The Life of the Renunciant

 

That some are born there

On the threshold to spirit and are

Impelled to this life of renunciation

Brings them no merit, for

They, like all men, are merely

Walking the path that

Their dispositions lay out for them.

The life of the renunciant

Is not a path that one chooses but

A calling to which one is born, and

The course of greatest suffering, for

Every step along this path requires the

Casting off of the things of the world,

All the objects and the people

By which Self is defined.

In solitude, their flesh walks

This earthly path while

Spirit stands witness to the journey.

--- *** ---

Renunciants know their beginning, and

They are certain of their end.

For renunciants there is no past;

For renunciants there is no future;

They have their being in a place beyond time.

Without a future, renunciants cling to no hopes;

Without Self, renunciants carry no burdens.

Beyond belief, renunciants live in faith;

Beyond fear, renunciants live in peace.

In their peace, renunciants are

Without suffering, and

They are without joy;

Their detachment is borne of

Having found the simple peace of

Self-less Being, which

Admits of no distinctions –

The simple peace that comes from

Arriving face to face with spirit.

--- *** ---

On their path to perfection,

My renunciants are forever

Riding upon a spiritual swing,

Pulling up away from

The things of the flesh and

Toward spirit – only to

Fall again,

Bound by the cords of their dispositions.

Pulling harder, they

Climb once again to

The limit of human effort,

Where – at the apex –

Life suddenly stills.

No longer ascending,

On the cusp of falling,

The world becomes suddenly silent,

As if holding its breath,

As if in anticipation.

In this silence, all becomes empty, and

In this emptiness,

My renunciants arrive at no-Self, and

In no-Self, they find

No Self, no “I.”

No “I”, no “other.”

Only AM;

Only BEING.

--- *** ---

This is true peace –

The peace to which all men aspire,

The peace of re-union, the

Peace of no-Self, the

Peace of love, of Charity, the

Peace of spirit only.

In this moment,

My renunciants die to the flesh and

Are re-born to spirit,

Pure,

Without blemish;

Innocent,

Without sin.

Breathless, they

Abide in that silence until,

Bound by the laws of the flesh,

Again, they fall.

Once more filling their ears,

The noise of the world, of flesh, of heart, of mind

Drowns out all but

The faintest memory of

The bliss that was theirs

Just moments ago.

--- *** ---

In this, their singular suffering,

My renunciants mourn

The loss of this nothingness,

This emptiness in which

All spirit, all love, all Charity resides.

Aware that longing for no-Self

Differs not from the desire for

Worldly ends, renunciants

Uproot their longing, and so

Cut off their suffering.

Once again standing firmly in

The world of the flesh and

Intent on the world of spirit,

They continue on their path.

Ignorant of coming,

Indifferent to going,

My renunciants

Continue on the path on which

Their dispositions impel them,

The path they cannot but walk.

This is the renunciants’ faith – that

The path that they walk,

The path without endS,

Will eventually lead them

Back to me, to reunion,

To spirit only.

--- *** ---

Self growing smaller,

Renunciants look toward the world of spirit and

Turn their backs on the world of the flesh.

Dusting off layer after layer of

The ash of a lifetime of dispositions,

My renunciants, Self-less and

Seeking no ends,

Live a life of righteousness after

The teachings of their elders.

With no Self on which to feed,

The hungers of

Body, heart, and mind

Weaken and,

With the Self, cease to be.

Acting from spirit only,

My renunciants commit no offence, nor

Can offence be committed against them.

In absence of Self, who can take offence?

Lacking an “other,” who to be forgiven?

In Charity, they walk with me, and

Remonstrate not with others.

If no “up,” where the dais from which to judge?

If no “down,” where the ground

On which to kneel?

--- *** ---

When Self is no more,

Only spirit remains;

When only spirit remains,

Charity and compassion supplant

Pain, and sorrow, and suffering.

With hearts of Charity,

United in love with

All living beings,

Renunciants recognize no singular bonds.

Offspring of no forebear,

Partner to no spouse,

Parent of no child,

Renunciants walk the path of

Their lives in solitude,

In the silent peace of spirit only.

Rejecting all bonds,

Renunciants are ill understood by

Those closest to them, those who

Prefer their affection and

Want not their Charity.

Harboring no enmity toward

Parent or child,

Sibling or companion,

My renunciants turn their backs on

All such bonds as

Chains which

Bind them to Self and to

The world of flesh.

--- *** ---

With no past to atone for,

Nor future to worry over;

Without parent, spouse, or child –

Without any singular

Bond of blood or oath,

Renunciants walk their path alone,

As passersby in the world of flesh.

Unconcerned for what they will wear,

Caring not for what they will eat,

Without worry for what the day might hold,

Renunciants are forever

Walking in solitary prayer,

Walking in spirit only.

Distancing themselves from

The things, the people,

The situations that distract,

They lay this their sacrifice at my altar, and

In their privation draw closer to me.

These are my renunciants, and

They are closest to me, for,

By renouncing Self, they face

Their own emptiness, and

Gazing into that emptiness,

See my face.