Ode to the Dalai Lama
-
- July
- 8
When the Dalai Lama was in Boston recently—you remember him wearing the Patriots hat—he stopped by Harvard to talk a little compassion.
A Harvard Divinity School PhD named Royal Rhodes has written a poem to mark the event. Rhodes is now the Donald L. Rogan Professor of Religious Studies at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio.
Here’s his poem:
*****
HIS HOLINESS, THE DALAI LAMA VISITS HARVARD
Robes in somber red and crimson billow
as the “Ocean of Compassion” goes
around the Yard that Brahmins built. A pillow
rests upon a chair for him. It glows
in colored silks, as if an angel will
come down and sit a while. The civil crowd
lean their heads as one. Desires still
will blunt his point and leave the heart unbowed,
with anger towards the so-called enemy,
a feeling that the Bodhisattvas spurned.
The dignitaries plant a hybrid tree,
a birch, and watch the common earth get turned.
His silent smile regards these worldly powers,
as in the land of snows the lotus flowers.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, July 8th, 2009 at 2:21 pm by Gary Stern.
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The world of religion, we don't have to tell you, is vast. The purpose of this blog is for Stern to note, flag and comment on some of the more interesting religious developments on the scene – weighty and quirky, somber and laughable, far away and just down the road. He won't interpret Scripture, take sides in conflicts or judge anyone. But he will take advantage of the journalist's license to observe.
