Writing a Buddhist Jerusalem Hymn for Sri Lanka
ஏப்ரல் 3, 2022
After a small start with The Boys Diabolical, the page becomes a full Bodh Gaya-style hymn for Sri Lanka, layering Buddhist, Christian, and mythic references into a national-spiritual poem about the island's sacred destiny.
1. Sri Lanka -- Bodh Gaya:
And, did Those Feet -- in ancient times
Walk upon Thambapanni's shores?
And, "Thus Have I Heard, the Blessed One"
On Serendip's Sri Pada was seen?
And, did His Prabhashvara
Overpour brightly our treasure island?
And, was Mahiyangana builded here
Among those Nagas and Yakkhas?
Free me from Dukkha of my Bhavachakra
Free me from Samudaya of Tanha
Free me with Nirodha: 'O Nirvana attain!
Free me with our Sangha of Dharma
I will not cease from Samsara,
Nor shall I stray -- from Magga
'Til we have built Bodh Gaya
In Sri Lanka's divine, sacred land
***
Notes:
1. Thambapanni = ancient name for Sri Lanka:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Tambapanni
2. King Vijaya = walked upon Sri Lanka's shores to meet inhabitants according to legend:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Vijaya
3. Tripitaka discourses often begin with = "Thus Have I Heard" + refer to Buddha = "The Blessed One":
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thus_have_I_heard
4. Serendip = old name for Sri Lanka. Predates Ceylon which the British called Sri Lanka:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_Sri_Lanka
5. Sri Pada = Adam's Peak = where Adam laid his feet upon his fall from the Garden of Eden. Buddhists claim it is where Buddha landed his feet, marking his footprint, during his ancient times visit to Sri Lanka:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam%27s_Peak
6. Prabhashvara = light emanating from Buddha's head, which is said to have spread a lengthy distance:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prabashvara
Similar to Christ, this was a phenomena in folklore. Buddha is referred to with capitalised H as a pronoun as Jesus is referred to in the Holy Bible.
7. Sri Lanka = similar to fictional Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure_Island
8. Mahiyangana = temple that was built during the time of the Buddha. This was built to honor him for his wisdom solving a conflict between the Nagas and Yakkhas who lived over 2,500 years ago, according to folklore, in Sri Lanka:
Nagas = snakes, and Yakkhas = demons, alluding to Bible's Genesis and possibly Serpent Lucifer and Satan:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahiyangana_Raja_Maha_Vihara
9. Dukkha = Hindu Buddhist Jain concept of suffering:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Du%E1%B8%A5kha
10. Bhavachakra or existential realms = what Buddha taught were many realities and realms or dimensions:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhavacakra
The following terms refer to the Four Noble Truths of Suffering:
11. Samudaya = origin of conceptual suffering:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths#Mnemonic_set
12. Taṇhā = desire or more accurately, attachment which leads to cycle of rebirth:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ta%E1%B9%87h%C4%81
13. Nirodha = path to ending suffering:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirodha
14. Nirvana = full release of worldly attachment:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_paths_to_liberation
15. Sangha = Monks, Nuns, Laymen and Laywomen, but in a general colloquial sense, refers to the Monks:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sangha
16. Dharma = teachings of the Buddha (and Hindus):
In Buddhism, the "Buddha, Dharma and Sangha" = equivalent to Roman Catholic "the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit" or the 'Holy Ghost':
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refuge_(Buddhism
17. Samsara = what the cycle of reincarnation is known as in Buddhism:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa%E1%B9%83s%C4%81ra_(Buddhism
18. The Noble Eightfold Buddhist Path = explains how to end or cease conscious existence in Samsara:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_Eightfold_Path
A foundational belief in Buddhism is that "life is suffering" due to the impermanent or temporary nature of all things.
19. Magga = Buddhist key and distinct concept which distinguishes Buddhism from Hinduism and Jainism--
it means, "Middle Path" or "Balanced Way", where you stray away from extremes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_paths_to_liberation
20. Bodh Gaya = most sacred site in Buddhism as it is where Buddha attained enlightenment: