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On
learning of sickness, old age and death:
"I
am as all these men who cry upon their gods and are not heard or are
not heeded - yet there must be aid!
For
them and me and all there must be help!
Perchance
the gods have need of help themselves, being so feeble that when sad
lips cry they cannot save!
I
would not let one cry whom I could save!
How
can it be that Brahm
would make a world and keep it miserable, since, if all powerful, He
is not good, and if not powerful, He is not God?"
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A
note here. Victorians used the language masterfully but we are
not used to long sentences with involved structure; the short, quick
sentence, information conveyed in the least amount of words possible
is the norm in a world rushed off its feet. I've taken
liberties with Sir Edwin's punctuation and the structure of the
lines to make it a little easier to read for those who have less
patience with language like his.
About
the Buddha, "the one who is awake":
For
those who know nothing of the Buddha, he was a prince of India, born
to great wealth. When he was born, it was prophesied that he
would either be a world conqueror or the savior of all men.
His father, very naturally looking askance on the idea of his
beautiful son becoming a beggarly priest, tried to prevent the
prophecy from coming true. Just by the nature of things, he
had no chance but he gave it his best shot. He made a paradise
on earth for his son; he shielded him from the knowledge, they say,
that all men are born to grow old and sick and die. It is, of
course, the stuff of parables. Siddhartha Gautama was clearly
a genius if one cuts through all the fairy tale elements of his
story, handsome, athletic, the master of all the arts and letters of
his day (which were considerable), married to a beautiful woman who
loved him dearly and about to become the father of a son, when the
time for the fulfillment of the prophecy came due and the choice lay
before him.
Siddhartha
had everything. He gave up everything, for the sake of all
men, all women, all those he loved, for all the world, to set us
free.
So,
to the poem.
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Still
in the works. Don't wait, go buy a copy.
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Ah!
Blessed Lord! Oh, High Deliverer!
Forgive
this feeble script, which doth thee wrong,
Measuring
with little wit thy lofty Love.
Ah!
Lover! Brother! Guide! Lamp of the Law!
I
take my refuge in thy name and thee!
I
take my refuge in thy Law of Good!
I
take my refuge in thy Order! OM!
The
Dew is on the lotus! Rise, Great Sun!
And
lift my leaf and mix me with the wave.
Om
Mani padme hum, the Sunrise comes!
The
Dewdrop slips into the shining Sea!
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The
last words of the old Buddhist who told the tale.
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