Monday, April 21, 2008
Advice from the Master (poem)
Advice from the Master
Ego stepped forward
and said,
Dear Master, I am ready.
I have prepared for this moment
for thousands of years.
I have said my prayers,
told my beads,
knelt all the way
to Mecca.
Everyone tells me
I am a Great Soul
returned to save the world.
The Master said,
You overestimate yourself.
You are too inflated.
Go home and let some
of the air our of your personal
balloon.
Come back after you
have sized yourself down.
When ego returned,
he abased himself
and spoke in great humility:
Oh, Master,
I am not worthy.
I have lashed my soul
a million times
with the whip
of remorse,
and covered myself
with the dust of repentance.
I have resurrected every sin
and transgression
and worried them
like sores
with pinpricks of conscience.
I quit living
in this world,
found myself a cave
where I ate nothing
but nettles and snow
for a hundred years.
I know I am nothing,
a parasite,
less than a worm.
The Master replied:
Self-rejection is as great
an obstacle
as self-inflation.
If you plan
to soar to the heavens,
your balloon cannot
carry too much or too little air.
Only the middle way will work.
Quit thinking about all this
"how am I doing stuff"
and get on with your journey.
For now, here is a mop.
Go home
and scrub your kitchen floor.
Come see me
when you see your real face
reflected back.
Dorothy Walters
April 20, 2008
Ego stepped forward
and said,
Dear Master, I am ready.
I have prepared for this moment
for thousands of years.
I have said my prayers,
told my beads,
knelt all the way
to Mecca.
Everyone tells me
I am a Great Soul
returned to save the world.
The Master said,
You overestimate yourself.
You are too inflated.
Go home and let some
of the air our of your personal
balloon.
Come back after you
have sized yourself down.
When ego returned,
he abased himself
and spoke in great humility:
Oh, Master,
I am not worthy.
I have lashed my soul
a million times
with the whip
of remorse,
and covered myself
with the dust of repentance.
I have resurrected every sin
and transgression
and worried them
like sores
with pinpricks of conscience.
I quit living
in this world,
found myself a cave
where I ate nothing
but nettles and snow
for a hundred years.
I know I am nothing,
a parasite,
less than a worm.
The Master replied:
Self-rejection is as great
an obstacle
as self-inflation.
If you plan
to soar to the heavens,
your balloon cannot
carry too much or too little air.
Only the middle way will work.
Quit thinking about all this
"how am I doing stuff"
and get on with your journey.
For now, here is a mop.
Go home
and scrub your kitchen floor.
Come see me
when you see your real face
reflected back.
Dorothy Walters
April 20, 2008
