Who Will Wake the Sleeping Buddha?
Who will save us all?
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On zombie days when Buddha sleeps
and karma seems to pause
the world lies deep in murky haze
obscuring sacred laws
On zombie days when Buddha sleeps,
the fortune-monger thrives
and peddlers sell their souls for keeps
endangering all our lives
On zombie days when Buddha sleeps
and countries fall astray
the people lose true North again
while Love is kept at bay
On zombie days when Buddha sleeps
and spiders weave their webs
they spin and spin until our wings
seem caught in endless threads
On zombie days when Buddha sleeps
and Gaia’s almost played
she crowns the smallest creature found
to stop from being laid
On zombie days when Buddha sleeps
is it best to close our eyes
or should we wake the Buddha now
so the dream of other dies?
©️Mary Keating 2020
Author’s note: This poem was inspired by the koans:
“If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him,” and “the sound of one hand clapping.” Their message is that there is no other.
When times seem hopeless, when lies and divisiveness rule, we can easily be lulled into a zombie-like state while the earth and its inhabitants suffer. But collectively we all have the power inside us to wake up and change the current course of events.
My prayer:
God grant us the courage to wake up the goodness inside us (our inner Buddha), see the truth and begin healing the world. May we realize what we do to anything, we do to ourselves — for ultimately — there is no difference.
Namaste
