27/08/2024
“The Monkey King boasted to the enlightened one of his great strength, cunning and resourcefulness. Buddha said nothing in reply, having nothing in particular to prove. Buddha’s silence drove the Monkey King to further and further extremes.
“‘You think you’re so great,’ he shouted, “you old, fat, sleepy god! I am greater than you. Watch, and I’ll prove it.’
“Then he girded himself and made a mighty leap. His strong legs propelling him high into the air – and across all the worlds – until he landed on the other side of infinity. Where five columns of white stone hold up the roof of the sky.
“To prove that he’d been here, he carved his name on the middle column, scoring deep into the stone. Then a second leap took him back across the face of creation. Back to the Buddha. And he told the Buddha of what he had done. ‘Could you jump so far?’ he demanded. You, so old and fat. Could you travel all the way to where the worlds end, in a single jump?’
“The Buddha made no answer in words. But merely raised his right hand, and showed it to the Monkey King – who recognized his own signature on the Buddha’s index finger.”
One of 2024's biggest video games is replete with Buddhist themes while also raising existential questions about destiny and fate
