Bow To A Rock

Kummakivi balancing rock
in Finland

The Thai monastery, Wat Suan Mok, was under the guidance of the abbot Ajahn Buddhadassa. He was approached by a rich man from Bangkok who offered to build a grand temple full of Buddha statues at the monastery. Ajahn Buddhadassa would not allow Buddha statues at the monastery and suggested to the rich man that the real Buddha was in the natural environment. He told the man that if he wanted to bow to something, he should bow to a rock.¹

This story is a reminder that Earth is not just where we live, but that we are nature and nature is us. We are not separate from nature; we are an intimate part of nature. Unfortunately, we have come to perceive ourselves as separate. This perception leads to human exceptionalism and the demeaning of all things.

This story, though, reminds us that all things are worthy of respect.

Many indigenous cultures acknowledge the sacred in animals when they are killed for food, clothing, shelter etc. This homage may be by way of a prayer, an offering, or a bow. Trees too, are acknowledged when they are felled for making canoes or homes.

The sacredness of all life, including what we perceive as inanimate, is respected and honoured. This honouring is a recognition of the cycles of life and death.

How could it be otherwise?

The elements that make up our bodies are found also in the rocks, plants, and animals all around us. It is even conceivable that the atoms in our bodies right now are the same atoms that existed in a rock many millions of years ago. That rock was crushed, moulded, and broken apart by huge geological events. Eventually the soil was enriched by those elements, in turn providing nutrients for plants to grow. The plants then in turn were eaten by animals, and we humans ate the animals and/or the plants.

So, when you next eat a meal consider that the atoms contained in your food were most likely part of a rock somewhere on Earth millions or billions of years ago.

Isn’t that worthy of contemplation?

For those of us from a European/westernised heritage much of this recognition is lost within our culture. But, not irretrievable.

Many musical groups are now exploring the antecedents of westernised culture, and remembering that nature is us, we are nature. One such group is Heilung, made up of musicians mostly from northern Europe and Scandinavia. At the beginning of all their performances (it might be more accurate to call them rituals) a prayer is recited, which includes the following lines,

‘Remember that we are all brothers (sic),

All people, beasts, trees, and stone and wind

We all descend from the one great being’

Ajahn Buddhadassa was correct. The rocks are worthy of respect and bowing to.

Notes,

1. Cited in Rodney Smith, Stepping Out of Self-deception, Shambhala, Boston & London, 2010