What is the purpose of Sun Wukong’s fight against Buddha? What is your status among the immortals and Buddhas?

In "Journey to the West", Tang Monk and his disciples traveled to the West to obtain scriptures. After arriving at Daleiyin Temple to meet the Buddha, they all achieved perfect merit and were conferred the title of Buddha by the Tathagata.

Among them, the master Tang Seng became the Sandalwood Buddha of Merit, the second brother Zhu Bajie became the messenger of the Purification Altar, the third brother Sha Wujing became a golden Arhat, and Sun Wukong, who made the greatest contribution along the way, became Fighting and defeating the Buddha.

So, what are the positions of these four people in Buddhism? First, let’s talk about Tang Seng’s Sandalwood Buddha with Merit. In Buddhism, as long as one can become a Buddha, his status is generally higher. Generally speaking, Buddha is the superior honorific title of Bodhisattva. In other words, Tang Seng’s Sandalwood Merit Buddha has a higher status in terms of status. , in fact, it is already higher than Guanyin Bodhisattva.

As for Zhu Bajie’s altar envoy, this is actually not a great position. In Buddhism, the altar envoy is roughly the position of a Bodhisattva, but his status is not high. His general job is to clean the tribute table. , Therefore, in Journey to the West, when Tathagata gave Zhu Bajie the position, Zhu Bajie fell out on the spot, because this position was much worse than his previous position as Marshal Tianpeng!

Finally, there is Sha Wujing. His golden Arhat is actually the Namo Eight Treasures Golden Arhat Bodhisattva. It is a Bodhisattva position instead of an Arhat position, so it is similar to Zhu Bajie’s Pure Altar Messenger. But Sha Seng did not have a big official position in heaven, so receiving such a reward was not in vain for the luggage he had to carry all the way.

Finally, there is the famous Sun Wukong. He was the first disciple of Monk Tang. He made a big fuss in the Heavenly Palace 500 years ago and was trapped under Wuzhi Mountain. The most important thug in the group, he protected Tang Seng from the vicious monsters. Although he had an quarrel with Tang Seng along the way, most of them were misunderstood by Tang Seng, who was a mortal, so Wukong's contribution was actually very great.

Therefore, Tathagata gave Wukong a position of fighting and defeating the Buddha, and became the second person in the group to become a Buddha. So, what exactly does this fighting and defeating the Buddha do? What level is it among immortals and Buddhas?

This Fighting Victory Buddha, like Tang Monk’s Sandalwood Buddha, ranks among the thirty-five Buddhas in Buddhism. Although there is no ranking of Buddhas in Buddhism, there is obviously still a distinction in the novel. Yes, since Buddha is the highest enlightened person in Buddhism anyway, ranking above "Bodhisattva" and "Arhat", Wukong's status in defeating Buddha is already not low, but we know that although Wukong has enlightened, But he was still quite stubborn, so he was given a position to fight against the Buddha.

This battle to defeat the Buddha does not mean fighting with others, but it means that selfishness is difficult to eliminate and self-grain is deep. During the journey of practice, we must constantly uphold the correct view of 'selflessness' and fight with 'I want, I I think, I hate, I fear, and struggle until you overcome all selfish preferences and no longer indulge in wishful thinking. Only then can you enter into the world without opposition and enjoy peace forever.

This is because the Tathagata wants Wukong to work harder, so he is given the position of defeating the Buddha. In terms of status alone, the potential is higher than that of the Bodhisattva, but because the Taoist heart is not pure, there are still Dispelling mixed thoughts, it ranks lowest among the thirty-five Buddhas.

However, in our hearts, Sun Wukong’s free image of making trouble in the heaven and going to heaven and earth has been deeply imprinted, so we more often regard this fighting and defeating Buddha as a Buddha who conquers all directions. It is also more in line with the image of Wukong. This has almost become a common understanding among people, and there is no need to correct it. After all, characters from literary works are meant to be commented on. In this way, the image of Wukong will be forever Stay in our hearts and let him be the carefree Monkey King!