Lear and the Thirty Seven-fold Path of a Bodhisattva

Transcription

1 Lear and the Thirty Seven-fold Path of a Bodhisattva Stan Lai (Lai Shengchuan) 2000 Translated from the Chinese by the playwright, 2009 CAST A, B and C, 3 men, in trench coats Voice Courier (Voice) SCENE A corpse lies downstage, wrapped in a cloth, with long hair protruding from one side, suggesting a female. 3 stools. During the piece, the performers erect a plastic swimming pool and move on other beach furniture and pertinent props. They fill the pool with sand or any other comparable material, like Styrofoam pellets.

2 1. The Sound of Waves (Lights in. 3 men sit on 3 stools, facing the audience, left to right: A, B and C.) (A corpse lies before them downstage, wrapped in cloth, with long hair protruding from one side.) (The 3 men make sounds of ocean waves through their lips. Softly.) (90 seconds.) (Lights out.) 2. The Thirty Seven-fold Practice of a Bodhisattva (A Voice begins reciting The Thirty Seven-fold Practice of a Bodhisattva, in English, in the dark.) (Lights in. A and C are moving a large deflated plastic swimming pool on stage, placing it upstage. B stands to the side, without emotion, simultaneously translating the spoken text into Chinese. His lines run almost concurrent to the English, slightly behind it.) Voice (English) and B (Chinese, slightly behind): The Thirty Seven-Fold Practice of a Bodhisattva Namo Lokeshvaraya Though he sees that in all phenomena there is no coming or going, He strives solely for the sake of beings: To the sublime teacher and protector of being, Avalokiteshvara, I submit perpetual obeisance with respect from the three doors. The perfect Buddhas source of happiness and ultimate peace Exist through having accomplished the sacred Dharma, And that, in turn, depends on knowing how to practice it; This practice of the Bodhisattvas I shall therefore now explain. 1 Now that I have obtained this great boat, the precious human life, so hard to

3 find, I must carry myself and others across the ocean of Samsara, To that end, to listen, reflect and meditate, Day and night, without distraction, is the practice of a Bodhisattva. 2 In one s native land waves of attachment to friends and kin surge, Hatred for enemies rages like fire, The darkness of stupidity prevails, oblivious of right and wrong. To abandon his native land is the practice of a Bodhisattva. (During the above, A starts inflating the pool using an air gun. The pool gradually takes shape. C pushes a wheelbarrow filled with sand on stage, preparing to fill the pool with sand.) (B stops translating the voice, and stares blankly ahead.) (During the following, C brings a violin case on stage, and takes out a violin. He searches for the right spot on stage, finds it, and starts to play Presto from Bach s Sonata #1 in G minor for Unaccompanied Violin. After a few bars, he cannot remember the notes. He tries again, breaking off again, struggling to remember. He repeats.) (The Voice has not stopped, and continues to recite the Buddhist text.) Voice: 3 When unfavourable places are abandoned, the kleshas gradually fade away; When there are no distractions, positive activities naturally increase; As awareness becomes clearer, confidence in the Dharma grows. To rely on solitude is the practice of a Bodhisattva. 4 Close friends who have long been together will separate, Wealth and possessions gained with much effort will be left behind, My consciousness, a guest, will leave the hotel of the body. To give up the concerns of this life is the practice of a Bodhisattva. 5 In bad company the three poisons grow stronger, Listening, reflection and meditation decline, And loving-kindness and compassion vanish.

4 To avoid unsuitable friends is the practice of a Bodhisattva. (B jumps off the stage into the audience, and slowly picks up the corpse, tenderly caressing it. He brings the corpse on stage, holding it in his arms, next to the swimming pool.) (C continues to try to remember the notes of the Sonata. He plays a bar here and there. Frustrated, he shouts.) C (shouting): Ahh! (The Voice has not stopped, and continues to recite the Buddhist text.) Voice: 6 Through reliance on a true spiritual friend one s faults will fade away And qualities will grow like the waxing of the moon. To consider him even more precious Than one s own body is the practice of a Bodhisattva. 7 Whom can the worldly gods protect, Themselves imprisoned in samsara? To take refuge in the Three Jewels Who never fail those they protect is the practice of a Bodhisattva. 8 The Buddha taught that the unendurable suffering of the lower realms Is the fruit of negative actions. Therefore, never to act unvirtuously, Even at the cost of one s life, is the practice of a Bodhisattva. (A takes over the simultaneous translation. C starts pouring sand into the now completely formed swimming pool.) Voice (English) and A (Chinese, slightly behind): 9 The pleasures of the three worlds, like dew on the grass, By their very nature evaporate in an instant.

5 To strive for the supreme level of liberation Which never changes is the practice of a Bodhisattva. (B holds the corpse next to the swimming pool. The others gather around him, solemnly.) (B tosses the corpse into the pool.) (Pause. A and C suddenly take off their trench coats and use them to beat the corpse savagely. Sand fills the air.) (Pause.) (The 3 men go back to their stools and sit, as before.) 3. Dividing the Kingdom (The 3 men simultaneously recite lines from Shakespeare s King Lear, Act 1, Scene 1. From left to right, A is Goneril, B is Lear, C is Regan. The lines are slightly staggered.)

6 A: Sir, I love you more than words can wield the matter; Dearer than eyesight, space, and liberty; Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare; No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honour; As much as child e'er loved, or father found; A love that makes breath poor, and speech unable; Beyond all manner of so much I love you. B: Meantime we shall express our darker purpose. Give me the map there. Know that we have divided In three our kingdom: and 'tis our fast intent To shake all cares and business from our age; Conferring them on younger strengths, (A starts to speak) while we Unburthen'd crawl toward death. Our son of Cornwall, And you, our no less loving son of Albany, We have this hour a constant will to publish (C starts to speak) Our daughters' several dowers, that future strife May be prevented now. The princes, France and Burgundy, Great rivals in our youngest daughter's love, Long in our court have made their amorous sojourn, And here are to be answer'd. Tell me, my daughters,-- Since now we will divest us both of rule, Interest of territory, cares of state,-- (A and C finish their lines) Which of you shall we say doth love us most? That we our largest bounty may extend Where nature doth with merit challenge. Goneril, Our eldest-born, speak first. C: Sir, I am made Of the self-same metal that my sister is, And prize me at her worth. In my true heart I find she names my very deed of love; Only she comes too short: that I profess Myself an enemy to all other joys, Which the most precious square of sense possesses; And find I am alone felicitate In your dear highness' love. (Lights shift.)

7 4. Testing the Wind (A brings a sound box on stage, placing it down left. B places the 3 stools into the pool, then with C, who holds his violin, seeks an appropriate position on stage. They ready themselves to bear the wind.) (A turns on the tape, and before any sound is emitted, rushes to his place, preparing to bear the wind.) (The sound of wind comes from the sound box. The men s bodies contort in the face of the strong sound of the wind. B falls down and struggles to get up, but the wind is very strong. On closer hearing, it can be discerned that the wind is actually the sound made by the 3 men through their lips in Scene 1.) (They struggle valiantly against the wind, but finally all fall down and are blown around the stage by the wind. C almost falls off the stage.) (They try to crawl back against the wind. A finally makes it back to the sound box and turns it off. They relax and catch their breath.) (Silence. The 3 men stand up and adjust their trench coats.) (Lights shift.) 5. Tempest (Faint sound of wind. A and C bring out a beach umbrella, a reclining beach chair and a barbeque grill, placing them next to the swimming pool. B takes out the 3 stools that were tossed into the pool and places them in their original place. C lights the charcoals on the grill.) (The 3 sit down on the stools and perform the Tempest scene (Act 3, scene 2) from Lear in this fashion: there is usually always one man acting as another s echo. B sits in the center, with a wild look in his eyes, as if he is in the center of a storm. A holds a microphone in his hand, facing B, on B s right. He points the microphone at B, as if interviewing him.) (C clutches his violin and sits left of B. He occasionally lifts the violin to his chin and plays a few bars or notes from Bach s Sonata, as if he has recalled portions of it, but the moment B opens his mouth to speak, C immediately repeats B s words, like an echo.) B, followed directly by C, like an echo: (starting softly and crescendo) Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! rage! blow! You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout Till you have drench'd our steeples, drown'd the cocks!

8 You sulphurous and thought-executing fires, Vaunt-couriers to oak-cleaving thunderbolts, Singe my white head! And thou, all-shaking thunder, Smite flat the thick rotundity o' the world! Crack nature's moulds, an germens spill at once, That make ingrateful man! (B starts making the sound of wind through his lips.) A, followed directly by C, like an echo: O nuncle, court holy-water in a dry house is better than this rain-water out o' door. Good nuncle, in, and ask thy daughters' blessing: here's a night pities neither wise man nor fool. B, followed directly by C, like an echo: Rumble thy bellyful! Spit, fire! spout, rain! Nor rain, wind, thunder, fire, are my daughters: I tax not you, you elements, with unkindness; I never gave you kingdom, call'd you children, You owe me no subscription: then let fall Your horrible pleasure: here I stand, your slave, A poor, infirm, weak, and despised old man: But yet I call you servile ministers, That have with two pernicious daughters join'd Your high engender'd battles 'gainst a head So old and white as this. O! O! 'tis foul! A, followed directly by C, like an echo: He that has a house to put's head in has a good head-piece. (C seems to remember the music and plays his violin while A continues solo.) A: The cod-piece that will house Before the head has any, The head and he shall louse; So beggars marry many. The man that makes his toe What he his heart should make

9 Shall of a corn cry woe, And turn his sleep to wake. (Having forgotten the music again, C puts his violin down and joins back in the dialogue as echo.) A, followed directly by C, like an echo: For there was never yet fair woman but she made mouths in a glass. B, followed directly by C, like an echo: No, I will be the pattern of all patience; I will say nothing. (Pause. C plays Kent.) C: Who s there? A, followed directly by C, like an echo: Marry, here's grace and a cod-piece; that's a wise man and a fool. (B starts making the sound of wind through his lips.) C, followed directly by A, like an echo: Alas, sir, are you here? things that love night Love not such nights as these; the wrathful skies Gallow the very wanderers of the dark, And make them keep their caves: since I was man, Such sheets of fire, such bursts of horrid thunder, Such groans of roaring wind and rain, I never Remember to have heard: man's nature cannot carry The affliction nor the fear. (A and C turn to face B. They make the sound of wind through their lips, toward B.)

10 B: Let the great gods, That keep this dreadful pother o'er our heads, Find out their enemies now. Tremble, thou wretch, That hast within thee undivulged crimes, Unwhipp'd of justice: hide thee, thou bloody hand; Thou perjured, and thou simular man of virtue That art incestuous: caitiff, to pieces shake, That under covert and convenient seeming Hast practised on man's life: close pent-up guilts, Rive your concealing continents, and cry These dreadful summoners grace. I am a man More sinn'd against than sinning. (A and C stop the sound of the wind, and start echoing B.) B, followed directly by A and C, like echoes: My wits begin to turn. Come on, my boy: how dost, my boy? art cold? I am cold myself. Where is this straw, my fellow? The art of our necessities is strange, That can make vile things precious. Come, your hovel. Poor fool and knave, I have one part in my heart That's sorry yet for thee. (Pause.) (Offstage, the voice of a DHL courier.) Courier (O.S.): Package! A, B, C (in unison): Package! (Pause.) B: Package! A, C (repeating in unison): Package! A: Package! C (repeating): Package! (B starts making the sound of wind through his lips.) Package! A (repeating): Package! You go. C (repeating): You go. You go.

11 A (repeating): You go. I go. C (repeating): I go. A (pointing at himself): I go. C (repeating): I go. A (repeating B, who is making wind sounds): Shhhh C (repeating): Shhhh (The 3 make wind sounds.) (Pause.) (B exits the stage, and comes back with a DHL package.) (Lighting shift.) 6. Eye Gouging Voice: (The English reading of The Thirty Seven-fold Practice of a Bodhisattva continues, while the 3 men open the package.) 11 All suffering without exception arises from desiring happiness for oneself; Perfect Buddhahood is born from the thought of benefiting others. Therefore, to really exchange One s own happiness for other s suffering is the practice of a Bodhisattva. (B and C take out a condom from the package. They ponder it for a moment, then take it to the air gun to inflate it.) (A lies back on the recliner, and starts to simultaneously translate the ongoing Buddhist text into Chinese. Meanwhile the condom balloons larger and larger.) Voice (English) and A (Chinese, slightly behind): 12 If someone driven by great desire Seizes all my wealth, or induces others to do so, To dedicate to him my body, possessions And past, present and future merit is the practice of a Bodhisattva. 13 Even if someone cuts off my head When I am not the least at fault,

12 To take all his negative actions Compassionately upon myself is the practice of a Bodhisattva. 14 Even if someone says all sorts of unpleasant things about me And proclaims them throughout a thousand million worlds, To speak of his good qualities in return, Is the practice of a Bodhisattva. (The condom bursts. B and C pause in slight confusion.) (The English voice pauses, then starts again.) Voice (English) and A (Chinese, slightly behind): 20 If one does not conquer one s own hatred, The more one fights outer enemies, the more they will increase. Therefore, with the armies of loving-kindness and compassion, To tame one s own mind is the practice of a Bodhisattva. (Without warning, B ambushes A from behind, grabbing him and violently pushing him to the ground. C takes over and pushes A down with the help of a stool. B uses his shoe heel to gouge A s eyes. A rolls around on the floor in agony, screaming.) (B and C move away and start to tidy things as if nothing happened. A continues to writhe on the ground in pain. B continues translating the Buddhist text simultaneously. A goes to the grill to prepare a steak.) Voice (English) and B (Chinese, slightly behind): 21 The pleasures of the senses are like salt water The more one takes, the more one s thirst increases. (A throws a large steak on to the grill. The steak makes a large sound and the smell of grilled flesh fills the air.) Voice (English) and B (Chinese, slightly behind): To promptly abandon All objects which arouse attachment is the practice of a Bodhisattva.

13 22 Whatever one perceives depends on one s own mind; The nature of mind is free from conceptualized extremes from the very beginning: Recognizing that, to remain without mental fabrication, Free from the concepts of subject and object, is the practice of a Bodhisattva. 23 When encountering objects which please us, To view them like rainbows in summertime, Not ultimately real, however beautiful they appear, And to give up grasping attachment, is the practice of a Bodhisattva. (Lights fade out.) 7. The Cliff (Lights in. The sound box is downstage center. A continues to writhe on the ground in pain.) (B and C stand one behind the other, hands to their ears, straining to listen to the sound box. They each wear sunglasses.) (Sound of wind.) (From the sound box comes the voice of A as Edgar, from Act 4, Scene 6 of Lear. B and C react to the voice in the role of Gloucester.) A (voice from sound box): Come on, sir; here's the place: stand still. How fearful And dizzy 'tis, to cast one's eyes so low! The crows and choughs that wing the midway air Show scarce so gross as beetles: half way down Hangs one that gathers samphire, dreadful trade! Methinks he seems no bigger than his head: The fishermen, that walk upon the beach, Appear like mice; and yond tall anchoring bark, Diminish'd to her cock; a buoy Almost too small for sight: the murmuring surge, That on the unnumber'd idle pebbles chafes, Cannot be heard so high. I'll look no more;

14 Lest my brain turn, and the deficient sight Topple down headlong. B, C (in unison, Gloucester s lines): Set me where you stand. A (voice from sound box): Give me your hand: (B and C comply, sticking out their hands into the air. They move cautiously downstage.) You are now within a foot Of the extreme verge: for all beneath the moon Would I not leap upright. B, C (in unison): Let go my hand. Here, friend, 's another purse; (B and C each throw a small pouch viciously on to the body of A. A groans in pain.) In it a jewel Well worth a poor man's taking: fairies and gods Prosper it with thee! Go thou farther off; Bid me farewell, and let me hear thee going. A (voice from sound box, growing fainter and fainter): Now fare you well, good sir. B, C (in unison): With all my heart. A (voice from sound box): Why I do trifle thus with his despair Is done to cure it. (B and C kneel down.) B, C (in unison): O you mighty gods! This world I do renounce, and, in your sights, Shake patiently my great affliction off: If I could bear it longer, and not fall To quarrel with your great opposeless wills, My snuff and loathed part of nature should Burn itself out. If Edgar live, O, bless him! Now, fellow, fare thee well.

15 (Pause. The 3 men shout in unison.) B, C, A (in unison): Ahhhh!!! (B and C fall flat on their faces on the ground.) (Silence.) (B and C slowly come to. A lets out a groan.) (Lights fade out.) 8. The Pool (Lights in. The 3 men quietly take off their trench coats, and outer garments, revealing bathing suits within. They all wear sunglasses.) (B and A sit into the plastic swimming pool that is filled with sand. B mumbles softly to himself. C is next to them, pouring sand on to them gently.) B: (to A) It shall be done; I will arraign them straight. Come, sit thou here, most learned justicer; (to C) Thou, sapient sir, sit here. Now, you she foxes!... (A takes out a bottle of red wine and wine glasses from the sand, starts to open the bottle and pour wine for himself and B.) I'll see their trial first. Bring in the evidence. (The Voice begins the recitation again, but this time there is no simultaneous translation from any of them. Instead, the Voice runs simultaneous to B s monologue.)

16 Voice: 33 Since offerings and respect may cause us to squabble And listening, reflection and meditation to decline, To avoid attachment to friends and benefactors And their homes is the practice of a Bodhisattva. 34 Rude and biting remarks disturb others minds And spoil one s own Bodhisattva practice. Therefore, to give up abusive talk Which others find unpleasant is the practice of a Bodhisattva. 35 When kleshas become habitual they are hard to get rid of with antidotes. Therefore, with mindfulness and alertness, to seize the weapon of the antidote And crush attachment and the other kleshas The moment they arise is the practice of a Bodhisattva. 36 In short, wherever I am, whatever I do, To be continually mindful and alert, Asking, What is the stae of my mind?, And thus to accomplish the good of others is the practice of a Bodhisattva. B: Thou robed man of justice, take thy place; And thou, his yoke-fellow of equity, Bench by his side: you are o' the commission, Sit you too. Arraign her first; 'tis Goneril. I here take my oath before this honourable assembly, she kicked the poor king her father. Come hither, mistress. Is your name Goneril? She cannot deny it. Cry you mercy, I took you for a jointstool. And here's another, whose warp'd looks proclaim What store her heart is made on. Stop her there! Arms, arms, sword, fire! Corruption in the place! False justicer, why hast thou let her 'scape? The little dogs and all, Tray, Blanch, and Sweet-heart, see, they bark at me. See what breeds about her heart. Is there any cause in nature that makes these hard hearts?

17 (C has finished pouring sand on them. He takes off his trench coat, revealing a bathing suit, and sits into the pool. A pours a glass of red wine for him.) (The Voice stops the reciting. The 3 men face front, wine glasses in hand, and recite the lines from Act 1, Scene 1 again, at a faster pace than previously, with emotions much flatter than before.)

18 A: Sir, I love you more than words can wield the matter; Dearer than eye-sight, space, and liberty; Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare; No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honour; As much as child e'er loved, or father found; A love that makes breath poor, and speech unable; Beyond all manner of so much I love you. B: Meantime we shall express our darker purpose. Give me the map there. Know that we have divided In three our kingdom: and 'tis our fast intent To shake all cares and business from our age; Conferring them on younger strengths, (A starts to speak) while we Unburthen'd crawl toward death. Our son of Cornwall, And you, our no less loving son of Albany, We have this hour a constant will to publish (C starts to speak) Our daughters' several dowers, that future strife May be prevented now. The princes, France and Burgundy, Great rivals in our youngest daughter's love, Long in our court have made their amorous sojourn, And here are to be answer'd. Tell me, my daughters,-- Since now we will divest us both of rule, Interest of territory, cares of state,-- (A and C finish their lines) Which of you shall we say doth love us most? That we our largest bounty may extend Where nature doth with merit challenge. Goneril, Our eldest-born, speak first. C: Sir, I am made Of the self-same metal that my sister is, And prize me at her worth. In my true heart I find she names my very deed of love; Only she comes too short: that I profess Myself an enemy to all other joys, Which the most precious square of sense possesses; And find I am alone felicitate In your dear highness' love. (Long pause.) (C suddenly stands up and steps out of the pool. He takes up his violin and walks downstage.)

19 (He raises his bow and fluidly plays the complete 4 th part Presto from Bach s Unaccompanied Sonata for Solo Violin #1 in G minor. He has remembered, and shouts occasionally with a great sense of release along with the music, which comes forth like torrents of water.) (A and B stare blankly ahead while C plays.) (C finishes playing the stirring music.) (Silence.) (C puts away his violin quietly and sits back into the pool.) (Silence.) (Lights shift.) 9. The Sound of Waves (Very faint light.) (The 3 men are lying in the sand, heads sticking out.) (They emit small sounds of waves through their lips.) (Lights fade.) (End.) World Premiere March 16, 2000, Kwai Tsing Theatre, Hong Kong Written, directed and designed by Lai Sheng-chuan (Stan Lai) Cast: Li Jianchang, Liu Liangzho, Na Weixun Voice: Jigme Khyentse Rinpoche The English translation ofthe Thirty Seven-Fold Practice of a Bodhisattva reproduced by permission of Padmakara Translation Group