Buddha Smiled

The Buddha Smiled The world waited with bated breath but the Buddha was calm, serene like a lake of tranquillity although there was no water in that lake it was all sands, and sands all around hot sands, dusty winds and dancing mirages. The Buddha had his eyes closed no movement, no murmur in those lips no blinking of eyelids, nothing ruffled that calm countenance - marching of troops, arraying of arsenal surveillance of satellites, stacking of sand bags arrival of ministers, helicopters, frantic phone calls - The Buddha was unmoved…. Suddenly the faint orange rays of morning sun broke into the cave a white light glowed in the centre of the forehead - Was it the moment before the enlightenment? The heart beat was slowing down Ida and Pingala, Yin and Yang electrons in halted animation you could almost hear the anahata in the secret chamber of the Buddha's heart. At eight hours five minutes sharp heart beat suddenly stopped Shiva and Shakti were united, drawn magnetically into the heart centre, electrons split, Kundalini fired in a cataclysmic orgasm shaking up the body in multiple tremors pulsating through its myriad cells In a blinding flash Third Eye blinked open in a momentous quake earth was raised a bellowing thunder reverberated through the firmament before a cloud of sand dust engulfed the horizon. Pokhran was born. Pokhran was dead in less than a millionth of a second: the hymen of secrecy was breached for ever the infant had become a big boy at once shy and bold with the suddenly acquired carnal knowledge of creation and annihilation. ...And then the Buddha smiled. ******* (The poem won Commendation First Prize in All India Poetry Competition 2013.) Note: "Smiling Buddha" was the code name of India's first ever nuclear explosion at the Pokhran Test Range on May 18,1974 at 8: 05 am.) Ida & Pingala: - Subtle energy channels in human body, corresponding to Active and Passive principles, in Indian Yoga philosophy. Yin & Yang: - The Male and Female principles (opposite, yet complementary)in Chinese philosophy Shiva & Shakti: - The masculine and feminine aspects of God/truth/reality - latent Transcendent Knowledge and its manifest Creative Power Anahata: - Continuously soothing astral sound heard at the Heart Plexus by a deeply meditating person (lit. "unstruck sound") Kundalini: - Coiled spiritual power lying dormant at the base of the spine. Infant & Big Boy: - Allusion to "Little Boy" and "Fat Man", the two nuclear bombs detonated over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively, in August 1945.