An Honest Request

                                             by Sain Sucha

Dear Buddha Ji:

How is it over there?

Are you still enjoying your Nirvana –

                      The state of everlasting bliss

                      No pain, no worry, no more to desire for?

And how about your other renowned friends –

Among them

                      The chosen one

                      The only son

                      The one who plays on the flute

                      And

                      The receiver of the final Book?

Do you all go around in the heavens

                      Marvelling at the plentiful bounties

                      Verdant gardens, rivers of milk and honey

                      Attendant damsels and obedient servants

                      No hunger, no thirst, no fatigue – so stress free?

And

Do you sometimes look back at your old homes?

                      Where, because of some of those who claim

    to be your most devoted followers, suffering abounds –

                      Dead bodies here, bleeding soldiers there

                      Orphaned children here, forsaken elders there

                      No nourishment for the stomach or the mind

                      It appears as if for them there is

                          no hope, no mercy, no tomorrow!

Dear Sirs,

                      Does your stomach holds on such occasions

                      Do you breathe normally, and your heart keeps its beat

                      You hold each other’s hand and feel sublime?

Or

                      Do you at times feel nauseated and throw up where you stand

                      Foul sweat breaks out of your pores and your legs tremble

                      And then you look at each other and wonder:

                      Is that what we have reaped from what we had sown?

Dear Buddha Ji,

                      Once you saw a sick man and then a dead one

                      It bothered you so much you abandoned your palace

                      You toiled for decades, and found what you looked for

                      And then you reached your Nirvana

But now

                      How about a reincarnation for all of you

                      A sort of holy delegation of the enlightened ones

Visiting our little earth to restore peace and tranquillity

To make them practically applicable which were once your dreams?

But

                      Bring some divine protection with you on your way here

                      Lest you get executed by your own ardent disciples

                      Take advice from Jesus, he knows all about it!

Looking forward to meeting you

And thanking you in anticipation

                                                        Your long abandoned friend

                                                                Sain Sucha