The Next Buddha is the Sangha
the next buddha is the sangha
as the image of a lion
evokes wisdom and reverence
anywhere in the world,
so too our trauma
our yearning
and our awakening
is shared
and embodied
before each of us
takes our first breath.
when you descended to earth,
you fulfilled an agreement
with this soil,
this electricity,
this body
one that you made
when you were still
divine
cloud of oneness
you agreed
to fragment
to fall
from your peaceful branch
full of fruit
you chose
to ornament
the earth
with your unique texture,
to kiss the ground
and delight in
the gravity
drinking in the rain
whim of the wind
trampled by careless footsteps
only bringing you closer to
the work,
the real reason you fell
to surrender
to a landscape
larger than
the circumference of your
dreams
to yearn for the tree,
to know it is your home,
to feel out of place,
to accept, to accept,
to accept.
as you awaken
to this story,
you’re overcome
with heartbreak
when you see others
refusing
to meet their lives.
numbing, they
turn away
shut their eyes
they stuff their minds faces bodies
they muffle out
singing
the cries
filling the air
they’ve sheltered from
but you breathe in,
and one day
a voice whispers,
‘no one can learn a lesson
they’re not ready for’
and you know
we will all be ready
one day.
we move far too fast
to ever hear
the conversations
mountains share
but they are so real
and so interesting
they draw up
entire ecosystems
their eager audience
so you accept
that every life
has days of strife,
days of slothing,
days of hard work
days of magical luck
days of dancing and joy
the same way each life’s story
makes up one small chapter
of a grander existence
one that every being on earth
is a part of,
one that every human
has the opportunity
to witness,
to co-create.
let yourself be
swallowed
in the wet mush
colored and
softened,
love the ways
you break
love the ways
you are lost
and know
that you are sustenance
for the life that follows you,
the life that is possible
because of you
and everything around you.
your only task is to love it all.
the next buddha is the sangha.
