The Repentance Poem of Buddha’s Enlightenment

We respectfully worship

 The Guru Sakyamuni

 The Buddhist founder in Saha world

 He was born at

 The Lumbini Park

 In Kapilavastu

 In the Ancient India

 His name is Siddhartha

 The thirty two of good marks,

 Suddhodana is His king

 And MahāMāyā - the queen – His mother

 When he had became an adult

 One day, he went out palace,

 Passing by four gates

 Seeing the sick, old and dead,

 And a monk

 The body is impermanent

 Misery and unreality and no ego,

 People’s life is so short,

 Feeling pitiful for human’ ignorance

 Being immersed in the five desires

 He wished to be the monk

 Determining to find the truth

 To save living beings from suffering

 The prince and Channa,

 Left home to become a monk,

 Leaving cheers and joys behind,

 In the golden and jade palace

 Arriving the jungle

 Belonging to Ma-la kingdom

 He cut his hair

 To become a monk

 Look for the truth

 Learning with the Kuru

 ĀlāraKālāma

 And UddakaRāmaputta

 The two great masters

 Being famous at that time

 But those two practices

 Had not enlightened yet

 So he had to leave

 Two dear teachers of His

 And keep going on his path

 Meeting five practitioners

 Applying asceticism

 The Bodhisattva also joined in

 During six years

 The body became haggard

 Just hidebound

 He became exhausted

 But did not find the truth

 Bodhisattva finally gave up

 The extreme cultivation

 That cannot help for enlightenment

 He tried to creep over

 And bathed in the river

 Then he begged for food

 Began to have meals

 His health started to recover

 The Bodhisattva went to the tree root

 Sat quietly and meditated

 One day, Sujata

 Brought some food into the forest,

 Seeing him, thinking that he was a god

 She offered a bowl of milk

 After using it,

 He was full of energy

 Stepped down in Nairañjanā river

 To wash off the dust

 Then went to Bodhi tree

 Gathering leaves to make the seat

 At that time, a cowherd

 Offered some grass

 He took it as the seat

 Sitting on it

 He uttered a vow

 “Due to beings’ suffering

 I left to find the truth.

 If I did not achieve the goal

 I would not leave this place.”

 Bodhisattva peacefully meditated

 Breathing in and breathing out

 His decisive force is much firmer

 At that time, ghost King appeared

 Trying to disturb him

 One time disguising satans

 Other time becoming the beauty

 dancing and singing

 He peacefully meditated

 Overcoming those obstacles

 He won in the ghosts’ tricks

 From His right mindfulness

 At the very early morning

 He could know all previous rebirths

 Then the middle of day,

 He could know the rebirths of himself and all beings

 At the last hour of the day

 He could know the realization that the defilement is ended

 Ignorance disappeared

 Wisdom started

 Ending all sufferings

 Became the supreme Bodhi

 Sakyamuni Buddha

 All the universe welcomed

 To the Bodhi reaching the enlightenment

 The truth appeared

 Lightening the ignorance

 The eightfold path opened

 Living beings will no more get lost

 In the affliction and suffering

 In the rebirth and transmigration

 Now the grief gradually closes

 The Nirvana gate

 Open widely

 Wishing for the endless bright way

 Lightening up forever

 Bringing wisdom and happiness

 To all living beings

 How happy it was

 The Buddha was born

 Right Dharma shined gloriously

 The monks were in harmony

 The fourfold disciples had together practice

 Namo Shakyamuni Buddha

  

 

Senior Thich Chan Tinh

  Translated into English by Nguyen Hoang Thoai