I began this May reconnecting with a powerful sculpture from the past. Completed in 2008 & owned by my close friends the Lees, I had forgotten about it until I rediscovered it in my photo archive this month. Although I felt strongly drawn to Dancing Past the Midnight Offering, its deeper meaning wasn’t clear to me! Ultimately, my wife and neighbor helped with some thoughtful insights.
Dancing Past the Midnight Offering
2008
Midnight has often been associated with having visions of or experiencing spiritual transformations. And the central figure in this sculpture seems both mystical and monkey-like. His gesture with the flower reminds me of a Buddhist story…
The Buddha had retreated alone to the forest because his disciples were fighting amongst themselves. There, a monkey offered him honey and then became so excited when the Buddha ate it that he started jumping around in the trees, broke a branch, fell, and died. (Being unable to focus one’s thoughts has often been called the “monkey mind.”) The monkey is ultimately rewarded for his gift of honey, however, when he reincarnates in an enlightened state.
Perhaps the enlightened monkey’s spirit is who we see represented in this sculpture. Instead of honey, he holds a flower of many stamens like a lotus, a symbol of enlightenment. He gazes down on it and appears to blow calmly over the flower as if it were a musical instrument. A spell of empowering energy drifts around him, reaching the naked woman who dances past. She is so empowered, an ecstatic dove appears behind her, cooing with exuberance.
Thus, this sculpture appears to be about moving away from the “monkey mind” that seems to dominate our world right now and toward a more stable, compassionate point of view. The women of the world who mother our children are perhaps best poised to receive such enlightening wisdom and to inspire us all in adhering to calm insight.
Let this message be a blessing for all the mothers! May they inspire you to be calm, wise, and free to express your own natural compassion toward others.
Happy Mother’s Day!
