Two Precious Scroll Narratives of Guanyin and Her ... - Khamkoo

Notes to Pages 112–125 211
11. In Daoist mysticism, the process of achieving insight is often compared
to the process of melting and refining ore and metals to turn cinnabar into gold.
12. The 1773 version here has six lines in which the emperor orders that
following execution the body may not be buried but has to be destroyed utterly:
Take her to the execution ground, have her beheaded,
Then quickly select three thousand horsemen with bows.
Tie her corpse to the general’s pillar, and then make sure
That volleys of arrows pulverize it into clouds of dust.
Don’t bury her skeleton in the earth, or any of the bones,
But have them trampled by the horses till nothing is left.
13. The 1773 version here has the following two lines:
He first tried to behead her with a knife, but it broke into pieces,
He then tried to behead her with a sword, but that broke into two.
14. Samādhi refers to concentrated meditation, resulting in enlightenment.
15. In Chinese popular Buddhism, yakṡas are hideous demons. They are
often equated with the horse-faced and ox-headed demons who guard and
torture the sinners in the hells.
16. Paper money that has not been properly burnt to ashes and therefore is
of no use in the Underworld.
17. The six pathways refer to the six levels of rebirth: as a ghost in hell, a
hungry ghost, an animal, an asura, a human being, or a god.
18. The bodhisattva Kṡitigarbha is believed to be the highest overlord of
the underworld. He is venerated as a savior who rescues sinners from hell.
19. Grannie Meng operates a teashop in the underworld and offers a cup of
tea to every soul. After swallowing Grannie’s tea, the soul forgets everything
about his or her life on earth.
20. The three karmas refer to the sins created by one’s deeds, words, and
thoughts. The five precepts forbid killing, stealing, committing adultery, lying,
and drinking alcohol. Lay Buddhists are asked to vow to maintain the five
precepts.
21. ‘‘Keeping the fast’’ (chi zhai) might more literally be translated as
‘‘maintaining ritual purity,’’ but Buddhist piety strongly emphasizes the need to
stick to a vegetarian diet (including an abstinence from alcohol and strong
spices), and the specific meaning of this expression in precious scrolls is maintaining
a vegetarian diet.
22. The three paths are the paths of misery, illusion, and mortality.
23. This translation is very tentative!
24. The Metal Star of the Great White (the planet Venus) is also identified
with Indra. In Chinese popular narratives he is often dispatched to help the
main protagonist of the story when that person in confronted with great problems.
The god may take on any shape he likes when he manifests himself.
25. The Sutra of Countless Ways is not an existing sutra. It suggests the
limitless ways in which the god may help human beings in need of assistance.