Scene 2

(The five ascetics are meditating. Enter the Buddha.)

BUDDHA: Now I have come to Benares, a sacred place. (He sees the five ascetics.) Ahhh! Here are the five ascetics who came to me and left me.

FIRST ASCETIC: Look, here is Siddhartha again.

SECOND ASCETIC: But this time he cannot fool us.

THIRD ASCETIC: Certainly not. He cannot fool us any more.

FOURTH ASCETIC: But look at him. He looks different.

FIFTH ASCETIC: I see something in him, something strange.

FIRST ASCETIC: Well, I seem to see some Light in him.

THIRD ASCETIC: His whole face is glowing.

FOURTH ASCETIC: His face? His entire body is glowing!

FIFTH ASCETIC: He is illumined, totally illumined!

(The Buddha approaches them. One by one they touch the Buddha’s feet. The Buddha, with his compassionate smile, blesses them.)

SECOND ASCETIC: Siddhartha, you are no more Siddhartha.

THIRD ASCETIC: You are the Enlightened One.

FIRST ASCETIC: O Buddha, we are bathing in the sea of your Light.

FOURTH ASCETIC: O Buddha, we are your first disciples.

ALL TOGETHER: With us the journey of your manifestation begins. With us the manifestation of your mission begins.

(The Buddha gives them a smile of compassion, joy and pride.)

BUDDHA: You have my Compassion. You have my Light. You have my Bliss, my children, my sweet children.

From:Sri Chinmoy,Mother, give me the Light of Knowledge, Sky Publishers, New York, 1973
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/mlk