Sun Wukong is a totally sympathetic character, just so long as you're an asshole.

Sun Wukong actually has character development - he actually becomes enlightened by the end. Goku is just a dumbass.

SPOILERS!!! But yes, yes it is.

I never really understood this story. The whole point was to get off the Buddha's palm, yes? But he made it to the the Buddha's fingers, and the Buddha's fingers aren't part of his palm, they're fingers. So shouldn't Sun Wukong have won on a technicality?

The moral of the story is that the Monkey King can fly and wreck people's shit and pee on things, but he's still dumber than a bag of hammers. In a lot of ways, he's like Thor.

It's a Buddhist thing, EvilHomer. There is no "end" of the universe only a limit on our ability to perceive it. Monkey had reached that limit. Buddha wanted him to achieve "enlightenment", i.e. to broaden his narrow perception of the universe, which was very much centered on himself.

As for the "technicality" of having "left" the Buddha's palm by going around to the other side of the finger, the bet was stacked against Monkey to begin with. Everything is "in" Buddha's palm, including everything else about Buddha. It's like a box capable of containing itself. Even if you leave the box, you are still in the box. Therefore, there is no way for Monkey to leave Buddha's palm. If he had been enlightened, he would have known this and never made that bet.

Buddha is actually trying to help Monkey, but she's dealing with a precocious child. The purpose of the journey to the West is to teach Monkey self-control, patience and humility. By becoming less focused on himself, he'll be able to attain enlightenment and be more than just some asshole who knows a lot of magic and fighting techniques.

As the (tv adaptation of the) story repeats: it is the journey, not necessarily the destination, that is important. I'm guessing that is why most of Sun Wukong's abilities had to be restricted or toned down for the trip as well as the golden headband thing.

Binro: So to simplify, Buddha's fingers are off the edge of Buddha's palm, but both the palm and fingers are inside the universe, which is in the palm?

Ow ow ow.

BiggerJ: Welcome to Buddhism. Also, black is white, white is black, black is black, white is white. When you can simultaneously believe all those statements to be both true and false, you will have achieved enlightenment.

Buddhist meditation techniques have been shown to actually alter brain structure.