Buddha and the Bicycle

Cycling a lane in Leicestershire

I ride the road’s crown

As I rise towards the village

The pedals push back at me

For gravity is a just god

Taking on the upslope

Giving on the down.

If you ride far enough

Alive to the hum of the road

Alive to the country forming in light

Your attention evenly suspended

Between more and less

Things that have waited for you

Will rise to unfold.

In blots of black and grey

From a brief ink of summer rain

My wheels mark

Mark the uncertainty of the way

And we call this fear of falling, balance

This balance the rehearsal of being

Failing and falling, fail, fall, fail again.

In this perfect fragile state

In my warm dark brain

The going of the day is made

Made not found

Found and taken to my elastic hoarding heart

Where the good blood and the bad

Beat the same.

To find balance in movement

To make the prayer wheel roll and run

Free from want, desire or judgement

Unity without attachment

Is a moment of saṃsāra

From the quiet mantra of the way

Om Ma Ni Pad Me Hum.

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Extras

What are the Six True Words?

  • Om Ma Ni Pad Me Hum are the six true words

  • They are pronounced: Ohm – Mah – Nee – Pod – Meh - Hum

  • As a chant, this supposedly brings joy and peaceful vibrations

  • Contained in this verse, it is believed, is the truth of the nature of suffering

  • The attentive listener, cycling at a propitious time, in a quiet wind free moment, on a good road, in a favorable season, will hear this chant in the rotation of the wheels

  • Listen - Old Northumbrian lysna, *hlysna, corresponding to Middle High German lüsenen < Old Germanic type *hlusinôjan , < Germanic root *hlus. From the same root is Old English hlosnian ( < Old Germanic type *hlos- , hlusnôjan ) to listen

  • Samsara - the cycle of death and rebirth to which life is bound in the material world

  • Bicycle - a vehicle having two wheels held one behind the other in a frame, typically propelled by a seated rider using pedals and steered by means of handlebars at the front

  • Rune and run

    • rune, v. intransitive. To compose or perform poetry or songs; to lament. Also transitive: to compose (poetry, a lament, etc.). Old English–1870

    • rune, n.¹ Course, onward movement, esp. of a celestial object; (also) rapid movement, running, esp. of a person. Old English–

    • rune, variant of run, n.² An act or spell of running (run, v. I.i.1a); frequently one made in preparation for a jump, throw, bowl, etc. Also figurative and in extended use… Old English–

    • rune, variant of round, v.¹ transitive. Frequently in to round in a person's (also the) ear. To whisper (something); to utter or say in a whisper. Also: †to mutter, murmur… 1662–

    • rune, variant of rine, v.¹ transitive. To touch, lay hands upon, come into contact with; (figurative) to have an effect upon, to affect. Old English–1796

    • rune, variant of roun, n. A secret, a mystery; an obscure or mysterious saying. Also in roun: secretly.