GUARDIAN OF THE DRAGON GATE

A FIERCE GUARDIAN

OF THE DRAGON GATE

THE LONGMEN GROTTOES

NEAR LUOYANG, CHINA

Luoyang (in Henan province) is one of the ancient capitals of China, and a major locus for the introduction of Buddhism into the Middle Kingdom. For several hundred years beginning in the fifth century, a vast panorama of Buddhist figures was carved out of a kilometer-long stretch of rock face and caves along the Yi River. These are known collectively as the Longmen (Dragon Gate) Grottoes. The central section of the ensemble includes an enormous Buddha, whose ears are 6'2". S/He is identified as the Vairocana (Vairochana) Buddha, a being with a countenance somewhere between placid and passive. Startling, then, to find among the Buddha's retinue the fierce warrior above, said to be a "'World Protector,' guardian of the Buddhist teachings."

It was startling, too, to hear this passage from Barack Obama's Inaugural Address: "For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and non-believers." To have the new president strain so hard to be ecumenical, to be inclusive, as to include "non-believers" (and to think to pair "Jews" with "Hindus"), and yet leave out one of the great world religions, Buddhism, was, at best, disconcerting.