Gurus Presence in Siddhartha Becomes The Buddha | Inspiration Sun
by Jayashri Wyatt
In April of 1964 our beloved Guru journeyed to America to offer His Light, His Love and His Realization to the crying heart of humanity. One of the ways that Guru offered his realization to the world is through his sublime plays. For the last three years I have been fortunate enough to be part of Dipika's "Immortality's Flame-Waves" that produced "Siddhartha Becomes the Buddha."
Last summer we took the play to Switzerland and it proved to be a very profound experience. In April last year Guru gave Dipika some footage He had filmed in Thailand of Buddhist monks giving their blessings to devoted seekers early in morning. As Guru filmed from the car He chanted the timeless Buddhist mantra. In a stroke of creative genius, Dipika used Guru's profound invocation of the Lord Buddha, at the outset of each performance.
Each night, as the hush of anticipation pierced the air, I stood in the wings listening to Guru's powerful and ethereal voice fill the auditorium with Lord Buddha's message light. Each night Guru seemed to sing inside my heart. My character waited impatiently to fell a small bird that Siddhartha would lovingly save time and again. As Devadatta I had to embody a treachery that only jealousy born of blood and lust for power can breed. Stymied by the longevity of the Lord Buddha, Devadatta decides to repent and he finds the sweetness and transforming grace of forgiveness at the feet of his Master. Even as an actor playing a part I craved the cathartic experience of forgiveness each night that I received from the Lord Buddha. Guru became fully embodied in the Lord Buddha for me during this play. I felt that when I asked forgiveness of Lord Buddha it was Guru who listened and gave me consolation.
The death scene of The Lord Buddha became devastating to me in ways that it had never been before. I felt an inner command and I am not overly prone to these to meditate as soulfully and powerfully as I could during this scene. It never for a second occurred to me that one day our Guru would also enter Mahasamadi. And yet I was moved to tears every performance last summer and Guru's presence was so deeply and powerfully at work. The Buddha play really saved me last summer. I had been lost in a bone-dry desert, and the play became a lush spiritual oasis. To once again feel breathless and sweet, to be stripped down to the soul's God-hunger; to be at last, cradled inside the very heart and silence of God. Who but our Guru could make the waves of longing for the Highest so sweet, divine and pure? Such sublime and exquisite moments our Guru ceaselessly and selflessly offered. I will be forever grateful for this experience.
From: Inspiration-Sun, edition 2
http://srichinmoyinspiration.com/inspiration-sun
Siddhartha Becomes The Buddha at Sri Chinmoy Library
http://www.srichinmoylibrary.com/books/0028
Writings on the Buddha by Sri Chinmoy
http://www.srichinmoylibrary.com/spiritual/lord-buddha