Mirror Magazine

Mirror Magazine

Stick by stick
Lessons for life through the making of a Vesak lantern
By The Scribe
Of all the symbols connected with Vesak, both religious and non-religious, the ‘Vesak Lantern’ is by far one of the most colourful and common sights during the season. The colourful buckets or the range of diversely shaped lanterns can be spied hanging on the porch of nearly every household. It’s a practice carried out not only by Buddhists but also by people of all religions because the lanterns give the entire house a cheery glow.

Do you know the most interesting part about the lantern? It’s the time, effort and energy that are invested in the making of it. It is intricately constructed using tissue paper, ekels or bamboo shoots, thread and glue. And it’s absolutely amazing what two hands can create, given minimum resources and an abundance of innovation! If one were to watch the entire process, from the initial frame right up to the finished product, one would observe how effort, patience and creativity pays off.

In an effort to try and link every step of the lantern making process to a similar aspect of life, I discovered some of those ‘truths’ about daily living that are most often not given a second thought. The lantern-making process begins with constructing the perfect frame. If the frame isn’t firm and steady, the entire lantern will collapse; the skeleton is after all the base and therefore the most essential part, as it sets the foundation for the lantern.

Likewise, we can see how us humans each have something that we build our lives around. For some it could be their family, for some their job, yet others rely on their physical appearance to see them through, whereas still others would depend on their mental strength or personality to carry them through life. Like for instance, in this movie I watched recently called Wit, a Professor dying of cancer endured eight cycles of full dose chemotherapy by using her wit. Unfortunately she succumbed to her illness, but her strong will kept her going through those traumatic last months of her life.

The frame in place, next up is deciding the colour combinations and design of the lantern. Then begins the cutting of the tissue paper according to the set shape or pattern of the plan. This part of the procedure could be similar to one of the many crossroad situations we are faced with in our lives. Most of us always start out with some sort of plan (how far we keep to it is subjective). Be it the childhood dreams of where we would like to be, or study timetables, or career preferences, we always start out with a rough sketch. Thereafter, we try and figure out how best to get about achieving our set targets and then we work towards it.

Once all decisions regarding the design of the lantern have been made the time-consuming process of creating the masterpiece begins. Once each individual piece of tissue has been cut to fit every angle, then comes the messy bit of gluing each piece to the frame. During this time, some tissues may tear due to either rough handling or too much glue applied in a particular area. This means that either you have to try to patch it up or cover up the damage or in a worst-case scenario consider starting over. Bit by bit, the lantern starts to take shape, with the glue holding it all together, until finally it’s as close to your ideal image as you can get prior to making any alterations, that is.

Our life too tends to be moulded piece by piece, patiently, with a lot of care and attention to detail. Once we’ve established that, our foundation is solid and our plan is foolproof, then all that needs to be done is to put the plan into action. This too is carried out depending on what best suits each individual. They say that ‘Failures are the pillars of success’. Some may have a few more pillars than others, but think of it this way; eventually you may have enough pillars to build that mansion! It’s about learning from your mistakes. Like in the case of the lantern, you realise a few tears down the road, the exact amount of glue to use to avoid the paper tearing. Likewise, it’s only through making mistakes and gaining experience that you can grow as a person.

As for sticking to your original game plan, a lot depends on where the course of your life takes you. Now, what you might envision yourself doing in five years time may be completely different to what you might want next year but a focus or sense of direction is always a good starting point. The most essential thing about making and sticking to a plan is to leave a margin for error (and change). Rigid plans are not on the cards. Be willing to accept adjustments or improvements at any point of the way. Just like how you’d incorporate new ideas and methods into your existent plan for the lantern, your life too should be receptive to change.

As a lantern provides light and colour to a home, our lives can do the same for the world. Let’s take an objective look at life and try to shed some light on mastering the art of life.

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