Life is a mysterious condition. So many of us seem to
struggle with finding Self and identity in a world of demands and flux where we
constantly search the quiet place, the oasis of comfort where we can center. To
take time to one self is important, to make a date with Self, a regular binding
commitment to be with Self– because in soliloquy we speak with source and our attending
daimons and spirits. It is in the all-oneliness we find the breath of creation
to inhale and give us pause – and it is here we commune with Self.
The communion with Self is also a meeting with Death – who always
surfaces to question not only who you are, but also what legacy you are passing
down. To know yourself in the embrace of Death is to
gain a vision of legacy, an instant flash of what you leave behind.
Selfhood is an axis where the world dances around in constant
flux and moments – but yet that axis, that starry pillar is the marrow of this
fluctuating Self that takes on masks and forms in conformity and necessity,
whilst that core, that substance shines through dim or strong.
Self is unique to self and Fate reveals itself to those who
are true to Self – and True Self is always the path and gate towards
fulfillment and bliss. Whenever we pretend to be what we are not or let
ambition of goals that are not ours drive us we will only see despair and
hopelessness. It is a lie to Self and in this we affect our legacy.
Death is our constant companion in the walk of life and Death
is our legacy – that mirror that shines with beauty or disgrace as we end our
journey. No matter who we are, of what stellar essence our soul is rid with, it
is always possible to conduct our Self in this world with gentleness – and it
is our capacity for gentleness that will write our legacy in ink of wormwood or
roseblood…
To know Self is also to know your place in the world, to
realize your happy haven, it be great or small in the world is insignificant because
when Death calls Self, he calls you to be the hero in your own life. The true
warrior is he and she who conquer itself to itself!
By living our lives mindful about our legacy will constantly
temper our tendencies towards vice and anger – because even if we all must meet
Death, it is also Death that makes us immortal as it is Death that brings forgetfulness
and testaments of shame.
The good intention is never enough; on the contrary the good
intention alone paves the road to Hell and brings forth people who sacrifice
Self in favor of somebody else’s goals. When we walk the path of Self-deception
we tend to grow strong in anger, resentment and pride – there is no peace
there, just obstruction and enmity. Those that have ventured into the path of
lies and deceptions upon Self will scream out that they don’t give a fuck what
they leave behind – they say this because they, with their foul legacy, are
already dead…
As the odu Ifá Oyèkú Méjì says:
Bíríbírí
l’okò dá
Béènáni ni
omo aráyé
A dífá fún
ònà Ìsòkun
Tí ise Omo
oba l’ode Òyó
Enití ó ba
ns’akin
K’ó má
m’óhùn ojo
Enití ó ba
ns’ojo
K’ó má
m’óhùn akin
Oba kò jékí
á s’ogun si ìlú obinrin
K’á ba wón
ló
K’éni hùwà
gbèdègbèdè
K’éni lè kú
pèlé pèlé
K’ómo eni
lè n’òwò gbogbogbo
L’éni sin
Translation:
Constantly shifting is a boat on water,
And so are human beings
This was the teaching of Ifa for Ona Ishokan
Who was child of the King of Oyo
One who is brave
Should not assume the voice of the timid
And one who is timid
Should not talk like one who is brave
The king does not allow us to make war on a
town of women
So that we may perish with them
Let us conduct ourselves with gentleness
So that we may pass peacefully,
And so that our children can stretch forth
Their hands fully
On us in burial