Buddha on The Forest Way

Ingredients:

Sayings of Buddha on "The Forest Way". Rendered in haiku form.

This is twenty-first in the series.

The image is "Autumn in Bavaria" by the Russian abstract painter Wassily Kandinsky.

Directions:

If by postponing
Pleasure you find ecstasy,
The wise wait and see.

There’s promise of bliss
And there’s gratification.
Follow your promise.

There’s titillation
And there’s joy – forgo the first
To get the second.

If your contentment
Deprives another of his,
Then you remain bound.

Bonds of enmity
Cannot be cured by revenge.
Their cure is kindness.

Reckless wilful ones
Don’t do what they should do, and
Do what they should not.

The wise meditate
And don’t do what they should not,
Only what they should.

Mindful, discerning
And blessed with intelligence,
They wipe clean all stains.

A mother’s craving,
A father’s pride, both are purged
In a son who’s pure.

The realm of senses
Has a king who proudly thinks
He rules forever.

The realm of senses
Has a queen, languid, fickle,
Obscurely dreaming.

The realm of senses
Has a taxman who measures
All with greedy eyes.

The realm of senses
Has a knight, selfless, humble,
Loyally striving.

Tear down the four walls
And kill king, queen and taxman,
Ending attachment.

Only doubt remains
Like a tiger in your path
To the peaceful shore.

Cast off the five veils,
Lay waste illusion’s kingdom
And end all sorrow.

Alert and watchful,
The disciples of Buddha
Practice day and night.

May you too practice
Mindfulness of the nature
Of the pure master.

May you too practice
Mindfulness of the nature
Of eternal Truth.

May you too practice
Mindfulness of the nature
Of good fellowship.

May you too practice
Mindfulness of the body
And its components.

May you too nurture
The joy of a loving heart
That would never harm.

May you too nurture
The joy of a noble soul
That can do no wrong.

To find and enjoy
The way is hard, but so’s life –
All beings suffer.

Settling or travelling,
Both cause trouble when people
Or things don’t suit you.

Stop then your wandering
Through the endless sorry round,
Subject never more.

Faithful and virtuous,
Possessing fame and fortune,
He is loved by all.

The good and generous
Are known, revered and welcomed
Wherever they go.

Clearly visible,
Like the Himalayan peaks,
Good men shine from far.

Bad men move unseen
Like arrows let fly by night
Though they may be near.

He who sits, rests, walks
And thrives alone, finds his joy
In the forest way.