Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:
Q: What is today's message on this auspicious day of Chokhor Duchen, the first time the Buddha taught after attaining enlightenment?
A: One of his students asked Buddha, "Are you the messiah?"
"No", answered the Buddha.
"Then are you a healer?"
"No", Buddha replied.
"Then are you a teacher?" the student persisted.
"No, I am not a teacher."
"Then what are you?" asked the student, exasperated.
"I am awake", Buddha replied.
"No", answered the Buddha.
"Then are you a healer?"
"No", Buddha replied.
"Then are you a teacher?" the student persisted.
"No, I am not a teacher."
"Then what are you?" asked the student, exasperated.
"I am awake", Buddha replied.
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What’s so interesting here, Monika, is the integrated experience of language and visual expression; in this case, your very curious drawing and an anecdote on Buddha’s teaching. Like Buddha’s conveyance and, indeed, transmission, your drawing has the playful ingredients of Buddha’s meaning. If we were your drawing, we would be all and none of what it represents. We would have our respective identities, our shadows and concealed experiences, and our capacity to link them all, as Buddha did, with language. According to the Buddhist `Vimalakirti Sutra,’ it says, “All language does not exist except as liberation.” Liberation is what Buddha means by “I am awake.” And, most important, Buddha is talking to a student, someone already open and motivated to achieve awareness. With that said, though none of us are enlightened and experience suffering, it is our attitude and relationship toward our suffering that matters most. In this drawing, I feel you saying, in the most playful of ways, “Let’s look at what’s underneath and around the corner from our conscious experience. But, let’s not get caught up on the language, that is, the representations; let’s just stay open to our higher creative centers.”
ReplyDelete"Let's look underneath ...". That rings like a true interpretation of the drawing's message.
ReplyDelete