Just Like Me– A sonnet, plus a line

(This poem might better be posted in my/our website, Heart Mountain Monastery, but it seems appropriate for this audience as well.  So here it is:) 

 

We modern monks must stay anonymous,  

not wear funny robes, sport goofy haircuts.

This ambition to pray without ceasing

while mowing the lawn, doing the dishes,

filling out tax forms, entering payroll,

— an ambition the world has no room for—

will get a guy in trouble, blacklisted

(though a guy with a monk’s heart won’t mind this).

It’s really a gift for those around us

to keep this monk’s inclination private.

We see the world as our monastery,

the room we’re in is love’s sanctuary,

and you sir, you madame, (love’s bright children,)

are just like me: Mr. Monk, Mrs. Nun,

(anonymously.) 

 

Lao Tzu, early monk
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