“What a splendid Master of the Law,” they said. “He's an Arhat come down to earth, a living Bodhisattva come to see us mortals.” Xuanzang went straight to his monastery, where all the monks left their places of meditation to welcome him. When they saw the cassock he was wearing and the staff in his hand they all said that King Ksitigarbha had come, did homage to him, and stood in attendance to right and left. Ascending the main hall, Xuanzang burned incense and worshipped Buddha, and when he had given an account of the Emperor's grade they all returned to their seats for meditation. Nobody noticed that the red wheel of the sun was now sinking in the West.
As the sun sinks, plants and trees are veiled in mist
While the capital echoes to the bell and drum.
After three chimes of the bell nobody moves:
The streets throughout the city are still.
The monastery gleams with the light of its lamps;
The village is lonely and silent.
The Chan monks enter the trance and repair damaged sutras.
A good way to purify oneself of evil and nourish the true nature.
Time passed in the snap of a finger, and it was time for the special assembly on the seventh day, so Xuanzang wrote a memorial inviting the Tang Emperor to come and burn incense. His reputation for piety had now spread throughout the empire. Taizong therefore led a large number of civil and military officials and his empresses, consorts and their families to the monastery in a procession of carriages to the temple early that morning. Everyone in the city, whether young or old, humble or mighty, went to the temple to hear the preaching.
The Bodhisattva said to Moksa, “Today is a special day of the Great Mass of Land and Water, which will go on from this first seventh day to the seventh seventh day, as is proper. You and I are going to mingle with the crowds for three reasons: to see the service, to see the Golden Cicada enjoying the blessing of wearing our treasure, and to hear what branch of the scriptures he preaches on.” The pair of them went to the temple. They were fated to meet their old acquaintance, just as the Wisdom returned to its own preaching place. When they went inside the monastery they saw that this great and heavenly dynasty surpassed any other in the world; while the Jetavana Monastery and Sravana were no match for this temple. Sacred music sounded clear above the shouting of Buddha names. When the Bodhisattva approached the preaching dais she saw in Xuanzang the likeness of the wise Golden Cicada. As the poem goes:
Pure in every image, free of every speck of dirt,
The great Xuanzang sat on his lofty dais.
The lonely souls who have been delivered come in secret,
While the well-born arrive to hear the law.
Great is his wisdom in choosing suitable methods;
All his life he has opened the doors of the scriptures.
As they watch him preach the infinite Law,
The ears of young and old alike are filled with joy.
As Guanyin went to the temple preaching hall
She met an old acquaintance who was no common mortal.
He spoke about every current matter,
And mentioned the achievements of many a mortal era.
The clouds of the Dharma settle over every mountain,
The net of the teaching spreads right across the sky.
If one counts the number of pious thoughts among humans
They are as plentiful as raindrops on red blossom.
On his dais the Master of the Law read through the Sutra to Give Life and Deliver the Dead, discussed the Heavenly Charm to Protect the Country and preached on the Exhortation to Cultivate Merit. The Bodhisattva went up to the dais, hit it, and shouted out at the top of her voice, “Why are you only talking about the doctrine of the Little Vehicle, monk? Can you preach about the Great Vehicle?”
On hearing these questions a delighted Xuanzang leapt down from the preaching dais, bowed to the Bodhisattva, and said, “Venerable teacher, your disciple has sinned grievously in failing to recognize you. We monks who stand before you only preach the law of the Little Vehicle, and we know nothing of the doctrine of the Great Vehicle.”
“That doctrine of the Little Vehicle of yours will never bring the dead to rebirth; it's only good enough for a vulgar sort of enlightenment. Now I have the Three Stores of the Buddha's Law of the Great Vehicle that will raise the dead up to Heaven, deliver sufferers from their torments, and free souls from the eternal coming and going.”
As the Bodhisattva was talking, the Master of Incense, an official who patrolled the temple, made an urgent report to the Tang Emperor that just when the Master of the Law was in the middle of preaching the wonderful Law a pair of scabby itinerant monks had dragged him down and were engaging him in wild argument. The Emperor ordered them to be arrested and brought before him, and a crowd of men hustled the two of them into the rear hall of the monastery.
When they saw Taizong they neither raised their hands in greeting nor bowed, but looked him in the eye and said, “What does Your Majesty want to ask us about.”
Recognizing them, the Emperor asked, “Are you not the monk who gave us the cassock?”
“That's right,” replied the Bodhisattva.
“If you came here to listen to the preaching you should be satisfied with getting something to eat,” said Taizong. “Why did you start ranting at the Master of the Law, disturbing the scripture hall and interfering with our service to the Buddha?”
“That master of yours was only teaching the doctrine of the Little Vehicle, which will never send the dead up to Heaven,” replied the Bodhisattva. “I have the Three Stores of the Buddha's Law of the Great Vehicle, which can save the dead, deliver from suffering, and ensure that the body will live for ever without coming to harm.” Showing no signs of anger, Taizong earnestly asked where the Buddha's Law of the Great Vehicle was.
“It is in the Thunder Monastery in the land of India in the West, where our Buddha lives,” the Bodhisattva replied, “and it can untie the knots of all injustice and save the innocent from disaster.”
“Can you remember it?” the Emperor asked, and the Bodhisattva answered “Yes.” Taizong then gave orders that this Master of the Law was to be taken to the dais and invited to preach.
The Bodhisattva and Moksa flew up to the dais, then soared into the sky on magic clouds. She appeared in her own form as the deliverer from suffering, holding a twig of willow in a vase, and Moksa stood beside her as Huian, holding a stick and bristling with energy. The Tang Emperor was so happy that he bowed to Heaven, while his civil and military officials all fell to their knees and burned incense. Everyone in the temple-monks, nuns, clerics, lay people, scholars, workmen and merchants-all bowed down and prayed, “Good Bodhisattva, good Bodhisattva.” There is a description of her appearance:
The sacred radiance shines around her,
The holy light protects her Dharma body.
In the glory of the highest Heaven
Appears a female Immortal.
The Bodhisattva
Wore on her head
Marvellous pearl tassels
With golden clasps,
Set with turquoise,
And gleaming golden.
She wore on her body
A plain blue robe with flying phoenixes,
Pale-coloured,
Patterned with running water,
On which curled golden dragons.
Before her breast hung
A moon-bright,
Wind-dancing,
Pearl-encrusted,
Jade-set circlet full of fragrance.
Around her waist was
A skirt of embroidery and brocade from the Jade Pool
Made from the silk of ice-silkworms,