Events have no power

 

Life’s events arise, one after the other;

Face them not with courage;

Face them not with hope;

Simply face them not.

 

In absence of Self,

With no rock against which

Life’s events might

Throw themselves,

The renunciant stands – faceless 

Amidst the ebb and flow of life’s events –

Untroubled, undisturbed, unmoved.

 

With no plans interrupted,

No ends denied,

No desires unfulfilled,

Renunciants abide in

The Self-less peace

Of Charity, and

Of Love.

 

Events, though they arise,

For the Self-less

Have no power.

 

When events have no power,

Suffering is no more;

In absence of suffering,

Man’s greatest joy –

His growth to spirit –

Is boundless.