Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Every Song Must End - A Red Wolf Wordle

A vision of Bodhisattva

Right here you will find a link back to the post entitled Buddhist Bodhisattva Behavior which I accessed for the images. The post consists of a prose poem Namo Lokesvaraya written by a monk named Tog-me.

The site presents a clear translation which probably means it is to some extent not literal. The long poem describes how Bodhisattvas can be recognized by their behavior. These behaviors form a global ideal that reveals a fully evolved and civilized human. It is possible that no one who reads this post of mine will ever see a Bodhisattva. However, it is also ancient tradition that genuine saints wherever they arise out of any tradition may be very hard to recognize unless you too are well along some sacred path. Thus you may pass one by, may have already passed by several without ever knowing it.

As a practical matter, the knowledge is now thousands of years old that public demonstrations and overt manifestations of the sacred skills generally do not help and in most cases hinder the work.

The poem utilizes all of the words found on the Red Wolf Poems blogsite We Wordle 31

Every Song Must End

Bodhisattva life
is not the legerdemain
you guys said it was -
nor pulsing spirit
reflected in past moments
or in present rites
despite the raw dusk
and void that once formed the song
of our grit dying
out.

Hope's tumbled down
those rough scales, the parasites
that chew my liver.

‎November ‎19, ‎2014 9:45 PM

Poet's note: Wiki says: "Most scale insects are parasites of plants, feeding on sap drawn directly from the plant's vascular system." Ref. "those rough scales". Apparently the scales described here are somewhat unusual, or the poet is.

Another vision of Bodhisattva

Red Wolf



3 comments:

  1. Nice job with a difficult prompt. I can't believe you managed every word!

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  2. That is one challenging sentence I just managed to decipher. I still say Bodhisattva life is a legerdemain.

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  3. Well done and the poem flows beautifully!

    ReplyDelete

The chicken crossed the road. That's poultry in motion.


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