Simplicity (english/spanish)

This "poem" came from somewhere a while ago... I say "poem" bc in reality I dont know anything about poetry in the sense of rules (if there is any) and such and such... yet, somehow i feel its still a poem... Please excuse my translation into english bc it might not be too accurate.

Simplicity (or Poverty -if its not too much of a shocking word)

I see how the multitudes run away to escape from thy presence…

Consumerism has slyly demonized and convert thee in the worst of nightmares. The masses hasten to offer their own lives in sacrifice upon the altar of god Mammon… And all of this for a handful of earthly toys that ignite for seconds petty pleasures.

Tired of such a pathetic scene, I closed my eyes and remembered a time when men gladly enjoyed underneath the austere wing of thy sight…

 Inspired by such vision, I decided to awake to seize my rod and walk upon thy streets of bared feet and empty saddlebags… I embraced thee impetuously confronting with gallantry a world that whines out loud: "Buy me! Buy me!"

Yet, as time went by, a thick bitterness suddenly prostrated in my throath… the courage succumbed, and as a dispossesed rebel, that in the agony of “the letting go” still carries in his back traces of melancholy, I followed the path of my ancient scrolls, till by grace divine I met in them a long maned Nazarite that said to me:

"Worry not thyself, which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?" Matthew 6:27

So I followed the divine command… I relaxed, recovered my strenght again and said to the Caesar: "Today, I renounce to be thy slave… take now what is thine!"

Then I covered my soul with the sackcloth of a mendicant and abandoned the common way of the circumspect…   As a child, I allowed Mother Earth to sustain me, and finally I knew what is to hold in the heart, the authentic joy and sarcastic smile of the old Diogenes.

Simplicidad (o Pobreza - si dicha palabra no le es muy chocante)

Triste es ver como hoy el vulgo corre a prisa huyendo de tu presencia…

El consumismo te satanizó solapadamente hasta convertirte en la peor de las pesadillas.

Las masas se apresuran para ofrecer en sacrificio la vida misma sobre el altar del dios Mammón... Y todo por un puñado de juguetes terrenos que inflaman por segundos placeres baladíes.

Cansado ya de la patética escena, cerré los ojos y me acordé de un tiempo en que los hombres se gozaban bajo el ala austera de tu mirada.

Inspirado por aquella visión, decidí entonces despertar para empuñar mi cayado y caminar por tus calles de pies descalzos y alforjas vacías…

Te abracé impetuosamente enfrentándome con valentía a un mundo que gime a gritos: “cómprame!, comprame!”. 

Pero al pasar del tiempo, una amargura espesa se postró de repente en mi garganta… El coraje sucumbió, y cual rebelde desposeído, que en la agonía del soltar aun carga en sus espaldas vestigios de melancolía, seguí  el camino de mis páginas vetustas, hasta que en ellas hallé por gracia a un Nazareno de guedejas largas que me dijo: 

“despreocúpate!quién de vosotros podrá, por mucho que se afane, añadir a su estatura un codo?”

Entonces seguí el mandato divino… me relajé, retomé las fuerzas y dije al Cesar: "Hoy renuncio a ser tu esclavo, toma lo tuyo!"  

Revestí mi alma con sayal de mendigo y abandoné la prosaica senda del circunspecto. Como niño, dejé que la tierra me sustentara,  y supe al fin lo que es sostener en el corazón la felicidad auténtica y la sonrisa sarcástica del viejo Diógenes.

Long live Marchena!

The following is a poem from the Costa Rican poet Julian Marchena (+ 1985).
 It has a lot to do with the topic of this blog, and it is without a doubt one of the most inspiring poems I have read so far... Sorry, theres no english translation.

Vuelo Supremo 

Quiero vivir la vida aventurera
de los errantes pájaros marinos;
no tener, para ir a otra ribera,
la prosaica visión de los caminos.

Poder volar cuando la tarde muera
entre fugaces lampos ambarinos
y oponer a los raudos torbellinos
el ala fuerte y la mirada fiera.

Huir de todo lo que sea humano;
embriagarme de azul...Ser soberano
de dos inmensidades: mar y cielo,
y cuando sienta el corazón cansado
morir sobre un peñón abandonado
con las alas abiertas para el vuelo.

Vrindavan!.... embracing its people, its culture

here some pics from vrindavan...

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/109047881755511720389/albums/5916371961915233937

peace!

I lost my heart in Vrindavan...

Because of the nature of my journey, its quite difficult to keep posting things in the blog... sometimes I lose interest in it, specially for practical reasons... Some say that "personal history is a dead weight" and this surely has a lot of truth in it... Hopefully whatever I post here can serve a higher purpose (somehow)... 

Anyways, I might keep posting few things or perhaps nothing else, depending on the circumstances... The following is a combination of some dispersed random silly stuff along with a couple of lines one might call "useful".

I have to confess that sometimes I feel "fed up" with the superstitious and exotic ambiance that is contained within the whole Indian atmosphere... You will find in every corner Barbie-like statues of all the gods & godesses available in the Hindu pantheon (more than 3000!), all sorts of blind beliefs, rites & rituals... vicious monkeys and fake babas infesting the surroundings... "priests" in the temples spewing cheap talks to get some rupees from you... etc

I know I said that I wont comment on these things, but is inevitable... so here I  go again... In most towns there's a very particular combination of pungent fragrances... cow dung, human urine, incense and gasoline! That, plus the sizzling sun that hits right through your bones can be quite a killer combination, even for the most ascetic characters! unless you were born in such a context (i guess)... I have seen the most crude scenes so far in my life... specially in the train stations... people and animals with all kind of diseases and physical impediments... misery to the max... children pooping and peeing right there in the floor... and then rats having a feast with the leftovers! ...

Then you hear the voice: Everything is contained within the realm of the divine! ...so you humble yourself, enjoy again, and put an end to the chatter... Yet, and specially in a place like this, a keen critic-intuitive mind can save your skin more than once.

Then, out of all that you find once a while a pious woman smilingly grinding corn or  manifesting a true act of worship and devotion... people engaged in beautiful ceremonies or happily dancing and chanting in the temples... the most simple towns with their mud hut buildings, water buffaloes and a gang of children playing barefooted... ancient-culturally rich sites... beautiful landscapes... a silent saddhu ready to stare at you with deep embedded eyes...  and the breeze that soothes your body at night while you sleep at the verandah of a temple listening in the background to prayers, bhajan and kirtan... sometimes all night long!

Its funny to see how some people see you (foreigner) as a an alien...  The other day while visiting a temple a young, extremely beautiful woman approached and asked me, with their unique soft voice, sweet smile, anjali mudra and head movement: Sir, what is your good name? ... once I presented myself she said ... Oh very nice, may I take a picture with you? ... I laughed and posed with her... in the meantime, while her friend was taking the picture, an old vasana showed its face suddenly... I could almost hear a voice in my head saying: "Oh my God, you're so beautiful!" ... Fortunately I didn't act out any of my thoughts... and again the voice: "But wait a moment, to say to a woman that shes beautiful is ok!"  ... yes yes, but... i better shut my mouth on this one.

Thank you sir, thank you... she was gone...

and then, while reflecting on a corner the insight took place in my mind:

Once the mind is free from lust or any other impurity one can enjoy Gods lila and recognize the beauty in the forms without getting caught in it...but is a very thin line...

Oh foolish pilgrim!, what lies beyond the facade of beauty that your eyes are gazing upon?

Two things! , and one cannot be even called "a thing"...

In the realms of the unseen there is the all pervading luminous Self, that which cannot be possessed, that which you already ARE!

In the phenomenal plane... a bag of bones, pus, blood, urine, fecal matter, flesh and organs! decorated externally by a mask which the senses judge as beautiful...

Right on! after such a mercy-filled whipping the only thing to be done was... to keep walking!

If there is a place more suitable for living as a  parivrajaka (spiritual wanderer) then India and perhaps the buddhist countries (myanmar, thailand and lanka) would be in the top list, this for various reasons:

Such a life-style here is not only culturally accepted but also socially embraced, specially if they sense a vibe of authenticity in you, therefore to get biksha is quite easy...

Climatically speaking, is very hot, that allows you to wear almost nothing therefore you can travel with the most basic stuff, and there's always a shade of a tree waiting to provide you with its solace and public water faucets all around to refresh yourself whenever its needed... But still, even in Costa Rica where there's no tradition of renunciation I never lack of anything... everything just came without the need of even asking for it! so i guess is just a matter of faith and trust...

It takes a lot of time to move here from one place to another and it can become quite exhausting... Its been almost a month and i just make it to move from one state (uttarakhand) to another (uttar pradesh)... Im doubting the possibilities to cross to ancient Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka) for two reasons... seems that the ferry is closed and a plane ticket will cost too much (at least for my budget) and secondly... Time!... yes, in this material plane were always running out of time.

I stopped for a couple of days at Sadhana Kendra Ashram (www.sadhanakendra.org) which is surrounded by the mystic Himalayan foothills situated on the banks of the holy Yamuna River... its gushing is like a lullaby at nights... Here dwells a well known silent sage named Chandra Swami... I was blessed to receive his Darshan and holy communion... Very powerful experience...
In most ashrams they would say that they don't charge anything (bc that is how it was set traditionally for ashrams) but sometimes they will let you know very clear with their funny indian accent: "We dont charge anything here, but know that we spend on you 400 rupees everyday!"  and then if you don't have money but you are a monk they might allow you to stay only for 2 or 3 nights, unless you want to give yourself wholeheartedly to the cause, and that of course changes the whole panorama...

Before I left this ashram one of its beautiful dwellers provided me a couple of fruit bars, almonds and some rupees for my trip... "Know that you're are on a very good path, remember that when you leave everything for God, He becomes automatically responsible for you... therefore you will always have His protection everywhere you go!" ... The words of this brother provoked comforting shivers throughout  my body and immediately brought to my remembrance the words of Jesus in the book of Mathew:

	"Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
	Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
	Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
	And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
	and yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
	Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
	Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
	For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
	But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
	Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."

To live a simple life, and to renounce to its comforts is what is called the lowest kind of Vairagya... Actually you are renouncing to things which are ultimately bound to become trash (if they are not already), therefore what can you aggrandize yourself for? this is always a good recorderis for our fellow saddhu who sometimes feel a bit fluffed for living with almost anything... Renounce to the thought of renunciation itself (ego) This has always been the teaching of those Mahatmas...That is True Vairagya! and for that, a true vairagi will always aim, even if his/her body lives in a palace of gold.


After 12 hrs of trip by bus and train I reached  yesterday in the morning to the city of Mathura where Sri Krishna was born, and then I took a bus to Vrindavan... very picturesque town, fuuuuuuull of sadhus, wanderers, vaishnavis! and of course, cows, donkeys, camels and monkeys! ... Bhakti flows in the air... stands of flower garlands decorate the streets... Maha-mantra has possessed the place to its fullness... Very fascinating... This town is where Lord Krishna use to play his lilas with the gopis as a young boy... On the 28th Ill be celebrating Krishna Janmasthami (b-day) at the beautiful ISCKON temple... this is the most auspicious day for this city... lots of dancing, chanting, worshiping, and prasad!

This state, Uttar Pradesh is where Gautama the Buddha was Born, here he wandered 45 years teaching the Dhamma round and about...

According to what is commonly believed, 4 signs caused the young prince Siddharta to live the homeless life of a spiritual wanderer... First, the sight of an old man, feeble and withered. Second, a sick man surrounded by a pool of vomit and feces. Third, a stiff cold corpse... Then he saw a holy man, one of those who from time immemorial in India abandoned home, social status and "security" to face the meaning of life...

"This is one who searches for the deathless" said the charioteer to Siddharta..."Look how bright and clear are his features" ... From these sights, Gautama got his cue to go forth, from home to homelessness.

Here a beautiful paradox from a thudong bikkhu:

"A true wanderer wanders purposefully in the dharma-faring in order to put an end to wandering (samsara)"

Jay! ... Sri Krshna Sharanam Mamah !!!

Blessings...

blistered feet, blissful mind...

India is a very intense country... huuuuge, colorful, beautiful, awkward, religious, spiritual... you name it!
It is very easy to get caught in that which the senses perceive... Ones level of apperception must be very keen to pierce the veil of forms and dwell in its essence...

Regarding this matter I have found very useful to stop once a while for 2-3 days either in a secluded forest or in an ashram...

There you find the most appropriate conditions to recollect yourself through silence and meditation....
And through that silence, revelation beyond what has been seen takes place...
Insight ripens... alienation sets in...
There also you can rest your weary feet, give the body its proper care and, perhaps, receive the darshana of the Guru or Sadguru.

And then again, being faithful to your call, you gird your loins with might and set yourself in the wings of the wind!
with nothing else in front of you than total uncertainty and the lack of all foothold...

By then, each heart beat should shout out loud; Come what may!

all is well...

A light on Sannyasa...

Taken from: Sanyassa, an inner pilgrimage, by swami bhoomananda tirtha.

What is sannyasa, does it imply necessarily leaving household and putting on the ascetic robe? In taking such a step, no doubt, there is the pious intention of making one’s seeking wholesome and intense. But what verily matters is the constant attention to purify the mind and sharpen the intelligence. The rarity of ascetic renunciation makes it a very valuable and honorable one, but it should not give rise to any feeling of superiority.

The sastras define many different approaches towards sannyas, for example, bahudaka, kuticaka, purna, vidvat, etc, some live by alms, some are wanderers, some hermits… But those who somehow are given to lokasangraha, (mission of social welfare) cannot be like this, their constant and main focus will be on the development of the society and the ashram itself, not only the phenomenal plane but also in the noumenal. These are those who make outreach possible.

Sannyasins live and move with atma-trupti (inner contentment), atmotsaha (inner fervour) and atma-nirbandha (inner compulsion). Though are fully contented inwardly, they nevertheless have a loving concern for the society around. Their societal efforts are solely to ensure the welfare and cohesion of the society and never for their own delight. This often generates some timely inner compulsions, which result in their taking up loka sangraha programmes. Spiritual contentment and irresistible societal concern go together!

Therefore a sannyasin is, in reality not to be judged at all, especially on the basis of external factors, like how he lives, what is his ashram like, etc. A sannyasin who is given to the pursuit of brahmavidya will naturally be immersed in contemplative and introspectional levels of discipline and refinement. External, seemingly rigorous standards do not apply to such a one. To evaluate him/her on the basis of external insignia would be wrong, a disrespect to spirituality itself. Rather than being given to poverty or riches he will be given to the refinement and insight of being unaffected by and equal towards both.

“I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.” Philippians 4:12 (st. Paul)

Shankaracarya in his Bhaja Govindam has spoken critically about those who are given only to the external garb and some allied practice and not know where to lay emphasis, they mostly remain rigid and biased, missing the transcendental dimension and the resultant blissfulness.

“The self cannot be realized by carelessness or by improper austeriries” Mundakopanisad 3.2.4

Whatever austere steps the sannyasin feels like adopting in the light of what he had cultivated earlier, he should adopt now. This will also depend upon how he looks at austerity and which level of austerity is helpful to fulfill his purpose. Even the most austere sannyasin may not attain spiritual fulfillment. On the other hand, one who is not outwardly austere may derive fulfillment easily. Therefore, to seek the Truth and attain fulfillment in the pursuit must be the sole aim of sannyasa. If such pursuit will be helped when he has some facilities where he lives, I will say, let those facilities be there. As long as he remains attentive, everything will be alright.

Once his commitment is wholesome, I think, he should be left to himself. Let him stay in a place or wander for a while, let him live with another or with none, if he wants to live on biksha (alms-donations) may it be so!. Actually biksha for a sannyasin is prescribed in our sastras. 

To embrace sannyasa is to live in constant dispossession; therefore the biksha attitude is fundamental as well as wholesome for a sannyasin. When a sannyasin has thus renounced everything, whatever apparently he seems to posess, including “his” Ashram is the outcome of biksha.

“For such a renunciate, the entire world is but a bounteous biksha form his Creator”

                                                              Swami Bhoomananda tirtha

Lord of the senses...

Hrishikesha is a name of Vishnu that means Lord of the senses... surrounded by a landscape of ascetical atmosphere and quietude stands Risihikesh, which, according to history it was place exclusively for saddhus. Some people say that back in the good old days the only thing you could see here was forest and saddhus... There are kutiyas (hermitages) temples and ashrams scattered all over the place... some are abandoned and some are still running either by a true living sage ( few) and others by rascals! ... It is considered a holy city and it is vegetarian by law... If someone would come to this city before it was solemnly to become a saddhu. That is also why it adopted that name, because through intense saddhana people would (if in the right approach) conquer their senses.

"It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles"...
Buddha
                                                                                                   

Nevertheles, things changes and in the last 20 years there has been an invasion of tourism and bussines that has made a very bad impact, at least in the spiritual sense... There is a lot of "yoga" schools where mainly westerners come to get their teacher trainning... this is perhaps the biggest bussines in town! plus other commercial stores all around... Anyways, the place is surrounded by gorgeous vegetation and there are still places of cultural-spiritual interest to visit.... and interesting, very interesting characters!

As most of us know, anywhere you go in the world (and this doesnt excludes india) is not the same as it used to be... so, from now on ill try to omit my critics and high-light mostly its beauty...

Right now im staying in an ashram located in the little village of Tapovan... Is a small interreligious monastery, very organized, disciplined and clean... The sadhakas are very friendly and humble. Within the ashram compound I took off the kavi robes and adopted the traditional clothes of a sadhaka-brahmacarya which is a white kurta and longi, this out of respect bc I havent been initiaded into sannyasa officialy by a particular guru or lineage.

Ill be here perhaps 8 more days and then we'll see...

"It is not the outward circumstances that bind a man; by himself is man really bound, by himself is he really free."  bikkhu sumano

Rishikesh!

Some pictures from Rishikesh at:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/109047881755511720389/albums/5910561638823211313

Jay!

Abuela India!

After 23 hrs of flight plus 7 hrs by bus from Delhi, I finally reached Rishikesh! The land of lord Shiva... sannyasins, ascetics, pilgrims, tapasvins... you name it!

very familiar atmosphere...

There is so much i can say in the little i have seen that i really dont know where to start... from the warm "anjali namaskar" welcoming of its people, everyone saying, "hari om" ,"hare krishna" to the exotic collection of animals that roam freely in the streets... bulls, cows, goats, monkeys, pigs, chickens, dogs, cats, etc... The goooorgeous devotional looking women with their nose ring and colorful sarees! to the very various kinds of religious people at Ghandi's airport; buddhist monks, jains, sikhs, vaishnavis, muslims etc and the funny way people move their head when they speak to you...

So, I first vowed and ask permission to pilgrim this land... receiving the right signs I walked from downtown Rishikesh to the great laxman jhula bridge (5km)... on my way there i counted at least 7 ashrams... while i was walking I approached an old ascetic man who was making a fire on the side of the road... he said some words in hindi and then gifted me his rudraksha counts (first token)... and with all sorts of hand signs asked me if i have already eaten... i said no... and he pointed to a building in top of a little hill and said that that is an ashram and that i could ask for food there... So I  went up some steep stairs... pass through a hall where some people where meditating, reading, doing puja... walked further and a boy greeted me... namaskar, **&^&%%^ (hindi)  so i bowed and showed him my begging bowl, and he said: Ohhhh ok ok, come come, please sit... so i did... and so i had my first successful alms meal in brahmananda ashram...dhal, rice and chapati (off course)... then passed through Omkarananda ashram where there was a swami named Chandrashekarendra i sat in ardha padmasana and he gave me drishti, couldn't communicate with him bc he only speaks hindi and sanskrit... hes 90 years old and took sannyas diksha 70 yrs ago, at least thats what he's disciple told me ... Later on i went to Swami Sivananda ashram (perhaps the most prominent and famous ashram around) and met the successor of Swami Chidananada, his name is Swami Sannyasananada...a very thin, kind spoken Swami... his reception was very beautiful, we spoke for about 30 min, then i handed him some sat yoga info and he handed me a ticket to come to eat dinner at his ashram at 7 pm... so far so good... much more to say though, but im tired...

For some reason i cant load pics from my camera... so ill try another day!

Now ill take my first dip at the Ganges, and then head myself to Ajatananda's ashram (which is where i might stay for a couple of days )...

"As he has cultivated contentment, he will not care whether it is the finest culinay art or plain village rice - it is all the same to him."

namo, namo, namo

misused asceticism...

I just reached dallas airport... i still have to wait 2 more hrs for my flight to london and since there are free internet stations around here, i figured out to write a bit about something that brought my attention on my way here...

"A knife taken up by the blade, wounds the hand: misused asceticism drags one the downward path"  (in other words, lower death drive)

But what do we understand for misused asceticism?

To be sure, mere outward asceticism is of no avail, therefore if one submerges oneself in superficial austere practices either bc of some kind of imposed super ego religious idea of salvation or liberation  or some other kind of mental pathology and forgets the true tapasya (inner work) some sort of unbalance must peep through the door at any point, or at least youll just get stuck in a continual mute struggle... is very easy to fall in that category...

I always make fun of the new age people talk when they say (trying to condemn austerity): "But Buddha took the middle way" ... indeed ! yet, after he took the so called middle way he still trod the earth for 45 years as a mendicant monk practicing dhutanga austerities and teaching dharma ... what he condemned actually was the extreme practice of some yogis, like sleeping on nail beds or keeping their arm up for years until it was dry, etc...

Oh oh!... an alarm ijust rung here at the airport: "An emergency has occurred, please leave the building through the closest exit door"...

As the rastaman saying goes: "Not even the dogs that piss the walls of babylon shall escape this judgement"...

i surrender! but im stepping out...

all seems to be well... be well!

Fare lonely as rhinoceros...

The Sutta-nipata or "The Sutra Collection" is the fifth book of the khuddaka nikaya and is one of the 
earliest buddhist texts of the Pali cannon, coming from the same period as the Dhammapada, 
before the monastic tradition was strong. All its suttas consist largely of verse, though some also 
contain some prose. According to the traditional sources, the entire Canon (including the sutta-nipatta) was for the first time written down in the first century BCE in Sri Lanka. 

Consists of 71 short suttas and it is divided into five chapters:

• Uraga Vagga sutta
• Cula Vagga sutta
• Maha Vagga sutta
• Atthaka Vagga sutta
• Parayana Vagga sutta

 The following sutta, named Khaggavissana Sutta, is contained in the first chapter - uragavagga sutta.

Renouncing violence for all living beings,
harming anyone thereof;
Long not for son — how then for friend?
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

Love cometh from companionship;
In wake of (egoic) love upsurges ill;
Seeing the bane that comes of  such love,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

In ruth for all his bosom friends,
A man, heart-chained, neglects the goal;
Seeing this danger in fellowship,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

If one find friend with whom to fare
Rapt in the well-abiding, apt,
Surmounting dangers one and all,
With joy fare with him mindfully.
Finding none apt with whom to fare,
None in the well-abiding rapt,
As rajah quits the conquered realm,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros. 

Tangled as crowding bamboo boughs
Is fond regard for sons and wife:
As the tall tops are tangle-free,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

The deer untethered roams the wild
Whithersoe'er it lists for food:
Seeing the liberty, wise man,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

Casting aside the household gear,
As sheds the coral-tree its leaves,
With home-ties cut, and vigorous,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

Seek for thy friend the deeply learned,
Dharma-endued, lucid and great;
Knowing the needs, expelling doubt,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

The heat and cold, and hunger, thirst,
Wind, sun-beat, sting of gadfly, snake:
Surmounting one and all of these,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

Crave not for tastes, but free of greed,
Moving with measured step from house
To house, support of none, none's thrall,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

Free everywhere, at odds with none,
And well content with this and that:
Enduring dangers undismayed,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

Snap thou the fetters as the snare
By river denizen is broke:
As fire to waste comes back no more,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

And turn thy back on joys and pains,
Delights and sorrows known of old;
And gaining poise and calm, and cleansed,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

Neglect thou not to muse apart,
'Mid things by Dhamma-faring aye;
Alive to all becomings' bane,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

As lion, mighty-jawed and king
Of beasts, fares conquering, so thou,
Taking thy bed and seat remote,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

Poise, amity, ruth and release
Pursue, and timely sympathy;
At odds with none in all the world,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

Leaving the vanities of view,
Right method won, the Way obtained:
"I know! No other is my guide!"
 Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

Pilgriming Through Costa Rica...

 

I have found that in a country like Costa Rica, where there's no tradition of renunciation at all, the best, or perhaps wisest way to set your way (exoterically speaking) as a mendicant is within the realms of the people's religious signifiers. Not only on the garments themselves, but also on the words that one utters...
 
 Meaning, if one wears the saffron/yellow robes of eastern sannyasa traditions and uses complicate language, the possibilities to approach people and to receive alms becomes more limited. One has to bear in mind that the whole point of the mendicant's path is that the fact of depending solely on the charity of others, allows, not only the beggar himself but also he/she who gives, a beautiful opportunity to develop pāramitās (virtues) such as generosity, humbleness, acceptance, renunciation, contentment, loving kindness, etc... This interdependent relationship acts as permanent vehicle to keep spreading and sharing the seed of dharma and also prevents our fellow renunciate from falling in the pride of pseudo self-sufficiency... Nevertheless there are a thousand more traps (both subtle and gross) awaiting for him along the way... watch and pray!

  "Man falls as falls the fruit from the tree, Unripe or mayhap ripe, with sudden crash: and so, O king, a beggar I become, For, the sure pilgrim-life me seems the best."

Lord Buddha.


more to come...