In a land of much glitter, where gold piled high,
Lived a billionaire man with a twinkling eye.
He had yachts, he had planes, and a tower or two,
But he still felt a hole he could not quite construe.
Now just down the road, on a mat made of grass,
Sat a Buddha so still as the hours would pass.
No gold, no gadgets, no grandiose flair,
Just a robe and a smile and the simplest air.
One day the billionaire, tired and stressed,
Said, “I’ve conquered the world, yet I’m not impressed.
I’ve got riches galore, but my heart’s feeling hollow.
What secret do you have? What path should I follow?”
The Buddha looked up with a glint in his eye,
And said, “Sit for a moment, and give this a try.
Close your eyes gently, breathe deep, let it flow,
And tell me, dear friend, what’s the first thing you know?”
“I know that I’m rich!” the billionaire said.
“And people would kill for the life that I’ve led!”
“But?” asked the Buddha, “What nags at your soul?
For you’ve climbed every ladder, yet don’t feel whole.”
The billionaire grumbled, “Well, yes, that is true.
My treasures grow old; they no longer feel new.
Each time I buy more, it just fades away.
I thought more would fix it, but here I still stay.”
The Buddha then chuckled and patted his mat.
“Come sit here beside me. We’ll chat about that.
You’ve collected the world, but forgotten to see,
The joy’s not in having, it’s simply to be.”
“To be?” scoffed the billionaire, rolling his eyes.
“That won’t buy me stocks or my next enterprise!”
“No, it won’t,” said the Buddha, “but here’s the twist
What you truly are seeking does not exist.
It’s not in the yachts, or the stocks, or the towers,
Not found in your meetings or seventy hours.
It’s here in the stillness, the breath that remains,
The space in your heart, not the weight of your chains.”
The billionaire paused, his face full of doubt,
But he sat on the mat, just to figure it out.
He breathed and he listened; he started to see,
That the riches he sought had been trapped inside he.
He laughed and he cried, “Oh, how could it be?
I’ve searched every ocean, each land and each sea.
Yet here it’s so simple, no grand chandelier
Just the joy of this breath, this moment right here.”
The Buddha just nodded and patted his back.
“It’s not what you gain, but the space that you lack.
So keep what you have, but don’t let it own,
The quiet within is your true golden throne.”
And now if you visit that glittering street,
You might find the billionaire calm and upbeat.
For his riches are balanced with moments so pure,
And the hole in his heart is no longer obscure.
So remember, dear reader, wherever you roam,
The treasures you seek might just be your home.
For the Buddha and billionaire, in their own little way,
Remind us that joy’s in the stillness we stay.