Lotus Picking

เชษฐภัทร วิสัยจร

by Verita
 
Man can do everything
 
The boy read out loud, 
Swelling, feeling proud,
 
Lines from Science for Prathom 5,
Sure made him smile
 
The boy flipped through faded pictures,
There, the Wright Brothers! 
And their first jet
He pointed happily, 
Thats the Titanic, Leonardo on its deck
Ive seen it crash and wreck 
In the movie!
 
Leaning on the trunk
Of a mango tree,
The monk chuckled,
 
Lines from Science for Prathom 5,
Also made him smile
 
The monk closed his eyes,
And waited patiently.
Finally,
The boy closed his book.
The monk opened his eyes
And gave him a look.
 
Boy, help me pick the lotus,
If you dont mind
 
The boy dragged a wooden boat
And together, 
They floated out in the murky pond,
A boat, a student, a teacher.
 I heard you said man can do everything, yes? 
The monk stopped rowing,
And thus began this lotus-picking,
His hand touched the water.
Sir, yes
Was the boys response,
Man can fly,
Man can build steel ships
Man can do,
Everything their hearts desire 
I see
The monk smiled mysteriously, 
Now listen to this,
Heres an enigma that you cant resist
The boy looked interested. 
Can man embrace bees
the way this kind lotus do?
The boy thought hard.
The furrow on his forehead
Matched the line of the wood.
 
No, bees will sting us if we do so
the boy replied,
But quickly added,
But if we wear strong armor, maybe we can
hug bees without getting hurt              
The monk laughed,
Youll crush them into pieces, then,
Those bees.
Dont forget, killing is a sin       
And embracing someone with an armor 
is not a true embrace  
Look at the lotus, look how it gently embraces 
Butterflies and bees
 
Then man cannot embrace bees without sin
The boy looked puzzled.
 
But, sir, man can do Much More
important things 
than that
like
The boy stammered:
Like building airplanes
And the Titanic
Ah, I see
 
The monk paused and said
 
Look at the birds
Dont you think they inspire the Wright Brothers?
 
The boy squinted his eyes,
the birds,
flapping their wings in one large group, 
can shape black-dotted airplane, 
Amazing Troop!
As for the Titanic
The monk pointed out to the water
Look at these little white vessels,
These Jasmines,
And tell me,
How they endure the river 
And escape our strokes,
Dont they, by any chance,
Inspire those who build the Great boat?
 
 The student followed the teachers hand,
 
Now he can see 
Now he can understand
For written clearly by the teachers vein, 
He saw the lines: 
 
Without nature,
Man is nothing.
 
Close your eyes now, boy
The monk could feel the summer wind stroking his robe.
 
Feel the breeze, the breath of the bees
 
Breathe with the lotus and the mango tree 
Meditate with me,
                                    For, in this way,                                               
Lord Buddhas wisdom was inspired by nature.
 
In this way,
Nature is man and man is nature
The Lord Buddha, you, me,
WE are all at one
 
--And youYou are the lotus in this lotus-picking, 
A benign voice could be heard in the breeze
 
The boy closed his eyes,
Feeling his torso turn,
Into strong trunk,
 
Feeling his palms 
turn into Jasmine petals,
 
Feeling his head 
Turn into blooming lotus,
 
-I am a lotus-, the boy thought
He hid his smile humbly: 
 
-And Now I can embrace bees
Posted on Sun 5 Jun 2005 14:22