Valentine Buddha(Originally Feb 2015)

Valentine Buddha(Originally Feb 2015)
December 30, 2020 Comments Off on Valentine Buddha(Originally Feb 2015) History, India, Literature, Poetry Sunil

By Sunil Kumar

Love, compassion and the renunciate’s way. The marketing gimmickry of Valentine’s Day ended yesterday; and for once I got a flower and a chocolate. But picking on one of my favorite subjects these days; my valentine for this week; Gautama Buddha.

SeatedBuddhaGandhara2ndCentury

SeatedBuddhaGandhara2ndCentury (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Mountains; streams and stillness. Universal compassion is a more abstract and all-encompassing concept; compared to the narrow self-love involved in a romantic escapade; the concept embodied by Valentine’s Day. St. Valentine; a spiritual martyr may never have imagined that a few millenia later; billion-dollar companies would leverage his love for his faith to get a few dollars more.

Christopher Reeve’s poetic other-worldly obsessive love in the movie “Somewhere In Time” appealed to my consciousness for the scenic locales on offer. Perfect place for calmness and serenity; something the Buddha would have appreciated. The past week, marked by Kejriwal’s spectacular win; was also marked by a change in time and place; and another tryst with Delhi’s Akshardham.

Delhi Akshardham in Delhi, India

Delhi Akshardham in Delhi, India (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Buddha urged humanity to live a fuller life; an austere middle path; which if rigorously followed would have created a utopia. We have to also admire the high moral idealism practiced across all of India and East Asia more than a thousand years ago; that could embrace such a faith.

In the book of life; there are chapters written incessantly; days are like pages; with ripples of thoughts creating waves that leave some sort of imprint on today; and if you were to believe religion and theology; forever. The only person that matters in this identity; is the self. Remembering Valentine Buddha; my post for the day.

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