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THE EMPTY BOWL

Long ago in a culture where society loved God and Holy spirit was a reality in their yard, in their neighbor, in the grains, the food they ate and the gratitude of sky and water, monks roamed the villages with a begging bowl in their hands.

The Monks had spent many hours and time sacrificing worldly life so that those who work can concentrate on their domestic affairs and survival—while the monks can compensate for the community by being in the Dream World and part of Divine Reality.

This exchange of commerce: between the hidden and the visible realities was unspoken and known among the community—without doctrines or education to teach them that humans are connected on all levels and are responsible for one another—exchanging gifts the way water does when it pleases the body, and when the human body is pleased with the water—the water sends that back up to God. So it is that God lets nature flows down to us, through a great invisible river that starts off as a vapor and turns into a waterfall, suddenly out of nowhere, and plants came into being.

This unspoken communication was given to the Monks who spent their days in contemplation, for the Divine radiance and realizations that they would later give to their people in the form of Peace and Peaceful living; like looking into a Sunset and understanding every bit of its meaning. But just as the Sunset does not work on earth to stay alive, the Monks too had to find a way to eat. So they set out on foot to the villages to ask for food…what little they could find.

The community never turned the monks away because they understood that the monks were in service of a different job; where they gave their life and labors to the Divine.

If they did not feed the monks, then where would the community get their “water,” spiritual nourishment or peace in the village? These things are unspoken values, understood without question, so the Monks were just as grateful to receive the Villagers’ blessings.

When the Monks hold out their begging bowl and the villager (poor or rich) gives gracefully, there is an exchange of ideas that happen similar to that of an Artist in the modern world—who has to find work in life.

Many Artists have a difficult time being in this world. He wants to dream all day long and feels that the world owes him both his meals and his privilege to create or be creative.

But a true Artist who does not nitpick over what type of food lands in his bowl will accept any job or any work offered: so that he can continue to feed his body, so that he can do his Art the way the Monks give silent service through being close to the pulse of Humanity.

It is through the Silent Work force, like silent ants going about their daily life carrying crumbs from one place to another that makes the world a peaceful and loving place. It is a world of Coordination and lack of Conflict because Chaos is handled in the order it is received: nobody cheats, nobody crosses lines and nobody cuts each other off.

Thus Monks and Villages, Ants and Crumbs, Artists and Art alike cannot cheat.

The Begging bowl is sacred and not to be thought of as homeless persons down on their luck or a person of sloth who does not want to earn his daily living.

The Begging Bowl is the Silent Knowing that we cannot live without the full bowl (material survival)—and we cannot live without the empty bowl (spiritual survival).

The empty bowl represents Invisible food of Spirit, which cannot be heard or seen until manifested, as the Visible food (which is the filled bowl).

It’s for this reason that when an Artist of true intention creates, he feeds others from his practice of Emptiness. This is the only reason why many artists do not like to attach money with their work; unless that relationship is understood in the context of empty service (work without rewards or expectations).

When a Monk holds out his bowl to the villagers, he does not ask for rewards. Instead he shows the Villagers that their hunger for Art, for God and for Peace is shown through what the monk spends his timing doing—that others, who toil daily to maintain their material life do not have time, energy or patience to cultivate. In exchange for the small food that is given to the Monk, the villagers gain all the labors of the Monk.

Whereas everyday in modern life, we are required to work hard to fill our own bowls and to have more bowls than our cupboards allow—the Silent work of an artist is needed to make the mental space of society as empty as possible. Without this emptiness, Society loses its language for the unspoken words that God speaks in our everyday life—through the silent ways that Nature works. So that when it is time to ask for Peace, there are no empty bowls around.

by Ji Rising/ Blogasana.com