Daruma dolls
The legend of Daruma is simple and powerful. And to Western ears, it's also a bit gruesome.
In Japan, the word "daruma" originally referred to the founder of Zen Buddhism, Bodhidharma. It's now most commonly used to denote the dolls dedicated to Bodhidharma's memory.
According to legend, Bodhidharma once practiced something we might today call "extreme meditation." Arriving at a Shaolin temple, he tucked himself into a zazen meditation posture, legs folded under his body. Fading into deep meditation for nine years, his legs atrophied and fell away from his body, followed by his arms.
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| A 19th century painted scroll of Bodhidharma by the artist Gyosai, from the Meiji Period. |
But before the dropping of limbs, Bodhidharma figured out a rather novel method of overcoming his body's need to sleep. He cut off his eyelids, and flung them to the ground, where they became tea plants, the source of modern man's somewhat less drastic way of staying up all night.
Bodhidharma's single-minded pursuit of meditation and enlightenment may be a bit serious for modern Americans. But it represents a beautiful ideal often forgotten in modern times: the willingness to dedicate oneself to an important, life-changing project, and not rest until it is completed.
Daruma dolls to the rescue! These strange, legless, armless, eyelid-less red Japanese papier-mache creations are portable, tangible New Year's resolutions from another culture. When embarking on a major project or commitment, you paint in Daruma's left eye, symbolizing your commitment to the task ahead. When the task is completed, you paint in his right eye, leaving you with a finished doll and a feeling of immense, smug satisfaction.
An added bonus: while the dolls might wobble, they don't fall down.
When a one-eyed daruma doll sits at your desk, it's hard not to be reminded that you've got something you need to concentrate on. Whether it's passing first-semester Japanese or killing a lifelong enemy, daruma dolls help focus your energy, and motivate you toward a fixed goal. And the satisfaction of finally painting in the second eye is sweet. It's a little ceremony between yourself and the gods, and it feels good.
In an age where it seems like things are getting more and more relative, and cultural norms erode like sandstone near the ocean, it's nice to have something a little more solid to peg one's aspirations to. Daruma gets the job done.
— James Norton (jrnorton@flakmag.com)
