I Work More Than I Can Bear

Suan Mokkh: The Garden of Liberation

by Buddhadasa bhikkhu

I work more than I can bear, but

am happy hearted enough to leap and dance.

This is because my mind thinks and aims

only to live in line with the Dhamma,

Wherever the causes and conditions lead,

according to the karma I laid down in former moments.

To die is like a pause from work,

to sleep for a night, to rest for a time;

With the new dawn, I take up the work

vigorously carrying on the work left over from before.

The new day is a new birth, these two are the same:

born with the day and dying at night,

As the waves of the samsaric cycles create

the myriad products that soothe and comfort our hearts.

Whoever wishes for joy and bliss must know

that it depends on the one who can see joy for himself.

As for me, there is no meaning beyond

the fact that I was born only to work

According to conditions, so that myself and others

will know the world, conquer it, and vanquish sorrow.

Nature created us perfectly, physically and mentally

thriving — boundless thanks to Nature!

Although we are created for birth, decay, and death,

yet Nature gives me the chance to vie

Struggle, and contend in all duties to break ahead

in order to reach the end before anyone else.

While friends encourage each other to lie around,

I am working hard as if they were chasing behind.

The duties of life that besiege constantly

are like debts ever piling up on top of me

Blocking my way almost like a whirlpool,

when will I pass beyond and find the place of freedom and peace?

From here to Nibbana we must pass through

the checkpoint which is the work of our lives

This Law is more certain than any scales;

no matter how skilled, no one can escape this rule.

For this reason, in any activity that

aims for the benefit of others or oneself

We should hurry, struggle, and strive

to make it beautiful and work off our debt to Nature.

Until the heart’s attachments to all things

weaken, dissolve, and fade away

So that wisdom sees directly that greed, anger,

and delusion are finished and samsara stopped.

Hurry friends, don't be late!

Whatever work you may meet, tackle it immediately.

Much work may bring a faster death,

but it rolls along towards the final rest, just the same.


"Sirivayasa"
13 February 1938

[translated by santikaro bhikkhu]
The Teacher: Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

Tan Ajarn -- Buddhadasa Bhikkhu founded Suan Mokkh after giving up on the monastic system in Bangkok. He found the Wats (temples) there dirty, crowded, and corrupt, nothing like the purer, more simple Buddhism of his birthplace. Thus, returned to the South and moved into an abandoned temple near his hometown. At first living alone, then with others as news of his experiment spread, he took a radical look into the sources of Theravada Buddhism and dedicated his life to following the pristine Dhamma and correcting the numerous mistaken beliefs and practices that had crept in over the centuries. Some hated him, others loved him. Why not see what he has to offer?