The Buddha’s Last Instruction
I think of this every morning
as the east begins
to tear off its many clouds
of darkness, to send up the first
signal – a white fan
streaked with pink and violet,
even green.
An old man, he lay down
between two sala trees,
and he might have said anything,
knowing it was his final hour.
The light burns upward,
it thickens and settles over the fields.
Around him, the villagers gathered
and stretched forward to listen.
Even before the sun itself
hangs, disattached, in the blue air,
I am touched everywhere
by its ocean of yellow waves.
No doubt he thought of everything
that had happened in his difficult life.
And then I feel the sun itself
as it blazes over the hills,
like a million flowers on fire –
clearly I’m not needed,
yet I feel myself turning
into something
of inexplicable value.
Slowly, beneath the branches,
he raised his head.
He looked into the faces of that frightened crowd.
“Make of yourself a light,”
said the Buddha,
before he died.
before he died.
I think of this every morning
as the east begins
to tear off its many clouds
of darkness, to send up the first
signal – a white fan
streaked with pink and violet,
even green.
An old man, he lay down
between two sala trees,
and he might have said anything,
knowing it was his final hour.
The light burns upward,
it thickens and settles over the fields.
Around him, the villagers gathered
and stretched forward to listen.
Even before the sun itself
hangs, disattached, in the blue air,
I am touched everywhere
by its ocean of yellow waves.
No doubt he thought of everything
that had happened in his difficult life.
And then I feel the sun itself
as it blazes over the hills,
like a million flowers on fire –
clearly I’m not needed,
yet I feel myself turning
into something
of inexplicable value.
Slowly, beneath the branches,
he raised his head.
He looked into the faces of that frightened crowd.
Whew.
ReplyDeleteRecently I purchased the illustrated edition of the Bardo Todol translated and compiled by Glenn Mullin and Thomas Kelly from which I quote:
ReplyDelete“The night after seeing his (Khamtrul Yeshey Dorje) first plane he dreamed of Padma Sambhava and Yeshey Tsogyal. Padme Sambhava looked at him and said, ‘When iron birds fly, and horses run on wheels, my dharma will travel to the land of the Red Man’” (pgs. 133-134).
And from the endnote:
“Chogyam Trungpa was the first to publish the verse in America. Naturally, Americans loved the idea of being mentioned in prophecy. Buddha also made a similar prophecy that Tibetans often quote. It comes from one of the numerous editions of the Lankavatara Sutra, wherein Buddha states, ‘2500 years after my passing my dharma will go to the land of the Red Man.’”
These Treasures have been misinterpreted; they have nothing to do with the dharma traveling to Turtle Island proper, which is to say, America, they are much more specific than that! If you look at the history of the immigration of Chinese and Vietnamese to the western seaboard of Turtle Island it seems most probable that the dharma came to Turtle Island long before steel birds flew.
What these Treasures refer to is the time when the dharma becomes integrated into the CULTURE of the Native Americans – the Red Man, and that time is now.
Also, I read where His Holiness says we’re at a crossroad where either a 1,000 year age of light or a 1,000 year age of darkness will prevail. I believe the 1,000 year age of light shall obtain but according to Lord Krishna’s KaliYuga Treasure, this is going to manifest as a golden era 10,000 years in length which I feel corresponds to the Long Now Clock (http://longnow.org/clock/). I believe this Long Now Clock is a modern version of the Mayan Long Count. I also read recently where His Holiness has considered subjecting some of the authentic Buddha relics to scientific analysis to determine the Conqueror’s exact birthdate but I feel confident this can be accurately inferred from the Treasures!
The Buddha never died; nobody ever does . . .
To all my ancestors: Om Mani Padme Hum!