A quiet notice V2Melody closes at midnight on , Spanish time.

Closes

A note from Richard

V2Melody will close at midnight on 20 January 2028

This site has been a retirement project in musical poetry: poems chosen with care and set to music, offered freely for as long as it felt right to keep the garden open.

The work no longer holds the place it once did in my life. I have gone as far with it as I wish to go. Like a sand mandala, it was made to be completed and then released. I am not attached to its permanence, and I do not believe any of it needs to last beyond the time it was given. The poems were already here before I arrived and began to experiment with them. They will still be here when these musical experiments, and indeed myself, have been swept away, like the sand of a mandala. Nothing has been lost.

I want a simpler end to my life, days of simple love and enjoyment with my wonderful wife of 20 years. The work of maintaining a server, the monitoring, and the residual obligations that come with keeping a site alive no longer fit that life.

From 4 November 2026 I will not be adding new poems or musical poems to the site.

The experimental music I am making now is on my Suno profile. Those pieces stay there, and are not added to this site.

Until midnight on 20 January 2028, Spanish time, everything remains available exactly as it is. That is when my VPS server contract comes to an end, and it will not be renewed. After that, the server will be switched off and the site will disappear.

The Mandala Is Finished explains this more fully.

Thank you to anyone who found a poem, a track, or a quiet moment here.

The pleasure was in the making.

Richard

Home › Glossary › Letter B

Bhikkhu

World Religion
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A fully ordained Buddhist monk who follows the Vinaya and lives a life of renunciation and meditation.

Detailed Definition
Bhikkhus embody the ideal of simplicity, discipline, and mindful presence. In poetry, they appear as wanderers under alms bowls, silent in forests or city streets, symbolizing detachment and the pursuit of truth. Their robes, shaved heads, and walking staff become potent images of renunciation, often contrasted with worldly attachment in reflective or didactic verse.
Example
Example in poetry:
A Theravāda poem: “The bhikkhu carries the alms bowl like a moon in the morning sky”; A minimalist verse: “His robe is stitched from silence and saffron”; A modern reflection: “Can a bhikkhu tweet? Only if each post is a metta prayer”; A renunciation lyric: “He gave up gold for ochre—and found the world richer.”
Additional Notes
A bhikkhu follows 227 Vinaya rules, including celibacy, alms-round dependence, and meditation. The robe, bowl, and shaved head signify renunciation. In Theravada countries, becoming a bhikkhu—even temporarily—is a rite of passage. Canonical texts depict bhikkhus as “field of merit” for laypeople. In poetry, they appear as serene wanderers or stern teachers; modern literature explores their struggles with modernity. For students, the bhikkhu ideal highlights Buddhism’s emphasis on simplicity, discipline, and communal harmony as paths to awakening.
Also Known As
Bhikshu Buddhist Monk
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