The Dalai Lama Who Loved Wine, Women and Song
Here the May lilacs blossom in the garden
Their fragrance sprawls in the air of spring.
Yet my mind drifts on wings of a daydream
To a far away land of peach-treed valleys
Embraced by snow-capped mountains.
One night there on the Roof of the Earth
A young man in the holy city of Lhasa
Listened to the chanting of mantras
Not for the sake of enlightenment
But in order to sense her breath.
That month he span all the pray wheels
Not for the sake of freeing his soul
But in order to touch her finger prints.
That year he prostrated on the ground
With his hands clasping the earth
Not for the sake of adoring Buddha
But in order to sense her warmth.
That incarnation he crossed green forests
He passed through farmlands and deserts
He climbed a hundred thousand mountains
Not for the sake of afterlife
But in order to meet her on the road.
Who was this young man?
Descending from the Monpa Tribe
He was born in 1683 at Urgelling
In the Monastery near Tawang in India.
His parents gave him the name
Losang Rigdzin Tsangyang Gyatso
In the Tibetan language it means
Ocean of Melodious Songs.
His trunk of life was cut short though
Just a child yet and he became
Like an uncrowned king in the land
And even so he remained modest
Humble and unassuming.
He traveled about on foot
He kept no personal servants
He brewed his own tea
And served his guests himself.
[...] Read more
poem by Paul Hartal
Added by Poetry Lover
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