The journey to the west metaphors: From the perspective of Yogacara buddhism and the path to buddhahood

Xiyou ji (Journey to the West) is a novel based on the historical trip of Tripitaka Master Xuanzang of the Tang Dynasty, describing his daunting pilgrimage to India to obtain Buddhist scriptures. Xiyou ji is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. The story contains abundant philosophical principles with underlying intentions of the author and has been widely interpreted with different views due to different experiences of readers since ancient times. This paper borrows the intriguing storyline of Xiyou ji to unfold the Buddhist principle of Consciousness-Only that Master Xuanzang put all his effort into propagating, and to delineate the path of cultivation for Buddhist practitioners. This paper gives a general idea about the hidden metaphors of Consciousness-Only within the characters of Tang Zeng (Tang Monk) and his disciples in the novel. It also discusses the possibility of going astray on the path of cultivation and how that relates to the contents of the novel.