A New Head

Guņabhadra, an Indian Buddhist monk,

arrived in China around 435 CE. He

“struggled to teach the Dharma in Chinese. . . .

until one night he dreamed that a kindly

sword-wielding god cut off his head

and replaced it with an exact replica.

The next day, he could speak Chinese

fluently.”*

We cannot summon up new heads to order,

and I’m no teacher of the Dharma!

Yet I gaze from my Old Gold mountain aerie expectantly,

burnishing my tarnished pissant karma—

hoping to see a headsman deity.

*Donald S. Lopez Jr., Buddhism: A Journey through History (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2024), 52.

Tuesday, September 30, 2025