The Ark

Another fantastic song. The following info is from the City to City tour programme which featured an interview with Gerry.

Apparently he had the melody for ‘The Ark’ back in 1971 but he kept getting stuck trying to complete it.

Lyrically he was trying to summarise a book he read on the significance of the Ark (both literally and symbolically). In his words, "it suggested... that the Ark was a knowledge or a faith, a teaching, and it comes to the fore when a civilisation is going down... to help mankind".

As a Buddhist I am amazed at how deeply spiritual the lyric of this song is. I don't think Gerry was Buddhist or was even interested; but perhaps he was tapping from a mysterious past life when he composed this song?

Verse 1: "See the dark night has come down on us The world is livin' in its dream But now we know that we can wake up from this sleep And set out on the journey Find a ship to take us on the way."

The term "Buddha" means "the awakened one". The Buddha declared the world is asleep and unaware of the dangers of fleeting sensual pleasures. The Buddha declared a path that leads to awakening. His body of vast teachings is like a ship that takes you out of the darkness of the world and leads you to the goal of enlightenment.

Verse 2: "The time has come to trust that guiding light And leavin' all the rest behind We'll take the road that leads down to the waterside And set out on the journey Find a ship to take us on the way."

The decision to embark the journey to enlightenment is not started until the time has come in your life when you become convinced the world is asleep. The light of enlightenment becomes your primary goal in life. You begin to move in a new direction and seek enlightenment for yourself. Some people leave lay-life and become a monk or nun entirely dedicated to a spiritual life.

"And we'll sail out on the water Yes we'll feel the seas roll Yes we'll meet out on the water Where are all strangers are known."

The beginning-less and endless vast universe is called "samsara". All humans, animals, gods and other divine beings exist in samsara which extends beyond visible realms. Samsara is often described as a vast ocean and in its essence is impermanence and in constant motion and flux just like an ocean. There is has no place in the ocean of samsara which offers long lasting stability and security. Even the heavens are impermanent realms of gods and divine beings. This impermanence and instability is expressed in the song as "feeling the seas roll".

Because all of us have lead countless past lives it means that in the vastness of samsara even apparent strangers were once, in a previous life, known to us. Hence samsara is "where all strangers are known".

Buddhists take refuge in the Buddhas teaching or "dharma" and it is figuratively a Dharma-ship that leads one out of the ocean of samsara. It leads us from the darkness of ignorance to the light of enlightenment.

"If you travel blindly, if you fall The truth is there to set you free And when your heart can see just one thing in this life We'll set out on the journey Find a ship to take us on the way."

Buddhism is different from other religions in that your salvation is your own responsibility. Buddhas show the way but you yourself must walk the path. And it is truth or Dhamma, and not some saviour or divine being that sets you free.

Most of us live worldly lives akin to the life of an alcoholic, in that we just go for short term pleasures until one final day, in our own deepest of hearts, we make a firm commitment to free ourselves. Just as an alcoholic makes the decision at some point to turn his or her life around so does the dedicated seeker of nirvana (also called nibanna) dedicate his or her life in the journey out of the rolling seas of samsara to the light of NIbanna.

JM