Ven. Sujiva - My Teacher
A poem by Ven. Sujiva
A poem by Ven. Sujiva
That crimson flare
Which warms at first sight,
Now sears the heart with pain.
Foolish man! Feel not sad,
Count yourself fortunate.
Better it is, to lose a finger
Than to sacrifice ones whole life
For a sip of honey.
Smoldering grey clouds,
Hovering darkness, thick and suffocating,
These repercussions of vanity
Weigh down your eyelids.
The worst of the storm has passed,
Picking up the wreckage,
You discover what your folly cost you.
After rendezvous, parting follows,
And from craving arises woe,
When pleasure fade, suffering enters the stage
With a loud bang and scream.
These truths – not that you are unaware,
But since you forgot,
You see them again, now right before you,
Your deep love burns with fire
That only storm can extinguish.
Cry if you can’t help it
But by all means, do not end the world.
Alas! what mistakes man can commit, he repeats.
I can forgive him a thousand times and more,
And each time present a gift of a lotus petal
Accompanied with a drop of compassion dripped down
From the bitter nimb tree leaf.
But what really matters is that you can forgive
While others may still hate,
Forgive the sky and the earth
Forgive the ocean and all Mankind.
If you can do that,
Turn around to find,
See that pretty butterfly fluttering
From jasmines to roses,
How busy she is,
With the affairs of the world.
Why must you feel so sorrowful
When the beauty of Nature is yours, all yours!
No, that butterfly is not a dream,
That woman is, and the man too
And that conflagration of love
That you bathed in with sheer delight
Is the substance from which nightmares are made!
Note:
Ven. Sujiva is one of the Buddhist teachers, who are responsible for developing a keen interest in vipassana (insight) meditation in many western countries. Since 1996, he began conducting meditation retreats abroad, particularly in Switzerland, Italy, Czech, Germany, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand & United States. He has also published several collections of poems and written many books on meditation. He ordained as a monk shortly after his graduation from the prestigious University of Malaya in 1975.
Now sears the heart with pain.
Foolish man! Feel not sad,
Count yourself fortunate.
Better it is, to lose a finger
Than to sacrifice ones whole life
For a sip of honey.
Smoldering grey clouds,
Hovering darkness, thick and suffocating,
These repercussions of vanity
Weigh down your eyelids.
The worst of the storm has passed,
Picking up the wreckage,
You discover what your folly cost you.
After rendezvous, parting follows,
And from craving arises woe,
When pleasure fade, suffering enters the stage
With a loud bang and scream.
These truths – not that you are unaware,
But since you forgot,
You see them again, now right before you,
Your deep love burns with fire
That only storm can extinguish.
Cry if you can’t help it
But by all means, do not end the world.
Alas! what mistakes man can commit, he repeats.
I can forgive him a thousand times and more,
And each time present a gift of a lotus petal
Accompanied with a drop of compassion dripped down
From the bitter nimb tree leaf.
But what really matters is that you can forgive
While others may still hate,
Forgive the sky and the earth
Forgive the ocean and all Mankind.
If you can do that,
Turn around to find,
See that pretty butterfly fluttering
From jasmines to roses,
How busy she is,
With the affairs of the world.
Why must you feel so sorrowful
When the beauty of Nature is yours, all yours!
No, that butterfly is not a dream,
That woman is, and the man too
And that conflagration of love
That you bathed in with sheer delight
Is the substance from which nightmares are made!
Note:
Ven. Sujiva is one of the Buddhist teachers, who are responsible for developing a keen interest in vipassana (insight) meditation in many western countries. Since 1996, he began conducting meditation retreats abroad, particularly in Switzerland, Italy, Czech, Germany, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand & United States. He has also published several collections of poems and written many books on meditation. He ordained as a monk shortly after his graduation from the prestigious University of Malaya in 1975.
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