Saturday, July 11, 2020
Bodiharma Speaks––poem by Dorothy
Bodidharma Speaks on his reincarnation as a lesser being
Bodhidharma was a world teacher who is credited with bringing Buddhism from India to China,where he introduced the art of meditation. During my initial awakening initiation (internal) I was given his as my "new name," though at the time I did not know what these syllables meant.
Frankly, I am tired
of traveling to strange countries,
telling them
what it is they should know,
how speak, what learn.
I brought with me
sacred knowledge,
some say even taught
peculiar techniques.
It was a challenging
assignment,
but it succeeded,
albeit in forms
I had not foreseen.
I became renowned,
honored in ceremony,
written about in books.
Now I wish to be small.
Hidden in a remote frontier area,
parents kind
but unawakened,
myself choosing
aloneness,
books for companions,
no awareness
of what I had been before.
I sought Western wisdom,
not Eastern lore,
passionate relations,
heartbreak, the whole,
a human of my time.
At the end I was infused
with the subtle body
I brought in.
Awakening was swift,
rapture my reward.
Ecstasy was my guide,
my way of reclaiming
who I was.
It wrought transfiguration,
every cell and tendon within.
Again I was called
to be the pilgrim,
the pioneer pointing the way.
Once more I was the lonely missionary.
Again, I spoke my truth,
helped other eyes to open,
found ways to change the world.
Dorothy Walters
June 25, 2020
Bodhidharma was a world teacher who is credited with bringing Buddhism from India to China,where he introduced the art of meditation. During my initial awakening initiation (internal) I was given his as my "new name," though at the time I did not know what these syllables meant.
Frankly, I am tired
of traveling to strange countries,
telling them
what it is they should know,
how speak, what learn.
I brought with me
sacred knowledge,
some say even taught
peculiar techniques.
It was a challenging
assignment,
but it succeeded,
albeit in forms
I had not foreseen.
I became renowned,
honored in ceremony,
written about in books.
Now I wish to be small.
Hidden in a remote frontier area,
parents kind
but unawakened,
myself choosing
aloneness,
books for companions,
no awareness
of what I had been before.
I sought Western wisdom,
not Eastern lore,
passionate relations,
heartbreak, the whole,
a human of my time.
At the end I was infused
with the subtle body
I brought in.
Awakening was swift,
rapture my reward.
Ecstasy was my guide,
my way of reclaiming
who I was.
It wrought transfiguration,
every cell and tendon within.
Again I was called
to be the pilgrim,
the pioneer pointing the way.
Once more I was the lonely missionary.
Again, I spoke my truth,
helped other eyes to open,
found ways to change the world.
Dorothy Walters
June 25, 2020
