The True Religion

Since the beginning of time, humans have relied on the teachings of different religions in order to explain their existence and to give them a purpose for living. People today, however, have an understanding of religion that is superficial because they rarely find complete satisfaction or definite purpose in the teachings of their faiths. Followers of these faiths think that religion can fix the problems in their lives without them having to try to fix the issues themselves. Humans seem to be lost without a solid spiritual understanding, and they resort to accumulating material items in order to find importance in their lives. Nonetheless, instead of focusing on material items, humans should interact in and with the “Natural World”. They need to enjoy their experiences but also not get too comfortable with nature and their lives because both are unpredictable.  Humans need to live in the moment and enjoy the spontaneous instances surrounding them both in nature and in relationships; because these are the components of a person’s life that truly makes them feel fulfilled and happy. In this essay I will be looking at how Billy Collins portrays religion.

 To start off, in Shoveling Snow with Buddha, Billy Collins uses a seemingly ordinary, simple, yet risky task in order to demonstrate how one can find spirituality, purpose, and enjoyment in everyday moments.   In the poem the tone is much more respectful. Collins shows his respect for men like Buddha through his literal language. “Even the season is wrong for him.” This is not implied by his serene expression", Buddha is symbolized as a selfless man who is shoveling a driveway that not even his. Buddha will not stop the job until the goal is reached; Collins is very admiral of this type of behavior. “He has thrown himself into shoveling snow / as if it were the purpose of his existence,” “and he inside his generous pocket of silence, “It is evident in the poem that Collins respects Buddha but, with the use of his language he makes the reader respect Buddha. Since Buddha is personified by all the natural good people in the world, the reader appreciates these kinds of people much more by the end of the poem.

The poem is 7 stanzas long, each stanza varying between five and ten lines in length. It depicts the narrator shoveling his driveway with Buddha, a very important figure in the Buddhist religion. The whole time, the narrator is talking to Buddha about nature and religion, but Buddha does not respond to anything he says and focuses solely on shoveling until the very end, when the religious figure asks to go inside and play cards.
     The poem doesn’t have any rhyme scheme or any form of iambic meter. He uses different rhetorical devices, including imagery, rhetorical questions and repetition. Collin’s use of rhetorical questions in the line “in all his manifestations, is it not warm or slightly humid?” is designed to highlight how out of place the Enlightened One is in such a cold environment. In classical Buddhist depiction, he is always shown in a warm and temperate area, but in the poem he is shoveling snow, yet appears as serene as ever, showing that from the start, Buddha is happy in this moment. This idea will come into play later when one looks into the meaning of the poem. His imagery also helps to show how calm the setting is. He uses words such as “fountain bursts” and “glittering” and “sudden clouds” to describe the snow. These words make the reader think of snow as beautiful and picturesque, instead of ugly and a nuisance, as some people might see it. He also uses repetition at the beginning of lines, starting many with the words “I say”. The decision to start lines with this phrase adds emphasis to how much the narrator talks in the poem, while Buddha says almost nothing. This also adds to the meaning of the poem.
In Shoveling Snow with Buddha, Collins uses a seemingly ordinary, simple, yet insecure projection in order to demonstrate how one can find spirituality, purpose, and enjoyment in everyday moments. Although this poetry involves the reader connecting with a spiritual being, it does not take place in a church or a temple, but instead in a driveway. However, in the poem Shoveling Snow with Buddha, Buddha is standing, bent, and is tossing the dry snow everywhere a peck/ of his bare, round shoulder.
    Personally, I think the poem is about people who talk too much about religion and aren't focusing on what they are currently doing. The narrator brags about how shoveling is “The true religion.” and says that he prefers it to “sermons in church”. Buddha meanwhile isn’t even acknowledging he is saying anything. Buddha knows that if it really is the true religion, it doesn’t need to be said. Buddha keeps this to himself and takes heart in focusing on his work, while the narrator almost sounds arrogant, telling the Buddha what religion is and isn’t. Buddha doesn’t act arrogant, yet does not confront the narrator, because he knows that it is better to just let others be, and remain happy in the present. The narrator realizes this near the end and as a result, is closer to enlightenment. Basically, the poem is about Buddha indirectly teaching a man about how to be happy in the moment.
Lines Lost Among Trees - I chose this poem, because of its amazing images that relate to the poetry that vanishes from the mind of Billy Collins. He talks about how it is a shattering experience to have worked and worked on a section of a poem, but to lose it right before reaching a pen and paper. He uses the images of “a handful of coins dropped through the grate of memory” and the “erasing a fantastic city of pencil,” among others to show how easily poetry can slip the mind, just like a dream or a “rehearsed speech.” OR religion, how people question religion or mock other religions just because they have different beliefs. I think that what Billy Collins wants his readers to know that there is no right or wrong religion. Just like the Buddha is Shoveling Snow with Buddha, the person was talking on and on and Buddha was quiet because he thought he doesn’t need to explain himself. Through the use of language Billy Collins can help you understand the ‘True meaning of Religion’, without questioning other beliefs, stating what is right or wrong.