Full Moon Day Third Lunar Month
One candle is a light unto itself.
One hundred candles
illuminate a room.
In a room,
one candle is
a light unto itself.
Uposatha day at Wat Katum,
seven old ladies and one old man
taking eight precepts
for a day
to keep the Niraya fires at bay.
'I undertake
to observe the precept
to refrain from
killing living beings.
'I undertake
to observe the precept
to refrain from
taking things not given.
'I undertake………'
An old monk gives a sermon:
'A silent sandoth arahant is blamed.
Articulate Sariputta is blamed.
Economical speech of Ananda is blamed.
Even silent Buddhas cannot escape censure.
Criticising others
burns the mind,
wards off wholesome
states of mind.'
A new and lofty concrete sala hall
is being built to house a replica
of a famous Buddha image.
In this, they say, Luang Po Sothorn
floated, in a miracle,
along the river Bang Pakhong
to Chachoengsao
after the sacking of Ayudhaya
a city of a million souls.
Eleven o'clock,
a bell sounds.
Seven monks follow their abbot
to walk a hot and dusty concrete road
past a rabble of dogs with mange,
to Jai Hieng's house.
Sabbe sankhara dukkha
On the anniversary
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poem by Brian Taylor
Added by Poetry Lover
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