Under the Bodhi Tree

We have landed
On the moon
We’ve trained our eyes
Upon the stars
Looked deep inside
The sun’s corona

We’ve gone as fast
As sound and cheetahs
Slowed down time
To see a bullet
Sped it up
To watch grass grow

We built a home
And then a village
Then towns and roads
And then the cities

All connected by
Wheels and hulls
And wings
With engines

We’ve strung out wires
To spread our voices
Then through the air
We mastered physics

Built towers of glass
As high as mountains
Dug holes deep down
Into the mantle

We make music, art
And noise
We play games
As adults
With childish poise

We have stood upon
The mountain peaks
Drifted down
To watery deeps

We’ve explored
All that is
And ever was
Set our minds
To what could be

We’ve found the answers
To many questions
And found more questions
And sought their answers
And some we’ll find
And some we won’t
We love the seeking
More than the answers

But…

Of all the things
We’ve done, forever
There is no
Greater endeavour

Than one small man
Beneath a tree
Upon a bed
Of lotus flowers
Who lulled his mind
To gentle slumber
Unlocked the path
To ancient wonder

He quelled
All that was
And all that is
All that won’t
And all that will

Released from being
Detached non-being
He became Gautama
The Enlightened One
Compassionate
And loving-kind

Then turned away
From his Nibbana
To teach this way
For all us seekers
To end our suffering
And to that end
Will end our seeking

No deed
Has ever been
Greater

No gift
Has ever been
Kinder

No wisdom
Has ever been
Deeper

No love
Has ever been
Fuller

Than that which
One man found
Within
One fine day
Beneath
The bodhi tree