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After being dismissed by his master Sanzang, Wukong returns to the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, only to discover that his fellow monkeys have suffered terribly at the hands of hunters. Enraged, Wukong annihilates the hunters, reclaims his authority, restores the mountain, and resumes a life of apparent freedom and abundance among his kind.

Session Focus:
This session invites us to reflect on whether Wukong’s return to the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit represents growth or regression on his spiritual path. We will explore and ask what truly supports continuous inner progression.

Key Questions for contemplation:

The Great Sage was gazing at the Eastern Ocean, sighing sadly at being driven away by the Tang Priest. "I haven't been this way for five hundred years," he said.
Q1: How do you understand Wukong’s emotional state from these words?
What emotions, e.g., grief, nostalgia, resentment, relief, or pride, do you sense beneath his sigh?

"After you went away the god Erlang set fire to the mountain and most of us were killed in the blaze. Some of us squatted at the bottom of wells, or hid in gullies, or took cover under the iron bridge, and escaped with our lives. When the fire burnt itself out and the smoke cleared we came out to find that there were no more plants or fruit to feed us, making life almost impossible, so half of the survivors went away. The rest of us have been having a very lean time on this mountain, and half of those left have been caught by hunters in the past two years."
"What do they do that for?" Monkey asked.
"We hate the very name 'hunters,'" the other monkeys replied. "They shoot us with arrows, spear us, poison us, and beat us to death. They take us away to skin us and cut the flesh from our bones before boiling us in soy sauce, steaming us with vinegar, frying us in oil, or stir−cooking us with salt. Then they eat us to help their rice down. Those of us who are caught in nets or loops are taken away alive and made to dance in a ring, act, do somersaults, jump around, play drums and gongs in the street, and make fools of themselves in every possible way.”
Q2: What do the monkeys’ words reveal about:
• the vulnerability of animals, and
• the cruelty and moral blindness of the hunters?
How does this passage challenge us to reflect on power, violence, and survival in the human world?

"Why have you come back to your mountain instead of going to the West, Your Majesty? We heard recently that you had come back to life and were escorting the Tang Priest to fetch scriptures from the Western Heaven."
"What you don't know, my little ones," said Monkey, "is that Sanzang can't tell a good man when he sees one. I captured monsters and demons for him all along the way, and I used every one of my magical powers to kill evil spirits for him. But he called me a murderer and wouldn't have me as his disciple any longer. He sent me back here and gave me a letter of dismissal to certify that he'll never employ me again."
Q3: How does Wukong interpret his dismissal by Sanzang?
To what extent do you think his judgment is shaped by hurt and resentment, rather than clarity?

Bringing his cloud down, the Great Sage clapped his hands and laughed aloud. "What luck," he said, "what luck. Ever since I submitted to the Tang Priest and became a monk, he was always telling me 'if you do good for a thousand days you still won't have done enough, but if you do ill for one day that will be too much.' How true it was. I killed a few evil spirits when I was with him and he regarded me as a murderer; and now I've come home I've wiped out all these hunters.”
Q4: What do you observe in Wukong’s repetition of Sanzang’s teaching here?
How does he feel about killing the hunters, compared with killing demons on the pilgrimage?

The Great Sage had the banners unstitched and washed, then put them all together as one multicolored banner which bore the legend, Great Sage Equaling Heaven, Restorer of the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, Recreator of the Water Curtain Cave. They hung the banner from a pole outside the cave, and for days on end he invited demons and held gatherings of the wild beasts. He accumulated provisions, and the word “monk" was never mentioned. As he was so generous and his powers so great he was able to go and borrow some sweet magic waters from the dragon kings of the four seas with which to bathe the mountain and make it green again. In front of it he planted elms and willows, and behind it pines and cedars; he also put in peaches, greengages, jujubes, and plums. Thus he led a happy and carefree life.
Q5: What is the significance of Wukong deliberately avoiding the word “monk” while restoring the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit?
In your judgment, does Wukong truly live a happy and carefree life here—or is this a temporary refuge from deeper inner work?

Take your time with these questions. Bring your insights, personal reflections, and discoveries into our circle for shared contemplation.

📚 Self-Study & Preparation:
https://chine.in/fichiers/jourwest.pdf
Chapter 28 (page 394 - 401).

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Pay-as-you-go: AUD $5 per session (via PayPal)

📝 Members’ Blogging Space:
Share your reflections and learnings:
https://www.hellosuliving.com/blog

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