THE EMPTY BOWL
My merits and my sins
My sorrows and my joys
My thoughts and my deeds
My earnings all,
Were stored since my birth
In the bowl of my heart.
I have now outpoured that bowl,
And
I have taken Refuge in the Buddha
I have taken Refuge in the Dhamma
I have taken Refuge in the Sangha.
O Tathagata!
The emptied bowl I hold,
Now I stand before you;
O Serene
O Free!
That you may fill it to the brim
With the Nectar of your Bodhi–
The Sublime,
The Eternal!
–SUJATA
PRIYAMBADA
Translated from Oriya By
SHANTIBHADRA