修行者之歌

《修行者之歌》

Today

I

shed

my

old

skin

which

hath,

too

long,

suffered

the

bruises

of

failure

and

the

wounds

of

mediority.

Today

I

am

born

anew

and

my

birthplace

is

a

vineyard

where

there

is

fruit

for

all.

Today

I

will

pluck

grapes

of

wisdom

from

the

tallest

and

fullest

vines

in

the

vi

neyard,for

these

were

planted

by

the

wisest

of

my

profession

who

have

come

bef

ore

me,generation

upon

generation.

Today

I

will

savor

the

taste

of

grapes

from

these

vines

and

verily

I

will

swallo

w

the

seed

of

success

buried

in

each

and

new

life

will

sprout

within

me.

The

career

I

have

chosen

is

laden

with

opportunity

yet

it

is

fraught

with

heart

break

and

despair

and

the

bodies

of

those

who

have

failed,

were

they

piled

one

atop

another,

would

cast

a

shadow

down

upon

all

the

pyramids

of

the

earth.

Yet

I

will

not

fail,

as

the

others,

for

in

my

hands

I

now

hold

the

charts

which

will

guide

through

perilous

waters

to

shores

which

only

yesterday

seemed

but

a

d

ream.

Failure

no

longer

will

be

my

payment

for

struggle.

Just

as

nature

made

no

pr

ovision

for

my

body

to

tolerate

pain

neither

has

it

made

any

provision

for

my

life

to

suffer

failure.

Failure,

like

pain,

is

alien

to

my

life.

In

the

past

I

accepted

it

as

I

accepted

pain.

Now

I

reject

it

and

I

am

prepared

for

wisdom

and

principles

whic

h

will

guide

me

out

of

the

shadows

into

the

sunlight

of

wealth,

position,

and

hap

piness

far

beyond

my

most

extravagant

dreams

until

even

the

golden

apples

in

th

e

Garden

of

Hesperides

will

seem

no

more

than

my

just

reward.

Time

teaches

all

things

to

him

who

lives

forever

but

I

have

not

the

luxury

of

eternity.

Yet

within

my

allotted

time

I

must

practice

the

art

of

patience

for

nature

acts

never

in

haste.

To

create

the

olive,

king

of

all

trees,

a

hundred

years

is

requ

ired.

An

onion

plant

is

old

in

nine

weeks.

I

have

lived

as

an

onion

plant.

It

has

n

ot

pleased

me.

Now

I

wouldst

become

the

greatest

of

olive

trees

and,

in

truth,

th

e

greatest

of

salesman.

And

how

will

this

be

accomplished?

For

I

have

neither

the

knowledge

nor

the

experience

to

achieve

the

greatness

and

already

I

have

stumbled

in

ignorance

an

d

fallen

into

pools

of

self-pity.

The

answer

is

simple.

I

will

commence

my

journey

unencumbered

with

either

the

weight

of

unnecessary

knowledge

or

the

handicap

of

meaningless

experience.

Nature

already

has

supplied

me

with

knowledge

and

in

stinct

far

greater

than

any

beast

in

the

forest

and

the

value

of

experience

is

overr

ated,

usually

by

old

men

who

nod

wisely

and

speak

stupidly.

In

truth,

experience

teaches

thoroughly

yet

her

course

of

instruction

devours

men's

years

so

the

value

of

her

lessons

diminishes

with

the

time

necessary

to

acq

uire

her

special

wisdom.

The

end

finds

it

wasted

on

dead

men.

Furthermore,

exper

ience

is

comparable

to

fashion;

an

action

that

proved

successful

today

will

be

unw

orkable

and

impractical

tomorrow.

Only

principles

endure

and

these

I

now

possess,

for

the

laws

that

will

lead

me

to

greatness

are

contained

in

the

words

of

these

scrolls.

What

they

will

teach

me

is

more

to

prevent

failure

than

to

gain

success,

for

what

is

success

other

than

a

state

of

mind?

Which

two,

among

a

thouand

wise

men,

will

define

success

in

the

same

words;

yet

failure

is

always

described

but

one

way.

Failure

is

man's

inability

to

reach

his

goals

in

life,

whatever

they

may

be.