Tipping the balance

Man's birthright is to both flesh and to spirit, and

He spends his life there

On the balance between flesh and spirit,

On the balance between sin and righteousness,

On the balance between suffering and happiness.

From the day of his birth,

Man grows to the needs of the flesh –

To body, to heart, to mind, and

To the Self arising therefrom.

Now grown to flesh, grown to Self,

Man's needs become desires –

Desires of the body, of the heart, of the mind, and

Of the Self arising therefrom.

Amidst his desires, man fully human

Hears spirit's whisperings and

Longs for a happiness

Beyond the flesh –

He longs for spirit, for union, and

In his longing for spirit,

In his desire to tip the balance,

Man learns that he must abandon the flesh –

Abandon the body, the heart, the mind, and

The Self arising therefrom.

Reflecting on Self, man discovers that

Behaviors that served him in his youth 

Have become habits, and that

These habits impede his growth to spirit.

Reflecting yet further, man discovers that the

Preferences and opinions that

Defined him in his youth have

Become prejudices, and that

These prejudices impede his growth to spirit.

Reflecting more deeply, man discovers that

If he is to be free from

The appetites of the body, the passions of the heart,

The desires of the mind –

His attachments to the flesh and 

To the Self arising therefrom –

He must acknowledge the truth that,

Arising from the body,

Self is but a mirage,

Void of true being; that

Arising from the heart,

Self is but a phantom,

Empty of true being; that

Arising from the mind,

Self is but a dream,

Without true being, and that

His appetites are but a mirage,

His anger but a phantom,

His hatred but a dream.

Man, awakened to the truth,

Rescinds the liberty he gave

Him-Self in his youth, and is

Gradually set free.

Without Self, where can

Hunger, anger, hatred find a home?

From what fount might

Lust, envy, and pride come forth to expression?

Rescinding the liberty he

Afforded him-Self in his youth, man

Tips the balance to spirit and,

Spirit quickened,

Man's suffering diminishes as

Meekness blossoms in the inner man and

Charity and Love – union both with spirit and among men –

Find their natural, joyful expression.

Spirit is reached not with

The putting on of an additional layer, with

The donning of cloak or armor, but by

Letting fall the many layers of

Life's experience – the dispositions – which both

Form and buttress the Self.

Self is not an enemy to be 

Conquered by force, but 

An adversary vanquished only by

Denying his strength, for

Self's power over man is,

Arising from body, but a mirage;

Arising from heart, but a phantom; 

Arising from the mind, but a dream.