Life, death, re-birth & boating
This slightly off-piste blog post starts with a little known fact that, many moons ago, I studied for a degree in Nepali and social anthropology at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), one of the seventeen collages that make up the University of London. Since working on boats, I’ve had little cause to think about this relatively obscure part of my life – until now.
The trigger, a majestic saffron-yellow widebeam with elegant burgundy-red trim called “Samsara”. As symbolic as the name and the striking color scheme, is the accompaniment of the endless (aka eternal or glorious) knot on her side – representing one of the eight auspicious symbols in Tibetan Buddhism, and the Buddha's infinite wisdom and compassion.
Letting my mind wander while taking a quick breather from jet washing
So what is “samsara” exactly? In Buddhist tradition, samsara is the infinite cycle of existence, the wandering and winding path that beings navigate across multiple lifetimes (i.e., the continuous cycle of life, death, and rebirth) and multiple realms (i.e., the six dimensions or “rebirth destinations”, Gati, that comprise the conceptual universe that we inhabit.
These destinations (listed most to least desirable), include the realm of: gods or celestial beings (Deva); warlike demigods (Asura); humans (Manushya); animals (Tiryagyoni); hungry ghosts (Preta); and, hell denizens (Naraka). These are graphically depicted within the Wheel of Life (Bhavachakra), all held within the devilish clutches of Yawa, the god of death. A person’s actions and intentions over multiple lifetimes (Karma) determines their current and future destination(s).
Samsara, as depicted graphically in iconic “Wheel of Life” paintings and artwork.
Compassion (karuna) and kindness (metta) allow you to “move-up”, whereas craving, desire, and ignorance (Avidya) have the opposite effect. However to achieve complete alleviation from suffering – an inevitable part of the endless life-death-rebirth cycle – Buddhists strive to achieve nirvana, “a state of complete freedom from suffering and awakening to the true nature of reality”, a process that is expected to take many lifetimes to achieve.
But back to boating… boats certainly embrace the notion of a “wandering path”, vessels that allow us to journey through this life, practicing compassion and kindness to those we meet, interact, and share a watery natural habitat with. They can also bring suffering! They are very much of this world. In the case of Samsara, her yellow symbolises the Middle Way (an absence of form and emptiness), with her red symbolising the blessings of practice, including wisdom, virtue, fortune, dignity, and achievement.
