Six-Eared Macaque looked at him.
Xuanzang remained crouched before him, his voice calm. "Knowing what came before and what comes after is your gift; there is nothing wrong with seeing things clearly, either."
"You have six ears, keen enough to hear every sound, discern its meaning, know past and future, and understand all things."
"What ordinary people must see with their own eyes, hear with their own ears, and live through themselves to understand, you may already grasp seven or eight parts out of ten simply by listening from far away."
Six-Eared Macaque nodded.
Xuanzang continued, "But hearing about something is one thing. Experiencing it yourself is another."
"To hear is to learn; to live through it is to feel."
"Hearing lets you understand its principles. Only experience lets you know its taste."
Six-Eared Macaque's six ears twitched gently.
Xuanzang said, "You have heard many people's wishes, and you have heard many people's suffering."
"You can hear why others cry, why they laugh, and why they cannot obtain what they seek. You can understand it all."
"But knowing that fire burns and truly having your own hand scorched by it are different things in the end."
"When you hear but never experience, your knowledge is like a tree without roots. The principles may stand before you, but they have yet to truly take root in your heart."
Six-Eared Macaque lowered his head and looked at his hands.
Xuanzang did not stop.
"Wukong wanted immortality because he had seen old monkeys in his troop die with his own eyes."
Wukong had been standing nearby with his arms folded. At these words, his gaze shifted slightly.
Xuanzang said, "For the first time, he understood that those laughing and talking beside him today could die tomorrow."
"So he was afraid. Because he was