Relieving Suffering and Delivering the Dead

The arrow's momentum had yet to fade, its fletching still humming with vibration.

At a thunderous shout, Xuanzang turned and saw a burly man emerge from behind the hillside, a steel fork in his hands and a bow and arrows at his waist, his whole body bristling with killing intent.

With another roar, the man charged down like a black tower, heading straight for the tiger.

Seeing someone come to interfere, the striped tiger roared, abandoned Xuanzang, and wheeled around to pounce on the man.

The man truly was a skilled fighter. After a fierce struggle, he deliberately left an opening, and the tiger fell for it. His steel fork was about to thrust upward from below and pierce the beast clean through the heart.

"Stay your hand, benefactor!"

A clear voice rang out.

Xuanzang darted forward and placed himself in front of the steel fork.

The man forcibly checked his strength, the fork's sharp points stopping barely three inches from Xuanzang's nose.

"Venerable monk! Have you no care for your life?!" the man shouted, furious and alarmed.

The tiger, too, was bewildered by this sudden turn. Its prey stood with his back to it, utterly unguarded, and that very defenselessness left the naturally suspicious beast at a loss.

Xuanzang gazed at the steel fork just inches away, his expression composed.

"Please forgive me, benefactor. Wait a moment."

He slowly raised a hand and gently pushed the steel fork aside, then turned to face the tiger, which was still growling.

Xuanzang pressed his palms together. A faint golden light rose from his body, and his eyes, clear as water, met the tiger's gaze. His voice was calm but firm:

"Your karmic burdens were too difficult to dispel, and so you were reborn in the animal realm."

"Now that you have encountered this humble monk, it is a bond of fate."

"The fire of hunger scorching your bowels is the suffering living creatures endure to survive."

"You are hungry and wish to eat me. That is your nature, and also my tribulation."

"But this brave man's effort to save me was a righteous act."

"If you die because of it, or if he is injured, then the karma of this encounter becomes my sin."

Xuanzang stepped forward. Behind his head, the Nectar Buddha Wheel turned gently. Though invisible, it instantly spread a cool, soothing aura.

Washed by that aura, the tiger's bloodshot eyes slowly lost their ferocity.

"The mountain forests are vast. Where can you not find food? Do not block the road and attack others again, adding needlessly to your burden of slaughter. Go!"

"Grrr..."

The tiger gave a low growl, no longer carrying any murderous intent. Instead, it felt a fullness and peace unlike anything it had ever known.

It looked deeply at Xuanzang, then, as though it understood human ways, slightly bent its forelegs and dipped its head to him. Tucking its tail between its legs, it turned and slipped into the dense forest, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

To the burly man, the sight was nothing short of miraculous.

Talking a tiger into retreating, blocking a fork with his own body!

What compassion! What courage!

The man planted his steel fork in the ground and bowed low, his voice filled with reverence:

"Venerable monk, you truly are a holy monk! I'm a hunter in these mountains. My name is Liu Boqin, and they call me the Mountain-Subduing Guardian!"

Xuanzang smiled faintly and bowed in return:

"Amitabha Buddha. I am no holy monk. I merely know a few ways to soothe others. Guardian, you can stand against a fierce tiger-you are a true mountain god!"

"I am a monk from the Great Tang in the Eastern Land, traveling to the Western Heaven to seek the scriptures. My Dharma name is Xuanzang."

"Thank you for your compassion in sparing that beast's life, Guardian. I also interrupted your hunt, and hope you will forgive me."

Liu Boqin hurriedly waved his hands in denial:

"Not at all, not at all. I intervened to save you, not to hunt. That tiger is usually very clever. It keeps away from people and never blocks the road. I don't know why it suddenly attacked someone today."

"But seeing what you did today has truly opened my eyes. My mother is a devout Buddhist. You must come home with me and rest, venerable monk, and let me offer you a meal."

Xuanzang pressed his palms together and bowed. "Amitabha Buddha. So that is how it was. Since you invite me so kindly, benefactor, I would not presume to refuse."

Liu Boqin attentively led the way, and before long they reached his homestead.

As they approached, Xuanzang saw that the Liu home had been built against the mountainside. Though a hunter's dwelling, it was kept quite neat.

"Mother! I've brought home an eminent monk from the Great Tang!"

Liu Boqin had a booming voice and began calling out the moment he entered.

Soon, an elderly woman came out with her daughter-in-law. The old woman had a kind face and held prayer beads, clearly a believer in the Buddha.

When she learned that Xuanzang was an eminent monk commissioned by the Great Tang in the Eastern Land to undertake the Journey to the West and fetch the scriptures, she was overjoyed and hurriedly led her daughter-in-law in bowing to him.

Xuanzang extended one hand as though to help them up and said gently, "Kind elder, you honor this humble monk far too greatly. Passing through your land, I was rescued by the Guardian and now granted lodging for the night. I am deeply grateful."

After their greetings, Liu Boqin rubbed his hands in embarrassment. "Venerable monk, we're hunters. All we have is wild game."

"But don't worry. I'll have the servants scrub the pots clean, even if they have to wash them eight or ten times, and cook you some Solomon's seal roots from the fields and some wild greens. Not a trace of meat will touch them."

Xuanzang joined his palms in thanks. "Thank you for taking such care, Guardian, but there is no need for so much trouble. A simple vegetarian meal will suffice. Every bowl of porridge, every grain of rice, is a gift from you. This humble monk is not particular."

And so Liu Boqin prepared a vegetarian meal with wild greens, while his family sat at a separate place to keep Xuanzang company.

Host and guest alike enjoyed themselves.

After the meal, the elderly woman heard Liu Boqin describe Xuanzang's deeds and became convinced that he was an enlightened monk.

She had Liu Boqin bring out incense and ritual paper and set up an altar table in the hall.

"Venerable monk," the elderly woman said earnestly, her eyes reddening.

"Tomorrow is the anniversary of my late husband's death. He was a hunter in life, too, but he never killed wantonly. He only did it to feed our family. He's been gone for some years now, and I don't know how he's faring on the other side."

"Now that we have met a holy monk, I beg you to show compassion, recite a scripture, and help deliver him."

Xuanzang immediately nodded his assent.

"Rest assured, kind elder."

Xuanzang rose, straightened his robes and headwear, and said solemnly, "Relieving suffering and delivering the dead is a monk's duty. I shall do all I can."

Night fell, and every sound in the mountain village stilled.

Candlelight flickered in the Liu family's main hall.

Xuanzang bathed, changed his clothes, and donned the Brocade Kasaya.

He sat upright on a meditation cushion.

Liu Boqin's entire family, young and old, knelt behind him, holding their breath in concentration, not daring to make a sound.

Xuanzang calmed his mind.

He lightly struck the wooden fish.

Tok.

A crisp note rang out, cleansing worldly hearts.

"Thus have I heard..."

As the scripture flowed from his lips, Xuanzang gradually entered a wondrous state.

His voice was peaceful at first, then grew majestic.

As the venerable monk chanted, specks of golden light appeared out of thin air in the dim hall.

Behind Xuanzang, a gentle halo faintly emerged, lending him a sacred majesty too radiant to gaze upon directly.

The faint scent of blood in the air vanished entirely, replaced by a sandalwood fragrance that soothed the heart and mind.

That night, he recited the Rebirth and Deliverance Sutra, the Diamond Sutra, and the Guanyin Sutra in turn, every word clear, every sound reaching the listeners' ears.

Outside, a ghostly wind gradually rose, yet it carried no biting chill.

Countless wandering ghosts lingering in the mountain forests were drawn by the pure, mighty sound of his Buddhist chanting.

They dared not approach, only gathering at a distance beyond the fence.

As the scripture continued, the savage malice on their faces gradually dissipated. They became streaks of light, bowed deeply toward the hall, and then dissolved between heaven and earth.

The next day.

Xuanzang had not gone to sleep until he finished the rites the night before, so the sun was already rising in the east when he awoke.

As soon as he left his bedroom, he heard cries mingled with joy and astonishment.

Liu Boqin's elderly mother stood with tears streaking her face, yet she smiled so broadly she could hardly close her mouth. She moved to kowtow to Xuanzang:

"A living bodhisattva! Truly a living bodhisattva!"

"Last night, this old woman dreamed of her husband! He was dressed in brocade, and he smiled as he told me that he had been trapped in suffering in the underworld. Thanks to the holy monk's chanting, his sinful karma was erased, and the King of Hell sent attendants to take him to be reborn in a prosperous place in China!"

Beside her, Liu Boqin and his wife also had red-rimmed eyes. They bowed low. "We had the same dream! Father was peaceful and at ease when he left!"

"Thank you, holy monk, for delivering my late father from suffering and helping him find rebirth. We can never repay you!"

The family thanked him over and over, looking at Xuanzang as though he were a true Buddha descended to earth.

Xuanzang hurriedly helped them up, his own heart clear and serene.

From somewhere unseen, he felt a pure current enter through the crown of his head, and the space between his eyes grew faintly warm. At that moment, the warm current between his eyes fully solidified.

A vast thought manifested in his mind.

[The Heavenly Dao acknowledges: The lord of tribulations halted killing with compassion and dissolved a fierce tiger's malice; he delivered departed souls to bring peace to the living, his heart free of distracting thoughts. May the lord of tribulations uphold this heart throughout his Journey to the West.]

[Divine ability bestowed: Dharma Eye]

[Can dispel falsehood and see directly into the source. Beneath its gaze, those harboring sinister motives feel thorns against their backs and dare not deceive; those burdened with grievous karma tremble in heart and spirit, unable to meet its gaze.]

After a breakfast accompanied by endless thanks, Liu Boqin brought out a tael of silver as a gift of gratitude.

Xuanzang firmly refused it. "This humble monk travels by seeking alms and practicing austerity. This money would not serve as thanks, but instead hinder my cultivation. I ask only that you give me a few pieces of dry food and some fresh water, Guardian."

Seeing that he could not persuade him, Liu Boqin prepared the provisions as requested, then personally brought his servants along to escort Xuanzang all the way to the foot of Two Realms Mountain.

The mountain rose steep and rugged, piercing the clouds.

Liu Boqin pointed ahead. "Holy monk, beyond this mountain lies Tatar territory. This is called Two Realms Mountain. It used to be called Five Elements Mountain."

"I've heard the elders say that when Wang Mang usurped the Han throne, a divine mountain fell from heaven and pinned a divine monkey beneath it."

Before he had finished speaking, a thunderous roar suddenly rang out from the foot of the mountain:

"My master has come! My master has come!!!"