The conquest of self

The conquest of self is a joyous enterprise
Producing gnawing discomfort that helps us to rise
Above the limitation of unchecked desire
Burning unrefined thoughts in a smoldering fire
Forging a way of being and doing that inspires
Allowing us to form unshakeable ties

The painful knowledge of our own faults
Is a priceless treasure, hidden deep in a vault
The agony of being wrong when others seem right
Of feeling like darkness when others are light
The gift of seeing our own weaknesses arms us to fight
A battle against imperfection, to launch an assault

The violent shattering of deceptively pretty illusions
That glimmer in our fragmented minds as solutions
The ensuing waves of confusion and pain that seem to rein
In our artificially divided hearts and minds are not in vain
They help us to dance new steps, to sing a more apt refrain
To allow oneness to come to the surface, to come to fruition

To feel powerless helps one to feel awe and wonder
In the face of the One who rends the veils asunder
Before our forefathers to feel glimmerings of humility
To perceive the mysterious and subtle working of divinity
Coming from a force that is eternal, embedded in infinity
In the gales, the lightning, the pounding thunder