This past weekend my granddaughter graduated from UVA, in Charlottesville, Virginia. There were three services/ceremonies in which she participated. The first was the commencement walk and address along the “lawn” where the 4250 under graduates and graduate students could march if they wished. This number, by the way, is three times that of the town I grew-up in! What a visual!
The second was the ceremony for her Spanish major which I did not attend and the third was her graduation from the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. It is this third event that I will highlight.
There were 120 graduates in a 1930s era grand theatre that seated hundreds and looked to be full. At this event she marched across the stage and received a scrolled depiction of the diploma that would be sent to her later. The fifteen folks in our family were there for her on the fourth row stage left with a great view as she exited stage-left and we could see her close-up. It was a fantastic ceremony captured by Ian Solomon, the Dean of The College:
“This group of people in front of me worked very hard, worried about fitting-in, whether they were smart enough, the course load difficulty, whether they would ever get to go home, their health and meals and of course money: and these were the parents!”
The student chosen from the graduating class spoke of the class’s bonding and evoked a poem from Reinhold Niebauhr in the 1930s. A gatha that has been translated into several versions including the one in Twelve Step programs… God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
I often use this prayer along with our Bodhisattva Vows… Beings are numberless, I vow to free them, delusions are inexhaustible, I vow to end them, Dharma gates are boundless, I vow to enter them, the Buddha Way is unsurpassable, I vow to realize it.
Then Dean Solomon spoke of his decision to buy a motorcycle at his age! Mostly it was about the small class of folks taking a motorcycle acquaintance class with two seasoned “bikers.”
I recall reading Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, in the late 1970s. The line that struck me was about experience: “Assembly of (a)Japanese bicycle require(s) great peace of mind.”
The Dean mentioned the course and roadwork was thorough, he said he almost laid the bike down, hitting the brake too hard and the rear end going up in the air. These events focused his effort (pinpoint samathi anyone). He then shared what the two seasoned riders said to his class of 12 or so graduates: … congratulations you have successfully completed your course and roadwork. You are now fully qualified to ride your motorcycles in an empty parking lot at no more than 25 MPH.
The Dean in closing acknowledged the wisdom of his two teachers, the student who spoke, along with serenity and offered this closing.
You’ve got what it takes, you did well and now you will now be about gaining the experience and importantly the wisdom to help make a difference, all of which are very much needed in our time.
So, the Heart Sutra is about the unseen as the unassembled. Sunyata or emptiness implies potential. The approximation of flux to form requires on-going actions, ebb and flow caught in constantly returning to potenial.
Once an old hermit was walking on the shore of a lake when two learned monks approached and he asked them about Om mani padme OX, they replied do you mean Om mani padme hum? The old man thanked them and watched them depart in a small boat. When they reached the other shore, they were astounded to see him running across the lake and stepping on shore in front of them… “does it really matter if I pronounce words correctly?” The two scholars looked at each other, never mind what we said. What you have been doing is just fine. (p.122, McLeod)
Palm Together,
Sangaku