Poem

Both!

Feature Article
In Bloom.
[Source – Pixabay]

‘Kaun Buddha Si?’ (Who was Buddha?) by the wonderful Punjabi Poet Amar Jyoti.

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Who was Buddha?

Whose tale is it?

It’s left for you to decide;

Whether of Yashodhara or Siddhartha

Who repaired to the peace of jungle

Leaving Yashodhara behind

To bring up Rahul

Congruent with the royal

Customs and traditions,

Who made the glittering glass-house of her life a ruin

Behind the portals of a palace,

Where the seasons didn’t change,

Where life resided in silence,

Where her sight turned into an unending path

Waiting for Siddhartha.

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And when he returned from the quiet of the peaceful abode

As Buddha the wise,

Who was the wise one,

Siddhartha or Yashodhara?  

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English translation of the Punjabi poem by Jagriti Rumi.


Yashodhara, a princess, was Prince Siddhartha’s wife, who was born on the same date and year as that of her husband. According to a Chinese legend, Yashodhara had met Siddhartha in their past life where she took a promise from him that they will be husband and wife in all their next births.  

This beautiful poem asks a simple question and gives a concealed answer. Quietly it is telling a forgotten story, forgotten but real, real and empowering.    


The journey inwards was taken by both, Siddhartha as well as Yashodhara. While one left the world of attachment behind, the other stayed in the midst of it all and grew like a lotus. In waiting for her dearest, in bringing up her only son, Yashodhara knew trance, living every moment and trusting herself, comprehending spontaneously.  

After she met the enlightened Buddha, after her Rahul became a monk, Yashodhara did what she had prepared for, she become a Bhikkhuni (Buddhist nun); then the lotus shone brightly.  

Yashodhara didn’t search for peace, she gently nurtured it within, she didn’t live in seclusion, she found herself in the celebrations. Not in a ruin, she lived in every effort of hers to learn.  

Yashodhara, which means ‘bearer of glory’, got enlightened not once, but many times.    

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Buddha with Yashodhara and Rahul 
[Source – speakingtree.in]

To read the original poem (in Gurumukhi), please click here.


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A Simple Prism

Colour blast within!
[Image by kitti851 from Pixabay]

Conversations and time

Old ones like wine

That which is far

Or locked in a jar

Called by memories

And sifting through the debris

Through patient hands

Holding back and

Letting go in a rhythm

Like a simple prism

That knows its colours

Always leave me coloured…

And I walk ahead

With a better vision.

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Night Jasmine

Perfection
[Source – Wikipedia]

Six petals in sync
With orange centre as link

Adorned with white peace
Singing with the trees

Fragrant, pure and polite

Holding the divine light

For it begins at dusk

And greets all at dawn

Resting on the leaves              

Or on the path, it weaves

A true reflection

Of perfection.


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Not Alone

Forever glowing, the light within.
Image by Pexels from Pixabay

You are not alone.
 
Know this and take the way home,
Not to the concrete walls,
Or to those fairy dolls,
For Time is playing an old game,
New Faustus, but the end will be the same.
The dim light that you see within,
Which is wavy, translucent as linen,
Is there to guide you through it all,
To help you rise when you fall.
Forever glowing and reaching,
The peaceful piece in you.
 
So remember, you are not alone,
Know this and take the way home.
 

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बहानेबाज़ / The Excuse

लिखे चलो लिखे चलो… Keep Writing…
[Source – Pixabay]

ठहर कर कहने की जल्दी मे,
मुझे ज़रा देर हो गई।

बात याद भी रह गई,
और भूल भी गई। 

दरअसल मामला सुलझ कर और भी पेचीदा हो गया है,
ख़ुद को जानने की पहल जो कर बैठी हूँ।

उस दिन जाने की जल्दी न मची होती तो,
सब जान ही गई थी, सब पहचान ही गई थी मैं।

अनगिनत अफ़सानो मे एक और अफसाना सही,
बस कलम ढूंढ लूँ, फिर और कोई बहाना नहीं।


 

Translation –

The Excuse

In a hurry to share it later on,

I delayed it further.

I still remember what it was.

And I also think I have forgotten it.

Indeed the matter has become very simple and thus, very complex,

Maybe because I have decided to know myself.

Only if I was not in a rush to leave,

I would have understood everything.

Amongst all the tales, one more tale will be added

If only I can find my pen, I won’t delay it any longer.


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टूटा हुआ चश्मा / Broken Spectacles

हाइकू/ Haiku

टूटा हुआ चश्मा

टूटे हुए चश्मे की दास्ताँ   

शुरू होने से पहले ही खत्म हो गई   

अब और क्या कहूँ ?    

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मैंने अपना चश्मा तोड़ दिया।
I broke my spectacles.
Image from Pixabay.

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Translation –   

Broken Spectacles  

The tale of broken spectacles

Ended before it could even begin

Now what else can I say?


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In Slo-mo Towards the Moon

Poem

A tide of thoughts.
[Source – Pixabay]

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Walking towards the moon

In slo-mo and riding,

Hiding behind a tide of thoughts

In slo-mo, unaware, unconcerned

About the change that is happening

In slo-mo, now and always,

Carrying in bits the old me, turning

In slo-mo, hoping to see

Something better. Living the life

In slo-mo and looking into the future

Where things are picture-perfect, but moving

In slo-mo. Cracks in the present

For it isn’t that dear, until

In slo-mo I sit with patience and

Breathe, see, feel and realise

That everything is beautiful,

That our mind knows the tricks,

That reality simply is, just like the moon,

Towards which I am walking

In slo-mo, beaming quietly. 

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All

Haiku

This is you, deep within.
[Source – Pixabay]

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Unattached, patiently, freely I go deep  

Within myself and find

That love can transform it all.

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“Only a few arrive at nothing, because the way is long.” – Antonio Porchia

Spirituality

A long journey!
[Source – Pixabay]

To keep walking is hard. Repeatedly dying on the way is a normal occurrence, but no less significant.

What breaks the heart often is not the crude world or a passer-by, but the heart itself. It allows itself to be crushed.

And as funny as it may sound, the truth doesn’t change that the heart also heals itself.  

Let us keep aside the magical part for it blindfolds the ones with sightless minds and talks about reason and logic.

Oh! But that is already done – heart breaks itself and heals itself… very straightforward indeed. Brain, heart, brain, heart… and this is the journey.  

Carrying on kills, but so does not-carrying on; carrying on also gives you a chance to live and to experience the universe. It is a long, long, long journey and then you reach nothing.  

At nothing, you become everything.


Read about Antonio Porchia, the Argentinian poet here.


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In A Rush/ Not In A Rush

Look what I found… a heart shaped stone.
[Source – Pixabay]

Life seems to be in a rush

And thoughts blurry,

Like passing an array of lights

On moonless nights.

Timely, untimely one hears

What is not said,

But is felt vaguely

And declared mandatory suddenly.

One click, one blink, one tick-tock

And life is not the same,

And I will happily testify to it

For I, unlike life, am not in a rush.


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