Lamps were lit throughout the city as all fell still;

It was just the hour for the monks to enter the trance.

We will omit a description of the night or of how the monks intoned the scriptures when their master took his seat again the next morning.

The Bodhisattva Guanyin from Potaraka Island in the Southern Sea had been long in Chang'an, looking on the Buddha's orders for the man to fetch the scriptures, but she had not yet found anyone really virtuous. Then she heard that Taizong was propagating the True Achievement and selecting venerable monks for a Grand Assembly, and when she saw that the Master of Ceremonies was the monk Jiangliu who was really a Buddha's son came down from the realms of supreme bliss, an elder whom she herself had led into his earthly mother's womb, she was very pleased. She took her disciple Moksa and the treasures that the Buddha had given her out on the street to offer them for sale.

Do you know what these treasures were? There was a precious brocade cassock and-a monastic staff with nine rings. She also had those three golden bands, but she put them away safely for future use; she was only selling the cassock and the staff.

There was a monk in Chang'an city too stupid to be chosen for the service but who nonetheless had some ill-gotten banknotes. When he saw the bald, scabby, barefoot figure wearing a tattered robe-the form the Bodhisattva had taken-offering the cassock of dazzling beauty for sale he went up and asked, “How much d'you want for that cassock, Scabby?”

“The price of the cassock is five thousand ounces of silver and the staff two thousand,” replied the Bodhisattva. The stupid monk roared with laughter.

“You must be a nutcase, Scabby, or else a dope. Those two lousy things wouldn't be worth that much unless they gave you immortality and turned you into a Buddha. No deal. Take'em away.”

Not bothering to argue, the Bodhisattva walked on with Moksa. After they had been going for quite a long time they found themselves in front of the Donghua Gate of the palace, where the minister Xiao Yu happened to be returning home from morning court. Ignoring the crowd of lictors who were shouting to everyone to get out of the way, the Bodhisattva calmly went into the middle of the road with the cassock in her hands and headed straight for the minister. When the minister reined in his horse to look he saw the cassock gleaming richly and sent an attendant to ask its price.

“I want five thousand ounces of silver for the cassock and two thousand for the staff,” said the Bodhisattva.

“What's so good about the cassock to make it worth that much?” asked Xiao Yu.

“On the one hand it is good and on the other it isn't,” replied the Bodhisattva. “On the one hand it has a price and on the other it hasn't.”

“What's good about it and what isn't?” asked the minister.

“Whoever wears this cassock of mine will not sink into the mire, will not fall into Hell, will not be ensnared by evil and will not meet disaster from tiger or wolf: these are its good points. But as for a stupid monk who is greedy and debauched, who takes delight in the sufferings of others, does not eat vegetarian food, and breaks the monastic bans; or a common layman who harms the scriptures and slanders the Buddha-such people have great difficulty even in seeing this cassock of mine: that is its disadvantage.”

“What did you mean by saying that it both has a price and hasn't got one?” asked the minister, continuing his questions.

“Anyone who doesn't obey the Buddha's Law or honour the Three Treasures but still insists on buying the cassock and the staff will have to pay seven thousand ounces for them: in that case they have a price. But if anyone who honors the Three Treasures, takes pleasure in goodness, and believes in our Buddha, wants to have them, then I'll give him the cassock and staff as a gift. In that case they have no price.” Xiao Yu's cheeks coloured, showing that he was a good man, and he dismounted to greet the Bodhisattva.

“Elder of the Great Law,” he said, “forgive me. Our Great Tang Emperor is a true lover of goodness, and every one of the civil and military officials in his court acts piously. This cassock would be just right for the Hierarch, Master Chen Xuanzang, to wear in the Great Land and Water Mass that is now being conducted. You and I shall go into the palace to see His Majesty.”

The Bodhisattva gladly followed him as he turned around and went straight in through the Donghua Gate. The eunuchs reported their arrival, and they were summoned to the throne hall. Xiao Yu led the two scabby monks in, and they stood beneath the steps of the throne.

“What have you come to report, Xiao Yu?” the Emperor asked. Xiao Yu prostrated himself in front of the steps and replied, “When your subject went out through the Donghua Gate I met two monks who were selling a cassock and a staff. It occurred to me that this cassock would be suitable for Master Xuanzang to wear. So I have brought the monks for an audience with Your Majesty.” The delighted Taizong asked how much the cassock cost. Still standing beneath the steps, and not making any gestures of courtesy, the Bodhisattva and Moksa replied, “The cassock costs five thousand ounces of silver, and the staff two thousand.”

“What advantages does the cassock have to make it worth so much?” the Emperor asked. To this the Bodhisattva replied:

“This cassock

Has a strand of dragon cape,

To save from being eaten by the Roc,

And a thread of a stork jacket,

To deliver from mortality and lead to sainthood.

When one sits

Ten thousand spirits come to pay homage;

In all your actions

The Seven Buddhas will be with you.

“This cassock is made of silk reeled from giant ice-worms,

Twisted into yarn by skilful craftsmen,

Woven by fairy beauties,

Finished by goddesses.

The strips of cloth are joined with embroidered seams,

Each piece thick with brocade.

The openwork decoration has a flower pattern

Shimmering with color, shining with jeweled beauty.

The wearer of the cassock is wreathed in red mist,

And when it is taken off, coloured clouds fly.

Its primal light slipped out through the Three Gates of Heaven,

The magic vapour arose before the Five Sacred Peaks.

It is embroidered with layer upon layer of passion-flowers,

And gleams with pearls that shine like stars.

At the four corners are night-shining pearls,

Set at the top is an emerald.

Although it does not completely illuminate the Original Body

It shines with the light of the Eight Treasures.

“This cassock

Is normally kept folded,

And will only be worn by a sage.

When kept folded,

A rainbow shines through its thousand layers of wrapping;

When it is worn by a sage,

It will astonish the heavenly spirits and scare all demons.

On top is an as-you-wish pearl,

A Mani Pearl,

A dust-repelling pearl,

And a wind-calming pearl;

There is also red agate,

Purple coral,

Night-shining pearls,

And relics of the Buddha.

They steal the white of the moon,

Rival the sun in redness.

Their magic essence fills the sky,

Their auspicious light honors the sage.

Their magic essence fills the sky,

Shining through the gates of Heaven;

Their auspicious light honors the sage,

Illuminating the whole world.

Shining on mountains and rivers,

The essence frightens tigers and leopards;

Illuminating oceans and islands,

The light startles fishes and dragons.

At the side are two rows of gold-plated hooks,

At the neck are loops of whitest jade.”