No less a word than the last
...for putting to rest the syllable
...for every man a creed a cult
No final philosophy to last
Who can tell when the world ends
...for the strong and the bold
...for those who stand all alone
No better might their word lends
The last wise man who stood apart
...for four noble truths in eight paths
...for what may he have gone away
If prophets rain and never depart
Every age brings new divinizing calls
...for saints bloodied in mad blabber
...for what may holy rites wash away
If the world turns on mechanistic balls
If every man sought the painful path
...for his depraved soul and the world’s
...for the sake of every child’s hunger
Who may not reject nibbhana in wrath
Right paths or wrong paths we decide
...for better or worse in this life
...for the children forced to survive
Better hellfire than the souls’ genocide
I thought I'd be doing myself a favour if I drew your attention to this quatrain in the poem:
The last wise man who stood apart
...for four noble truths in eight paths
...for what may he have gone away
If prophets rain and never depart
Somehow the Buddha failed to see that the Sangha (the organization of his followers into a whole would somehow turn into a body centuries later to make of him a "God") he created or allowed to grow would eventually perpetuate his teachings as God-given when, in my view, they were the workings of a mind without vanity or wilfullness, and which the Christian Church appropriated centuries later as their own God-given Gospel.
I had the privilege to see the exposition of the Dead Sea Scrolls at the British Museum, during 1963/64, placing both Buddhist and Christian teachings side by side. I wish you (not Ron) had had that singular opportunity.
What a World in which we live !!! Not trying to be clever though. Best to all. Wignesan
You ask a lot of questions in this deeply philosophical poem without question marks. But the answers seem quite clear. All of the religions down through the ages have claimed souls as their own with often brutal, cultish rituals of naught. We cannot predict the future the way the religions of the world have simplified it for the masses. But we do know, from science, how this world will end eventually and we may actually know the precise time in the near future. That is the scary part that isn't really philosophical at all.
if prophets rain and never depart, i love this line. Iam a self proclaimed prophet, but only in my own life. thank you for letting us read this piece, much enjoyed.
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The last wise man who stood apart
...for four noble truths in eight paths
...for what may he have gone away
If prophets rain and never depart
Somehow the Buddha failed to see that the Sangha (the organization of his followers into a whole would somehow turn into a body centuries later to make of him a "God") he created or allowed to grow would eventually perpetuate his teachings as God-given when, in my view, they were the workings of a mind without vanity or wilfullness, and which the Christian Church appropriated centuries later as their own God-given Gospel.
I had the privilege to see the exposition of the Dead Sea Scrolls at the British Museum, during 1963/64, placing both Buddhist and Christian teachings side by side. I wish you (not Ron) had had that singular opportunity.
What a World in which we live !!! Not trying to be clever though. Best to all. Wignesan
Ron