a poem that relates to religion and Doctor Who

[fannishliss]

There was some article in the past while that talked about Religion and Doctor Who.  Maybe a British religion professor was using Who in the classroom? Anyway, I don't think it's such a bad idea really.  I very much enjoy the writings of great Buddhist thinker, Thich Nhat Hanh.  In his book, Teachings on Love, which is a really great book btw, I came across this poem today and just had to share.  If you love the Doctor, or even if you don't, here is a fantastic poem. It is about how we are all eternal in our way, how we can awaken a love that is never ending.  If you've ever liked one of my sappy, utopian romances, here is what's at the heart of all that.  Can't you just see the Doctor perched on the side of the mountain in a sea of red grass, contemplating the sunset?? :D

The Old Mendicant

Thich Nhat Hanh

Being rock, being gas, being mist, being Mind,
being the mesons travelling among the galaxies
at the speed of light,
you have come here, my beloved.
And your blue eyes shine, so beautiful, so deep.
You have taken the path traced for you
from the non-beginning and the never-ending.
You say that on your way here
you have gone through
many millions of births and deaths.
Innumerable times you have been transformed
into firestorms in outer space.
You have used your own body
to measure the age of the mountains and rivers.
You have manifested yourself
as trees, grass, butterflies, single-celled beings,
and as chrysanthemums.
But the eyes with which you look at me this morning
tell me that you have never died.
Your smile invites me into the game
whose beginning no one knows,
the game of hide-and-seek.

O green caterpillar, you are solemnly using your body
to measure the length of the rose branch that grew last Summer.
Everyone says that you, my beloved, were just born this Spring.
Tell me, how long have you been around?
Why wait until this moment to reveal yourself to me,
carrying with you that smile which is so silent and so deep?
O caterpillar, suns, moons, and stars flow out each time I exhale.
Who knows that the infinitely large must be found
in your tiny body?
Upon each point on your body,
thousands of Buddha fields have been established.
With each stretch of your body, you measure time
from the non-beginning to the never-ending.
The great mendicant of old is still there on Vulture Peak,
contemplating the ever-splendid sunset.

Gautama, how strange!
Who said that the Udumbara flower blooms
only once every 3,000 years?

The sound of the rising tide-- you cannot help hearing it
if you have an attentive ear.

Comments

[ex-logospil.livejournal.com]

Amazing poem... Thank you for sharing! I love Thich Nhat Hanh :-)

[fannishliss.livejournal.com]

The first stanza seems to be to the beloved... and the second is to a tiny green caterpillar -- but both are the beloved, and both are the universe, and that's what I love about it!!

Plus, I love the Great Mendicant of Old, what a beautiful image.

And calling Buddha by his first name. :D

Every book by TNH I read brings me a little closer.... I read it one or two or three pages a day. :D