Search for Dhamma

Naveena Shakya

What is Dhamma? I always ask inside me

I searched in temples, mosques, gurudwaras and churches

Is it honesty, compassion, duty, generosity or good manners?

But it does not satisfy me

I feel like Dhamma is within you, your mind for a moment.

Then I feel everything changes and what is yours?

I take only two things - my good and bad karma

Together when I leave this world

Then I feel lighter and lighter like hanging and flying in the open air

And I do not feel my head, hands and legs

I feel only breezes and waves on water

(This poem was recited by Sangha member and temple pujari Naveena Shakya at the Buddha Jayanti celebration organized by Nritya Mandala Mahavihara in Portland, USA on May 24, 2024.)