"There is no path" -- poet Antonio Machado

For a long time I believed in a path. A path back to God.

The religious group I belonged to for 35 years, Radha Soami Satsang Beas, taught there was such a path. One of their books was called "Path of the Masters."

Since I no longer accept that such a path exists, I like this poem by Antonio Machado. There are various translations from the Spanish. I've shared several.

Wanderer, your footprints are
the path, and nothing else;
wanderer, there is no path,
the path is made by walking.
Walking makes the path,
and on glancing back
one sees the path
that must never be trod again.
Wanderer, there is no path—
Just your wake in the sea.

Wanderer, your footsteps are
the road, and nothing more;
wanderer, there is no road,
the road is made by walking.
By walking one makes the road,
and upon glancing behind
one sees the path
that never will be trod again.
Wanderer, there is no road–
Only wakes upon the sea.

Wanderer, your footsteps are
the road and nothing more;
wanderer, there is no road,
the road is made by walking.
Walking makes the road,
and turning to look behind
you see the path that you
will never tread again.
Wanderer, there is no road,
only foam trails on the sea.

Walker, your footsteps
are the road, and nothing more.
Walker, there is no road,
the road is made by walking.
Walking you make the road,
and turning to look behind
you see the path you never
again will step upon.
Walker, there is no road,
only foam trails on the sea.

Comments

[💕🙏🏻💕 Think or NOT to think and WHAT to think 💕🙏🏻💕]

Quote of the Day
"Remember happiness doesn't depend upon who you are or what you have; it depends solely on what you think."
— Dale Carnegie —

777

me: And eventually NOT think

-

[s*]

Beautifully stated poem..

[La Madrugada]

Hi Brian,

A well known spanish singer.Josn Manuel Serrat put it to music many years ago. It was a good song.

https://youtu.be/2DA3pRht2MA

[Spence Tepper]

If you are compelled
You can't be held
This is your path.

If you can see
the dark rooms' not empty
Though others disagree
This is your path.

You were moved on high
But you forgot why
forgot how to try
Now you try to deny
But footsteps don't lie.
This is your path.

[Vinny]

Wanderer, thieves have stolen languages to make a false language. Wanderer it is a great mischief.

[Manoj]

There is No Path...but the "Path of the Bent RS Masters"

Take Gurinder Singh Dhillion the current  Bent baba of the Radha Soami Cult.

Isn't it obvious this path is all about misleading, manipulating and taking advantage of the disciples.

Making them feel they're not worthy to be full fledge human beings on they're own path.

So he creates a dependcey that we must follow a little Cowboy like himself and not ask any REAL questions because that's a No go area. And you may fall upon the Real truth of this little coward cowboy baba and his creepy cult.

Follow you're own path and leave the Cowboys behind

[Spence Tepper]

Of there is a path to personal growth, enlightenment, or even God-realization, it will be found within you.

If Science finds it, they will find it within you, built into the human frame.

And if it is found by science, it will only be a confirmation of the Path others have found within themselves and written of since ancient times.

But your path will be a little different. All roads may lead to Rome, but you can only take the road from your place. The other roads don't start where you are. So, while he destination will be the same, as it has been for all time, the start will look familiar only to you.

There are so many roads in life, so many paths.

Yours begins in you.

[Uchit]

Spensor you say all paths lead to Rome repeatedly. (The Vatican and the Pope are in rome). This statement is therefore misleading as all paths lead to your Lucifer/ satan, who is your God. Your god needs worship and needs a so called path to him. Paths divide, and create wars. All paths are manipulated by the entities and a curved ball back to hell and suffering. Look around you, and question your source , agent of kaal (demonic entities). You may find the reality is complete opposite. RSSB and the looser GSD are nothing but clever distractions (mafia disguised as love and light) and is set to be another path to Rome ( satan) as people move from traditional religions.

[Spence Tepper]

Uchit, the path to hell starts with holding a grudge.
And the first step to heaven starts with letting it go.

[albert]

Melancholy and feckless poem. Sadly, mirrors the neo-advaitist thinking that has gripped the lazy minds of these times. Not my cup of tea.

No effort, no rewards. No goal, no attainment.

[Sonia]

This poem is a lot like meditation. It feels very Buddhist to me. Still waters…

[Osho Robbins]

There is a scripture in which the disciple asks the guru “what is maya?”
The disciple asks “is the ocean maya? Is the body maya?”
The guru says “yes”
Eventually the guru says “whatever you see with these eyes - all is maya”

“Maya” is the changing, moving phenomenal world we see. We too ( body, mind) are maya.

Within maya, we can achieve and attain.
We spend out whole life in this.

We create a family, we build a house. We count our bank balance. We may build a business.

All we do in life is achieve and attain.
This happens through “doing”
Without action we cannot attain.

Everything we create will one day get destroyed. This is the Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva of the Hindu scriptures.
Creator, sustainer and destroyer.

God or oneness or truth ( all used synonymously in the scriptures) is outside of this system. It cannot be created, sustained or destroyed.

So when you try to attain god or enlightenment, you are thinking of it as part of maya.

You are trying to attain it just like you try to make money. You think the harder you work or meditate, the quicker you will arrive at Sach khand or whatever you envisage is the goal.

But you forget - it’s not the body or mind that gets enlightened. Nothing actually happens. You simply have a change of perspective and perceive what was already the case. Not something that you attained through effort.

Everything attained through effort will be destroyed one day because it is part of maya.

If god or enlightenment was part of maya then it could have been attained and would also one day be destroyed.

It is already the case and will always be. Japji says this in the first stanza.

You are “that” which always will be.

No path is needed because it is here and now.
A path is only needed if it is “there” and will take time to reach. Hence disciples say it is a lifelong struggle.
It is only ego that struggles to attain.

The ego is mistaken. It sees itself as separate and now seeks to merge with a fictional distance god.

[Martin Archer]

“I maintain that truth is a pathless land, and you cannot approach it by any path whatsoever, by any religion, by any sect. That is my point of view, and I adhere to that absolutely and unconditionally. Truth, being limitless, unconditioned, unapproachable by any path whatsoever, cannot be organized; nor should any organization be formed to lead or to coerce people along any particular path. If you first understand that, then you will see how impossible it is to organize a belief. A belief is purely an individual matter, and you cannot and must not organize it. If you do, it becomes dead, crystallized; it becomes a creed, a sect, a religion, to be imposed on others” - J. Krishnamurti

[Tendzin]

Science tells us that humans are goal-seeking machines. We are made to be path-followers, creators, achievers, builders. Humans are made to be purpose-driven beings.

When I say "made," I don't mean it in a philosophical or religious sense. I mean that it's obvious that human happiness is linked to acts of aspiration and creation. We're not like cows that are content to wander about grazing and care for nothing else.

A Zen saying is that whatever you can say, you're only half right. Krishnamurti was half right about "truth" being a pathless land. RSSB is half right about the need to strive to realize "truth." Taken absolutely, it's clear there are problems with either end of the spectrum.

Suzuki Roshi said Zen is all about Right Effort. Many Buddhists agree with him, and yet they also agree that the destination of Zen is nowhere. It's a paradox.

I can fully agree with those who think the Sant Mat model of spiritual achievement is not for everyone, and that it probably leads to more frustration than insight. The Charan and Gurinder Q & As are proof of that.

[Um]

Humans are the only species that can RE-create their original habitat wherever they go. For that to be possible they have all the faculties that other species do not have and need not to have. ... animals can move around within certain boundaries, plants have to stay were they are ... so animals have also more faculties than plants. ... and ... plants more than rocks.

Most things we take for granted,were not always there, they had a start, they were invented ... almost all things we cultural use to live on places on earth where we otherwise would not able to survive 4 seasons.

So the ideas of god, the divine and all interest in content of awareness, and the possibility to recreate, all started sponateously in the past.

Without having extra-ordinary experiences, nobody would have ever been able to create an concept of gods etc. What we know these days are descriptions of what was experienced and practices of how to recreated them.

In fact there is no difference in the end result

and .... no all are gifted in the same way, nor have the correct understanding of the practice or the circimstances to practice, both mental and otherwise.

[Sonia]

“you see the path that you
will never tread again.”

Holding on to the past keeps us from moving forward.

Yet, not seeing the past for what it was paralyzes us. Occasionally you have to look back.