The Logos: The Meletic Testament (Chapter 3 The Renouncement)
Lorient Montaner
đź“ś Chapter 3: The Renouncement
1. Asterion once told me, beneath the olive trees of Pnyx, that wealth had made him blind as a youth. It was the way of the truth and philosophy that had made him yearn for more than wealth in life.
2. I mistook applause for wisdom, and gold for the truth. That is a lesson that I learnt afterwards—he told me.
3. He had been a young man of prominence before, seated amongst Athens’ elite families and lived within their world of luxury and commodities. Any man who heard this tale of his would be envious of his previous position in society.
4. He confessed that the marble of his estate was colder than the solitude that surrounded him, at times. He was distant to the other members of society who were marginalised.
5. —Heromenes, I was praised for the wrong reasons in life. Simply, because of the family that I belonged to.
6. He spoke not with evident bitterness, but with the clarity of one who had awakened from such world of material fortunes. This confession of his I found to be incredible.
7. He gave many coins to philosophers who entertained him, but never gave them his ear, until one day, he listened to a philosopher who spoke of humility.
8. He gave praise to mystical gods of the past who were immortalised by statues that remained in the city, whilst forgetting himself and the essence of his soul.
9. I remember the way his eyes dimmed when he spoke of his youth with such attention and details, as if he was relieving his youth through his memories.
10. —They called me proud as a young man, but I was merely indulgent in my vanity and knew nothing better.
11. He had walked away from it all—not in haste, but in the quiet resolve that ultimately shaped his character. A character that he would discover was much more than the whims of his previous ego.
12. To him, the path of To Ena is not found in the city’s grandeur or in the empires that men build. For those things mean nothing, except to point out that man seeks glory before he humbles himself.
13. He left behind his appointed titles, his lands, his servants who were loyal with no regret, except one which was that he wished that he would have freed his servants earlier.
14. He gave his estate to those people who needed shelter more than he needed status in life. He no longer craved extravagant wealth.
15. He did not mourn the loss that pursued him; he celebrated the freedom he had yearned for. He discovered the one thing that was missing in his life, which was the awakening of his soul.
16. To Ena is the way, the way of the undistracted soul. I do not seek the wealth of men, but the wealth of knowledge—he said.
17. I asked him once if he regretted the complete renouncement that he made, knowing that his future was uncertain and he would be shunned by the elites of Athens.
18. He smiled, as one who had tasted something purer than wine. I could sense this in his gesture and he recalled his past with precision.
19. —Regret is for those individuals who still believe in the value of what they lost. I lost something far more worthy than material wealth. I had lost my soul.
20. He had found Meleticism not in ancient scrolls, but in the silence and awareness of the places that he sought refuge and reflection. It was not a silence that one imagines without noise; for it was more of a silence that is reached through consciousness.
21. The hills taught him more than the academies ever did. He saw a different life outside of the city. It was there, where he mostly contemplated his vision of his philosophy.
22. He lived simply in his daily life—consuming figs, water, and thought that nourished his mind, body and soul. He never once told me that he preferred to lavish in banquets.
23. He did not own anything of value anymore, but he observed and was grateful that he became a better man in life, knowing that he knew what was worthier in life.
24. And in observing, he became wiser than before. Life had taught him to value those things that he had once ignored or taken for granted. This is was lesson of which he taught me to consider.
25. The city called him mad for renouncing his wealth so abruptly, but I knew better. I knew the real Asterion, who had evolved as a philosopher and a man with more virtues than vices.
26. He had shed the veil of illusion without much hesitance, and with it, the burden of vanity that had reigned over his self so blatantly.
27. Heromenes, you must learn to kneel before the truth. Once you have done this, then you can breathe the truth—he said to me.
28. He told me then, not before men who seek only to please their egos, not before gods carved in stone or in faith, but to the self that reflects his character.
29. His renouncement was not a complete rejection of life—it was more of a return to his true essence as a man, realising that the wealth that he once had would not accompany him in death.
30. It was an essence that was singular in its nature, To Ena. For it was To Ena that made him see his oneness and his forsaken soul that yearned to be free.
31. Asterion did not preach to the masses that gathered before a prophet; instead, he revealed to them the teachings of his philosophy. It had no divinity attached to it, but more simplicity.
32. His truths were not shouted in the agora for the world to heed but whispered beneath a cypress shade that represented the face of the Nous.
33. The soul to him is not fed by bread alone, but by the understanding of the mind, body and soul that must never be forsaken but nurtured instead.
34. I watched him give away his last coin to a lone beggar who asked for none out of shame. This gesture was only one of many that I witnessed of his humble nature.
35. He has greater need than I shall ever have in life, and I have excess to give. Let balance be restored anew—he said.
36. He no longer wore the elegant robes of his former persona before he ventured into life alone. It was the revelation of To Ena that convinced himself even more of the plight of others, less fortunate than him.
37. Instead, he wrapped himself in linen, plain and unadorned like an ordinary man would. To describe what he wore would be to put more reference to his appearance than his philosophy.
38. Adornment in his thoughts is the armour of the insecure ones. Asterion had no insecurities to conceal nor display. He was always honest in his admission.
39. I asked him once, if he ever missed his former life of opulence and prominence. It was a question that any man who had wealth would have been asked many times.
40. No. That prior life remembers me falsely, for who I was as a young man in disguise—he replied.
41. The city of Athens only saw then the poor man he had been reduced to, not the truth he then carried with his age that reflected his wisdom.
42. He spoke often of To Ena with such passion and intellect, as the enlightening path in life. This was evident in his words and conviction.
43. He taught me that To Ena is not a doctrine to impose, but a direction that leads one to the path of enlightenment. It was a path that I would forever be grateful to him for his teaching.
44. It points inwards in the soul, not upwards in life. This we must always remember. If we forget this, then we have forsaken the soul to the ego.
45. It asks not for worship like the Pagan gods or the Christian god, but for awareness of its presence. To Ena had no need to be idolised or immortalised.
46. Asterion believed that wisdom was not taught, but uncovered through the teachings of philosophy. Only then, could one learn to embrace the meaning of life.
47. You must dig through the innermost layers of the self to reach the depth of the soul—he told me.
48. Beneath pride, beneath fear and beneath desire. Wisdom is a journey not a yearning. Yearning is nothing more than that what we seek, not what we need.
49. There lies the quiet truth that waits to be revealed, waiting to be discovered by us, who live this truth through the wisdom we have gained.
50. He did not seek disciples to be his followers, yet I remained loyal to him and to his message, because I knew deep down that he spoke, not as a man of divinity, but as a man of philosophy.
51. Not out of duty, but out of respect for a man who taught me much and gave me the knowledge that I now apply in life with the utmost awareness.
52. For I had never known a man so free and wiser than he. Asterion was a man like no other. He did not consider himself to be superior to others.
53. He was free from selfish praise, free from worldly possession and free from false pretence that haunt other men in society.
54. Freedom is not the absence of chains that bound one, but the absence of craving—he said.
55. He no longer debated in the halls of rhetoric and syllogisms that were less relevant than his testimony.
56. He believed that words are often used to obscure things that are not truthful. They do not reveal the whole truth, without a great measure of wisdom.
57. Instead, he taught me through the practice of silence the important value of awareness. It was not merely a silence of words, but more a silence of reflection.
58. Through gesture, through gaze and through stillness in thought, I learnt to adapt his philosophy into my daily life.
59. Meleticism his philosophy is the art of becoming less. It does make a man lesser than what he is. It merely makes him aware of his existence.
60. Less distracted, less adorned and less divided to the chaos of the world that surrounds him with a lingering effect.
61. Until only the genuine essence remains behind, as a witness to the truth that reveals life and the presence of the Logos and the Nous.
62. I once asked him what he feared in life the most. He never spoke much of his fears to me, as if they were of no concern to him.
63. He paused, then said—It was to have died before awakening. This was my greatest fear before, but now that fear has vanished.
64. He spoke not of the death of the body that we associate to life, but more of the death of ignorance that plagues many men throughout their lives.
65. To live a life unexamined is to never truly live at all. This was something that he often expressed to me with such candour and recognition.
66. He had no shrine of his own to revere him, no followers to count as victory, no legacy carved in stone that could demonstrate his brilliance.
67. Yet his words etched themselves into my soul daily, as if they were the living scrolls that inspired me to follow his philosophical teachings.
68. Heromenes, do not seek to be remembered for what you relinquished in life—he warned me.
69. He emphasised the importance of remembering the self for the things that honour my memory; for it is the self who I must reveal with my virtues.
70. He would tell me that in that remembering, I would find the path of To Ena—not with only my eyes, but with my mind and soul as well.
71. Asterion once told me—The world offers many paths as an enticement, but only one leads inwards to the soul.
72. That path, he said, was To Ena—the singular, the still, the true that remained immutable. It was pointless to attempt to compare To Ena to a god.
73. He was convinced that the path is not marked by signs of divinity, but by silence and awareness that will guide one in life.
74. It would be a realisation that I would know it not by its arrival, but by the shedding of my uncertainties and fears that lingered in my mind and soul.
75. He once shed his wealth, his name, his place amongst men to follow this path that he professed to be that not only of his, but of others who were bold like him to be humbled by To Ena.
76. I was once called noble for my name, but nobility without wisdom is merely vanity—he confessed.
77. He walked away from the symposiums and the marble courts to seek another life that was totally the opposite of what he had known before in his life.
78. To him, people of wealth speak much, but they often listen little to one. They have the belief and perception that the world centres around them.
79. And in their noise made, the truth is drowned quickly so that it cannot be revealed to outsiders who see their arrogance.
80. I followed him once to the hills beyond Eleusis to watch him observe and meditate. I was eager to know what he was going to do.
81. There, he sat beneath a fig tree and spoke to no one, except to his inner thoughts that converged with his wisdom.
82. I asked him what he was doing at the moment afterwards. I was amazed by his gentle calmness as he responded.
83. Pondering—he said as he reflected in his words to tell me that thought did not require a voice every time.
84. Pondering the lies he was taught to believe as a child and young man. Even though he no longer bore the burden of his past, he still had in public, the stigma of his past amidst others.
85. Pondering the life and grandeur he was told to imitate and follow in the steps of its seduction and temptation.
86. He taught me that renouncement is not rejection—it is the refinement of the self as a man. It was a lesson to be learnt, not only by him, but by others as well.
87. You do not throw away the world, you sift it. It is better to be aware of the world than to be ignorant of its doings—he said.
88. His message to me was to keep only what nourishes the soul; for the soul will guide the self. As long as I do not forsake it.
89. He no longer sought approval from others. This was evident to me, in the time that I spent with him.
90. He taught me that approval is the currency of the lost egos. Men so easily are enticed by the whims of approval and adoration that they abandon their souls.
91. He lived in a small home, built with his own hands. It was difficult to believe that he had forsaken his wealth for modesty. This was something that perplexed many people who had come to know him.
92. To him, it was the refuge that reflected his self, which was simple, sufficient and modest in its structure. He had no need for anything else that could shelter him.
93. He had no need for religious scriptures, yet he spoke with the clarity of the future, as if he had been born with great providence.
94. He believed that wisdom is not stored in parchment, but in perception. Only then can we see that wisdom unfold.
95. I asked him once if he missed the city and the bustling life of his youth. He was sincere in his admission to me, which I thought was admirable.
96. He missed nothing of that nature, for he had found everything he needed in where he dwelt and where he existed.
97. Everything that mattered to him that was essential. These other things were merely distractions or unnecessary things that only provoke men, not guide them.
98. He taught me to walk slowly, to speak less and to observe more. It was in my observation that I would discover more awareness in my progressing thoughts.
99. The world rushes like a blazing chariot, but the truth waits for its arrival. It has more patience than men do. This was simply to see in everyday life in Athens.
100. The truth waits in the quiet corners of the soul of man, where it watches over us with attention and admission.
101. He no longer feared the grasp of death, or ignored its inevitability. This I could sense in his eyes and voice, as I began to sense his awareness of his mortality.
102. I learnt that death is but the final shedding of the body. This is only more of a physical recognition and occurrence that men dread to accept in their lives.
103. If you have lived rightly in your life, it is no enemy to fear or to attempt to escape—he said to me.
104. He spoke of Meleticism as a genuine way of being, not merely believing or an indoctrination to the belief in a creator god.
105. To him, belief is borrowed from other men, but being is earned through living and experience. Without the realisation of what being means, men are doomed to their ignorance.
106. He earned his inner peace through his renouncement. This had made him a better man in life, and one that would prepare others for their inner peace.
107. He gave up what he never truly possessed before. Some people said he was mad and others mocked his intelligence. Who in their right mind would give up everything to have what was mostly nothing of substance?
108. Titles, wealth and reputation—they were sheer illusions that only concealed his truth. Asterion knew that would eventually a poor man in the world.
109. He possessed only what he understood then, and embraced with his knowledge what he had seen which was his truth that had unfolded before his eyes.
110. What he understood was profound in its message. A message that would resonate in not only his students, but in others of a different trade or occupation.
111. He understood the nature of desire and human will, and how it affected men during dilemmas or chaos. If man could not understand his soul, then man would be unaware of his self.
112. He believed that desire is the root of suffering, and human will is the strength of men. We must never mistake desire for human will. This was something he taught me.
113. Not because it is evil in its nature, but because it is endless in its satisfaction in life. I realised that his words professed had greater meaning than the way the Christians spoke of evil.
114. He taught me to desire less that was unnecessary, and in doing so, to suffer less. Suffering is a part of our human nature.
115. He knew that the man who wanted nothing, was the richest of all. This may seem to be contradictory to what most men believe, but he spoke often of soulless men.
116. He no longer argued for the pleasing of his ego, for he saw an argument as the ego’s favourite sport. Man must always reflect his wisdom than the temptation of his ego.
117. He told me to let others win and declare their victory, when I should seek only the truth to honour my name and build my character as well with my virtues.
118. He did not preach Meleticism as one would think of as religion. Instead, he embodied it in person with such a fond passion and commitment to the way of the truth.
119. He taught me to let my life be my teaching. This would echo always in my mind daily. It would rekindle my determination.
120. Words fade quickly, but example endures the test of time. Thus, choose wisely your thoughts and make them lasting in their message.
121. I watched him give his last cloak to a traveller in winter, who was suffering due to the bitter coldness that was gripping his stiff body.
122. He is cold you see, but I am warm on the other hand. Let balance be restored, by this simple gesture—he said.
123. He believed in true balance above all in life. He was the prime example of what he professed of his philosophy. He was not a man who only spoke it but lived it also.
124. To Ena is the path of balance that one should seek. We must never mistake it for a god or a creator that the Christians exalt before other gods in Athens.
125. Between thought and silence, between self and surrender, you will find it there always present. Let it remind you of the simplicity of life. If we are humble enough to remember that, then we should be humble enough to recognise it.
126. He taught me that renouncement is not weakness, but the greatest display of strength that he had.
127. It is strength, the strength to walk away from everything you have ever known before of life.
128. To walk away from illusion, from indulgence, and from the identity that once demonstrated one's prominence.
129. He no longer called himself a mere philosopher. He was a lifelong student. He never stopped learning. To him learning was a lifelong journey.
130. I am a student of the present moment, and nothing more. To think what lies beyond the present moment, would make me more mystical than the mere man that I am—he said.
131. He taught me to see the beauty in the ordinary things of life. This was emphasised by him constantly.
132. The fig is no less divine than the temple built. Only because we place more beauty in that which is dominant in appearance, do we forsake the other forms of beauty that are natural as well.
133. If you see rightly what I say in contrast, then you will understand the analogy that was made, and its purpose.
134. He saw rightly, and he lived rightly. Not as a righteous man of doctrine, but as a virtuous man of philosophy, who asked nothing of others, except to question themselves.
135. His renouncement was not dramatic compared to a tragedy—it was deliberate and necessary. He no longer had the desire to breathe wealth, because his breath was one with nature.
136. Let the world chase the whims of glory and fame, but I shall instead seek enlightenment and inner peace—he professed.
137. He told me that waiting for the truth to arrive to many is difficult, but if I have patience, then the wait will not be long. I knew that he spoke the truth.
138. He believed that the truth never shouts. Instead, it reveals itself in the wisdom one shows, when one is humbled by virtue.
139. It whispers, and only the humble hear it. If we only shout, we deafen that truth and distorted as well, causing it to become misunderstood.
140. He taught me humility not through words expressed, but through the notion of presence and actions.
141. He told me to be small, and I shall see more; for life has its smallest and greatest wonders to yet witness.
142. Thus, the mountain cannot see the valley clearly—but the valley sees all from above. Look closely, and you will find the valley.
143. He lived as the valley did—low, quiet and aware. A man always humble and honest in his character. This was evident. I never saw him beg for coins.
144. And from him, my wisdom grew to what it is now. I often wonder what my life would have resembled, if I have not meet him in my life.
145. He taught me to question everything, even him. He never proclaimed himself superior over other men, because he was not special but mortal.
146. He told me to not follow him, follow what is true instead. He was merely a messenger of the message that he had brought to me and others too.
147. Even if it led me elsewhere in life. That I should not doubt my sincerity, nor fear my limitations as a man who lived in the society that I had grown accustomed to.
148. He feared no contradiction that could occur, nor oppressed the objections of others so adamantly. He respected all those individuals who questioned him.
149. Truth is not tidy, it is honest when it is expressed honestly. This is how we should conduct ourselves as men, according to Asterion.
150. And honesty was his guidance in life. It provided him the basis for his wisdom to be shared with his students.
151. He spoke plainly, lived plainly, and would die plainly. There was nothing divine about him that would qualify him as a prophet.
152. He told me to let my death be as my life was, unadorned and simple. He had nothing to conceal or to be ashamed of that would tarnish his name.
153. He did not seek any legacy of his own nor fame to be exalted in behalf of his name, believing more that what mattered was his philosophy.
154. He told me that the wind carries my name, and let it vanish afterwards. Let it serve not as a mere inspiration for others, but as a memory.
155. If I have taught rightly in my life, the teachings that I shared will remain without being forgotten—he confessed.
156. And it had remained hitherto in him, and did in me, as I continued to follow his philosophy with great reverence for his wisdom.
157. I carry his words not in written scrolls only, but more in the silence and awareness that he installed in me as a Meletic.
158. I walk slowly with my thoughts at times, as he did with the wisdom he demonstrated time after time.
159. I speak less than needed, as he taught with the knowledge he provided his students during the moments that they had gathered to listen to him speak.
160. I observe more in my daily life, as he lived with the humbleness he expressed before me. It is in observation that one discovers that there is the way of the truth.
161. And in doing so, I honour him through my writing and through my wisdom achieved, knowing that he was a great man and teacher in life.
162. Not with statues that gloried him, but with the stillness and awareness in my thoughts that remember him for who he was not, but for who he was instead.
163. Not with any selective praise that worshipped him, but with the practice of his philosophical teachings.
164. For Asterion renounced the world that he was born into, and in doing so, found his true path in life that would serve as a path for others to follow.
165. He found the world beneath the world of illusions and power that ruled over his mind and conduct, but he was not intimidated by those things.
166. The truth beneath all the noise that once had deafened his awareness and compassion had set his free from those familiar distractions.
167. The self beneath the soul that once had been controlled by the whims of his ego. He realised that he had to embolden the self, if he was going to wield over the ego.
168. And he gave that truth to me without demanding anything in return that was of material substance or value. It was purely his wisdom that he offered, but a wisdom that I would cherish.
169. Not as a possession to claim in my life, but as an invitation to learn and explore his philosophy with great awareness.
170. He said to me—Come and see, what lies beyond the realm of desire. Let you mind enter where your ego cannot enter.
171. I came afterwards, and I saw with my soul, what my desires had not allowed me to see before. This much I recognised to be true.
172. And I was changed with a newer vision of life that was rewarding and lasting in its effects that could give me more understanding.
173. Not only into someone new, but into something real that was the living breath of his philosophy taught daily.
174. Asterion’s renouncement was his rebirth as a man. Not of the Holy Spirit that the Christians professed, but of the genuine self.
175. And through him, I too was reborn. Not through a divine force, but in my mind, soul and flesh where my being resided.
176. I no longer sought the applause of men to amuse my ego. I saw in my inner self, the mirror of my reflection. I was changed as a man.
177. I seek now the quiet approval of the truth to know my story, and to speak on behalf of his philosophy.
178. I no longer chase knowledge to pursue status. I live knowledge daily, as a testimony of my wisdom.
179. I welcome understanding to guide me in life. I understand that I am merely a mortal man born from flesh and bones. I can never be immortal.
180. I no longer fear obscurity to distort my thoughts so quickly. I practise the virtue of temperance, so that I could learn more about my other virtues in life.
181. I embrace the teachings of Meleticism, as the revelation of To Ena. Not as a divine decree, but as a natural unfolding of life.
182. For in the depth of obscurity, I found the waves of clarity to reach my shoreline with a gentle touch.
183. In the depth of silence, I found the passionate voice I had once forsaken as a young man. It was acknowledging that I had grown from a boy to a man.
184. Through his renouncement, I found Asterion the man. A man who would become not only my teacher, but a fellow companion of the journey to enlightenment.
185. And through Asterion, I found the abiding presence in To Ena, the One that guides me still through the tides that reach my thoughts.
186. The enlightening path that guides me forth, and teaches me to rise to the challenge after each stumble.
187. The quiet way that awakens my soul gradually, when I have found myself lost in labyrinth my thoughts.
188. The truth beneath all truths that establishes the self, and reveals the character that I have built in my life.
189. I walk now, not behind it, but beside it. Not as slave to a god, but as man of freedom, who appreciates the man who taught me to live in accordance to my virtues.
190. For Asterion walks still—in my memory, in my daily practice and above all, with his unique presence that will never fade in my mind.
191. One day, a prominent Athenian came up to me and enquired about Asterion—Yonder man, who is he? Judging from his torn and worn garments, he looks like a beggar.
192. I proceeded to answer not offended by his attitude, but intrigued—Go and ask him. I do not speak for him.
193. The Athenian man who was very candid asked me then—Do you not know him?
194. —Indeed, I do, but Asterion has a voice of his own. It is he that you must ask. I am only his shadow.
195. The Athenian man approached Asterion and asked him directly—Are you a beggar or a man with pride?
196. Asterion stared into his eyes then replied—If that is what you see of me. But know that what I beg for is not something that you are aware of. Pride is a fool's veil.
197. The Athenian man was puzzled—And what is that exactly you are referring to? You speak in riddles, old man. Be blunt.
198. —I speak of the soul. I do not beg for mere coins, but for the souls of others.
199. The Athenian man then out of anger threw coins before the feet of Asterion—Souls you say. You dare to insult my intelligence. Men do not live by their souls. They live with coins. Take them, before I change my mind.
200. Asterion did not take the coins. Instead, he grabbed the arm of the Athenian and said to him—I have no need for your coins. Go and save your soul, before it is too late. Wealth that which you covet, will not last you forever. Thus, I tell you this, because I know of wealth. I once tasted it and lavished in it.
201. The Athenian man left, but Asterion's warning had tremendously affected him. He did not think that a humble man could have so much wisdom.
202. Athens has forgotten Asterion like the dreary dust that blows from the hills, but I have not. It is impossible to forget someone who lived and breathe upon this earth with such commitment.
203. Verily, I remember him; for I shall not allow his name and memory to die in vain. I shall not allow this to happen.
204. Verily, I remember the fig tree, the silence and the gaze in him that epitomised his knowledge that resulted in his wisdom.
205. Verily, I remember the renouncement that he undertook and revealed to me with honesty that I had not seen in the eyes of another man.
206. Not as a loss to regret in life, but as the liberation of his self that released him from his lingering burdens.
207. Not as ending to his inner suffering, but a philosophical beginning to his new journey in life as man who was liberated.
208. For in Asterion’s renouncement, I saw uniquely the birth of his wisdom in person, as did the others who knew him. He was an example for others to live as.
209. A wisdom not clothed in supreme grandeur that other sages masquerade, but in grace and wisdom that few men possess.
210. And I understood then: To Ena is not a path we follow—it is a genuine truth we become. If he was willing to renounce the life that he had, I too am willing to do the same.
211. And in following our path, we are finally free to become enlightened in the mind. It is in enlightenment that we find the way of the truth. A truth that reveals our humbleness.
212. Thuswise, Asterion was an example of a man who had everything in life, but who had relinquished it for the pursuit of his philosophy. Indeed, he was an inspiration to me and others.
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