Original Text
There were two monks who came to the interior from the Western Regions; one went straight to Mount Wutai, and the other sought refuge at Mount Tai. Their clothing, appearance, and language were entirely different from those of the people in China proper. The Western monk claimed, "We came here from the West, passing by the Flame Mountain. That mountain rises in layer upon layer, and when a person walks upon it, it is as if they are being steamed over a furnace. Therefore, one must travel only after rain, and while walking, one must concentrate fully, gaze without blinking, and tread with extreme lightness; otherwise, if one inadvertently kicks a stone, flames will burst forth with a 'whoosh' and burn the body. We also crossed the Shifting Sands River, where there is a Crystal Mountain. Its cliffs and precipices pierce the heavens, and on all sides it is transparent and luminous, so that looking through the mountain, it seems as if there is no obstruction. On the mountain there is a narrow pass, extremely tight and perilous, allowing only a single cart to pass. Guarding this pass were two dragons, facing each other with horns touching and mouths locked. Travelers wishing to pass through this defile must first bow to the dragons. If the dragons permit passage, their joined horns and mouths naturally part. Those dragons were white, and their scales and whiskers were as transparent and crystalline as crystal." The Western monk also said, "We have been traveling on the road for eighteen years now. When we first left the West, there were twelve of us, but by the time we reached China, only two remained. In the West, it is widely rumored that China has four great mountains: Mount Tai, Mount Hua, Mount Wutai, and Mount Putuo. It is said that these mountains are covered in gold, and that the Guanyin Bodhisattva and Manjushri Bodhisattva there are as lifelike as living beings. It is also said that if one can reach these four great mountains, one can attain Buddhahood on the spot and live forever without dying." Hearing these words, one realizes that the Westerners envy the East just as we envy the Western Paradise. If a traveler from the East journeying west and a traveler from the West journeying east were to meet midway and each recount their longings, they would surely look at each other and laugh, and thus spare themselves the hardships of their long journeys.
Commentary
This chapter, along with "The Great Sage Equal to Heaven" in Volume Eleven, reveals the influence of Wu Cheng'en's "Journey to the West" on Pu Songling's "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio," showcasing Pu Songling's skill in adapting vernacular fiction into classical literary language.
From a worldly perspective, this tale conveys that hearsay is unreliable; from a Buddhist standpoint, it expounds the Chan doctrine that the Buddha resides within the mind, not to be sought externally. The Sixth Patriarch Huineng said, "If a man in the East commits sins, he recites the Buddha's name and seeks rebirth in the West; if a man in the West commits sins, for what land does he recite the Buddha's name? The common and ignorant fail to understand their own nature, unaware of the pure land within their bodies, thus they yearn for the East or the West. But the enlightened see all places as the same. Therefore, the Buddha said, 'Wherever one abides, there is constant peace and joy.'" This story precisely elucidates the principles of Chan Buddhism.