Follow the "I"

Follow the “I”

Disidentify with both body and mind
And therein great treasure you will find.

Not hidden golds of glories apast
Not personal wealth of coin so vast.
But the shared, limitless bounty of infinity
The all pervading treasure of divinity.

Sitting upon this mystery chest are we
Only a mystery because we do not see;
Do not look within and without
To see our endless fortune pouring out.

Who is “I”
What intangible is it that refers each waking moment to what self?
This “I” sleeps when the body sleeps
“You are your body”, you can safely shelf.

Who is “I”
What intangible is it that follows each thought and assumes with it identity?
This “I” sleeps while your thoughts dream on uncontrolled
Identification with this senseless automaton does blacken serenity.

Are you the ears that ring
The eyes that see?
The skin that responds to stimuli with immediate glee?
For the blind, deaf, body-burnt have of these none
Yet the “I” nowhere does flee.

Body, mind, senses will decay
Into the softn'd dust will tatter and fray.

Wealth of coin will pass hand to hand, never to claim a timeless owner
Men and their ideas will come and so shall they go
But the river of life unbound by these shall forever flow.

Identify with these, and the sorrow of impermanence shall forever dark'n your faint heart
Abandon all and seek, chest out, the white hand inexplicable
No longer shall you weep “of this universe you are but a speck in part”;
Soul will cry out “That art thou!”
And find itself in every stroke of the divine art.