"Half-Enlightened Masters" (from Hua Hu Ching - Reading 80) by Brian Browne Walker
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The world is full of
half-enlightened masters.
Overly clever,
too "sensitive" to live in the real world,
they surround themselves with selfish pleasures
and bestow their grandiose teachings
upon the unwary.
Prematurely
publicizing themselves,
intent upon reaching some spiritual climax,
they constantly sacrifice the truth
and deviate from the Tao.
What they really offer the world
is their own confusion.
The true master
understands that enlightenment is not the end,
but the means.
Realizing
that virtue is her goal,
she accepts the long and
often arduous cultivation
that is necessary to attain it.
She doesn't scheme
to become a leader,
but quietly shoulders whatever
responsibilities fall to her.
Unattached to her accomplishments,
taking credit for nothing at all,
she guides the whole world
by guiding the individuals
who come to her.
She shares her divine energy
with her students,
encouraging them,
creating trials to strengthen them,
scolding them to awaken them,
directing the streams of their
lives toward the infinite
ocean of the Tao.
If you aspire to this sort of mastery,
then root yourself in the Tao.
Relinquish your negative habits and attitudes.
Strengthen your sincerity.
Live in the real world,
and extend your virtue to it without discrimination in the
daily round.
Be the truest
father or mother,
the truest brother or sister,
the truest friend, and the truest disciple.
Humbly respect and serve your
teacher,
and dedicate your entire being unwaveringly
to self-cultivation.
Then you will surely achieve
self-mastery
and be able to help others
in doing the same.
