Eight Consciousnesses in the Characters in Journey to the West

Name: WAN Sek Ki        UID: 3035104570

Eight Consciousnesses in the Characters in Journey to the West

I. Introduction

        The eight consciousnesses is a concept of Buddhism, remunerating five senses, including eye, ear, nose, tongue and body consciousness, which are physical senses.  The remaining three are the mind, obscuration of mind, which is known as manas (末那識), and the store-house consciousness, which is known as Ālayavijñāna (阿賴耶識), the basis of other seven consciousnesses (Dr. Rahula, 2008).  Journey to the West (西遊記) is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.  The protagonists of the book include the monk Xuanzang, and his three disciples, Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing.  The team of four is given a task by the Buddha to obtain the “sacred text” in the “Western Region”, and the story is about how they meet each other, forming a team, and the encounter with all the monsters and difficulties in their jouney.

        In the book Journey to the West, all the main characters represents one or several consciousness and the aim of the essay is to investigate on the relations of the eight consciousnesses with the main characters and how these senses can be discovered through this piece of renowned literature.

II. Xuanzang and Ālayavijñāna

        The store-house consciousness, Ālayavijñāna, is where all the “seeds” are stored, including all the good and bad deeds and karma accumulated from the last life (前世)  (Oxford Bibligraphies, 2014).  The previous seven consciousnesses also rely on Ālayavijñāna, thus even the world we are currently living is a result of Ālayavijñāna.  Therefore, all the events are actually happening because of Ālayavijñāna (Schmithausen, 1987).

        In the novel, the most admirable character is actually Wukong, but still, the leader of the team is Xuanzang.  To Wukong, Bajie and Wujing, going to the “Western Region” can be in days with the aid of their powers, however, Xuanzang required them to walk with him, encountering a total of eighty one difficulties (劫) in their journey.  It is Xuanzang who saved Wukong from the Wuxing Mountain (五指山), Bajie from the life of eating humans in Yunzhan Cave (雲棧洞), Wujing from being a monster in the Liusha River (流沙河), in which the whole journey’s initiator is Xuanzang, while all the monsters’ target is also Xuanzang.  All these events happened illustrates how Xuanzang is comparable to Ālayavijñāna as the reason (因) for all the results (果) to happen.

        Another feature of Ālayavijñāna is that it lack the ability to judge right or wrong, good or bad, but only store up the things happened.  In chapter 27, Madam Baigu (白骨夫人) turned herself into a woman and tempted Xuanzang, although Wukong knew it was the demon Madam Baigu, Xuanzang did not believe in him and even abandoned him.  This exemplifies how Xuanzang cannot judge critically and this coherent with the store-house consciousness (謝映鳳, 2007).

III. Bajie^[a] and Manas

        Manas refers to the consciousness of thinking, in which it can build up the concept of self to attain the eighth consciousness of Ālayavijñāna.  Manas has a high desire to control over things and thus may lead to stubbornness or rigidness, which can transform a person into money or power oriented easily (Buddhist Dictionary, 2014).