[Buddha-l] Darwin's 200th centennial

[jkirk]

Looking up the myth, I found this site, which interestingly has
the rock ogress (demoness) proposing the annihilation of
thousands if the monkey refuses to marry on account of his vows,
thus breaking them. Such a conundrum was recently posited on the
list in connection with the story about the bodhisattva on a ship
and killing (breaking his vows) one to save hundreds.
http://tinyurl.com/2lafam

If you will not marry me
I will take a rock-ogre husband.
Every day we will slay ten thousand living beings,
And every night we will devour a thousand creatures.
I will bear countless ogre-children
And this snowy realm will be filled with ogre-cities.
Every living creature will become an ogre's prey.
By comparison, is it not better to think of me
And show your compassion?

As these plaintive words caused her tears to flow, the
Bodhisattva-monkey thought to himself, 'It would contravene my
vows to marry this ogress, but if I do not, it will prove to be
an even greater misdeed!' 

So he goes to Avalokiteshwara to ask, and the bodhisattva says:
'Marry the rock-ogress!' and voices of the reverend Bhrikuti and
the reverend Tara resounded from the sky: 'Excellent indeed!' 
The Sublime One then blessed the marriage of the monkey and the
rock-ogress in order that this snowy land of Tibet might possess
three qualities: that at some future time, the teachings of the
Buddha might spread, flourish and endure; that spiritual friends
might arise in unbroken succession; and that precious treasures
might be discovered, so that benefits, happiness, virtue and
goodness might increase in all ten directions.

The monkey and the rock-ogress, being united as husband and wife,
bore six monkey-children of differing dispositions, one reborn
from each of the six classes of beings. The monkey-child reborn
from among the denizens of the hell realms had a stern
countenance and could withstand great hardships. The child from
the realm of the hungry ghosts had loathsome features and an
insatiable appetite. The one reborn from the animal realm was
stupid and vulgar. The monkey-child from the human realm was
endowed with increasing wisdom and sensitivity. The one from the
realm of the demigods was aggressive and jealous, and the
monkey-child from the realm of the gods was patient and virtuous.

[Reading this description of their children, one wonders who
wrote it! I can't 
imagine ordinary Tibetans being very happy about some of the
classifications. JK]

The Bodhisattva-monkey led his six children to the Forest of
Assembled Birds, which abounded in fruit, and they dwelled there
for three years. At the end of that time, the monkey-king
returned and saw that by virtue of his karma, his children had
increased to five hundred in number. As they had devoured all the
fruit and had nothing else to eat, and although neither mother
nor father could succour them, they cried, 'Father, what can we
eat? Mother, what can we eat?' The monkey-children threw up their
hands, piteous and impoverished. The Bodhisattva-monkey then
thought to himself, 'This cannot be the result of my own
defilements. These monkey-children have become so numerous
because I followed the instructions of the Sublime One'. Thinking
this, he appeared in a trice upon Mt. Potala and supplicated
Avalokiteshvara with these words:
Alas! Not realising that married life was a prison;
Not knowing that I had been deceived by a she-devil;
I am mired in the Samsaric mud of offspring.
Not recognising that sensual desires are poisonous leaves,
My compassion turned to lust, and I was deceived.
Bound by carnal urges, I am oppressed by a mountain of suffering.
Having swallowed the poison of defilements
I am afflicted by the epidemic of adverse karma.
Accumulated woes torment me:
Alack! Alas! Compassionate Protector of Loving-Kindness,
How can I succour my children?
I am in this predicament at the Sublime One's behest.
We now resemble a city of hungry ghosts;
In the next life we will no doubt be reborn in the hell realms!
I therefore beseech you to protect us with your compassion.

As the monkey besought him thus, the Sublime One replied, 'I
shall protect your progeny'. Avalokiteshvara then arose and took
from a crevice on Mt. Sumeru barley, wheat, peas, buckwheat and
rice, and cast them upon the earth. The place where they fell
then became filled with crops that required no cultivation. The
Bodhisattva-monkey led his monkey-children thither and showed
them the food. Tradition holds that the monkey then said 'Zotang
- Eat!', and the place became known as Zotang Gongpori. Once they
had sated themselves upon these crops, the monkey-childrens' hair
and tails grew shorter, they learned to speak and they became
human. They ate the crops that required no cultivation and began
to wear garments fashioned from leaves.

Thus the inhabitants of this snowy land of Tibet, being the
descendants of a monkey-father and rock-ogress mother, form two
lineages. As to the monkey-father's lineage, they are those who
are patient, faithful, compassionate, diligent, those who delight
in virtue and those who are eloquent. These are of the father's
lineage. As to the rock-ogress mother's lineage, they are those
who are lusty, angry, mercenary, profit-seeking, greedy,
competitive, garrulous, strong, courageous, active, restless,
scatterbrained, daring, those whose minds suffer from an excess
of the five poisons of greed, hatred, ignorance, jealousy and
pride, those who enjoy hearing about the faults of others and
those who are tempestuous. These are of the mother's lineage.

At that time, the mountains of Tibet were clad in forests, and
every valley was filled with water. Having dug ditches and
channels, all the water was drained away, the plains became
fields and many cities were built. It is said that shortly
thereafter, Nyatri Tsenpo arrived to become king of Tibet, and
the distinction between sovereign and subject arose.
-----------
An interesting origin story, with a warning about
overpopulation/excessive fertility--in this case, that only a
deity can remedy -- so, presumably, that the people can continue
doing their thing as usual. Sound familiar?

==============================================
 On Behalf Of Christopher Fynn

The myth is that the Tibetan people are the descendants of the
union of a demoness and a monkey. (Later versions have it that
the monkey was an emanation of Avalokiteshvara.)

- C