Dr. Satyaki Saikia
He had reached the end
For there were no paths left to tread
He had explored them all.
Raised in the sheltered opulence
Of a majestically royal life
Shielded from all sorrow and pain
His destiny had another plan.
The young prince had set out
Leaving his wife and child behind
For so urgent was the call
So insistent the urge
That he had not another choice.
Now, eight years hence
He was at the end
His body, emaciated and shrunk
His parchment skin draping his ribs
A privation so magnificently onerous
That his very existence shuddered.
A shadow of a man, lighted
Only by his eyes
That glowed deep in their sockets
Burning with a fire so intense
A conviction so fierce, so resolute
That his life dared not quit.
He had already pushed beyond
Beyond the limits of possible
But the Truth had been so elusive
The enduring fragrance of a delicate blossom
Leaving traces of its presence
But burnt by the fire
Of his relentless searching mind.
So our prince had to pause
For he understood the dilemma
To look without searching
To hold without grasping
To allow what IS to BE.
So he sat for a final time
Beneath that Bodhi tree
His erect spine holding straight
What little remained of him
His eyes half open in inner reflection
His entire being slowly converged
Into one single point
Of absolute, utter conviction
A force so severe, so intense
That it would either bend
The arc of human destiny
Or end in annihilation.
The three worlds stood still
All existence paused in awe
For a silent clarion had been sounded
As a man simply sat
Holding the Earth as his witness
Burning a path in the cosmic darkness
A single immaculate act of will
Challenged the original nescience.
Even Mara bowed in obeisance
The gods watched in silence
The fate of creation, its liberation
Now hung in a precarious balance.
In the third part of the night
The last wisps of cloud melted
And the blue moon in its fullness
Illumined this divine spectacle
He quietly opened his eyes and beheld
The North Star in complete clarity
And the final veil was rent …
A life reached its completion
Journeying from the depths of obscurity
To the fullest perfection
Gautama had become a Buddha
Anuttara Samyak Sambodhi.
The devas and asuras alike
Bent their knees in supplication
For a man had showed them the path
The Middle Way to liberation.
Whether a god or daemon, they knew
Earth was the route, the only way
If they truly sought salvation.
The thunderous proclamation of that night
Still echoes through the three realms
And in testimony to a man's word
The blue moon rises again tonight
Waiting for another miracle to unfold.
::x::x::x::
Dr. Satyaki Saikia
is a Medical Consultant specializing in Internal Medicine and Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and is based at Guwahati, Assam
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