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​Buddha in shackles: Satyapal Anand


 
In the Buddha Temple, I prayed

Lit two candles — one male body shape

The other, a female figurine

A Yang-Yin combination it was.

Two smoke silhouettes rose …and then

Engulfed each other in arms.

 

This was Dharamshala, a town in India

The living Buddha had taken refuge there.

I went to meet him. No acquaintance was I

But he called me by name. Ö Anand,” he said

Come and talk to me. Where’s your Master?

Do the Chinese still keep him in prison?

Of course, you don’t know, but I do

The dhyana-Zen Master is in shackles.

The Master serves Lao-tse these days

You and I — or the entire world — can’t do anything.”

Good-bye,” he said, go back to America

And forget about your last birth as Anand”

So, here in America, I am back again

A discarded membrane of Buddha’s tongue

Not able to speak, but write I  can

Embroider Buddha’s  words on paper, I will

And burn twin candles every day. 

………………………………………………………………..

Lao Tse:6th century  AD. Chinese philosopher

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