Coming Home

Empty are words and so is the world
and all the promises that it holds
it offered you prescriptions
its rule book and instructions
a path that looked rosy and shiny
promised to take you to your destiny
you did what you were asked to do
but nowhere that actually led you to

You kept running like a mad horse
crossing pastures one after other
on your back carrying the load
of your dreams and expectations
your plans and calculations
you have been restless like the mad ant
which is looking for sugar in the sand
hoping one day to reach the goal
when chase would end once for all

Tall your achievements are indeed!
but you find yourself hollow and empty
you gave it all that you had, honestly
but your adventures left you high and dry
the mirage that is still out of your grasp
lures you even more as each day passes by

Clueless you still are about what you are after
is it success, riches, fame or glory?
or the best in your craft that you aspire to be?
is it the masterpiece you want to create?
is it your anxiety that is not letting you rest?
or the wish to be free from the chain of mundane?
is there a thing that can make you complete?
a magic wand that can grant all your wishes?
a treasure that can fulfil all your dreams?
what can stop all your pursuits and make you still?
and then there is no more thirst, no longings?

There was a prince named Gautama long ago
all wealth and opulence couldn't hold him though
he shunned it all away to be a homeless wanderer
he found peace and became Buddha thereafter
who has not heard of Alexander the great?
who set out to possess the entire planet
but the more he acquired, became he emptier
after death, needed a small piece of land to rest
then there was Ashoka, the mighty emperor
who was the murderer of his own brothers
why after winning the greatest battle of life
he felt like a loser, he kept wondering
wiser he became and became his people's king

The world can't give what a man seeks
not its pleasures, wealth or glory
not through an object or a person or a thing
he could get an experience everlasting
no magic formulae or pill, there is nothing
in his heart Gautama found something
the peace that others saw in his eyes
sprouted from his inner being
you, me, all are a Buddha in making

When you cut attention cord with the fleeting world
and your dependence on the world is no more
when are ceased all the seeking that you seek
and the noise in your head quieten a bit
you take the bridge of breath to cross the shore
and reach the valley of sunshine
a place transcending human hope and despair
where a sweet fragrance of life wafts in the air
there bloom thousand lotuses and fountains spring
you will discover a new layer of your being
and will be embraced by the peace of settling down
eternal will be this joy of coming home
that is the treasure you are longing for all along

soaked in the beauty of that awakening
you will laugh, cry, dance and sing
you will flow like the river that flows alike
through the rocky mountains, valleys and plains
you will witness the cycles of change like the tree
that watches flowering and the falling of its leaves
you will stand tall like the mountain
unperturbed by sunshine, storm or rain
streams of your emotions will empty their muds
into the depth of your oceanic being

Dispelling all darkness a new sun will rise
and a new understanding will dawn
that Buddha state of mind will set you free
a new man will be born indeed
what a moment of glory will that be!