Bodhisattva Calling: Thoughts on War and Wisdom
What Is Your Buddha?
One year ago, I walked into a tiny store in downtown LA’s Little Tokyo district. After browsing through a variety of knick-knacks, I came across an image and stood frozen at its sight. I didn’t know what to do.
Do I raise my hands and press them together in prayer? Do I cast my gaze down in respect? My being overcome, I silently contemplated the image, observing the lines that formed an unfamiliar divine being. Whoever he was, the man’s got what Cambodians call rith. And this image, there is a power in it.
I must have stood there for fifteen minutes before I finally asked how much the image cost. It was rather expensive so, after maybe five more minutes of admiring it, I left the store.
Monju Bosatsu, after a year, is finally at home with me where he belongs.
Well, this past Saturday, after the first rehearsal of my newest work Of Land and Sky, my choreography mentor Oguri and I decided to talk over beers in Little Tokyo. Before this though, I led him into the store and walked straight to the image. It was still there after all this time.
“What do you think?” I ask. Oguri tells me that the image is definitely special. He says there is something especially striking about the face. We ask a woman nearby how much the image costs and she tells us to ask her sister who had drawn it.
I call the author over and ask for her assistance. I point to the image that I want (there are more images of other divinities). She tells me the price but immediately adds, “What is your Buddha?” Confused, I tell her I don’t know. And quite frankly, I ask myself how someone is supposed to have a Buddha in the first place.
“What is your Buddha?” she asks again.
“Um, I don’t know. How am I supposed to know that?”
“What year are you born?”
“1987.”
“1987. . . 1987,” she says, as she makes her way to a tiny calendar on the opposite end of the store. “Ah, you are Year of the Rabbit!”
Well, I could have told her that.
“Let’s see. . . Your Buddha is. . . Monju Bosatsu,” she says as she makes her way back. “Which one did you want? This one? This one?” I shake my head as she points to the wrong images. I point to the one that I want and she pulls it up.
“Waa, you’re Year of the Rabbit? This is Monju Bosatsu! See, Monju Bosatsu! It must be meant for you,” she says with excitement as she points to the Japanese calligraphy in a corner of the image. I smiled with joy, surprised at the coincidence.
The Gods and Me
My altar at home. In Cambodian dance ritual, we pray as the crowns are put on us. They are believed to harbor spirits of the dance. And wearing them signifies our transformation from human to divine. The mask in the middle is of Lok Ta Maha Eisey, the ultimate teacher spirit in Cambodian arts.
I grew up with the gods, essentially. At a time when my friends were reading about Clifford the Big Red Dog, I was spinning globes, reading about ancient civilizations and their spiritual beliefs. I remember drawing Quetzalcoatl, that majestic Feathered Serpent of the Aztecs. I remember spreading my arms to fly like Ra, that magical Sun God of ancient Egypt. Strangely though, the images that I have connected to most — and those projected upon me — have been remarkably similar.
Real quickly, here they go:
Greek mythology made its way into my life first. And, since that time, maybe first grade, Athena — Goddess of War and Wisdom, protector of Oddyseus — was my lady of choice.
During the height of AOL Instant Messenger, a friend’s boyfriend initiated a conversation with me. He was a monk turned soldier who was living in San Diego. He tells me that he could feel my presence through the computer screen. I tell myself that this guy must be crazy. He says that I am the reincarnation of a divine warrior named Sina. I ask him how an ugly, pockmarked teenager like me could be divine-anything. I tell him that I am too small and scrawny to be a warrior. He responds by saying that I am here to complete my task — I will leave the world when it is done. He tells me I will die young. I sit before my computer screen, scared and unsure.
In Cambodian classical dance, the gods are many. Lately though, I’ve begun to meditate upon Moni Mekhala, goddess of the seas. Outsmarting her male peers, she receives a crystal ball from her revered teacher. Her knowledge and wisdom — passed unto her from him — emanates the ball, causing it to radiate a powerful, blinding light. Jealousy consumes another student and with her newfound weapon, Moni Mekhala brings her violent peer to his defeat.
And now, after a little research, here is the newest being in my life.
Monju Bosatsu is the Japanese incarnation of Manjusri, most senior of the bodhisattva. He is considered to be the wisest of these beings who, although having already attained enlightenment, choose to stay behind to help people find a divine, ageless truth. Monju Bosatsu is the father and mother — hey!!! — of all the bodhisattva. He sits upon a lion, representing his transcendence over the wild ferocity of the human mind. He holds a sword that cuts through darkness and ignorance. He holds a lotus that holds a book, making him protector of Buddhist doctrine and signifying his trait as most knowledged. And, in an early Japanese tradition, Monju Bosatsu “invented” nanshouku — man-on-man sex.
I love it.
The Duty of Wisdom
Now that I’m living in my hometown again — teaching, curating, scheming things like outdoor film festivals and art centers — the image of the bodhisattva has special resonance. And looking at Monju Bosatsu, and his similarities to other celestial beings of my favor, I can’t help but ask some questions.
What is the root of this cross-cultural relationship between war and wisdom? And what does that image of divine warrior — one the aforementioned examples embody — actually mean?
Now, I’m no scholar. And by no means am I one to advocate for violence in the name of religion. So let’s go a different route. Imagine that we live a thousand years before, in a world where virtually everyone is illiterate and the image has a profound place as a teaching tool. What does the image of Monju Bosatsu say? What precious idea are we to juice out of it?
First off: fight. Fight ignorance and darkness, fight injustice and deceit, fight inaction and fear, fight the left, fight the right, fight the center. Fight for love, fight for truth, fight for beauty, fight for health. Knowledge and wisdom is your sword. Use this powerful weapon of yours. Take care of it. Hone it. It is your responsibility to use it.
Secondly: fight gracefully. My favorite thing about this image and the other divine warriors is that they are so refined. Monju Bosatsu hardly portrays a sense of violence or urgency despite carrying a sword. He looks as if he would calmly slice at what is wrong with the world. He looks as if he may easily kick out one leg to defeat an attacker. He wields his weapon — sharp, piercing, puncturing — with a sense of collected compassion. What would it look like to fight gracefully in our modern day? Or perhaps, what does it look like when you offer your truthful love by fighting? Names like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. come to my mind.
I will close with not what this image tells me but what it asks. For it, I have no answer. In a stagnant, violently oppressive society, when is it okay to literally wield that sword and fight? And, in that violence to end a greater violence, is it possible to do it with grace?
Graceful resistance. Moni Mekhala brings down the feared storm demon, Ream Eyso. Watch how she calmly watches him as he gestures aggresively. The two are locked in an eternal struggle of male and female, good and evil, thunder and lightning.






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