LET UNDERSTANDING BE THE LAW
THE MASTER SINGER OF LIFE
On the banks of a soft running river
There was a village full with people but empty of life.
Oh, the sorrow of it!
Many were the tall temples with graven images,
Gods moulded after the thought of man,
Proud priests, soft of voice, loud in chants,
Grave talkers of philosophy, under the cool trees,
The cry of burden, the fear of sorrow,
Complicated laws of religion,
Morality made for others,
The strong maintained by the weak.
The naked and the clothed walked on the same narrow street,
All in strife one against another,
Their Gods, their laws and their love.
They called the village the world.
On a fair day, at the meeting of four roads,
A man cried,
"Listen, O people,
There is a corruption, and a strife;
The song of your life is impure.
The Master Singer of Life
Comes to this ancient village;
Hearken to the harmony of his song."
The jasmine opens its heart to the dark night.
"I am the Master Singer of Life,
I have suffered long, I know.
Keep pure the song in thy heart,
Simple is the way.
Be rid of the complexities of Gods, of religions and of beliefs therein.
Bind not thy life with rites, with the desire after comfort.
Be a lamp unto thyself. Thou shalt not then cast a shadow across the face of another.
Life cannot be held in the bondage of fear.
Be free, then there shall be the miracle of order.
Love life, then there shall be no loneliness.
Ah, listen to the voice of my love.
I have suffered long, I know.
I am free, eternally happy;
I am the Master Singer of Life."
Softly comes the rain on the burning land.
A few listened and greatly rejoiced.
Putting aside all things
They freed life of all bondage.
"Yea", cried the people,
"But how shall we reconcile the beauty of our Gods with thy song?
In what manner shall we fit thy sayings into the temple of our creation?
Thou art the bringer of confusion,
We shall have none of thee,
Thou sayest things that we know not,
What thou sayest is of the Devil,
Away, away."
The Master Singer of Life went on his way,
And the people struggled with the problem of reconciliation.
LET UNDERSTANDING BE THE LAW
LET UNDERSTANDING BE THE LAW
Jiddu Krishnamurti, Let Understanding be the Law. The seventh International Camp of the Order of the Star.