Session 21: Sha Wujing (Sandy) is Subdued by Guanyin

In this session, we meet Sha Wujing, often known as Sandy in the West, one of the key companions in Journey to the West. Once a fearsome ogre who devoured travelers and pilgrims alike, Wujing encountered Guanyin Bodhisattva and her disciple as they attempted to cross the River of Flowing Sands. Upon learning of the Buddha’s mission, Guanyin offered him a chance to redeem himself by joining the future pilgrimage to retrieve the scriptures.

Session Focus:

We will explore why the past pilgrims failed in their journey and why their skeletons would not sink in the river. Additionally, we will reflect on why Guanyin extended her mercy to an ogre who had once feasted on human flesh, allowing him to transform and take part in the sacred journey.

Key Questions for contemplation:

As the teacher and her disciple were on their journey they suddenly noticed a thousand miles of weak water, which was the River of Flowing Sands. "Disciple," said the Bodhisattva, "this will be hard to cross for the man who will come to fetch the scriptures, as he will be of impure bone and mortal flesh. How will he do it?"

Q: What is weak water?

Why did Guanyin know the future scripture pilgrim would struggle to cross it?

Q: When the ogre came to know the intention of Huian the Novice and his teacher’s crossing the river, what was his attitude and why so?

The ogre said, ”I am not a demon, but the Curtain Raising General who used to stand in attendance by the imperial chariot in the Hall of Miraculous Mist. Just because I accidentally smashed a crystal dish at a Peach Banquet the Jade Emperor had me given eight hundred strokes of the rod, exiled me to the lower world, and made me look like this. And on top of it all every seven days he sends a flying sword here to stab my chest over a hundred times before it goes back again. It's agony. I get so unbearably cold and hungry that I have to emerge from the waves every two or three days to devour a traveler."

Q: Why did the Curtain-Raising General receive such a severe punishment for breaking a dish?

How did his fall from grace shape his new monstrous form?

The Bodhisattva said, ”Why don't you become one of us and ensure yourself good retribution in future by accompanying the pilgrim as a disciple and ascending to the Western Heaven to pay homage to the Buddha and seek the scriptures? I will see to it that the flying sword stops coming to pierce you, and when you are successful you will be forgiven your crimes and your old job will be given back to you. What do you think of that?"

Q: What do you see in Guanyin’s words?

The ogre replied, "Bodhisattva, I have lost count of the number of people I have eaten here, and I have even devoured some pilgrims who were trying to fetch scriptures. I throw the heads of all my victims into the river, and they all sink to the bottom as not even goose−down will float on this water. But the skeletons of those nine pilgrims floated and would not sink. I was so impressed by this that I threaded them together with rope and play with them in my spare time. But I am afraid that the man who is to fetch the scriptures may not get this far, which would wreck my future."

Q: Who were these nine pilgrims, and why did they fail in their journey?

Why would not the skeletons of those nine pilgrims sink to the bottom?

What does the number nine symbolize?

The Bodhisattva replied, "You should hang those skeletons from your head and wait for the man to fetch the scriptures. They will come i n useful."

Q: What was Guanyin’s intention in making the ogre keep the skeletons?

Q: What is your interpretation of the name Sha Wujing?

How does it reflect his transformation?

Q: Considering the Monkey King’s journey so far, how do you now interpret the name Wukong, meaning "Awakened to Emptiness"?

Q: How did Guanyin Bodhisattva cross the river?