Be still, stop, be attentive – an all-encompassing attention!
Neither past nor future, be with the present moment;
Between you and what you listen to, let thoughts, images disappear,
Be just pure listening, a whole being, boundless.
The divine instrument – observation – alive and crystal clear,
You listen and watch, outside and inside yourself;
The whole thinking is mute – a tomb-like silence,
There are no expectations, no ideal projections.
All these will create in you a perfect order,
Body and mind, the whole being, in a direct relationship,
Able to understand any life phenomenon
In a certain, real and profound way, as ephemeral as it may be.
Such a simple meeting is pure meditation,
Practice this all the time, in every circumstance;
Start and end with a total silence,
The whole being in harmony – in a timeless state.
This peace gives you an ever-renewing mind,
Completely detached from the old, integrating in the present;
Psychologically, you are without center, boundless, you are Immensity itself,
Able to embrace the Eternity of the moment.
Through these simple meetings, the old man starts to crumble,
A crack appears in the egoic structure,
Through it, the accumulated energies start to leak and disappear,
They were holding you prisoner from times immemorial.
The Liberation started thus is continued, in time, until in the end,
When the “ego”, the sad conditioning, perishes,
The Spark – the Sacred within us – returns to the Source,
Sooner or later this is everyone’s fate: total Liberation.
Here lies the whole secret of knowing oneself,
Mystery intertwined with spontaneous action;
The only one which transforms, and finally liberates
The conditioned being from its degrading “ego”.
Always remember that knowledge keeps you prisoner,
Be quick to understand its unintelligent nature;
Give all your respect to the moment – meet it with humbleness,
Through it, wonders open into the Infinite world.
-Ilie Cioara
From The Silence of the Mind: Experiencing the Mystery of the Present Moment, page 3
This book is available from Amazon.
There are more postings from Ilie Cioara here.
You can read an interview about the Romanian Sage, Ilie Cioara here.
Sat Sangha Salon 