Three more poems from ‘The first free women’

These poems are from The first free women: poems of the early Buddhist Nuns, translated by Matty Weingast (Boulder, CO: Shambhala Publications, 2020). The December 2020 Creative Dharma newsletter has an interview with Matty Weingast.

 

Rohini ~ wandering star

You don’t become the cloth
just because you put on robes.

You don’t turn into empty space
just because you carry a bowl.

The sun doesn’t bow down.
Trees don’t throw flowers at your feet.
Birds don’t start answering when you call.

The Path will hold even the biggest mistakes.
The Path will make room for even your deepest regrets.

But you don’t become 
the cloth of the robe 
overnight.

It can begin very quietly.
Something you barely even notice.

Like the touch of water on your skin,
like a knife in a drawer,
like the next five minutes –
unless they’re your last.

The Path isn’t a line on a map.
It’s a great shining world.
Enter wherever you like.

You might get thrown back once or twice,
but if you push through 
the outer layers –
oh, my sisters,
then 
you will know 
the true welcome
that is the very essence 
of the Path. 

 

~~~

Mitta ~ friend

Full of trust you left home,
and soon learned to walk the Path –
making yourself a friend to everyone
and making everyone a friend.

When the whole world is your friend,
fear will find no place to call home.

And when you make the mind your friend,
you’ll know what trust 
really means.

Listen.

I have followed this Path of friendship to its end.
And I can say with absolute certainty –

it will lead you home. 

 

~~~

Vira ~ hero

Truly strong 
among those 
who think themselves 
strong.

Truly unafraid 
among those 
who hide their 
fear.

A hero 
among those 
who talk of heroes.

Don’t be fooled by outward signs –
lifting heavy things
or picking fights with weaker opponents
and running headfirst into battle.

A real hero 
walks the Path 
to its end.

Then shows others the way.