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The Half-Closed Eyes of the Buddha and the Slowly Sinking Sun

Main Summary:

"The Half-Closed Eyes of the Buddha and the Slowly Sinking Sun" by Shankar Lamichhane is a simple story being told through a discussion between two characters: a tourist and a guide. It was included in the anthology Himalayan Voice: An Introduction to Modern Nepali Literature, which was released in 1991. The story is set in and around Kathmandu, Nepal's capital city.

In the story, both of the characters act as narrators. The first is a Nepali guide, and the second is a foreign tourist. However, the western tourist pretends to be an expert, saying, "I could take you along your ancient ways." "You are my tour guide for today, but I feel I can help guide you as well," the Nepali guide replies, indicating that he understands more about the subject at hand.

The story begins with a pleasant  atmospheric description of the Kathmandu valley, complete with visual beauty and various colours of homes, blue hills, aroma of soil and mountain in the air and so on.

 The guest then remarks that the East has contributed so many things, such as the Purans, ancient tools, ivory ornaments, palm leaf manuscripts, and copperplate inscriptions. The guide then tells the stories of Manjushri and how he stroked with his sword at Chobhar, allowing people to settle in Kathmandu Valley later on, as well as "the samyak gaze" which denotes pure and uncontaminated perception; a sight that detects everything in its genuine form. The shaven-headed monks and nuns with samyak gaze who were receiving alms and spreading Buddhist preaching near the Kasthamandap, which represented purity.

They then discuss their passion for wooden figures, Nepalese folk music, various cultures such as Aryans, no-Aryans, Hindus, and Buddhists, and drinking wine. The tourist expresses gratitude to the guide for supplying him with Nepali and Newari cuisine. Following that, they examine the lives and histories of Princess Bhrikuti and King Amshuvarma, as well as how the King cultivated his relationships with his neighbouring countries, a storey projected in the picture and related by an elderly man to his grandson. The tourist is overjoyed by the welcoming smiles he receives wherever he goes, comparing it to the farmer's son returning home from hard work and assuming himself and the people's hospitable behaviour. They have one more drink for the Nepalese people's beautiful smile.

Then they explore other types of eyes, such as the eyes in the windows, the eyes on the door panels, the eyes on the stupas, the eyes of the people, the eyes of the Himalaya, and the half-closed eyes of the Lord Buddha, referring to the country as a land of eyes. These eyes reveal a new culture, a diversity of religions, civilisation, vivid memories, and a long trip.

The guide tells about the temple of Adinath, the Shiva shrine encircled by several other pictures of Buddha- a living example of Nepalese tolerance and coexistence- but the guide takes the guest to a house where he discovers the pulse of reality. It's a farmer's family with a paralysed youngster (polio-affected boy) whose entire body is worthless and he can't speak, move his hands, chew his food, or even spit, except for his eyes, which are just opposite his sister's. As the guide introduces the visitor as a doctor, the parents are overjoyed. In their eyes, there is a depth of faith, connection, kindness, and thankfulness.

At last, the guide adds that these are mountains' eyes, and their lashes are rows of fields where rice ripens in the rains and wheat ripens in the winter. They are as lovely as the setting sun's reflection in the Buddha's eyes.

Dwell upon the Text

a. How does the tourist describe his initial impression of the Kathmandu valley?

=The tourist describes his initial impression of the Kathmandu valley as

a place having geometric-shaped green fields, with beautiful earthen

houses. The eyes of the Buddha welcomed each tourist who came to

Kathmandu. The place was well known for its peaceful and

extraordinary beauty for the tourist.

b. According to the tourist, why is the West indebted to the East?

= The West was indebted to the East for its religious culture, rich

sculptors, the Puranas, ivory ornaments, manuscripts, etc.

c. How does the tourist interpret the gaze of the monks and nuns?

= The tourist interprets the gaze of the monks and nuns as Samyak gaze.

d. Why do the tourists think Nepali people are wonderful and exceptional?

= The tourist thinks Nepali people are wonderful and exceptional

because of their ability to live in religious tolerance with perfect

harmony with people from different cultures. They are good at art,

crafts and sculpture. They created beautiful wooden images of their

deities, and they smiled with the warmest face to their guests.

e. What are the different kinds of communities in the Kathmandu

valley and how do they co-exist with each other?

=  The different kinds of communities in the Kathmandu valley were

Aryans, Non-Aryans, Hindus and Buddhists. They lived with religious

and cultural tolerance in perfect harmony.

f. What does the tourist feel about the temple of Adinath?

= The temple of Adinath is one of the best examples of religious

tolerance. There are both Hindu and Buddhist deities together at the

same place.

g. Why does the guide take the tourist to the remote village?

= The guide takes the tourist to the remote village to show one more

reality the tourist is not acquainted with regarding the Nepali eyes.

h. What does the innocent village couple think of the doctor?

= The innocent village couple thinks that the tourist was the doctor who

had come all the way from a foreign land to treat his ill younger

brother.

i. What are the differences between the paralyzed child and his sister?

= The paralyzed child could do nothing physically, except express pains

and sorrows with the help of his eyes. The sister, on the other hand,

could do every physical activity that a normal being could do.

j. Why does the guide show instances of poverty to the tourist?

=  The guide shows the instances of poverty to the tourist so that he can

have a better and clearer picture of the country he adores. He should

not have a misunderstanding about Nepal. It may also help the tourist

think from a more responsible angle towards the countrymen.

Reflect on the Text

a. Which narrative technique is used by the author to tell the story?

How is this story different from other stories you have read?

= The narrative technique used by the author is called the stream-of-

consciousness technique. Stream of consciousness is a style or

technique of writing that tries to capture the natural flow of a

often by incorporating sensory character's thought process,

impressions, incomplete ideas, unusual syntax, and rough grammar.

When we read the story, we find the flow of many ideas, as it appears

in one's mind, in a non-stop mode. The story lacks a conventional

plot, climax and resolution. The narrative simply expresses the

feelings of two characters in an interior monologue style. Not much

attention is paid to coherence, structure and paragraph division. In this

way, it differs from the stories we have read.

b. How does the author bring integration between two fragments of

the narration into a unified whole?

= As the story is written in stream-of-consciousness technique, there is

no demarcation between the narration and the dialogue of the

characters. The dialogues are implied in the story. The tourist guide

and the western tourist have their own fragments in the first part of the

story. There is another fragment in a village in the outskirt of the

valley with a sick boy and his parents. All these fragments give a

picture of Nepal's urban and rural areas. When fragments are unified,

they make a realistic picture of Nepal.

c. How many historical and legendary references are there in the

story? Collect them and show their significance in the story.

= Nepali people believe that Kathmandu valley was a large lake in the

past. In a historical period, a monk named Manjushree cut a hill at

Chobhar and let the water of the lake go out. This is the major

historical reference made in the story. He talks about the marriage of

princess Bhrikuti with Tibetan king Srang Chang Gampo. He gives

another historical reference to the arrival of the Buddhists in

Kathmandu and the construction of Buddhist stupas with prayer

wheels.

d. What images does the author find in half-closed eyes? How does

he justify the title of the story?

= The author talks about the gazing eyes of the sick boy, who can see

but cannot speak. These eyes are compared with the eyes of that are

seen on the Buddha temple of Swayambhu. Both eyes are supposed to

see the truth but they cannot speak. Being crippled, the child is pure

and uncorrupt and hence his eyes are compared with the eyes of

Buddha. The child is not going to live for a long time, he is going to

die like the slowly sinking sun.

Go beyond the Text

a. Write an essay on "Tourism in Kathmandu".

=  Human beings have an impulse to go to new places and see new

people. This human impulse has been utilized by the travel and

tourism industry. Tourism is the greatest industry in the world. It's

larger than the automobile industry and textile industries. Many

countries in the world depend on the income from tourism. Some

major tourist destinations in the world are Bangkok, Paris, Agra,

Cairo, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macao and Lhasa. Nepal has also taken

advantages from tourism industry. Most of the tourists who come to

Nepal are culture tourists and adventure tourists. The adventure

tourists go trekking and mountain climbing while the culture tourists

limit themselves to the Katmandu valley.

Tourists come to Kathmandu from different parts of the world to see

the cultural heritages in the valley. Many old temples and palaces like

Pashupati temple, Hanuman Dhoka Palace, Bhaktapur Palace Square,

Patan Palace Square and Changu Narayan Temple have been enlisted

in UNESCO World Heritage. Most of the tourists visits these

heritages of the valley. The tourists who come to Kathmandu can be

categorized into three groups: Indian tourists, Chinese tourists and

Western tourists. The largest number of tourists who come to

Kathmandu is of the Indians. There is a large population of Hindus in

India. Most of Indian Hindus aspire to visit the temple of

Pashupatinath once in their lives. We can see Indian people in the

Pashupatinath premises almost every day. Most of the Indian tourists

come by bus, spend four or five days in Kathmandu and return. They

do not spend much money in Kathmandu.

After the economic development of China, a large number of Chinese

tourists visits Nepal every year. Some of the Chinese tourists are

religious tourists as they come to see different Buddhist sites in Nepal

but most of the Chinese tourists come for spending their holidays.

There are many Chines hotels and restaurants in Kathmandu now. The

Chinese people like to eat their kinds of foods wherever they go. They

generally eat in Chinese restaurants and stay in hotels run by Chinese.

These tourists also do not give good benefits to Nepali people. But the

tourist guides earn money from Chinese tourists.

Western tourists especially from Europe and America also come to Kathmandu. They

also see the cultural sites of the valley. The number of other tourists

like that from Japan, Korea, Arab countries, Africa and Latin America

is not large. There are different kinds of hotels in Kathmandu to

accommodate tourists. Every year new five-star hotels are being

added. Let's hope, there will be more tourists in Kathmandu in the

coming days. In comparison to Indian and Chinese tourists, Nepal

takes more benefits from Western tourists.

b. The story was written many years back. Even at that time, there was communal harmony among various religions and ethnicities. The harmony is still intact. In your view, how are Nepali people

able to live in such harmony?

= We have heard the news about communal conflict in different parts of

the world. In the history of the world, Christians fought with Muslims

and Hindus also fought with Muslims. The Jews were chased from

their settlements many times repeatedly. Nepal has not witnessed any

kind of such conflicts in the name of religion, caste, or ethnicity. The

population of Nepal is largely made up of Hindus and Buddhists.

Hindus are tolerable people in comparison to Christians and Muslims.

They do not come to violent activities for small reasons. We have not

heard any kind of violence started by Buddhists. All religious groups

have lived in good harmony in Nepal. Similarly, Nepal has different

castes and ethnicities. The late King Prithvi Narayan Shah said the

country as a garden of four castes and 36 ethnicities. In a garden, a

flower does not come into conflict with another flower. All the

flowers have their own distinct quality and specialty. Nepali people

have lived in harmony like the flowers in the garden.