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.