14 December 2008

The Way of the Wise


Be true to yourself.
Be true to your heart.
Be true to the Way of Peace.
Be without being
A prisoner of the past.
She has long since abandoned us
Leaving the door of our cage wide open.
Yet, we remain within her boundaries
Like a bird that has forgotten how to be free.
Spread your wings
And fly.
Be without being.
Such is the Way of the Wise.

Be true to yourself.
Be true to your heart.
Be true to the Way of Peace.
Be without being
A puppet to emotion.
How does such an invisible and silent mistress,
Without shape
Without form
Move us
Without as much as touch?
The strings that pull us
Into directions
Of haste and regret
Only exist in the mind.
Sever the ties.
Be without being.
Such is the Way of the Wise.

Be true to yourself.
Be true to your heart.
Be true to the Way of Peace.
Be without being
An instrument of ego.
Our greatest player-
Ourselves.
And she plays our song so sweetly.
But what good is such
If none hears the music?
The rest of the world
Dances
To their own melody.
Your breath would fair better
As wind in your sails,
Than whistling a tune
Upon deafened ears.
Be without being.
Such is the Way of the Wise.

Be true to yourself.
Be true to your heart.
Be true to the Way of Peace.
Be without being
A victim of desire.
Desiring nothing,
All shall be fulfilled.
Be without being.
Such is the Way of the Wise.

Do as true to yourself.
Do as true to your heart.
Do as true to the Way of Peace.
Do without doing,
Responding,
Reacting,
Or anticipating
The World.
For in doing so
We become but
A shadow of its existence.
Do without doing.
Such is the Way of the Wise.

Keep your mind true to yourself.
Keep your mind true to your heart.
Keep your mind true to the Way of Peace.
Give no mind to the noise
Of the world.
Let it deafen the ears of others.
Keep your own thoughts
Quiet
Enough
To hear the beat
And the voice
Of your own heart.
Give no mind.
Such is the Way of the Wise.

Live true to yourself.
Live true to your heart.
Live true to the Way of Peace.
Live in non-being.
Live in non-doing.
Live in no-mindedness.
Such is the Way of the Wise.

By– Ch'onsa Kim

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