Wisdom from the Ancients

You hold a manuscript containing the Wisdom of the ancient sages. Read these words with a pure body, a clear mind, and a sincere heart. Read these words, and let them inspire your soul. Over the centuries, those who have read these words with pristine openness have realized the enlightenment residing within us all.

To communicate anything profound both the writer and the audience must harmonize in a sympathetic communion. These poems were conceived in purity. To understand, you must contemplate in purity. Since these thoughts arose from divine clarity, you must receive them with a clear mind. If these words are to sustain you, you must allow them into your heart. Before you read these words, sit in silence and calm your mind. It is insufficient preparation, having received this manuscript, to sit in an easy chair and skim these words as you would a newspaper. When you are preparing to meet the Sages, first calm your mind. When you meet the Sages bow respectfully and contemplate their Wisdom. Wisdom is sweet freedom. Reflect upon it. Make it your own. It will always sustain you.

Wisdom remains concealed from bewildered minds for it is subtle. All things arise from the Infinite. Because we arise from the Infinite, we directly experience it. We feel its presence in our hearts. Although hidden from a chaotic mind, Wisdom is simple. Do what you should. Do not do what you should not. Master yourself according virtue. Seek the highest consciousness. Live with joy, health, and peace.

The Masters: With the strength that comes from within, the Masters are still. Like mountain lakes, they are pure, tranquil, and deep. Neither appealing to the Infinite in their own defense, nor suffering from its effects, the Masters reside beyond the command of suffering and reward.

Losing their attachments, they avoid consternation. Free from burdens, they rejoice in their emancipation. Possessing freedom without bounds, health, contentment and confidence are their greatest possessions, and freedom is their greatest joy.

The Masters are exhilarated, even among the dejected. They are healthy, even among the afflicted. They are serene, even among the agitated. They are cordial, even among the embittered. They are humble, even among the arrogant. They are intrepid, even among cowards. They are kind, even to the loathing. They are charitable, even to the ravenous. They are respectful, even of the insolent.

Because they do not seek renown, the Masters do not need reputation to be noble. Because they do not desire material goods, they do not need possessions to be wealthy. Because they do not seek to dominate, they do not need physical strength to be powerful. Because they do not consider prestige an asset, they do not consider obscurity a liability.

No complications, no pressing searches, no desperate enterprises. The Masters pass their lives in peaceful serenity neither alienating anyone nor submitting to anyone.

The fools: Life is a sacred ceremony of receiving blessings and giving thanks. Those who do not hallow life are ungrateful. Fools are their own worst enemies. Their own mischief causes them suffering. A fool's mischief first tastes sweet, but in the end, it turns bitter. As fresh milk takes time to sour, so mischief takes time to ravish the fool.

Why do what you will regret? Do only what you should, and fill yourself with joy. Fools do what they should not. They are reckless and driven by denial and desire. One fool denies the truth. Others deny their own actions. Some fools are idle. They eat and roll in their sleep as hogs wallow in the mud. Other fools raise dust on the road, but they get nowhere. All fools travel in darkness.

Fools eagerly make resolutions, which they soon break. Their devotion compels them to make pilgrimages. But neither of these soothes the heart’s deepest aches.

Fools are driven by yearnings, and they seek refuge in acquisitions and accomplishments. Finding no solace in these things, they endure constant torment. Fools direct their will to what is beyond their control, and they seek to extend their power over objects. When they seek to extend their control, they merely exploit while they think they are surpassing others. Fools justify themselves, because they have no purpose. They boast of their abilities, yet they have no mastery. When fools stand on tiptoe, they soon lose their balance.

Fools breathe with their gullets, half-strangled. In dispute, they heave up arguments like vomit, and their words flow like piss. Where the fountains of passion lie deep, the heavenly springs are soon dry.

Fools are guided by arrogance, passion, and mental restlessness. Using these as their guides, they live in ignorance. Fools mistake information for knowledge, and they mistake knowledge for Wisdom. Whatever fools learn, they only become duller. Knowledge inflates their vanity leading them to demand recognition—a place before other people, a place over other people.

Enlightenment: As the sun slips from behind clouds and shines, the awakened slip the grip of ignorance and shine. They shine in the radiance of their hearts. They find joy in the stillness and sweetness of surrender. Awaken. Let consciousness be your greatest possession.

Clouds can obstruct, but the inner light always shines. Do not try to understand: Look. Words cannot express this image, for the eye has no tongue. Enlightenment lies beyond names and beyond questions. Penetrate the outer shell, and taste the inner ineffable kernel.

No philosophy.
No knowledge.
Silence.

The Infinite: If we flee from the Infinite, we cannot evade it. When we embrace the Infinite, we cannot possess it. Not knowing how near it is, we consider it obscure. The more we seek it, the more we estrange ourselves from it. We chase wonders, not realizing that they are in our midst. End the chase, there is nothing lacking. The purpose of life is to live. Discover the meaning through living.

Live in your heart. The answer is not in heaven. It is in your heart. Reaching serenity delivers us from ignorance. Fully awakened, the mountain remains a mountain. Only our hearts have changed.

Meditation is a blessed respite from the noisy mind. Silence is the Master's art, and meditation is the Master's sword. The sword's usefulness depends on the swordsman. A sword brandished recklessly, spills the swordsman's own blood. Wielded by incompetent hands, the sword's stroke is mere bluster. Used wisely, a sword becomes a powerful instrument.

As still water serves as clear mirror, an undisturbed mind allows accurate insight. When dust soils a mirror, its reflection obscures. Cluttered by distractions and confused from exhaustion, our minds muddle. We cannot make wise choices, without sound insight. The Masters achieve clarity in stillness, and they discover Wisdom after achieving clarity.

Desire: If you cling to desire and attachment, how can you harmonize with the Infinite? Give thanks for what you have, however little. Fools seek inner peace through external accomplishments, while the Masters can appreciate external joys through their inner peace.

When gluttony and lust compel people, power and profit blinds them. Seduced by status, they dedicate their existence to turmoil. When the gluttonous try to extend their power over objects, those objects gain control of them. Those who value only objects, lose sight of their own personal value. If they no longer value themselves, how can they value others? If they no longer value others, their virtue is lost. If they lose their virtue, they have nothing of value left. There is no robber as dangerous as gluttony. For it robs us of our humanity.

To elude entanglements, eat enough to maintain your energy. Dress sufficiently to protect your body, and live in a house sufficient for shelter. Respond to the significant conditions, and ignore meaningless distractions. Lighten your load—unburden yourself from desire. Why miss what you lack? Instead, enjoy what you have. When we free ourselves desire, we roam beyond affliction.

Animus: If you cling to anger and hatred, how can you harmonize with things greater? As a snake's venom ravages its prey, a fool's malice ravages his own heart. See yourself in others, then who will you hurt? See yourself in others, and then who will you deny compassion? The wise harm no one, including themselves. Freed from animus, we become immune to scorn.

Only the serene can know the subtle essence. To become free from turmoil is supreme attainment of purity. Those who become pure may reach spiritual illumination. Those who reach spiritual illumination find solace even within a storm. Their minds are not agitated, and their spirits are not disturbed. Their perceptions are accurate, and they understand the meaning.

Serene and aloof, attacks do them no harm. Sensitive and responsive, their actions are effective. Adaptive and resilient, they move without rigidity. Emptying their minds of structure, they understand without learning. Thus in their emptiness, they fill with insight. They see without looking, and succeed without striving. Losing their preferences, they can enjoy all circumstances. They do not attain happiness. It attains them, after they cease struggling.

The Masters are not afraid. They do not tremble. Since externals have no hold on them, they fear no hardships. Celebrating their consciousness, they forget about lowliness. Secure in virtue, they forget about poverty. They lean on a pillar that never shakes, and they travel a road never blocked. They are empowered by an energy that is never exhausted, and they learn from a teacher who never dies.

Whatever they do, they embrace the inevitable; thus, calamity cannot trouble them. Humanitarianism compels them, but arms cannot threaten them. Righteousness corrects them, but profit cannot seduce them. They will die for justice, but riches or rank will not corrupt them, for they have reached the end of sorrow, and they have laid down their burdens. Desiring nothing, they miss nothing. Beyond judgment and sorrow, they are pure and free. Beyond the pleasures of the senses, beyond time, they are full of power, fearless, wise, and exalted.

They have subdued their imperfections with their calm, and with great gladness, they have awakened from their sleep.

If you dawdle wasting time with trifles, how can you find your path? Existence is sorrow. Understand this, and go beyond sorrow. Existence is illusion. Understand this, and go in clarity. Consider the world light, and your spirit remains unburdened. Consider rarities and curiosities slight, and your mind avoids distractions.

The Thousands: Better than a thousand words, is a single word that brings peace. Better than a thousand years of prosperity, is one moment of generosity. Better than a thousand years of honor, is one day spent in humility. Better to live one day wondering, one hour seeing, one moment understanding.

Everything arises and passes away. You too shall pass. Knowing this, only a fool is idle. Be quick to master yourself, for if you are slow, your opportunity shall slip away. You have too little time to waste it on foolishness. You have barely enough time to develop yourself. Even for the Masters, there is no victory over death. Change is the only eternal. Why not welcome death as we welcome life?

Practicing harmony with the great rhythms of the Universe, the Masters are relaxed entering the unknown. For those who have acquiesced to beauty can die beautifully.

The Infinite's purity conceals it, because a contaminated mind cannot understand the pristine. If you come to understand, you will see by your purity. In your heart, burns a lamp that will light the way. When that light shines purely, you will find your path. As a silversmith sifts dust from sliver, sift away your impurities little by little. Or, as rust corrodes iron, your own mischief will consume you.

The greatest impurity is ignorance. Free yourself from it to be pure.

If you lack compassion, what will you ever learn? See yourself in others. Then from whom will you exclude kindness? The fool laughs at generosity, since good people may suffer until their virtue flowers. The Masters find joy in giving, since generosity provides its own rewards.

Live in the present: Regretting your past, your former self will not depart. Contemplating your future, the road seems long and difficult. The only real moment is the present. If you ever accomplish anything, it will be in the present.

Harmonize with the Universe: Heaven is calm and clear. The Earth is stable and peaceful. Beings that lose these qualities languish, while those that emulate them flourish. Cease the struggle. You cannot overpower the Universe. Relax in the world. When you are imprisoned, make peace with your jailor. But, why remain within a cage, when the door remains open? The Masters harmonize with things greater than themselves. As they harmonize with things greater, they flow with the external world. In this way, they keep apace with the evolution of all things.

Elegance through Simplicity: Clear and pure, the sages do not conform to fashion; instead, they cultivate refined simplicity. They do not distract themselves with pointless exploits; hence, clutter cannot suffocate their virtue. They have endowments, yet they appear to have none. They are full, yet they appear empty. Their wealth resides within their ethos rather than in material acquisitions.

The Masters treasure their bodies, minds, and spirits; hence, they do not dare be excessive. They do not work their treasures to the point of exhaustion. Therefore, sages nurture themselves. They do not exploit their vitality; instead, they rest in tranquility and stand in the center of the quintessential.

Self Discipline: While fools indulge themselves according to their whims. The Masters discipline themselves according to their Wisdom. Be guided by superior discipline. Let diligence guide your resolution, clarity guide your logic, and purity guide your heart. The enlightened master themselves; hence, their own hearts are their refuges. Having conquered themselves, the Masters are secure in self-knowledge. Secure in self-knowledge, they do not tremble before uncertainty.

The devoted master their bodies. Those who master their bodies may master their minds. Those who master their minds gain spiritual strength. Those whose spirits are strong know the path to meaning. Those who know the path to meaning, take that path.

A difficult path: Life seems arduous for those who quietly tread a demanding path. It is difficult to live in harmony with the Infinite and hard to comprehend. It is harder still to rise and awaken to the Infinite. Yet, virtue confers strength, and in the end, the difficult path is truly the easiest.

Blessings Supreme: To detach from the foolish, to be with the wise, to honor the worthy ones, these are blessings supreme. To reside in a sufficient dwelling, to have adequate clothing, to have a healthy diet, these are blessings supreme. To be well spoken, to be well educated, to be highly disciplined, these are blessings supreme. To be reverent and humble, content and grateful, to abide in tranquility, these are blessings supreme. A mind unshaken by desires, sorrowless, stainless, and secure, is a blessing supreme. Those who have fulfilled these things are well in all circumstances. Theirs is the blessing supreme.

Those, whose law resides within themselves, walk in solitude. Their acts are influenced by neither approval nor condemnation. They have no great exploits, no plans. If they fail, they suffer no sorrow. No self-congratulation in success. They scale cliffs, never dizzy, plunge in water, never wet, and walk through fire never burnt. They sleep without dreams awake without worries.

The Masters know no lust for life, no dread of death. Their entrance is without gladness. They withdraw from this existence without resistance. Easy come easy go. They do not forget where from, nor ask where to, nor drive grimly forward fighting their way through life. They take life as it comes, gladly; take death as it comes, without care; and travel away, beyond.

They have no mind to fight things greater than themselves. Neither do they contrive to help the Infinite along. Minds free, opinions gone, brows clear, faces serene. Are they cold? Only cool as autumn. Are they hot? No warmer than spring. All that comes from them spreads in silence, like the four seasons. The Masters harm no other beings by their actions. Yet, they do not consider themselves compassionate. They do not bother with their own interests, but they do not despise others who do. They do not struggle to make money, yet they do not make poverty a virtue. They take an independent path, yet they do not pride themselves on walking alone. The Masters remain unknown in perfect virtue. Although they receive neither rank nor rewards, they prevail as the greatest of all humans.

Thus, the sages have said:

No-self is true self,
And the greatest person
Is nobody.

The Final Word: The Masters have conquered all inner worlds with their calm, and with great gladness, they know that they have finished. They have awakened from their sleep. Full of power, they are fearless, wise, exalted. They have vanquished all distractions. They see by their purity. They have come to the end of the Way. All that they had to do, they have done.

Before an enlightened Master passed, his disciples they asked, "How can we possibly follow every discipline in your teachings?" His answer was, "Do your best."