The most common line in the song goes as follows:
Gate, Gate, Paragate, Para Sam gate Bodhisvaha
Bodhi Svaha
The English translation of this phrase is basically:
Gone, Gone, Gone beyond Gone utterly beyond
Oh what an Awakening
Gate, or gone, is the idea of being "gone" from suffering -- liberated from pain (or desire, in Buddha's teachings) -- or going from naivety to knowledge (learning about enlightenment, becoming aware of your state of being).
Paragate is simply an emphasis on gate -- it means "gone all the way to the other shore"
Parasamgate builds once again on gate -- the "sam" in the middle means "everyone" or the entire community, so it means "everyone gone to the other shore"
Bodhi is essentially enlightenment or awakening; it's the "light inside" that leads you being liberated from suffering when you see it
And lastly, Svaha is a cry like "hallelujah!" -- it's like those on the shore welcoming others over
I think it's interesting how such a major topic in our class showed up in such a "normal" part of today. How often do these topics and ideas pop up in our lives? Granted, this one is pretty deep and if you hadn't looked it up wondering what the language was, you would have never found this trail of information. But what about things like the Stoics and emotions? Or Plato and the three-part psyche? I feel like these things are right in front of us more often than we realize, and I find it intriguing to think about how they show up in our daily lives.
Although it certainly is different for a Buddhist song to show up in everyday UCA life, in my six years in choir, I have come across many songs with philosophical and religious meanings. In my opinion, most songs have a deeper meaning than the obvious. For instance, the song Fly by Maddie and Tae could be interpreted in many different ways. As you said, there are things like stoic philosophy as well as many other philosophical ideas everywhere in daily life. This class has definitely influenced my way of thinking, but now I see things like this all over the place. Even in cartoons like The Emperor's New Groove (specifically when Kronk was talking to the angel and demon on his shoulder's). It is interesting to view the world through the lens of philosophical thinking.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the "gate [gone]" refrain also refers to the notion of impermanence in Buddhism. All things are continually changing and passing, and to achieve enlightenment you must grasp that fact.
ReplyDelete