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.