Buddha Rilke: «We – are the bees of the Invisible». Poet’s dialogues with Gautama Buddha. Vladislav Tsylyov

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      Indeed, it would be a great mistake to think that it is possible to find words for even the smallest part of that realm of the Ineffable into which the enlightened minds of these two penetrating Teachers of Life were undoubtedly initiated, or to touch with thought the sources of their insights. And certainly we should not hope that in at least one of their ́profound́ dialogues, which may even seem quite unexpected or ́advanced́ to the reader, a glimmer of Truth will suddenly appear. It’s unlikely that my modest introductions and comments on the dialogues will shed any more light on them.

      Truth is everywhere, but it cannot be caught in the net of words. For its abode is beyond the boundaries of meaning, for it lurks beneath the cloak of Mystery. The only thing the reader can do is to try to peer into this mysterious ́beyond́ for himself, to lift the veil that the great artist leads him to, and finally, like a true artist, to come to the obvious conclusion: a clue does not lie in the glitter of noble names or in the sublime pathos of meanings. The best way to have an epiphany is to leave the Mystery intact.

      That’s why, according to Rilke,

      So what ́tasḱ is Rilke talking about, and what ́right́ is he referring to? In the above-mentioned collection, the poet, speaking of art and the artist’s task, gives us a chastely clear answer:

      As the author and compiler of The Buddha-Rilke Series, I hope that in each book of the series the reader will discover more of the exciting mysteries that Buddha and Rilke have prepared for him, mysteries surrounded and adorned with love; and that each of these books in his hands will unfold not as an insoluble challenge to reason, but as a fascinating invitation to yet another unsolved face of the Mystery.

      Author’s Notes on the Booklet

      All illustrations in the booklet have been created by me from public domain images, including photographs taken no later than the early twentieth century.

      The plot of the following Dialogues is a product of my imagination.

      The poet́s statements are based on fragments of R.M. Rilke’s letter to Witold von Hulewicz dated 13 November 1925. All quotations are in my translation.

      All of Gautama Buddhás sayings are taken from a book that was very popular in Europe at the beginning of the last century. Incidentally, this book has survived more than twelve editions! The book in question is The Gospel of Buddha, written by Paul Carus (1852—1919), a brilliant populariser of Buddhism, religious scholar and philosopher. All quotations from this book retain the grammatical features of the original. The full text of The Gospel of Buddha is in the Gutenberg Library.

      Speech marks have been removed from the Dialogues to make the text easier to read.

      The Dialogues as well as the Reference Section of the booklet are illustrated with graphic works by Olga Kopezky (1870—1928), a remarkable Czech artist. The works were created for the magnificent jubilee edition of The Gospel of Buddha. All images are from the Gutenberg Library.

      We Are the Bees of the Invisable

      Rilke and the Bodhi Tree

      ́Isn’t it your dream to be invisible?́

      Let all then here perform good deeds,

      In 1922, at the height of his creative powers, Rilke completed his epochal ́Duino Elegieś and wrote the equally impressive ́Sonnets to Orpheuś (hereafter the Elegies and the Sonnets). After ten years of silence, linked to the events of the First World War and to bouts of severe depression that periodically overwhelmed the poet, Rilke finally presented to the world the result of his long and intense spiritual quest – two undoubted masterpieces, two outstanding cycles of poetry, each of which can rightly be considered one of the greatest poetic revelations of the twentieth century.

      If we talk about the peculiarities of the Elegies, they are characterised, first of all, by the innovative metaphysics СКАЧАТЬ