For the pilgrims, from Bruno:

 

 

WALKING WITH BUDDHA

 

 

[Lumbini]

 

Buddha is born in the here and now.

The trees and the blossoms, the forest bears witness.

 

[Kapilavastu]

 

The cocoon of the familiar, in time, is renounced

To wander and search in the vast present moment.

 

[Bodhgaya]

 

After so many gurus, exertion and hardship,

Stretched almost to breaking, you chose a new path.

 

Oh what a release just to sit on this cushion,

The simplest of grasses, beneath a great tree.

 

As every day opens to night, into daytime,

From evening to morning, from dusk into dawn,

 

The Mind also opens and drops all delusion.

The Heart lotus blossoms, all grasping released.

 

The morning star dawning, sun’s rays shine impartially,

Completely awake, free from all complexity.

 

So vivid and peaceful, in openness and contentment,

The true perfect Buddha is found in one’s heart.

 

[Sarnath]

 

The truth overflows and the parkland rejoices.

The deer all come closer to hear the good news:

 

The mind with its torments and all of its grasping,

Cut through by Awareness, for all time, is free!

 

[Rajgir]

 

A Song of Perfection is sung from the mountain

To valleys and hilltops, to trees, to the sky:

 

All things are empty and yet they appear,

Like so many rainbows, mirages, and dreams.

 

Remembering this, be a child of illusion,

With purest perception, beyond hope and fear.

 

Rejoice all who hear this, the plants and the stones,

The breezes that carry it in every direction.

 

The great panorama, the view, chants its answer:

Halleluia! Hosanna! Gloria! Amen!

 

Thus have I heard… Halleluia! Hosanna!

Thus it is my dear friend… Halleluia! Amen!

 

Gaté, gaté, paragaté,

Parasamgaté, bodhi, soha…

 

[Kushinagar]

 

Everything that is born also must die-

Kings, beggars, buddhas, and me.

 

A last sip of water, a few final teachings.

Oh child of illusion, remember these words:

 

You are the Buddha, remember, remember.

And you are Salvation, remember these words.

 

 

The deathless unending Nature of Mind,

Unborn and unceasing, with Nature like the Sky.

 

Sit like a mountain, reflect stars on the water,

Like the wings of an eagle about to take flight.

 

Rest in Natural Great Peace, my dear friend.

The Nature of Mind is Pure Light, remember.

 

Lux aeterna, requiem aeternam,

Parasamgaté, bodhi, soha.

 

 

 

 

(Tashi Rabjay.

 January 2007, India.)