Blessing - Eleanor Wilner

[Larry Robinson]

Blessing
 
this is not the truth
about the end   but a hint about
beginning   When the Buddha
had sat alone
for nearly forever
beneath the tree of many names
when he had taken into himself
all the suffering there is
and will always be   then
he did not despair
he turned away
from the empty air
that starving saints exhale
he laughed   at the idea
of nothing   What he saw
clear and unmistakable
before him and really on all sides
was a lake   and the lake shone
and there was Iight in it
and he knew   that to hold
all that water in his gaze
would mislead him
about his own
size   unless he entered the water
and bathed
for there is no enlightenment
without immersion

And so   after so long   the Buddha
entered enlightenment
which is not the end
but the end of being alone

and the Buddha  whom the world
had thought sufficient
unto himself  was not
for that was what
enlightenment taught
 
And at the end of
so long alone
the Buddha slowly turned
toward all the others
who were also alone
and she opened her arms
and around them all  the water
stretched  and shone
 
          - Eleanor Wilner