the monastic life

in the past when the climate was

pure for seeking 

seeking was much honored

and not put aside or taken casually

those that were renunciates took to the 

path in it's traditional way

which was to don the ochre robes 

and wear the ornaments that spoke 

to the monastic life 

which were varied in their nature 

but very much honored and seen

as marks of a heart that was in the 

contemplative order 

when a monk takes to this life 

he is as a person that

has renounced responsibilities

such as rearing family and working 

in the world 

this type of undertaking has as it's base 

great meaning and purpose 

it is to keep the mind focused on God 

the monastic is to be always disciplined 

in the way of putting the eyes 

on the light in terms of scriptural reading 

and contemplation

he lives in a secluded area because he 

is as an island to himself in a way

as he is the sole being that is responsible 

for his journey

and there is no one else that can walk it for him

he is the one that is the keeper of the faith

and he is the one that is the protector of his silence 

he is the one that is the guard of his kingdom

he is the one that lets enter into his paradise 

seeds of untruth or seeds of great blessings 

that grow in the form of quietude and joy

not any one else plants these seeds 

he is the one that waters the blessings 

or destroys them by looking to the impure thought 

the monastic is not a person of the world 

he is as a soul in love with God 

which means he is in love with the SELF 

that is in his own soul

when there is quietude within his mind 

he finds joy in this 

when there is silence that has no personhood in it 

he finds great sustenance in this 

which steadies him to move on into the 

unshakeable stillness in which no experience 

can touch 

he is like a mystic 

as a sadhu that wanders to the light 

he is the same 

the monastic life has it's purpose that is 

good and pure 

but as this path shows when one can be steady

in stillness while in the world 

this stillness will be very solid 

and not easily moved 

as this is much, much harder ...

but can be done 

and will come to those hearty journeyers 

that are true inside and seek pure life 

this will indeed come 

for now onward..