The King and the Jester
We built Bodisutra around the idea of the medieval king and his court jester; the elegant and the humorous. Humour gives us spiritual distance and supports healing when employed wisely. Bodi is the jester in our court. And the rash king also. He laughs at himself, at his wife and mankind. Norman is the wise mentor who sees the light in all.
It is called Bodisutra, as opposed to Normsutra, because the student asks the questions and makes the errors and we learn alongside Bodi in this story. Norman rises to the challenge of the student. When the student is ready the teacher arrives. Norman is like any loving teacher of wisdom, he wants to be free of the role. He wants the student to become fully acquainted with his inner teacher. Unfortunately, Bodi is a total muppet often, so that is a slow process.
The jester was the only character who could laugh at the king. Sometimes the king is right and sometimes he is wrong. But who dares tell him this to his face? Who can hold up the mirror to your absurdity? That's the job of the jester. That's the power of the trickster to show the madness of ego. In this way, by laughing at our folly...wisdom concentrates, the real inner king emerges and healing happens.
"The mighty hero of extraordinary powers able to lift Mount Govardhan on a finger, and to fill himself with the terrible glory of the universe, is each of us; not the physical self visible in the mirror, but the King within."
Joseph Campbell
Oscar Wilde once said:
"Life is far too important to take seriously."
And we do take it very seriously.
Which is often wise. But when we lose sight of joy, happiness and gentleness we need the jester to handle our madness: Cue Bodi and the gang at Bodisutra.
This tradition of holding up the mirror to madness with humor is known as 'crazy wisdom.' The power of a character animation like Bodisutra lies in the fact that gurus and therapists are fallible. There are plenty of people in those professions who are primitive and superficial.
Yet we still seek wisdom.
It is the most natural thing in the world. But how to find wisdom when there is so much corruption and shallowness in the world?
A healthy cynicism must be married with an open mind. Bodisutra, as a story, is a marriage of such qualities.