King Asoka was the benevolent ruler of the Maurya Dynasty who ruled almost the entire Indian subcontinent from 304-232 BCE. One of the stories I was told when I first began practicing Buddhism was about the previous life of King Asoka. I was reminded of that story as I was working on creatively expressing how I experienced the portion of the sutra about children drawing images of the Buddha in the dirt using sticks.
According to the story a boy was playing in the dirt and mud. As I think about this and consider how things might actually have been I wonder where the mud came from. You see, India is a very dry place with rain basically only occurring during one season of the year. If it were the rainy season then the Buddha traditionally did not travel about. In the story the Buddha is actually traveling and is walking down the street where our young hero is playing. So, I am guessing the only way there was mud was from the sewage that may have been tossed onto the street or run off from a home. Actually that makes things even better.
Out of this mud the boy fashions a pie which he wishes to offer to the Buddha. The carefully, or perhaps not so carefully but certainly lovingly crafted mud pie the young boy began to lift up to the Buddha. As so often is the case this sincere gesture from the young innocent child was not simply ridiculed it was tossed aside by those around the child who thought it unseemly or ridiculous to offer such a thing to someone as holy as the Buddha. The Buddha notices this for it must have caused a scuffle or perhaps the child began to cry.
The Buddha the predicts the future enlightenment of the young boy and also says that this young boy would be reborn and become a great ruler of India. I always liked the story and perhaps one reason I do is that it celebrates the sincerity of the offering or effort over other qualities. In Chapter II we have the Buddha saying that any offering you make, any effort you do to reproduce or draw an image of the Buddha is without a doubt a good cause towards enlightenment.
It is this sentiment which in part was a motivation for this project of illustrating, in any number of ways that can be done, the experience of the Lotus Sutra in your life. Regardless of how you feel about any technical mastery of the craft used to express your experience, know that it isn’t about technical mastery, it is about your heart. In a way this is between you and your heart and the Buddha. I have invited folks to share what they have created, and some have, however it is only because I believe you have something significant to share and someone is waiting to hear or see it.
Even if you only draw a stick figure drawing with a stick in the dirt you have put your mark on the story of the Lotus Sutra.
I wonder if there have been times or even a single time when you did something and felt so joyful and happy when doing it or when it was finished? Was there a time when you accomplished something few others thought you could? Have you done something which you felt proud of and happy about and others did not, or perhaps they made fun of or ridiculed what you did?
Doing things and expecting others to have the same emotional reaction as we had is problematic because it is impossible. If you create or do something you will automatically have a different and unique experience from anyone else’s who may have only witnessed or heard about what you did. I think we may all to some degree understand that, at least in our brains. When it happens to us though it can hurt, perhaps it may even be so hurtful we may abandon our effort, or we might do something destructive.
When I was a Boy Scout, the age this happened is unclear, I tried to earn an Art or Drawing Merit Badge. I practiced and drew constantly, as well as worked on the other requirements. When I went to the person who would approve the Merit Badge apparently he was very critical of my drawings. This memory does not exist in my mind, it must have been fairly painful. My parents told me a few years before they died that after that experience I came home threw away all my drawings, my supplies and anything associated with art. From that day on I never drew or tried to do anything artistic, other than play my guitar. Even knowing the story and many of the details such as the name of the person and other events around that time I can not at all recall the event. My parents said that he criticized my ability to draw perspective.
When I was taking art classes at night I learned that people who have a stigmatism in their eyes always have distorted perspective and rarely are able to draw as if they don’t. In my case the correction for the vision problem through glasses causes a bending of straight lines when I tilt my head even slightly. I can not actually see parallel lines with my glasses on. Well no wonder my ability to correctly draw perspective was so terrible. I was fortunate to have some fantastic instructors in college who understood and who encouraged me to work to my strengths.
Two stories, one in which there was no support or encouragement and one where there was. In the story of support I can vividly recall many of my lessons, my class experiences, my fellow students, and most clearly I recall my teachers. In the first story I have only the memories of the event being told to me years later.
I hope in your life you will be met with support and encouragement. I am guessing that many if not all of us have had both experiences. I am hopeful you have developed some healthy ways to get through the negative events. I hope you are able to find supportive people that will encourage you and also perhaps push you to keep going when you feel like giving up.
Remember though, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant you may think your efforts are. Any effort you make to share the Dharma of the Buddha is a cause for your enlightenment. Whether it is your effort or the effort you have motivated in someone else through your joy in Buddhism everything you do accumulates good merit to your becoming a Buddha.
In my expression of this section of the Lotus Sutra I limited my palate of colors to three. I am not sure exactly why other than the challenge. I did want to use colors that might evoke a barren and dry environment. I chose to mask the sutra text from the beginning so it would remain clearly visible, make no mistake about what is written. Sincerity is most important. Everything else in the image is fairly straight forward with no intended hidden meanings. One of the stamps used represents King Asoka, and one of the stamps honors the birth country of our founder. This is done all in water color and water based stamp-pad inks. A light protective spray was applied overall. I used page 68 from the Threefold Lotus Sutra.
Perhaps you have a story to tell? Perhaps you have a song to sing? Maybe you have a poem to write? Is there a drawing you want to create? I wonder what came to your mind when you read about the children playing, of drawing images of the Buddha with sticks?
