Sanda Kinithi Namee

The moon bends low, peering into the lake water,
searching for the moon’s own reflection
peering into your eyes, my eyes too, always,
search for a reflection of my own

As long as the lake stays still and unruffled,
the moon shines on beneath the water
but the day the water is stirred and troubled,
the moon shatters into broken pieces

The moon bends low, peering into the lake water…

As long as you stay calm and untroubled,
I can be seen in your eyes
and until I have wandered the whole of saṃsāra,
I will look upon the world through your eyes

The moon bends low, peering into the lake water..

A quiet, luminous love song built on a single reflection: the moon leaning down to find its own image in the still water of a lake. The singer turns that picture into love, just as the moon searches the water for itself, he peers into his beloved’s eyes to find his own reflection there, to see himself held in her gaze.

The middle draws the song’s gentle wisdom from the same image. As long as the lake stays still, the moon shines whole beneath its surface; the moment the water is stirred and troubled, the moon breaks into scattered fragments. It stands for love and the heart: peace keeps the reflection whole, while agitation and unrest shatter it. Calm is what lets love stay unbroken.

The last verse makes the vow lifelong. As long as she stays untroubled, he can be seen in her eyes, and until he has wandered the entire length of saṃsāra, the Buddhist cycle of countless rebirths, he will go on seeing the whole world through her eyes. It is a tender promise that she is his way of seeing, life after life, sung by Lakshman Wijesekara to words by Yamuna Malini Perera.