FOREWORD
Ehi bhikkhu , (“Come monk”), the oldest and most succinct formula for admission into the Buddhist monastic order ( bhikkhusa gha ), has been heard afresh over two and a half millennia by persons who have responded to this invitation, offered by the Buddha. They have gone forth from home to homelessness in the world into a more focused religious way of life in order to be at home in authentic human existence. The quest is for Salvific Truth ( Dhamma ), the pre-existence of which enabled a remarkable person in India to become the Awakened One ( Buddha ), the path leading to the penetration of which his teachings ( dhamma ) set forth, and the availability of which the great community of noble disciples ( savakasa gha ) provides a lasting witness.
In this arrestingly beautiful volume, Tilak Hettige, with lens and insight, provides an opportunity for us to see men and women in many parts of our world wearing robes as an outward and institutional sign of an inward commitment. This carefully selected series of engaging photographs could not have appeared today without the faithfulness of persons in robes in many countries through many centuries. So also, this carefully crafted sequence of lovely images would not be available to us without the aesthetically trained eye, the patient photographer's skill, and the capacity to see more than meets the eye that we find reflected in Tilak Hettig's work.
Dwell on these pictures. Keep focal awareness on them. Perhaps one will perceive the testimony given in silence by persons in robes about how life can be found to be supportively meaningful by responding to the heart of the message from all Buddhas:
Sabbapapassa akara a kusalassa upasampada
sacittapariyodapana eta buddhana sasana m
Refraining from all that is detrimental,
The attainment of what is wholesome,
The purification of one's mind:
This is the instruction of Awakened Ones.
John Ross Carter
Professor of Philosophy and Religion
Robert Ho Professor in Asian Studies
Director of the Fund for the Study
of the Great Religions
Director of Chapel House
Colgate University, New York, USA.
|
