A True Monastery

Things in this life

From the spiritual to the worldly

Are mired in Untruth.

 

For their allegiance

Is to things

Other than Truth.

 

A True monastery

Would have neither a hierarchy

Nor a commune.

 

The humans set apart

By Sincerity

Rather than skill.

 

A True monastery

Would have no use for meditation

Or chores

Or heavy-handed lessons.

 

For such things do not create Wisdom

But student-hood.

 

A True monastery

Would be savagely exclusionary.

 

For it would use the example of “the world”

As a cautionary tale.

 

Truth

Would not be compromised

At any cost.

 

Hippies and drug addicts,

Love-mongers and escapists,

Gigglers and huggers,

Quote-spouters and intellectuals,

Consciousness-seekers and spiritual experts . . .

Would be stopped at the gate

With pitchforks and torches.

 

A True monastery

Would be devoted to sacred-ness.

 

A sacred-ness borne not of tradition

Or lineage . . .

But of a protection of an atmosphere of Truth

At all costs.

 

A True monastery

Would consist of no lessons

Or clever koans

Or nonsensical rituals.

 

It would contain no structure.

For structure

Carries an ulterior motive.

 

There would no recitation

Of garbled language

Whose meaning is neither decipherable

Or relevant.

 

A True monastery

Would have no austerities.

No suffocating incense.

No photos of the Buddha.

No socialization.

 

And such things

Would not need to be enforced.

 

For Truth would be the only thing

In the heart.

 

Monasteries

Are a squandered opportunity.

 

Which reveals

An insincere intent.

 

They are essentially

“The world”

In spiritual decoration.

 

They are hierarchical

Like the world.

 

They are prescriptive

Like the world.

 

They are ritualistic

Like the world.

 

They are symbolic

Like the world.

 

They are self-important

Like the world.

 

What they could have been,

They will never be.

 

Because man’s Need

To “help”

And to proselytize

And to propagate knowledge

And to preserve lineage

And to honor ritual

And to play the game of changing the masses

Is firmly embedded within the psyche of human beings.

 

The Genuine Thing.

The Real Deal.

The Authentic One.

The True Essence . . .

 

Such things

Exist neither in the world

Or its monasteries.

 

 

Namaste.