SIDDHARTHA

by John Albert
Based on Siddharta by Hermann Hesse

In the shade of the house
In the sunshine on the river bank by the boat
In the shade of the sallow wood and the fig tree
Shadows passed across the eyes of the youth

The Brahmins son, the handsome Siddhartha
Already he knew how to pronounce Om silently
This word of the words, said with all his soul
His brow radiated the glow of pure spirit

Already he knew how to recognize Atman
Within the depth of his being
Indestructible, at one with the universe
Already he knew the wisdom of silence

Shadowed Hearts (The Brahmins Son)

A young boy named Son of God
A young boy unnamed
Raised with love and pure spirit
Needs a path of his own
Mother and father delighted by
Regardless of faith
The youth wisdom of the morning sun
Love and good fortune


He gazed slowly, walked restlessly
One morning of joy
There was no time but the moment
The Ode of life began
He was still while sitting straight
A step-by-step process
Meditating for the love of Atman
To the infinite garden


But this was not enough
Forgiven by his mother
With all of this knowledge
Freed by his father
Known by the mind
He left the town unnamed
Decrypted for the soul
For the quest of shadowed hearts


You may have all the wisdom
You may have all the wisdom
Any wise man can get
Any wise man can get
But the silence within you
But the silence within you
Is beyond the words you praise
Is beyond the words you praise



The first light of day entered the room

The father realized that Siddhartha

Could no longer remain with him at home
That he had already left him

You will go in the forest, he said, and become a Samana.

Road to Emptiness (With the Samanas)

On the road to emptiness
On his quest to purity
The young man travelled the world
The young man overlooked love
Bypassing the outer beauty of life
Trying to break free from his own prison


He witnesses the pain
He neglected his soul
He witnesses the death
He rejected his lust
Until he overcame the Self
To overcome the fear of life


But once again
But once again
As the morning sun
As the morning sun
Rises slowly at dawn
Rises slowly at dawn
He came back to life with tears
His reflection was reborn


How could this seems
How could this seems
So unreal to me
So unreal to me
All of this wonder
All of this wonder
Nothing but a formless illusion
Nothing but a formless illusion



Heard from the distance
The echoing sounds of hope
There was a man, they said,
Who had seen the unseen

In the Garden of Anathapindika (Gotama)

The woman said : You have come to the right place, O Samanas from the forest. The
Illustrious One sojourns in Jetevana, in the garden of Anathapindika.


They had come by thousands
Pilgrim of the modern time
In search of the Illustrious One

They attended quietly
Listeners of salvation
In need of the cure of death

In a world of sorrows
Where pleasure meets pain
Where beauty melts with ugliness
Where youth dies in aging
A garden of stillness was found



Followers and believers
Seekers of innerpeace
The war between your selves
Is a reflection of time

They proceeded naturally

Followers of the newborn sun
In respect of the Graceful One

They accepted the rules
Monks of the opposite worlds
In exchange of the key of life

In a world of sorrows
Where pleasure meets pain
Where beauty melts with ugliness
Where youth dies in aging
A garden of stillness was found

In the darkened hour

Filled with the light of love
Stand a door locked away
In between the universe and you

Unfooled to words
The child saw beyond teachings
He dwelt peace in nothingness
In search of the wordless sign

The Seeds of Life (Gotama)

Lost in thoughts
The Buddha reached
The shades of the trees

From the grove
Siddhartha followed
His peaceful steps by sight

Neither happy nor sad
He smiled inwardly

Neither lost nor found
He walked gracefully

In a silent way
The Buddha thanked
The stillness of the ground

In a hurried way
Siddhartha searched
For the secret of his sounds

Neither happy nor sad
He smiled inwardly

Neither lost nor found

He walked gracefully



I have heard your teachings
You are clever young man
Said Siddhartha in vain
Too clever I may say
And I agree with its content
I do not doubt your will
But a piece seems missing
But your heart is blinded


Of all the laws of the Universe
When you look forward
Of all the knowledge of Life
For a single piece of truth
I saw within you the truth
You bypass the milions
But my heart is shadowed
Of mysteries of life


For you are a diamond to my eyes
Just like this stone I hold
In my fragile hands of flesh
(Where) The sun poors its light

So remember to forget
And remember to forgive

After all my son,
I may stand here tall
But only because
My feet touch the ground



As Siddhartha left the grove
In which the Buddha, the Perfect One, remained
In which Govinda remained,
He felt that he had also left
His former life behind him in the grove


Once I saw a child
But now hes grown
I remember his smile
The way he easily walked
One step, two more ahead
He reached the stars
By the sight of his
Mother and father

One by one
Two by two
The kid has grown
To find his self
Of small nature
Of need to conquer
The heart of a woman
The laughs of a child

Growing Up (Awakening)
Once I met a man
But now hes gone
Ill remember his stare
The way he looked in my eyes
One day, to move ahead
He went afar
All this time he was
Seeker and lover

One by one
Two by two
The kid has grown
To find his self
Of small nature
Of need to conquer
The heart of a woman
The laughs of a child

Inner Voice (Kamala)

I heard her call my name. Softly, she said : Son, everythings gonna be alright. Just listen to
the inner voice.

All around me I see

Trees and leaves and weeds and seeds
The fruits of life are waking me back to
life

All at once the sun shines
Over hills, rivers, houses and roads
The seeds of life are flourishing out of
sight

And as a bird I pick up the pieces
And build a home out of straws
Alone together, she reminds me
Of the outer beauty of life

Nowhere near the horizon I gaze
I see bloom from my flowered bed
She calls my name and I whisper

Everywhere is here at last I cry
A scream of sorrow filling the atmosphere
I call her name and a silence responds

And as a feather guided by the wind
My path is unknown to myself
I walk steadily towards a fall
While I hear her calling my name

Beginning his new life in the heart of the town, he saw people living in a childish or animal-like
way, which he both loved and despised.

Onlooker (Amongst the People)

I look at those falling leaves

Gently weaving all across the sky
They dance and they play
Oh ! I wish I could forget

But my path is strange
For I am a flying star
I know the way there
Into the sanctuary of stillness

I play the game too
Curiously learning the infinite rules
(And when) I dance and I play
Oh ! I wish I could be sincere

But my will is strong
About leaving it all behind
Still I hear the voice
Coming from the sanctuary of stillness

And what about all those tears
All those light complaints
About this and that
About I me mine

Oh ! I wish I could dance
Oh ! I wish I could play
But here I am alone
An onlooker and a star

Slowly, like moisture entering the dying tree trunk, slowly filling and rotting it, so did the
world and inertia creep into Siddharthas soul.

Samsara (Samsara)
You can trap yourself
In a cage by a window
You can tell yourself
That all you see is yours

But the truth is my friend
The possessions you own
Will vanish one of these days
From gold to dirt

You can choose to become
Aware of you innocence
You can choose to overcome
The realm of your ignorance

Since the truth is my friend
All that will ever be
Will vanish and change form
From moment to moment

You can fill yourself

With tales and myths
You can trick yourself
Playing the games of fool

But the truth is my friend
The rules you blindly obey
Are the seal of your loss
From desire to envy

There was a songbirg singing

All day long in its cage
Crying to the worlds depth
Carrying the heart of the night
You can realize your faults
And embrace your mistakes
You can forgive yourself
Of being deaf to the voice

Since the truth is my friend
All that has ever been
Is here right now
Waiting for you to see
There was a songbird singing
All day long in its cage
Crying to the worlds depth
Carrying the heart of the night

One day I was drunk
One night I was crippled
My senseless life was gone
And the bird had flown

Now, he thought, that all these transitory things have slipped away from me again, I stand
once more beneath the sun, as I once stood as a child.

As a Child (By the River)

Hello good old friend
Where have you been ?
What have you done ?
Oh ! its been taking me so long

So long I admit
To comeback as a child
To see the world anew
To forget all my learnings

I have been through despair
I have been through desire
I have lost faith in you
I have lost faith in me

But here I stand again
Wishing for the day
Playing a brand new way
And hoping you could stay

Hello good old friend

Tell me all your lies
Tell me how you tried
And why its been taken so long

So long to realize
The ever changing state of mind
The ever flowing speed of light
The never ending book of life

I will go through mornings
I will break through the night
I will find out my way
I will leave you on your own

And here I stand again
Wishing for the day
Playing a brand new way
Inviting you to stay

He saw that the river continually flowed and flowed and yet it was always there ; it was
always the same and yet every moment it was new.


Stream of Change (The Ferryman)

By the river
Out in the woods
An old man stands
A beautiful woman lies
Lost in thoughts
Eyes closed, dying


Contemplative
Thankful to the forest
Staring quietly
No remorse in her heart
Yes, the river knows
Found within herself


If only you could see
If only you could see
That all that will ever be
That all that will ever be
Is here right now
Is here right now
Flowing through the stream of change
Drifting on the stream of change


Flow river flow
Within you I let it go
Learning this thing called love
Through the stream of change

Die lady die
You know it is time to go
Freed by the sun above
Beyond the stream of change

Cry baby cry
Mamas gone with the wind
The time has come to rise
And step into the stream of change

By the river
An old man stands
Listening, voiceless



For days on end he sat with a pale face on the hill of the dead, looked away, locked his heart,
fought and strove against his fate.

The Way Home (The Son)

You can take a man

And lead him to the river
You can tell him to listen
To the infinite sounds of life

You can cry all the tears
That a man can possibly cry
You can feed him with love
Love of the eternal compassion

But in the long run
Dear friend sadly you know
The way home is hidden
And found only by the seer

You can drift away downstream

Merging yourself as one
You can obey to the laws
Of attraction, balance and love

You can dismiss yourself from faith
And enter the everlasting knowledge
You can sink deep into the night
And be reborn as light

Since in the long run
Dear friend sadly you know
The way home is hidden
And found only by the seer

So let go of the fear

Let go of the weight
Your wound widely open
Fill it with timeless patience

Understand not
But accept without judgment
For you too once has been
A leave before a seer

He now regarded people in a different light than he had previously ; not very clever, not very
proud and therefore all the more warm, curious and sympathetic. He did understand or share
their thoughts and views, but he shared with them lifes urges and desires.


Alone by the River (Om)

Morning rises slowly overhills

The trees welcome the light anew
The revolving star steps in the scene
Welcome my friend, welcome home

I was alone by the river
The stream of life was passing by
And I just looked from afar
Entwined in the distance

Observing the waves motionless
I was hearing thousand of voices
Where was mine if not blended
Through the infinite chaos of forms

The day set in as I awoke
Aware of beyond the bonds and doors
I opened my soul in its totality
Completely new to the moment

The key was found at last I knew
That all the pain was mine to share
Lifting the veil I gazed still
My mind had broken its wall

I was alone by the river
The stream of life was passing by
Then I jumped in fearlessly
Entwined in a thousand leaves

I am indeed old, said Govinda, but I have never ceased seeking. I will never cease seeking.
That seems to be my destiny. It seems to me that you also have sought. Will you talk to me a
little about it, my friend ?


One Life (Govinda)

For many years I kept searching
Searching for a sign
But I could not find it
Though it was always on my mind
Somehow I was blind

Then a man came to me
Or should I say I joined him
Calmly he looked at me and said
Good old friend, welcome again
Somehow I felt fine

One cry of bitterness
One life of sorrows
A continuous path of seeking
Tearing the world apart

I stood by a tree
With death in my soul
I had come a long way

I looked at my face
Reflecting on the water
I still had much to go

So many times Ive tried living

Living as if I was free
And I made it through the clouds
Beyond the sky lied an infinite line
Somehow I could see

Then the tears rolled down my cheeks
Or should I say the river sunk me in
Wildly I urge myself onshore
Good old blues welcomed me again
Somehow I needed you

One smile of tenderness
One life of joy
A neverending quest to nowhere
Reaching the worlds apart

I went on my way
With hope in my heart
I had much to go

I looked at the sun
Somehow I saw through it
The smile of a man that I used to know