Alan Watts
The Buddha Said
And so, that is a nice little tangle
If I put this in the language of oriental philosophy and religion
It would be something like this
[Chorus]
The Buddha said that wisdom
Must come only from the abandonment of selfish craving, or desire
The Buddha said that wisdom
Must come only from the abandonment of selfish craving, or desire
One who abandons that desire attains nirvana
Which is supreme peace
Liberation
Nirvana means, in Sanskrit
Blow out
That is, exhale the breath
Exhale the breath
The opposite, dеsire, is to breathe in
Now, if you brеathe in, and hold it
You lose your breath
But if you breathe out, it comes back to you
It comes back to you
[Chorus]
The Buddha said that wisdom
Must come only from the abandonment of selfish craving, or desire
The Buddha said that wisdom
Must come only from the abandonment of selfish craving, or desire
So the principle here is if you want life, don't cling to it
Let go
Let go
But the problem is if I desire not to desire, is that not already desire?
How can I desire not to desire?
How can I surrender myself
When myself is precisely an urge to hold on
To cling?
To cling to life, to continue to survive
To survive
To survive
[Chorus]
The Buddha said that wisdom
Must come only from the abandonment of selfish craving, or desire
The Buddha said that wisdom
Must come only from the abandonment of selfish craving, or desire
I can see rationally
That by clinging to myself, I may strangle myself
I may be like a person who has a bad habit
As a result of which he is committing suicide
And he knows that
But can't give it up
Because the means of death are so sweet