Born and raised in West India
My name is Siddhartha
Used to be part of the Samanas
Until I met the wise Gotama
But I confess I digress
Let’s go on the Hero’s Journey

I was a young lad
Who had a loving dad
But I wasn’t satisfied with what I had
I had to find my own path
Defied my own father
So I packed up and left
And joined the Samanas

Into the woods I went
Went with my friend Govinda
Fasted for 3 years, oh dear
Trying to find the other side
Turned out that was a lie.
Heard rumors of a figure
Whose name was Gotama
Otherwise known as Buddha

Heard what he had to say
Didn’t agree with his rhetoric
Struck out on my own again
Free for the first time
Met a woman, so very fine
She tempted me to let go
Tried to lead me astray
But I resisted
Later that day I encountered
The Goddess, Kamala

For the next 20 years
I wore the skin of the enemy
I got schooled in love
I gambled, I whored, I fought
Fathered a son, wasn’t too much fun
I was deep in the belly
Life was such a bore, I got so sore
I didn’t want to live anymore

Went to a river and I shivered
As prospects of suicide ran through my mind
Anything’s better than this horrendous bind
Then, as if from deep within my soul.
The faint stirrings of Om.
Out of the woods I came into the light.
My plight had ceased to be a blight.

Encountered the ferryman
His name was Vasudeva
He taught me to listen to the river.
It taught me to be free.
For the next 11 years
I had no fears
Until one morning, a child
Came into the hut.
Begging, pleading, crying
Save my mom, save my mom.
Turned out to be Kamala
She passed on but the boy stayed on.
A bully he was, what a crass being.
Full of fight. One day like magic
He took flight. Foolish me I took the bite.
Across the river and into the woods I ran
Searching in vain until I remembered
The sins of the son and the father and
Defeated, I retreated.

I spent the rest of my days
Complacent in my place
Had plenty of space. Had
Plenty of peace. My mentor
Decided he had enough
The flame in him got snuffed
Into the woods he went
Near the end of my days
I saw my old, dear friend Govinda
He asked how and I showed him
All that is and all that ever was
I showed him that the river unites all of us
And that it flows through every being
And in that moment, we finally achieved
What we had been seeking

The moral of my journey is
Find your own path
Even if to think it through you need a bath
Or it might require a little math
Every person has their own journey to take
Through trial and error, through numerous temptations
I achieved enlightenment. The hero’s
Journey is not clear-cut. But in the end
I turned out just alright. Govinda, Siddhartha
Vasudeva, Gotama all took different paths.
What’s your path? What’s your journey?