living waters

the sadhu in the morning light
goes to bathe in the ganges
where he sets his coverings on the bank
he goes in naked and
does not look back at the steps
that lead into the world
he takes his form into the rushing waters
and sinks down deep where there is
simply the beauty of the absolute
he then
puts his head in the water
like a baptism
that sheds the impurities of
worldly attachments that
he has come to know
and he allows the waters to
take away from him his burden
that has been heavy to his soul
he does not resist the waters
for this is what his soul is made
of in truth
purity
and he is to be made unto this light
the sadhu has put to rest his
personal world
this is not his anymore
nor was it ever
he puts it down into the earth
at the bottom of the water
to be carried away with the current
for his personal life is not at all real truly
it is what has taken him somewhere else
out to the land of shadows
what then is he to do now
that his mind is purified in grace?
he does nothing at all
simply lives free without the false ways
he lives as a man that is pure
in mind and heart
he lives like a sage of beauty
he is light
and joy and truth
what else can he be?
when the ground is entered
for there is nowhere else to go

the sadhu that enters the waters of ganga
has within a burning desire for freedom
he is a man of desire
that is of only *one* desire
not many that are pulling him in opposite directions
he burns to know the truth
as a one that is thirsty and hungry
and trembling inside with the desire to know
and to be free of what it is that is unwell in heart and mind
he is a seeker of heart
not a seeker of the world and heart
this cannot be steady
it is to make a man wobbly on his feet and in his
mind because one cannot walk in two directions at once
he is a man that is on ONE road only
to the truth
he comes into the waters and dies there to the light
this is why his initiation is like his funeral truly
because he is not to return to his old life of mundane
experience in which he was a such and such
with a name and role and all of that
he is now a sadhu which is nameless and not
of an identity that can be put in a box anymore
so he merges with the waters of the divine
as if he was the *offering*
he *is* the offering
his attachment to body and mind are what are to go to the waters
and be dissolved there (within the light)
the sadhu then walks away into the world
but is not of it
he places his feet on the earth
and walks into the lands of the transient way
but he is not any more within the changing tides
his being is still and absorbed always in quietude

so this my friends is the way of the sadhu
that is sincere
it is not different than one the comes into the light
within and is surrendered in heart and mind
it is the living waters within
that will clean the mind of dross
and purify the soul
it is the living waters within that will drown
the separation
and so onward now
without the baggage and the thoughts that say
i am not good enough or right enough to go into
the waters
it is these thoughts that will block you from your
pure self
for there are none that cannot enter
only the heart and mind are to be purified
with honesty and good character
and steady ways --
this will bear fruit in time
for sure
but for now go on and love what is here
be in love with the pure soul
that is so fresh
be in love with this moment
and go on