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Among the Lights
Gardens Aglow; Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens
Boothbay, Maine
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In a Buddhist gathering, the bell ringer started to ring the bell, leading the attendees into meditation. The tradition is to "invite" the bell. He said we hit the bell lightly, for it is Buddha. His reminder agrees with the Buddhist teaching that we are - all things are - Buddha. From a Buddhist worldview, that is true. Buddha as bell does not mean merely a historical buddha born in the 6th Century BCE.
"Buddha" signifies so much more than any one buddha or all buddhas, as some Christians say "Christ" means much more than Jesus of Nazareth. Some teach "Jesus" is the name, "Christ" the signifier of Jesus as an embodiment of Christ - hence, Jesus Christ (Jesus Messiah, Jesus Anointed One). This view includes the understanding that "Christ" is not Jesus' last name.
These concepts regarding Buddha and Christ are theoretical, but the bell ringing is not. When one meets what these words indicate, one encounters nonconceptually, nontheoretically, the signified, and the signifier drops. So, Buddha and Christ, as concepts, drop. For example, when experiencing heart-with-heart intimacy with anything, the idea of the thing drops, as does all sense of any metaphorical meanings. You are face-to-face intimate, with no idealization separating. There is harmony.
Now, back to the bell in the meditation sharing... The bell ringer's words did not resonate. What arose was, "No, the bell is a bell." I could not see the bell as Buddha, not for his words were incorrect - for him, they were accurate - but for I saw - experienced - the bell as a bell - nothing more, nothing less... nothing added or taken away. And, "No, the bell is a bell" is not a denial of the truth in his words, nor the truth of mine.
If I see the bell as Buddha, it is, for me, Buddha. If I see the bell as a bell, it is, for me, a bell. If, to me, the bell is a bell and Buddha, so it is. The whole world is as I see it, yet it is more than I see it.
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One way of viewing consciousness evolution using Buddhist terms is -
In the beginning,
the bell is a bell.
Later,
the bell is Buddha.
Later,
the bell is a bell.
A Buddhist story shares this insight -
A man approached a monk asking how he viewed the world now that he was enlightened. The monk said, "Before, mountains and rivers were mountains and rivers. Then, mountains and rivers were not mountains and rivers. Now, mountains and rivers are mountains and rivers."
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Does this mean nothing changes? Do we experience the bell as we first experienced it? Everything changes. We have new eyes. We see the same thing - the bell, the mountains, the rivers. That we see is the same; how we see is different. We can see that the bell metaphorically is Buddha, but we do not need to see it as such - in fact, we now most naturally see it as a bell. When we wash a dish, we experience it as a dish. We no longer need to name some unseen reality the dish signifies. We meet with the suchness of the dish, as we meet with the suchness of the bell, raindrops, lips kissing, cool breeze on the face, or taste of a favorite food being chewed in the mouth.
Yet, now, we are experiencing wholeheartedly, free of delusion, even spiritualized delusion. We do not think, "I'm washing Buddha" or "I'm washing Christ." One could make a case that spiritual signifieds are delusions: such as, the bell signifies the signified Buddha. Initially, they serve a purpose but drop when no longer needed: for example, one no longer needs the bell to signify anything, not even Buddha, for one has come into harmony nonconceptually with the bell. "Buddha" served its role: a fresh experience of the bell.
No one can tell what this transformed seeing is like. One thing is sure, one is content with a bell being a bell, a river being a river, and a mountain being a mountain.
A plus of this transformation is the shift from the abstract to the tangible. This tangibility is a Christian teaching. "God" or "the Word" is abstract. "Jesus" is bone, flesh, and blood, so, Christians speak of the Incarnation - the preexistent Word taking on flesh. The Word, then, eats, pees, poops, sleeps, cries, sheds tears, laughs, and has urges to engage in sex - whether it does or not. One can talk about "the Word" or "Christ," but something else happens when the host - bread - is placed on one's tongue and the wine is drunk from the chalice. And one begins thinking of partaking of Christ; in time, she enjoys simply the intimacy of partaking of what is given, not needing any theoretical understanding in the enjoyment.
So, for Christians, the analogy could be -
In the beginning,
bread and wine
is bread and wine.
Later,
bread and wine
is Christ.
Later
bread and wine
is bread and wine.
* * *
What we now have come to experience includes the truth of all - everything as it is, without the imposition of meaning. Then, if one wishes to use the word, the meaning is in the immediacy of intimacy. There is no meaning outside the encounter.
In this intimacy, no moment of evolution is lost, only transformed. And, in love, we can speak in ways that speak to others. So, if saying the bell is Buddha is to benefit others, the bell is Buddha. Why? For it is.
So, yes, the bell is Buddha, but the bell is a bell. The bread and wine is Christ, but the bread and wine is bread and wine. Anyway, I like bells, and I like Buddha. And I love Christ, and I enjoy bread and wine. Wonderful!
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*©Brian K. Wilcox, 2023.
*Use of photography is allowed accompanied by credit given to Brian K. Wilcox and title and place of photograph.
*Brian's book, An Ache for Union: Poems on Oneness with God through Love, can be ordered through major online booksellers or the publisher AuthorHouse.
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