Buddah and Brahma

"This is the Veda, [1]
as you know,
The alphabet of all philosophy,
For he who cannot or who dares not grasp
And follow this necessity of Brahma, 
[2]

Is but a fool and weakling; and must perish 
Among the follies of his own reflection.

"Your Master, you, and I, and all wise men,
Have one sole purpose which we never lose:
 Through different paths we each seek to attain, 
Sooner or later, as our paths allow,
A perfect union with the single Spirit. 
[3]


Gautama's way is best, but all are good.
He breaks a path at once to what he seeks.
By silence and absorption he unites
His soul with the great soul from which it started. 
But we, who cannot fly the world, must seek
To live two separate lives; one, in the world 
Which we must ever seem to treat as real;
The other in ourselves, behind a veil
Not to be raised without disturbing both.

"The Rajah is an instrument of Brahma,
No more, no less, than sunshine, lightning, rain; 
And when he meets resistance in his path,
And when his sword falls on a victim's neck,
It strikes as strikes the lightning-as it must; 
Rending its way through darkness to the point
It needs must seek, by no choice of its own. 
Thus in the life of Ruler, Warrior, Master,
The wise man knows his wisdom has no place, 
And when most wise, we act by rule and law, 
Talk to conceal our thought, and think
Only within the range of daily need,
Ruling our subjects while ourselves rebel,
 Death always on our lips and in our act.

"This is the jungle in which we must stay, 
According to the teachings of the Master, 
Never can we attain the Perfect Life.
Yet in this world of selfishness and striving
The wise man lives as deeply sunk in silence, 
As conscious of the Perfect Life he covets,
As any recluse in his forest shadows,
As any Yogi in his mystic trances.
We need no Noble Way to teach us Freedom 
Amid the clamor of a world of slaves.
We need no Lotus[4], 
as you know,  to love purity
Where life is else corruption.