The Seer Instructs A Callow Youth Poem by Daniel Brick

Why bruise your knees praying
for benefit to yourself? Every god
and goddess you implore already knows
your desires and your impatience.
I assure you they are obdurate.

Do not take offense at my bluntness.
I am merely wiping a slate clean.
Listen to me with your mind fully open,
and I promise: you will end this day
with a newly opened heart...

The finest prayers are those offered
for the benefit of another person.
Begin such praying before this day ends,
and you will cleanse the very air you breathe.
An irresistable sweetness will rise

in your heart, and you will be the first
to feel its delight, but it will spill forth
into the world and refresh even strangers.
And you will be lightened as well as
enlightened. Do you not right now feel

a heaviness in your heart's chamber, even though
no loved one resides there? That is the weight
of self, a false self you must carry even as it drags
you down. This false self has buried your true self
deep in your heart's chamber. It is a prisoner,

unjustly incarcerated by an evil judge. One thing
I can tell you: you must be free. You must set a date
on which you will meet your true self. Its liberation
will not require hours of praying for your benefit.
It will happen silently and imperceptibly,

as you open the chamber of your heart. Your heart will
glow, your mind will rejoice, and your true self
will appear in all of its natural glory. You will feel
the weight of your false self lifted, and you will not
lose anything in the experience... Just imagine

your joy if you were reunited with a twin sister
you had lost in the chaos of living. Would not
a deep wound be healed? Would this not make joy
a permanent resident of your two hearts? Yes,
yes, such will be the joy when your true self

lives in the center of your being. You will no longer
pray for your benefit. You will be a chalice overflowing,
a stream that replenishes dry fountains, a lamp that never
dims but shines even brighter when darkness approaches.
And you will find a fresh joy in praying for ther benefit of others.