“Man can do everything”
วริตตา ศรีรัตนา
ภาพโดย Ke Hugo
The boy read out loud,
Swelling, feeling proud,
Lines from Science for Prathom 5,
Sure made him smile…
The boy flipped through faded pictures,
“There, the Wright Brothers!
And their first jet”
He pointed happily,
“That’s the Titanic, Leonardo on its deck
I’ve seen it crash and wreck
In the movie!”
Leaning on the trunk
Of a mango tree,
The monk chuckled,
Lines from Science for Prathom 5,
Also made him smile…
The monk closed his eyes,
And waited patiently.
Finally,
The boy closed his book.
The monk opened his eyes
And gave him a look.
“Boy, help me pick the lotus,
If you don’t mind”
The boy dragged a wooden boat
And together,
They floated out in the murky pond,
A boat, a student, a teacher.
“I heard you said man can do everything, yes?”
The monk stopped rowing,
And thus began this lotus-picking,
His hand touched the water.
“Sir, yes”
Was the boy’s response,
“Man can fly,
Man can build steel ships
Man can do,
Everything their hearts desire”
“I see”
The monk smiled mysteriously,
“Now listen to this,
Here’s an enigma that you can’t resist”
The boy looked interested.
“Can man embrace bees
the way this kind lotus do?”
The boy thought hard.
The furrow on his forehead
Matched the line of the wood.
“No, bees will sting us if we do so”
the boy replied,
But quickly added,
“But if we wear strong armor, maybe we can
hug bees without getting hurt”
The monk laughed,
“You’ll crush them into pieces, then,
Those bees.
Don’t forget, killing is a sin
And embracing someone with an armor
is not a true embrace
Look at the lotus, look how it gently embraces
Butterflies and bees”
“Then man cannot embrace bees without sin”
The boy looked puzzled.
“But, sir, man can do Much More
important things
than that
like—“
The boy stammered:
“Like building airplanes
And the Titanic”
“Ah, I see”
The monk paused and said
“Look at the birds
Don’t you think they inspire the Wright Brothers?”
The boy squinted his eyes,
the birds,
flapping their wings in one large group,
can shape black-dotted airplane,
Amazing Troop!
“As for the Titanic”
The monk pointed out to the water
“Look at these little white vessels,
These Jasmines,
And tell me,
How they endure the river
And escape our strokes,
Don’t they, by any chance,
Inspire those who build the Great boat?”
The student followed the teacher’s hand,
Now he can see
Now he can understand
For written clearly by the teacher’s vein,
He saw the lines:
Without nature,
Man is nothing.
“Close your eyes now, boy”
The monk could feel the summer wind stroking his robe.
“Feel the breeze, the breath of the bees
Breathe with the lotus and the mango tree
Meditate with me,
For, in this way,
Lord Buddha’s wisdom was inspired by nature.
In this way,
Nature is man and man is nature
The Lord Buddha, you, me,
WE are all at one”
--And you…You are the lotus in this lotus-picking,
A benign voice could be heard in the breeze
The boy closed his eyes,
Feeling his torso turn,
Into strong trunk,
Feeling his palms
turn into Jasmine petals,
Feeling his head
Turn into blooming lotus,
-I am a lotus-, the boy thought
He hid his smile humbly:
-And Now I can embrace bees-