Folks of All Mythology

 The Fate of Two Friends           It was a peaceful day, even with Sun so close by. Bodhi was in mild shock something hadn't gone wrong because of his friend today. So far, there hadn't been pranks or tricks. No one had yelled. Sun hadn't gotten anyone riled up either. The weather was fair with a soft steady breeze flowing through every room.     Yes, it was a perfect day.     Bodhi frowned and rubbed his forehead. If it was so perfect, why couldn't he meditate? No matter how hard he tried to concentrate on it, he couldn't quiet and empty his mind today. He was tempted to blame Sun, but he really hadn't done anything today. Yet.     "That may be my fault," a man said.     Bodhi turned to admonish him who dared interrupt his prayers and meditation but stopped. Sitting serenely by him was a man dressed in glowing garments. Bodhi was stunned into silence. His brain catching up to him, Bodhi jumped up and bowed to t...

  Sun Wukong and Xuanzang. 1864. (Source:  Wikimedia Commons )     Sun is the type of friend that says, "If I bake the cookies at four million degrees for five seconds, that's the same as baking them at 350 degrees for 12 minutes."     Xuanzang is the type of friend in the background crying because that's not how any of that works,  and "Sun if you actually try it, I'll stick you so far under your mountain Buddha won't be able to pull you out."     Knowing this, it's understandable why most of the gods and spirits and celestial beings have a bone to pick with Sun. However, there is one being in two stories who has absolute patience with Sun and works to get him mercy from others, the Jade Emporer especially. That being is called Evening Star.     I searched Wikipedia and Google at large, and couldn't really come up with anything on this being. If anything, he (I believe Evening Star has masculine pronouns) is only a footnote in Sun'...

  The Monkey Songokû. circa 1824-1825. (Source:  Wikimedia Commons )     This week, I'm focusing on the mythical Chinese figure, Sun Wu Kung. His name is also sometimes spelled Sun Wukung, Sun Wukong, or all fancy with the accents like  Sūn Wùkōng. Sun means monkey and was given to him as a sort of inside joke from his first master Patriarch Bodhi as he did not previously have a name. Wu Kung means "awakened to emptiness." Although, it can also be taken as being aware of vacuity, i.e. aware of one's lack of thought, intelligence, or emptiness. Either way, his name basically means "Monkey Awakened to his Emptiness."     From here on out, I'll just refer to him as Sun.     To learn more about Sun's names, you can go  here  to a Wikipedia article about it!     My Favorite Part(s)     My favorite parts in Part A's readings were the ones where Sun and Bodhi interacted. So basically every story from "Sun Wu Kung Gets h...