The Muddy Meanderings of Awakening
02 Aug 2016

Truth isn't what you believe,
Rather, it is how you believe.
Knowledge is not what you know,
Rather, it is how you know.

We can know and believe everything
An enlightened master does,
And still be as far from awakening
As those most lost and world-weary.

Wisdom is a process of authenticity,
Not a process of assimilation.
A stripping away; an opening to question;
Not a haughty display of knowing.

I am tired of the company of
Those that know and babble.
And I yearn for the presence of
Conscious and silent emptiness.

Even the most benign belief is
An abomination.
And even the most loving thought is
A road to Hell.

For thoughts and beliefs,
No matter their character,
Lock the gates to freedom
For all minds fantasy-prone.

Passion for Truth is misplaced,
For passion holds worlds shut.
Let go of passion; let go of love;
And you will find them waiting.

You cannot enter that place of Truth,
You are from Paradise exiled.
For the "you" you think you are
Is the lie that binds and blinds.

The promised land you will never reach,
So sacrifice the self, offload its weight,
And soar on wings of lightened awareness
To where mountain flowers scent.

The cosmic joke is revealed,
To those who dare turn away,
From the thoroughfares mapped and signposted,
To the muddy meanderings of awakening.