Upaya in Monkey!

First, it is important to be clear what Upaya is. It is a doctrine that allows the Buddha, or other wise teachers, to pass on a lesson in a way that may appear to be deceptive, because it takes into account the weak understanding of the pupil. In his classic study of the concept, Skillful Means: A Concept in Mahayana Buddhism (London: Duckworth, 1978), Michael Pye explains that although explicit attention to Upaya begins in Mahayana Buddhism, these later Buddhists were simply giving a name to something that was already a feature of the Buddha's teaching. So, when we look for examples of Upaya, we expect to find a teacher passing on a lesson to a student, and taking the student's weaknesses into account.

Some of you took Upaya to be any behavior that breaks the rules where the ends justifies the means. For example, one student said that when Monkey kills the thieves who are attacking him and Tripitaka, this is Upaya. But Tripitaka clearly explains that what Monkey is doing is wrong. After all, with all his powers, Monkey could find a way to fend the robbers off without killing them. At the end, what lessons are learned. One might say that Monkey teaches the robbers a lesson, but he doesn't help them attain enlightenment. (Of course, they will be reborn with another opportunity to attain enlightenment, but Monkey was not thinking about how to help them). This incident demonstrates Monkey's weakness - he is too ready to fight - and, perhaps, Tripitaka's lack of control over Monkey.

Once you understand what Upaya is, it is easy to find examples. However, many of you seemed to think it was enough to give a few examples of Upaya in the series, along with some basic historical background, and your own reactions to the program - what you liked and disliked. You are in a university now: more is expected. Let me give a couple of examples of students who found something more to say about Upaya in Monkey.

One student drew attention to issues of character development:

At first, she (Buddha) tried to show him that heaven is not what he thought it would be. Monkey didn't respond well to this action due to his superiority issues. Later, the Buddha presented herself directly to Monkey. Here, Monkey learns in a more direct way that nothing is what it seems...With the third sign of Upaya, the monk, I was able to appreciate a transformation in the way Monkey King acted. The monk has some superiority over Monkey King. The thing is, Monkey doesn't see it like this. Therefore, he doesn't feel threatened by a superior being. Because he has nothing to prove, Monkey starts to help the Monk. When the house was burning down in episode two, Tripitaka was saved by Monkey. At the beginning, he would have just left.

Remember, the Buddha who appears to Monkey as a woman is the Buddha Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism. That's why he is Indian. He chooses to appear as a woman because he judges that Monkey needs gentle treatment. Monkey always has to be the alpha male in any situation, so Buddha appears in a maternal form. The pay-off comes when Monkey realizes he has urinated on her hand - he might not feel so bad about treating a male authority figure in that way. Tripitaka is a male character played by a woman to emphasize his gentle nature. (The translators of the television program call him a priest, but he is really a monk). Although Tripitaka has a pure heart, he is frequently fearful - on his first appearance, he admits that he was as afraid as everyone else. By asking Monkey to protect Tripitaka, Guan Yin allows him to play a strong, masculine role. Monkey responds better to a gentle figure of authority, who needs his help, than to a powerful authority figure who imposes his will be force. Of course, as the student also recognizes, Monkey is being deceived here. The reality is that Buddha has the power all along, and has delegated that power to Tripitaka by giving him the crown. Think about what a great symbol that is. People looking at Monkey will see it as a sign of his majesty - it makes him look like a King. Nobody needs to know that it actually makes Monkey a slave to Tripitaka, as long as Monkey behaves well. As long as Monkey makes it look as though he is obeying Tripataka voluntarily, because he chose to serve this humble monk, people will think of him as a powerful, independent individual, the image Monkey likes to project. But if he tries to rebel against Tripitaka, people will see what his true status is.

Another student focused on how the television show uses skillful means on the audience. Here are two pertinent observations:

Not forgetting parents who are the ones who decide what their children get to watch, the creators of the TV show used skillful means to make the show something they could watch with approval. Moral teachings are presented frequently, and not as subtle ones that require analysis to comprehend, but as pretty straightforward sentences stated by the narrator constantly, which should eliminate a parent's worries that his or her kids are watching dumb shows with no educational value.

I can certainly say that Mrs. Murphy was strict about what I could or couldn't watch. I was allowed to watch Monkey despite the violence. and the fact that the narrator was there to disapprove of the violence may have been an important factor. This kind of thinking takes us beyond "I liked the show because of the music" or "I didn't like the dubbing", and thinks instead in a sophisticated way about the intended audience. I say "sophisticated", because the student understands that parents act (or should act) at gatekeepers to their children's viewing.

So, children watch because the show contains action and adventure. Parents allow this, because the show's narrator stresses the moral lessons - but do the children really learn from what the narrator says? The same student quoted a user on IMBD:

user HORROR_Fan_1 from Liverpool wrote..."I won't explain what it's about because it is too crazy. Just watch it, it's the funniest series I think ever made. Rating 9/10. Fantastic for those who like watching a good fight every episode!" The fact that most reviews say basically the same thing and that that one had an approval of 8 out of 11 votes serves as a summary of what the Western world thinks of the show. Japanese reviews are not available.

This is great research. The students has formulated a clear question: did the children who loved this show really learn deep lessons about Buddhism, or did they just enjoy the action and comedy? Then, he finds a source of information that will reveal the views of the show's English-speaking fan-base. In this context, given the question "Why did children enjoy watching the show?" IMDB counts as a primary source. As well as quoting a review, he provides the statistics that suggest this is a representative opinion, not just a rogue voice. There is a further question: did the show's original Japanese fans think the same way? Perhaps people who were raised in a Buddhist environment found their belief in Buddhism reinforced. (Can you imagine a Catholic equivalent of Monkey in Panama - perhaps St. Francis has to help defeat a tribe of werewolves?) However, the student cannot access information about the Japanese fans. That's fine - you are freshers, you have lots of assignments, I don't expect you to teach yourself Japanese in order to complete this assignment. What's good is that you know there is more work that could be done, if you had the time, and you indicate this.

Some students waste time by writing a paragraph about how "I'm just a beginner, this is a difficult subject, I tried hard to find what I could...." Those general statements don't contribute very much to a paper. What is good about the paragraph quoted above is that it is precise about what can and cannot be said. We understand the English-speaking fans, but not the Japanese ones. Of course, if a paper was just a long list of things you couldn't find, that would be annoying, and it would make you appear either lazy or incompetent. If you show diligence in finding the sources that are available, then it is acceptable for you to mention sources that you cannot access.

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