The Prince that Left His Palace
To my daughter Arudana I say:
When you’re older, you might ask
What unity was actually meant
Looking at the words unity in diversity?
There once lived a prince in a known kingdom.
When knowledge arose in him
He could not find peace in his mind.
So he left his palaces and set himself to the Meru.
So he endured trials and help sentient beings on the way to Meru.
And when he finally reached Meru he stayed there far from human affair
There once lived a king in a known kingdom.
Having tasted the flavor of the human flesh
He could not still the hunger in his mind.
So he left for conquest and set himself to sacrifice a hundred king’s head.
So he burned kingdoms and massacre people to obtain a hundred king’s head.
The gods asked the prince to answer the cry of the people,
But the prince refused, having left worldly pursuits.
Thus the gods answered:
The life of the those-long-gone and the life of those-devoted-to-duty
Seems to you so different?
How one discerns between the two?
For there is no truth other than the one truth
What may be pieces and shards are in essence a whole
For there is no truth that diverges
Hearing this the prince understood
And left for the kingdom in need.
The prince set to meet the human devourer alone,
Offering his flesh in exchange of the ninety-nine kings' life.
And so the human devourer put his teeth on the prince’s flesh.
And so the human devourer tasted the sip of the prince’s blood.
Like heavy rains penetrated a weak roof,
so it was, my daughter Arudana,
knowledge penetrated the human devourer,
discernment penetrated the human devourer,
the radiant loving-kindness of the prince penetrated the human devourer,
through all hatred and greed.
Having known desire, he then abandoned desire.
Having known hatred, he then abandoned hatred.
Having known delusion, he then abandoned delusion.
And so the king abandoned suffering.
Thus I said those to my daughter Arudana.
Berlin, 14 August 2020