Ah yes, the path of the Bodhisattva! To understand my interpretation of this happy, uplifting tune one must first grasp the Buddhist notion of the Bodhisattva.
A Bodhisattva is one who has experienced the true nature of the universe: Emptiness. The world is essentially empty, lacking essence. Existence precedes essence.
The Buddhist notion of the experience of emptiness is an experience of “the void” that yanks him/her from the ego-self into a universal understanding/intuition that there is no inherent meaning or purpose behind life and that significance is found in the ‘here and now’. True purpose or rather, significance is found in the participation with the beauty of the natural ‘becoming’ of the universe.
Within the experience all ambiguity is erased. Status, money, trivial pleasures, and attachment are viewed as fleeting and mere road-blocks to enlightenment. The Bodhisattva then becomes concerned only with the uselessness of suffering and takes a vow to address life as such: useless suffering or in Buddhist terms, Dukha.
On this path he finds TRUE happiness, not mere delight, not the transient joys of the temporal realm; the Bodhisattva has felt the presence of the eternality of the universe that surrounds us all here and now, through the natural beauty of the world.
Upon this grand recognition, and making the aforementioned vow to contribute to the obliteration of ‘dukha’ or ‘suffering’, the Bodhisattva enters back into the world and develops a ‘skill’ to live life with one-pointed focus on his/her task at hand. The Bodhisattva is not however, concerned with the ‘fruits of his/her actions’. In other words he/she does not hanker after results of his/her “mission”; the Bodhisattva engages in ‘action’ - in and of itself - that is to say, he/she performs the acquired skill “for the sake of itself” and addresses the confrontation of the uselessness of suffering as his/her “purpose.”
To reiterate, this all begins with an experience of ‘Emptiness’; the Bodhisattva has stepped out of “said reality” and has experienced the eternal, the really Real. This is what the Buddhists refer to as ‘Nothingness’, the ‘eternal void’.
And now for the interpretation of the lyrics:
How does it feel to be one of the beautiful people?
How does it feel...to be an enlightened one? How does it feel to be on the Bodhisattva path?
Now that you know who you ARE.
Ambiguity is erased. YOU, are not the CEO or the grocery bagger; the real YOU is not determined by the societal circumstances you find yourself in, neither are you the culmination of your past history –
“You are something the whole universe is doing just as a wave is something the whole ocean is doing at the place we call the ‘here and the now’” (Alan Watts).
This is the Bodhisattvic experience of ‘Emptiness’. Knowing who you are consists in the experience and understanding of what Albert Camus would call, “the gentle indifference of the universe” (The Stranger). One has entered the void- or in religious terms: Experienced God and is completely aware and in a higher state of consciousness.
With this this wonderful, enlightening recognition, the lyrics ask:
Now that you know who you are, what do you want to be?
In other words, what skill will you develop to complete your Bodhisattvic vow? What activity do you partake in “for the sake of it self” that gives inherent and natural gratification. What will you do to soothe the dis-ease of the world?
The lyrics continue: And have you traveled very far? well...I would say, experiencing the void, or ‘seeing’ nothingness, one has traveled, as the lyrics suggest: As far as the eye can see!
This experience is not one that is reserved exclusively for the elite. It is not some esoteric knowledge reserved only for mystics, philosophers, or the religious type. Through meditation and practice of mindful action in our conduct in life we can experience the void ourselves: We can go ‘there’ often. The Buddhist advocate “non-thought” and repeated practice of the dissolving of the ambiguity of the world and society that is so forcefully pressed on us since birth.
So when the lyrics ask: How often have you been there? –the answer is: Often enough to know.
And, what do we see when we are there? Nothing that doesn’t show. This statement shows that what the Bodhisattva has ‘seen’ when he/she was ‘there’. It is not something that is not apparent to all people. It doesn’t belong to Christians alone, not exclusively to the Jews, not only to the Hindus – no – no – no. Everyone has the capability to go ‘there’ in meditation.
It is, as the lyrics maintain: nothing that doesn’t show.
We are all “rich men”. We have only to clear our minds of illusion and set ourselves free from the grips of conventional principals that have been pressed upon us our entire lives to experience ‘Emptiness’.
Baby you're a rich man
Baby you're a rich man
Baby you're a rich man too
You keep all your money in a big brown bag inside a zoo
What is this “big brown bag” the Beatles are referring to? The Buddhists, some form of Buddhism at any rate, view the body as a distraction on the path to enlightenment, full of physical yearnings for pleasure and external desires. The Body is this “big brown bag” and of course society, the world around us can clearly be viewed as a Zoo!
How does it feel to be
One of the beautiful people?
Tuned to a natural E
Happy to be that way
Now that you've found another key
What are you going to play?
The abovementioned “activity in and of itself” is comparable to the orchestration of music, it is the similar to dance. There is no existing or said “purpose” for the dance; music is not played for a particular achievement in notes – no – it is performed as an “activity in and of itself”, and with practice of this activity comes fulfillment and significance, one’s true “meaning” in life. Fully aware of the true nature of the universe, one is, as stated in the song: tuned to a natural E. That is to say, one has found one’s true nature and is happy to be that way. It is another key to life… What are you going to play, with your big brown bag tuned to its natural key?
This is an "interpretation", not literal meaning of the song. However, I could argue that the Beatles, particularly John Lennon & George Harrison, were studying Eastern philosophy and even popularized the Maharishi in the Western world during the turbulent 60's. In their unbridled creativity, the Beatles may have applied multiple levels of meaning to their songs. Their interest in Eastern philosophy gives teeth to my interpretation, but does not however jive with the other interpretations and such unenlightened comments of Peter Brown such as "rich fag jew"
Regardless, great tune, holds deep significance for me and hopefully anyone inclined to entertain my interpretation.
