Sala Flower

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The pagoda courtyard is gently occupied by golden sunshine

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And the bright color of the pagoda’s red roof tiles, as well\r\nas the fragrance from aloe wood

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Intermingled with the subtly-wonderful sutra words\r\nresounding together with the sound released from a wooden bell

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And the line of freshly green trees by roadside

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All these scenes adorn the Salavana rosy flowers

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Salavana is the name of a flower

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Its round six-petal buds open and give rosy flowers

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Its golden pistils look like a dragon’s jaw

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The pure fragrance of this flower makes people think of zen\r\nscenery

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In the morning, this kind of flower shows its deep temple\r\nexercising charm

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But in the evening its bodies are found lifeless on the\r\nparthouse along the alleys

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Living travellers feel sorry for its ephemerous fate and\r\nfeel unable to part leaving the flowers behind alone

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So, they pick up the fallen flower and then realize the\r\nimpermanence of short-lived things in human life

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They also look back on the old days when the Great\r\nEnlightened Sakyamuni Buddha

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Stayed calmly at the foot of a salavana tree until He was\r\nled to Nirvana

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This tree has had a splendid history

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And pervaded perfume to see off the salvation of the Buddha

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Salavana flowers really show their everlasting beauty

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And their fragrance stays forever in the heart of human\r\nbeings.

By Senior Venerable Thich Chan Tinh

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Translated into English by layman Hoang Huan.

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