The Buddha at Kamakura -- Rudyard Kipling

(Poem #379) The Buddha at Kamakura "And there is a Japanese idol at Kamakura" O ye who tread the Narrow Way By Tophet-flare to Judgment Day, Be gentle when the 'heathen' pray To Buddha at Kamakura! To him the Way, the Law, apart, Whom Maya held beneath her heart, Ananda's Lord, the Bodhisat, The Buddha of Kamakura. For though he neither burns nor sees, Nor hears ye thank your Deities, Ye have not sinned with such as these, His children at Kamakura. Yet spare us still the Western joke When joss-sticks turn to scented smoke The little sins of little folk That worship at Kamakura -- The grey-robed, gay-sashed butterflies That flit beneath the Master's eyes. He is beyond the Mysteries But loves them at Kamakura. And whoso will, from Pride released, Contemning neither creed nor priest, May feel the Soul of all the East About him at Kamakura. Yea, every tale Ananda heard, Of birth as fish or beast or bird, While yet in lives the Master stirred, The warm wind brings Kamakura. Till drowsy eyelids seem to see A-flower 'neath her golden htee The Shwe-Dagon flare easterly From Burmah to Kamakura, And down the loaded air there comes The thunder of Thibetan drums, And droned -- "Om mane padme hums" -- A world's-width from Kamakura. Yet Brahmans rule Benares still, Buddh-Gaya's ruins pit the hill, And beef-fed zealots threaten ill To Buddha and Kamakura. A tourist-show, a legend told, A rusting bulk of bronze and gold, So much, and scarce so much, ye hold The meaning of Kamakura? But when the morning prayer is prayed, Think, ere ye pass to strife and trade, Is God in human image made No nearer than Kamakura? -- Rudyard Kipling

1892.

I don't know if Kipling ever made the trip to Kamakura to gaze upon the
Great Buddha, but his poem upon the subject remains, in my opinion, one
of the most perfect evocations ever of 'the Soul of all the East'.
Indeed, I can hardly read it without hearing Tibetan drums and scenting
joss sticks and seeing saffron-clad monks going about their morning
prayers...

It's a profoundly religious poem, but no less universal or accessible
for that; in fact, I would call it, rather, a wonderful exaltation of
humanism and a call for gentleness and  understanding. The philosophy
may not be 'deep', but it's certainly very moving.

'The Buddha at Kamakura' should also serve as a rebuttal to those who
continue to view Kipling as a heavy-handed imperialist, a relic of
bygone colonial days. It's true he sings the praises of the British
Empire (more specifically, of the soldiers and scribes who built that
Empire), but he is also more tolerant, more honourable, and above all,
more _universal_ than many of his contemporaries and latter-day critics.
And he had a rare gift of words - his verse, whether the Cockney slang
of Tommy Atkins or the pulsing rhythms of the Jungle Book or the archaic
patternings of today's poem, is always vibrant and alive, and it sticks
in the memory.

On a personal note: I made the pilgrimage to the Daibutsu (the Great
Buddha) at Kamakura last weekend, and I must say it's a truly
awe-inspiring spectacle. For one thing, it's _big_ - it towers over the
hordes of tourists that infest the place. And it's incredibly,
incredibly beautiful - the expression on the Buddha's face is serene,
calm,  compassionate, wise... ineffable. The statue is in the open (the
wooden structure that housed it was washed away in a tsunami, many
hundreds of years ago) (which in itself is a sobering thought), and it
sits in quiet repose through wind and rain, sun and shade. Sitting zazen
in the temple grounds really brought the power of today's poem home to
me.

thomas.

[History Lesson]

Kamakura was the capital of Japan in the 13th and 14th centuries. It was
chosen because it was easy to defend, with densely-wooded hills on three
sides and the sea on the fourth. The first Shogun of the Kamakura
period, Yoritomo Minamoto, died and both of his sons were assassinated;
power then passed to the Hojo clan (to which one of his wives belonged).
The construction of the Great Buddha was started at the behest of this
wife; it was completed around 1250. The statue itself is hollow and made
of bronze; it's 44 feet high and perfectly proportioned. In addition to
the Daibutsu, Kamakura has literally dozens of  small shrines and
temples; in that sense, it's like a smaller version of Japan's other
ancient capital, Kyoto.

The Kamakura period ended in 1333, when the Emperor's troops
successfully laid seige to it. No less than 800 warriors of the Hojo and
allied clans committed seppuku (ritual suicide) in the precincts of the
Engakuji temple. Yes, Japan had a very bloody feudal history.

[Tidbit #1]

'The Voyage of Captain John Saris to Japan, 1613' includes the following
passage:

The Countrey betwixt Surnunga [ed. 'Suruga', a province of Japan] and
Edoo [ed. 'Edo', the old name for Tokyo] is well inhabited. We saw many
Fotoquise [ed 'Hotoke-san'?, translates to 'Our Lord Buddha'] or Temples
as we passed, and amongst others one Image of especiall note, called
Dabis [ed. 'Daibutsu', or 'Great Buddha'], made of Copper, being hollow
within, but of very substantiall thicknesse. It was in height, as wee
ghessed, from the ground about one and twentie or two and twentie foot,
in the likeness of a man kneeling upon the ground, with his buttockes
resting on his heeles [ed. This is not accurate], his arms of wondefull
largeness, and the whole body proportionable. He is fashioned wearing of
a Gowne. This Image is much reverenced by Travellers as they passe
there.
        -- filched from the Web, [broken link] http://www-swiss.ai.mit.edu/~bentz/buddha.html

[Tidbit #2]

NOTICE
KOTOKU-IN MONASTERY
KAMAKURA

Stranger, whosoever thou art and whatsoever be thy creed, when thou
enterest this sanctuary remember thou treadest upon ground hallowed by
the worship of ages. This is the Temple of the Buddha and the Gate of
the Eternal, and should therefore be entered with reverence.

BY ORDER OF THE PRIOR.

[Notes]

The Narrow Way is a reference to Christianity; contrast the 'Eight-fold
Path' of Buddhism and the 'Middle Way' of Confucianism. Tophet is, I
presume, a place, but I don't know where. Maya was Gautama's mother.
Ananda is the faithful chela (disciple) who features in many tales of
the Buddha. A Bodhisat (Bodhisattva) is a soul who reaches enlightenment
and then devotes his/her life  to helping others do the same. 'htee' is
not a typo; it's in italics in the original. I don't know what it refers
to (as always, pointers appreciated). The Shwe-Dagon pagoda is in Burma.
'Om mane padme hum' is a meditation chant. Brahmans are the hereditary
Hindu priestly caste. Benaras is the holy city of Varanasi, at the
junction of the Ganges and the Yamuna. Buddh-gaya is the spot at which
Gautama attained enlightenment and became the Buddha.