Wednesday, June 22, 2016

The Story of the Brass Bell

Brass Bell


My mother got this brass bell during the five years she lived and taught in Hong Kong in the mid-1970s.  I don't know if she bought it or if she received it from someone.  It is in the form of what is commonly called a "laughing Buddha", which is a symbol of prosperity and good luck.  She brought it with her when she came to this country and kept it near her altar.  There is a custom in Buddhism to ring a bell or sound a gong at the beginning and end of prayers, meditations, etc. to help focus the mind.  Ringing the bell at the beginning is a reminder that it is time to put aside everyday thoughts and concerns and focus the mind on prayers and meditations.  The ringing at the end indicates the end of such focused concentration and a return to everyday cares.

For years, the bell remained part of the items placed at the altar.  However, when my daughter was little and stayed home from school because she was ill, my mother would place the bell near her to ring if she needed Grandmother.  My daughter remembers that.

Then, after my mother returned home from hospital after her hip replacement surgery, I kept the bell by her bedside to ring if she needed me.  Later, when she recovered enough to walk using a walker, I tied the bell to the walker so she'd have the bell with her at all times and also to alert me when was up and about, especially in the night.  After her death, the bell was returned to the altar.

Last year, when I came home after my lumpectomy, my daughter brought the bell to keep by my bedside, to ring if I needed her.  :)  It stayed on my bedside until today.

Today, I decided that I didn't need to keep the bell on my bedside any longer and returned it to the altar.  But, before I did that,  I polished it with a cut lemon dipped in a little salt, washed, and wiped it.  The acid of the lemon juice mixed with the abrasion of the salt makes a good brass polisher that is all natural, environmentally friendly, and since I have an abundance of lemons in my garden, frugal, as well!  I have a lot of brass items and this is the only polisher I use.  

Who knows, maybe someday, I'll be blessed enough to hand the bell to a little one and say, "Ring if you need Grandma!"  :D












 

12 comments:

  1. That is a wonderful history. That bell isn't polished with lemon, it's polished with love. Hope you are okay. x

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    1. Thank you, Lyssa! A lot of my belongings have a memory or a story attached to them. But the bell is one of the few items that has a special memory associated with it for my daughter, as well.

      Yes, I am okay, thank you. :) Hope all is well with you, too. (((HUGS)))

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  2. It's a lovely story, Bless. Thanks for sharing it. Don't go decluttering that bell, even if your daughter doesn't want it, OK? She'll change her mind once she has her own family.

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    1. Glad you liked the story, Nathalie. No, I won't declutter it. I've leave it for my daughter to decide if she wants to keep it or not. :)

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  3. Thank you for sharing your lovely story of the bell.
    I was intrigued and you told it very well.
    As I read on I was hoping, (like Nathalie), that you were not going to say that you had decided to declutter it.
    That is much too precious to let go.
    Hope you are well.
    Pam in TX.x

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    1. Glad you enjoyed the story, Pam. :) Yes, I am well, thank you. Hope things are well with you, too.

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  4. How lovely BLess. And I just know , when you get that little one... the bell will be there so he or she can ring it , if they need Grandma. Hugs.

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    1. That's what I am hoping will happen, Judy! It'll be the start of a new tradition! :D

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  5. I love the bell and the history that goes with it. I have seen similar bells in Japan. When I started my pilgrimage, a friend tried to give me one a bit like yours to take with me - but it was too heavy to carry all that way, so another friend gave me a smaller one (also brass) to attach to my staff, and I took that instead. I still have it! However I am sorry I didn't keep the first bell that was offered. Maybe I will get it some time!

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    1. You accepted the one that was right for you at the time and released the other one. I'm glad you still have the smaller bell - it is special because it made the journey with you. :)

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    2. Yes, it is special because it came every step of the way with me, and also because it belonged to my student's grandfather, when he did the pilgrimage in the 80s. He is dead now, but I knew him, and it was his wife who asked me to take the bell. Just as I was leaving to start the pilgrimage, she noticed I had no bell, and ran inside to get that one. When I finished, I went to return it to her but she said it was mine now. I was very touched. (She also gave me her own white pilgrim's coat and stole. A really lovely person.)

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    3. It sounds like she blessed you with her late husband's bell and her own pilgrim's coat and stole. It was a gift from her heart.

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