Basic Buddhism in Songs: Contemporary Nuns’ Oral Traditions in Kinnaur. Linda La Macchia
1. At nine in the morning [a quiet time], as we sing a song about friends,
2. …, hail falls and a snowy wind blows.
3. If the hail wasn’t falling and the wind wasn’t blowing, the branches wouldn’t be moving.
4 … On the branches are flowers of ice.
5. …When they see the sun they melt.
6. … If rain falls, they absorb it.
7. Nectar! Nectar!
35. Today will come only once. We say a prayer.
36. What type of prayer? All of us friends,
37. …, If we have a long life,
38. …, we pray that we gather once again.
39. If we dies, we’ll have no chance to meet again.
40. When we die we will reach a very dark place.
41. The god of death will come with his weapon. We will be forced to go with him.
42. … We will go naked.
43. When we die only our cup of tea will remain.
44. If you remember death, you won’t speak a harsh word.
45. Friend and friend, we see our friends only in this life.
46. … There in no real [permanent] friend.
51. Today will come only once. So we say a prayer,
52, … , not only for this life,
53. …, but also for the next life.
