The Hidden Riddle of Midnight| Journey to the West · Divine Words · Ep. 10
535 Video Views·Sep 27, 2025
At first, everyone thought the master was angry. Patriarch Bodhi struck Sun Wukong three times on the head, turned away, and shut the main door. The other disciples whispered anxiously that the monkey had offended the master. But Wukong only smiled in silence, for he had already understood the hidden riddle. The three strikes pointed to midnight, and the closed door meant he must enter by the back gate.
That night, while the others slept, Wukong quietly rose, left the hall, and walked alone under the moonlight. At the silent hour of midnight, he entered the master’s chamber and received the secret teaching. This episode reveals the true meaning of the Patriarch’s actions, the first poem that describes the stillness of heaven and earth, and the timeless lesson that silence is the true gate to the Dao.
When life is most still, that is the moment to seek truth.
Episode 10, the hidden riddle of midnight. It's time to learn the real
eternal truth. Not the skills that fade, not the wealth that slips away, but the
mystery that conquers death itself. Hi everyone, welcome to the chapter 2 of
The Journey to the West called The One Word. In this chapter, Sun Wukong, the
one thing only, the secret of eternal life. He bowed to the great master,
Patriarch Budi, yet when asked what he wished to learn, Wukong refused every
minor art. This I will not learn, that I will not learn. He wanted only the Tao of
immortality. The Patriarch is happy for him secretly. He leapt down, struck Wukong's
head three times with his wooden ruler, folded his hands behind his back and
walked away, shutting the great door. The other disciples gasped, this monkey has
anchored the master, they whispered, but Wukong only smiled, saying nothing. In
truth he had already understood, the three strikes meant midnight, the closed
door meant enter by the back gate. That night when all was silent, he rose, walked
quietly to the back gate and found it half open. He slipped inside, knelt by the
Patriarch's bed and then in the stillness, the master pretended to sleep. Poem. The
moon shines bright, the clear dew is cold, the vast heavens lie pure, without a
speck of dust. Deep in the woods, hidden birds are at rest. At the mountain's source,
the waters gently flow, fireflies scatter their light, casting shifting
shadows, wild geese in formation peer through drifting clouds. At the silent
hour of midnight, one should come to seek the true Tao. Explanation. The moon
shines bright, the clear dew is cold, the vast heavens lie pure, without a speck of
dust. A perfect night sky, pure still and empty of distraction. This is a state of
mind needed for cultivation. Deep in the woods, hidden birds are at rest. At the
mountain's source, the waters gently flow, all things returned to their origin.
Cultivation is not chasing tricks, but returning to the root and foundation.
Fireflies scatter their light, casting shifting shadows, wild geese in the
formation peer through drifting clouds. Small enlightenment is like fireflies,
faint yet real. Great enlightenment is almost like the wild geese, older, powerful,
breaking through the clouds. At the silent hour of midnight, one should come to seek
the true Tao. Midnight is the turn of yin and yang, the stillest time of all. It is
a moment when heaven and earth open the gate of the Tao. This was not just a poem,
it was the key to the riddle, the master's wordless teaching. The other
disciples saw only anger. Wukong saw the sign. While the world sleeps, he enters in
silence and the master is waiting for him. Wukong thinks, I wandered for more
than ten years across the southern continents of Drupadipipa. I saw people
everywhere, busy for money, striving for rank, but not one stopped to ask the true
purpose of life. Only when I crossed the ocean to the western continent did I hear
a woodcutter singing the Tao. Only then did I meet the young acolyte who welcomed
me in. And only then did the patriarch give me a name and open the gate of
cultivation. So when the patriarch hinted for me to come at deep midnight
an hour, when yin and yang exchange, I understood. It is in such stillness that
the voice of the Tao can be heard. As the great Tao is very precious, only the true
disciples can hear it. The lesson is timeless, the Tao is not found in noise
but in stillness. If we never stop, if we never quiet our heart, then no amount of
striving will reveal truth. Think of our own lives today. We rush from one task to
another, chasing careers, money and possessions. Yet, how many of us stop to
ask, what is the purpose of life itself? The patriarch's poem whispers across the
centuries. Only in silence like the stillness of midnight can the eternal
truth be found. The poem is both a riddle and key. It shows that the person must be
kind-hearted, compassionate, the heavens pure, the heart free of dust and
distraction. Only then can the real seeker draw near to the Tao. Sun Wukong was
chosen because he understood his silence and the journey to the West reminds us,
when life is most still, that is the moment to seek truth.