Rajaram Ramachandran - #(Buddha) 16 Buddha's Ideals

Buddha convinced the people
Always with simple parables.
The story of three carts
Was one of those stories.

There was a wealthy man.
He had three children.
Their house caught fire
One day, quite unaware.

The boys were playing,
And despite a warning
From their worried father
They didn’t notice the fire.

He again softly told them
“You all now come.
I’ve kept three carts
Outside our house gate.”

“One is goat-cart
Another is deer-cart
The third is ox-cart,
Each one, you’ll get.”

At once, they ran out
To see their carts.
But saw three white
Ox driven carts.

By then, they were aware,
Their house was on fire.
No doubt, a lie it was,
But it saved three lives.

The white-ox was taken
As a middle path one,
That gave one contentment,
Happiness and enlightenment.

He always said:

“One should eat and drink
Limited to what body takes.
Extreme austerities will torture
One’s body, also extreme pleasure.”

“Filled with water alone,
A lamp will never burn.
You keep your body fit,
If you want enlightenment.”

“From tree top, a bird comes
Down to pick up grains,
But get caught in the net
By this tempting act.”

“Lured by a bait,
A fish gets caught,
When it’s tempted
To go for its food.”

“Like a lotus flower
In a pool of water,
One should learn
To grow and live on.”

“Lotus keeps on growing
Not minding its surrounding
One should grow like this,
Let it be any kind of circles.”

Rajaram Ramachandran

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