On Viewing Buddha in the
Museum
Ommmm, cool Buddha
how relaxing you are!
Your legs in lotus position
as you sit on jewel of flower.
Your right hand telling me
"be not afraid".
Your left giving me the
universe,
sly fox!
I will spend this short hour
with you.
Ah, you seem to wink at me.
I will then tickle your cozy
toes,
tease you out of Nirvana.
Ommmm, holy, wise one.
Ghandarva!
Gandharvas are low-ranking devas in Buddhist cosmology who can fly through the air and are known for their musical skill. They dwell in the scents of bark, sap, and blossoms. A person who practiced the most basic form of ethics may be reborn as a gandharva. In the “Mahātanhasankhaya Sutra” in the “Majjhima Nikāya,” a gandharva is not a celestial being but rather someone whose karma permits being born; Gautama Buddha explains that an embryo develops when three conditions are met: a gandharva must be present, the woman must be in the correct point of her menstrual cycle, and she must have sexual intercourse with a man. In Hinduism, the gandharvas are male nature spirits who are married to the apsaras, cloud and water spirits. Some are part animal (especially a bird or horse), and they act as messengers between the gods and humans and are formidable warriors. Like their Buddhist counterparts, they have superb musical skills and are frequently depicted as singers in the divine court. “Gandharva” is also a term used for the part of the causal continuum of consciousness, a liminal state between death and rebirth.
ReplyDeleteThank you for publishing my poem, the great illustration and wonderful research you have done. Very scholarly and interesting comment.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! keep 'em coming!
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