This morning the doan was sick, so I happily took on bell-ringing duties. In the Buddha Hall I noticed that the bell was lined up in a different place again - there are kanji engraved around most of the top of the bowl, so it is somewhat easy to spot this. I was amazed not just to get a decent sound, without too much clanginess, but also to have a real build-up of bass frequencies the times I got to hit the bell consecutively, something I have never really heard or felt with this bell before. This made me very happy.
Maybe it's just going to be one of those days: I came out of the Buddha Hall and saw Robert, the president, newly returned from a retreat in Nepal, sweeping the courtyard with his sleeves rolled up. That made me happy too. We had a joyful koan class, where the cinnamon rolls we were going to have for breakfast afterwards were a sub-theme of the discussions, and where we sang Happy Birthday to Tova, who is celebrating today, and Shindo, who just had her birthday.
As we sat together in the dining room after the class, eating the said rolls with much pleasure, we were talking about the ceremony we are going to do at lunchtime for the new maples that have been planted in front of the building. I expect I will write more about this after the fact. How auspicious, as Linda Ruth used to say at Tassajara.
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| None of the pictures I have of the big bell give you a decent sense of its size, so here is something more impressionistic |
5 comments:
I was bold enough to ask Michael Wenger for an art history tour of the Center, and he was kind enough to say yes. He said of the big bell that it was at Oakland Art Museum (and I gather is still theirs, but on seemingly permanent loan to ZC), tucked negligently in a corner with trash in it, on a day when Suzuki Roshi went to visit the museum. He asked to strike the bell, and was told no. Eventually, he contrived to fall and struck it with his head...and having ascertained the tone, I gather, negotiations commenced. (!)
Great story!
Someone did read the kanji for me not so long ago, which said more about its provenance (from China rather than Oakland as I recall). I also remember a different big bell when I first lived here, but I don't know where that one went.
That's a superb looking bell - it must have a fairly mighty sound to go with it. I notice that it appears in your blog of week or so ago - the one with the M&Ms (at least I think that'll be it in the background)
Indeed it is the same one Sandy, only we had moved it to the other side of the Buddha Hall for that occasion. The sound is wonderful - I would love to hear the recordings made today with all the proper professional gear- on our recordings we can't capture nearly enough of the harmonics - or do I mean overtones? And as the sound guy said today, you feel it as much as hear it.
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