the Buddha! How could this be greed? I am... I am borrowing a treasure to aid my cultivation!"

"Borrowing a treasure to aid your cultivation?"

Xuanzang's gaze blazed like a torch, golden light flickering within his Dharma Eye:

"The Buddha is in the heart, not in the robe."

Xuanzang paused, then said softly:

"Great King, lower your head and look. Is this Buddhist light illuminating you, or burning you?"

As Xuanzang spoke, the Nectar Buddha Wheel behind his head slowly turned.

Bathed in that pure Buddhist light, the Black Bear Spirit felt the formerly weightless kasaya suddenly grow heavier than a thousand catties!

He felt as though the treasures on the kasaya had become countless scrutinizing eyes, staring into his greed-filled heart.

His black fur trembled, and cold sweat trickled down his forehead.

He wanted to argue, to shout that he did resemble the Buddha, but before those clear, fathomless eyes, every lie seemed pale and powerless.

"Not heavy... it's not heavy!!"

The Black Bear Spirit panted, his voice trembling slightly.

He felt like a thief stripped of his disguise in broad daylight.

Watching him struggle, Xuanzang did not press him relentlessly. He merely sighed softly:

"Great King, last night Guanyin Monastery burned like oil over a raging fire, and the monks' cries shook the heavens. You were among the clouds, possessed of supernatural powers. Did you see the living beings trapped in that sea of flames?"

"You did not bestow so much as a drop of rain to save them. Instead, you used your magic to harm them and swept away this lifeless object amid the chaos."

Xuanzang's voice was not loud, yet every word struck like a hammer against the Black Bear Spirit's heart:

"This kasaya was meant to be an instrument of compassion, yet you stole it amid the anguished cries of living beings. Now this splendid brocade is steeped in the smoke of last night's fire, and still more in the 'indifference' of watching others die without helping."

"You drape a robe of compassion over an indifferent heart. These are as incompatible as fire and water. How could it not be heavy? How could it not hurt?"

"Shut up... shut up!"

The Black Bear Spirit staggered backward, overturning the table behind him and smashing the purple-clay teapot to pieces.

In his eyes, the azure halo behind Xuanzang grew ever brighter, like a demon-revealing mirror tearing apart all his usual pretensions to "refinement" and "devotion to the Buddha," reflecting only a greedy, selfish beast that looted amid a fire.

"I'm not a thief! I'm borrowing a treasure! I'm the one destined for it!"