Picked Up The Great Enlightenment

Discussion in 'Novel Pickup Request' started by Exalted, Nov 29, 2021.

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What would you do if you were in a generic Xianxia World?

  1. Acquire all the Jade Beauties

  2. Refuse to recognize Mt. Tai

  3. Antagonize and defeat a Young master and Exterminate his Clan/Sect

  4. Become a generic protagonist (Choice 1,2,3)

  5. None of the above & below (Be a normal person and make meaningful relationships)

  6. Disregard morals on your path towards Immortality

  7. Become a sociopath who manipulate others

  8. Focus only on benefits

  9. Become an evil protagonist (Choice 6,7,8)

Results are only viewable after voting.
  1. Exalted

    Exalted Well-Known Member

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    Name: The Great Enlightenment

    NU Link:
    https://www.novelupdates.com/series/big-bodhi/

    Raw Link:

    https://m.xindingdianxsw.com/xiaoshuo/832108.html

    Cover:

    [​IMG]

    Why It Should Get Picked Up:
    Generic cultivation novels typically end with the protagonist becoming the strongest being in the universe. But what actually happens on this journey to immortality?
    We know the usual clichés!
    In random order
    1. Arrogant and Brainless antagonists - goes from young master to final big boss (Junior you dare!)
    2. Women, Fanservice, and other distractions - Includes the curing her yin with his yang (Jade Beauty)
    3. Tournament arcs that leads to more tournament arcs in the future (Never-ending trash conflicts)
    4. And many, many, many others.
    Once you've read cultivation novels for a while, it can become quite tedious and frustrating to see. Very few novels break the mold. I'm delighted to introduce you to this rare exception featuring our pragmatic protagonist Ji Yue Nian.

    By cultivating, he aspires to reach the top. He is indifferent to distractions, oblivious to jade's beauty, and unconcerned with goodness and evil. By removing himself from all, he concentrates on his pure pursuit of the Dao.

    The novel includes many Asian and Chinese references. Buddhism is one of them. This protagonist's character development is rooted in one of the many philosophies of the book. We need to look back to Reverend Insanity and review this Buddhist philosophy in order to gain an understanding.

    Profundities revealed by Fang Yuan

    This was not because of his numbness to death, but he had gone beyond the superficial, having no obsessions. Without a sense of self, without a sense of person; to be detached of all living things, detached of the sense of time…

    Seeing all living things as equal, the world is equal......

    Only by recognizing this and going beyond the superficial, arriving at the truth, does one gain divinity.
    This divinity, taking a step towards the light, it becomes Buddha. If it takes a step towards the darkness, it becomes a demon. (Reverend Insanity, Chapter 151)


    On the path towards divinity will he step towards the light? Or towards the darkness?

    Description: (TL) (By Chibi!)

    "When the four continents are overturned, I shall step into the heavenly realm of the spirit mountain and lead the thunderous sound."

    Standing atop the ten-thousand petal lotus platform, wearing a snow-white Buddhist robe, Ji Yuenian's black long hair cascaded down like a waterfall, looking calmly at the ethereal and vast Sacred Mount Meru in the Western Paradise.

    Where individuals meet, regardless of Immortal or Dao, sit and recite the Yellow Court Classic.

    The story begins from Uttarakuru...

    Disclaimer: A dedicated translator of this novel is needed (Buddhism is a big part of the novel, so the usage of sanskrit words will add a lot of flavor to the translation. For example, the sanskrit word bhodi means enlightenment; and a bodhisattva is a buddhist person who is enlightened).


    I must ask all translators if you are going to MTL this novel. I would rather not ask you to undertake the task of being the translator for this wonderful novel. In order for the meaning to be properly conveyed (in English), the community needs it to be translated by a real human.

    This story is ongoing at 390+ chapters. I hope you will eventually come to enjoy this story!


    Edit: I changed the title in order to be more accurate!

    It's now picked up by the group Novel Hunters. But the translation appears to be Edited MTL (which is NOT what the community needs). I will continue to look for suitable (human) translators to pick up this wonderful novel.

    Edit#2: I recently had a meaningful conversation with an editor of a translation project. After discussing the novel's nature, we agreed that the title is still incorrect.

    Reasons Why

    • Using an English to Chinese dictionary the title "大菩提" translates directly to Big Bodhi. The Great Bodhisattva comes from "大菩". By removing the character after the second, I got this title. It's fairly clear from now on that the author intended Bodhi (as the title).
    • As mentioned before Bodhi means enlightenment in Sanskrit, that's all well and good. But what does Bodhisattva actually mean? Following extensive research on Buddhism, I have determined that it refers to "a being who compassionately refrains from entering nirvana in order to save others, and is worshipped as a deity in Mahayana Buddhism.
    • Mahayana Buddhism is a popular school of Buddhism and is usually depicted in fantasy and entertainment media. Beings in this school seek to give salvation to all living beings.
    • It is evident from the summary and also from part of the novel that the protagonist follows Theravada Buddhism rather than Mahayana Buddhism.
    • In addition to Theravada Buddhism, there is this concept (teaching of analysis) called vibhajjavāda. The school recommends that seekers gain insight from their own experiences by applying knowledge and analyzing their reasoning. Their goal is to become Arhats. This roughly translates to becoming enlightened and achieving nirvana.
    Now it's quite clear that "The Great Bodhisattva" isn't the most appropriate title you can give this story. Well, what is a fitting title?

    Possible Titles

    The Great Bodhi (The Great Enlightenment)
    The Mahabodhi or The Maha Bodhi (The Great Enlightenment in Sanskrit)
    Mahabodhi or Maha Bodhi (Great Enligtenment in Sanskrit)
    Big Bodhi (Pure MTL title) plz don't choose this one
    The Great Bodhisattva (Placeholder)
    (???)

    Also one of the cool things about the title "Maha Bodhi". Is that there's an actual temple in India named "Mahabodhi Temple". It's said to have been where Buddha attained enlightenment!

    Now, I am not fluent in Chinese or Sanskrit. My knowledge of the Buddhist religion is less than 1%. I am not a dedicated translator nor am I a great editor. I'm just a simple person on NU trying to get one of my favorites picked up. If you're someone who actually knows more than me on any of these topics/languages, and picks a better or different title. Then be my guest!

    I hope I didn't scare anyone off with this:hmm:

    Edit#3:
    I was able to see the teaser of the first chapter thanks to a translator I know! If you've always wanted an idea of the nature of this novel, then look no further.

    Here you go!
    Chapter 1 Teaser

    Edit#4:
    By relying on friendly translators and taking some introspection. I think this title is most accurate and effectively conveys the author's intent.
    The Great Enlightenment
    Now I can rest easy.....
    Oh what's this? An equally suitable yet compelling title? Say it isn't so!
    Enlightened Reverend
    In addition to being a compelling translation of the original title, I think this title captures the spirit of this magnificent novel. Of course, this is just my humble opinion, so I will start a thread to allow the community itself to vote on the most fitting title. Look forward to it!

    Picked up!
    https://inoveltranslation.com/novels/35
     
    Last edited: Jun 11, 2022
  2. Toxicane

    Toxicane Well-Known Member

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    BUMP
     
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  3. NS666

    NS666 New Member

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    very very good novel, hope it get picked up!
     
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  4. NothingIsEternal

    NothingIsEternal Active Member

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    A novel with a lot of potential written by a well-known author, wish it get pick-up.
     
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  5. NS666

    NS666 New Member

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    bump
     
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  6. Antigonus

    Antigonus Member

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    A great novel that I would recommend to many. This should get translated as soon as possible! One of the best things I've ever read. This novel is great with loads of potential and many would enjoy to read it. I pray for someone to pick this up to translate it so a larger audience can view this wonderful masterpiece
     
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  7. NoNameDeity

    NoNameDeity New Member

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    This Old Ancestor has been called to send help, and help I shall
     
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  8. gelleali

    gelleali Active Member

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    Hm... not translated yet? how come... i can wait..

    *Only novel i'll wait for it be translated*
     
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  9. lordlytactician

    lordlytactician Active Member

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    I was looking for a novel with similar views like reverend insanity. Never really found one. Sad that it's not yet translated but hopefully gets picked up soon.
     
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  10. Mesuur

    Mesuur New Member

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    Mtl is beginning to rot my brain, tis a good novel that deserves to be fully translated.
     
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  11. Pathfinder dxu

    Pathfinder dxu Active Member

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    A good novel with character development what i like most about this novel is the character development of the mc how he goes from a lawful evil character to neutral evil character. There are very few evil mc novels out there and this one is needed to be add on that collection. I have always heard many evil novel fans complaint about mtl because this novel is on mtl i cannot read it and such that's why these good evil mc novels need to be translated so that many evil novel fans can enjoy these works
     
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  12. gelleali

    gelleali Active Member

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    respect
     
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  13. DaoOfEternity

    DaoOfEternity New Member

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    i hope this novel get picked as i can't oblitrate my braincells by reading on mtl. mc is rational evil which means he won't go around simping for jade beauties and offending the ding dong clan by slapping the ching dong young master but will use them for his benefit instead.
     
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  14. Xeno123456789

    Xeno123456789 New Member

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    Bump
     
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  15. Pathfinder dxu

    Pathfinder dxu Active Member

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  16. Virtual Fantasy

    Virtual Fantasy New Member

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  17. juststian

    juststian Well-Known Member

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    I really want to pick up this novel, but it's a Qidian novel.
     
  18. Exalted

    Exalted Well-Known Member

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    :bloborz: I know the fact that Qidian is it's publisher is a huge drawback. And I won't make you uncomfortable by asking you to translate anyway. However! I do wish to see it translated one day so please do share this to as many people as you can!
     
  19. Daoist Ghoul

    Daoist Ghoul Well-Known Member

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    hope somebody picks up this novel
     
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  20. dicaro2338

    dicaro2338 Active Member

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    Fang Yuan rejects common pleasures, but still relies on commonly valued resources. His non attachment is flawed, he doesn't understands that every thing, no matter how worthless in the eyes of society, can be used to refine our dao. He doesn't understand that all creatures can be made powerful by giving them a path to what they desire. He abandons low value things, low value creatures, and plays the same game everyone else plays.
    He weakens himself by refusing cultivate love, the source of all mental energy. Non attachment, even as flawed as his, removes distractions and make focusing our energy easier, but it can't lead to divinity if our energy is insufficient. All creatures can only care about what they care about. Unless a thing is connected to what you love in some way, they can't force themselves to care, can't force their mind work diligently.
    He tries to treat all things equally, but he doesn't understand what makes them equal. And makes himself an exception. Refuses to investigate the cause of his mortality and the nature of his mind, focuses on mindlessly accumulate more power. No different from other immortality seekers in his world.
    Chinese xianxia protagonists always assume their society can't be wrong. They do what everyone else does. Yet expect to achieve what no one else has. Fang Yuan is better than the others, but only slightly.
    The opposite of a Buddha is a PaccekaBuddha. The one who attains nirvana for himself and doesn't teach the path. A demon is a failure destined to suffer and die.
     
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