Thursday 6 March 2008

Pratitya Samutpada

My life has been a battlefield,
The bodhi-mind my strength and shield.



My brain has been a battleground;
Disturbed by noise, I’ve sought out sound.



My life has been a battlefield,
The bodhi-mind my strength and shield.

In wrongly going, round and round,
I’ve served the truth the Buddha found:

The truth of rising from the ground.




My life has been a battlefield,
The bodhi-mind my strength and shield.

In endless circles, round and round,
I’m shown what Alexander found:

The truth of rising from the ground.




My life has been a battlefield,
The bodhi-mind my strength and shield.

While the wheel keeps turning, round and round,
I tell what Nagarjuna found:

The truth of rising from the ground.

1 comment:

Mike Cross said...

A sincere person asked me a question about "rising from the ground," which, in true Socratic style, caused me to realize that I do not actually know what Master Nagarjuna meant by pratitya-samutpada. I feel I know what Master Nagarjuna meant, but my feelings invariably turn out to be unreliable. My feeling is that Nagarjuna meant what FM meant by "head forward and up," but I don't know what that direction is either -- I only know, by degrees, what it isn't.