Buddha in Bangkok

DR J. BAPU REDDY

Thailand
a land of thawing desires
chants,
on it’s Chao Phraya vibrant waves
the incantation of four Noble Truths
the Psalms of Noble Eightfold Path
­Millenniums listen assiduously
to the message of love and peace;
the inevitability of suffering
caused by the self craving
which could be destroyed
by following the eightfold path ­

Right understanding, Right purpose
Right speech, Right conduct
Right vocation, Right effort
Right alertness, Right Concentration...

Buddha’s guiding light
permeates from this awaken’d land
through the phenomenal world ­

Emerald Buddha
evokes peace and tranquility .
Buddham Sharanam Gatchami ­

Golden Buddha
spreads truth and equivality
Sangham Saranam Gatchami ­

Reclining Buddha
radiates compassion and prosperity
Dharmam Saranam Gatchami ­

The ascetic soul, its ambitious body
harmonised in Therevad Creed,
eschew greed, satisfy need
tame temptations, seek salvation
poets of the world
assembled in the Thai verdure realm
kiss this child of Indian Ocean
crowned with,  
Time’s changing moods spectrum blissfully dreaming
of an evil-free time
sans sickness, sans old age, sans death.

They admire Him
singing Krishna’s idyll
following Ram’s ideal
rendering ‘Thai’ life real
They hear the peal of Time Bell
heralding
a new dawn
of thoughts for Third Millennium,
dissolving the fossilized darkness
in a sparkle of light
flashed from the Urn of Love

(Presented at the World Congress of Poets held in Bangkok)