IT TOOK TWO GROTTOS

IT TOOK TWO GROTTOS May 6, 2005

I remembered. In Chongqing' grottos.

I hadda get into it, finally. It took the second grotto. Tourists here like to say, you've seen one Pagoda? You've seen'em all! The same, about old palaces, and the tombs, and of course, the Grottos.

That's cuz us tourists don't get it.

David, my guide, finally got my eyes open to the bigger scene. These grottos spoke to me.

The grottos became different to me. Palaces present stone, wood. Tombs? A huge lump of dirt and inside you find a sarcophagus and finally bones.

I says to Gayle, sitting next to me on the bus, brother, a half day to see what? Grottos? What? a grotto??She sighed, agreed.

When we were done, Gayle says, 'That wasn't bad!?And, I liked it. Because I learned. And, more, remembered.

You can learn a little more about these grottos, also called Dazu Rock Carvings, at http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_flash/2003-09/25/content_43160.htm.

I listened to David. And, I sucked up a little ancient Chinese culture.

First, you gotta know these particular Grottos in Chongqing are not like the other grottos you've seen. These were named by the United Nations as a World Treasure. Or something. You could look it up. It's a big-time recognition. Like, take me. I've done a lotta great things, I know. But the United Nations hasn't called. Yet.

Next, you need a guide like David to talk to you. Or, Alex, or Robert or Marvin. Somebody who knows. David had his chinks. Said the most beautiful women in China come from Chongqing. Every guide says the same, but the city is different. He said all the husbands in Chongqing are henpecked. Tells me more about David than Chongqing husbands.

But, the Grottos. Actually, Brigham, just seeing the grottos is not enough. In fact, just seeing them gets boring. For an adult. Think how bad it'd be for a kid. And the carved figures look kinda stupid. I mean, I admit it. The bodies are not slender. Attractive like Greek or Roman sculptures. Which you can handle for an hour or two. These bodies are sometimes kinda chunky, have strange beards, wear flowing robes. They sit, mostly. On thrones. And, around them are other bodies, dressed different, but in robes. Their faces look cherubic-ugly. Lips fat, eyes squinty, nose flared, eyebrows raised. Hair, even on the men, too long and swirled on top the head. Others bald. Two fingers symbolize peace, three, prayer. Kinda like that. You could look it up.

Other ugly men, contorted faces, stir dying bodies in boiling oil vats, or cut off heads. A mirror reflects one's life, good or evil. A woman bears a child in travail.

Well, anyway, if this was all, the saying is true, 'you've seen one grotto? You've seen'em all.'But, not for me.

I took a lotta pictures. Now as I look at them, I see more. David did it. David, Chinese, struggled in English. He caused me to think, 'it'd be a definite advantage to speak Chinese in China.'I hung on his every word. I hadda. Wish I had in my brain David'sxperience, my language. For a day or a week, I'de a hit with the English-speaking tour bunch.

Okay, so here? the jist of how my culture improved with David'sords. And, you know, it wasn't entirely David. I had been searching. Looking for similarities between me, here, now, and old-time Chinese dudes. So, I took on the Buddhists, living and carving the grottos 800 years ago. And, I learned.

As I write this, I feel that connection. I sense their culture. I like what I feel. I don't get it all. But, surprisingly, we come from the same mold. Course, I'd say those guys are a little moldier. I'd hafta, Kailin.

Well, here goes. First these are United Nations World Treasures because these carved figures are extensive. They run the face of covert caves about a half mile long. Second, the carved figures themselves were chiseled from the stone of the mountain grotto. These figures were not crafted elsewhere and hauled in. These figures, every one, emerged through the artist? chisel, from the mountainside gray-white sandstone. There were originally natural caves here, facing outward, with protecting overhangs of stone, keeping natural walls and floors from the weather. It was these naturally covered sites, most upward to 15 feet in height, that provided the ?arble?for the sculptor and his chisel.

You gotta believe. This became, first, just one colossal task.

Next, however, the sculpting became articulate, refined, flowing, balanced, informational.

Informational?

Yes, informational. That? where David came in. David showed me that the figures carved in stone, offered an explanation of life values. Like, Where we came from. Why we're here. Where we're going.

Get it. Buddhist Monks, chisel in hand, carved out a message to me. They got the inspiration 800 years ago. I got it. Today. They hadda do it so detailed, so beautiful, so precise, so animated, so flowing, that I would stop my life and listen.

I listened. And I heard. I heard the Monks of long ago. They told me good stuff. I learned about an Emperor's daughter who donated her eyes and fingers so their priest could make a soup, feed it to her dad. He got well and could see and touch again. And, again, govern his people.

And the daughter got a reward: A thousand arms. A thousand eyes. And eternal glory.

But, I listened deeper, looked in my heart. I remembered that sacrifice brings about change. Change in a kingdom. Change in my heart. The change in my heart is more important. Cuz I can do that. I don't do kingdoms. But I can remember the Emperor's daughter, her sacrifice, and find a way to sacrifice my interests to others's interests, and enrich one person, mebby more. And, me.

And, it was like that all tour long. Stories from the rocks, flow through David into me. David talking, me listening, me learning.

And, those kinda ugly, foolish, sculptures with all-knowing faces, hands and eyes, presented their deepest learnings to me.

And, I remembered.

C 2005 Paul Tripp