PACIFIC WORLD - The Institute of Buddhist Studies

Levering: Frendship Bonshø Bells 167The Oak Ridge Friendship Bell asJapanese and BuddhistDespite the non-Buddhist content of the inscriptions and reliefs on itspanels, the Oak Ridge bell is in form strongly reminiscent of an East Asianbell that in Japan or the United States would be recognized by everyknowledgeable person as a Japanese, Chinese, or Korean Buddhist templebell. Buddhist monastic and temple practice, Buddhist art, peace of mind,non-harming, detachment from the passions of the world which motivateconflicts—all these things are evoked by the sound of the bell. Thoseknowledgeable about Japanese Buddhism would know that the ringing ofthe temple bell has the power to alleviate the sufferings of the dead, of thosein the hells. Yet hearing the sound of the temple bell is also a part of everyrural Japanese person’s intimate childhood experience whether he or sheidentifies as Buddhist or not. City dwellers no longer hear the sound of thebell daily, as temples don’t add to noise pollution by ringing them. Butwhether city dwellers are “Buddhist” or not, they ring bells on visits totemples or listen to them being rung, particularly at the New Year. Thebonshø bell thus strongly symbolizes “Japaneseness” as well as Buddhism.And thanks to the recent Japanese practice of donating suchbells to cities and organizations abroad, bells of this kind that appear inEurope and North America have also come to symbolize a wish forfriendship and peace.The Bell and PeaceShigeko and Ram Uppuluri could not have created the bell without thehelp of a host of others. But it is also true that they were able to create thebell because others were inspired by their vision. The core of that visionwas an affirmation of and longing for peace.The visions of Shigeko and Ram were not exactly the same. Whatmoved Ram was the contrast between the Oak Ridge portrayed in theAugust 6 Hiroshima Day demonstrations every year, the Oak Ridge thatbuilt “the bomb” in the 1940s and builds bombs today, and the Oak Ridgeof the Oak Ridge National Laboratory where Ram worked. The meaning ofOak Ridge continued to be defined for most who did not live there by thestory of the past, the story of the creation of the Hiroshima bomb. It wasimportant to Ram that others in the future understand that Oak Ridge’sstory was that of a community working in nuclear science on peaceful usesof atomic energy. Ram got the idea that there needed to be a monument inOak Ridge that would last a thousand years and convey the message tofuture generations that Oak Ridge in the post-war period had really been