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THE FIRST UTTERANCE OF BUDDHA SHAKYAMUNI

Deep and quiet, simple, clear, unformed.
A truth that is like nectar, I have found.
Whoever I explain it, no one will understand.
So, in the jungle, silent, I remain.

The prince Siddhartha Gautama awakened to true and complete enlightenment, in the peaceful shade of a large pipal tree on the full moon day in June. Situated in the state of Bihar in northern India, this sacred place is today known as the Vajra Throne of Bodh Gaya. The tree which grows in its place is said to be the grand-child of the original, dating back 2.500 years. As the very first after full awakening, the Buddha is famed in all traditions, to have uttered these four lines, which express the very essence of realization.
After seven weeks had passed, the Buddha was requested by Indra and Brahma who presented him with a clockwise-coiled white conch and a thousand-spoked golden wheel, to turn the Dharmachakra, the unceasing wheel of truth, so that each and every being may be liberated from ignorance.

Lyrics & vocals: Erik Pema Kunsang
Music & vocals: Tara Trinley Wangmo
Piano and production: Niels Erichsen

Painting by Abanindranath Tagore, or candidly known as Aban Thakur, was the principal artist and creator of Indian Society of Oriental Arts. He was the first major voice of Swadeshi values in Indian art, thus starting the Bengal School of Art movement, which led to the rise of modern Indian painting

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