The Logos: The Meletic Testament (Chapter 3 The Renouncement)

📜 Chapter 3: The Renouncement

1. Asterion once told me, beneath the olive trees of Pnyx, that wealth had made him blind as a youth.

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 once been a man of prominence, seated amongst Athens’ elite families and lived within their world.

4. But he confessed that the marble of his estate was colder than the solitude that surrounded him, at times.

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.

7. He gave many coins to philosophers who entertained me, but never gave them my ear.

8. He gave praise to mystical gods of the past, whilst forgetting myself and the essence of my soul.

9. I remember the way his eyes dimmed when he spoke of his youth with such attention and details.

10. —They called me proud as a young man, but I was merely indulgent in my vanity.

11. He had walked away from it all—not in haste, but in the quiet resolve that ultimately shaped his character.

12. To him, the path of To Ena, is not found in the city’s noise or in the empires that men build.

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 I needed status in life.

15. He did not mourn the loss that pursued him; he celebrated the freedom he had yearned for.

16. To Ena is the singular 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.

18. He smiled, as one who had tasted something purer than wine. I could sense this in his gesture.

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 scrolls, but in the silence and awareness of the places that he sought refuge and reflection.

21. The hills taught him more than the academies ever did. He saw a different life outside of the city.

22. He lived simply—consuming figs, water, and thought that nourished his mind, body and soul.

23. He did not own anything of value anymore, but he observed and was grateful that he became a better man.

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.

25. The city called him mad for renouncing his wealth so abruptly, but I knew better. I knew the real Asterion.

26. He had shed the veil of illusion, and with it, the burden of vanity that had reigned over his self.

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.

29. His renouncement was not a rejection of life—it was a return to his true essence as a man.

30. An essence that was singular in its nature, To Ena. For it was To Ena that made him see his oneness.

31. Asterion did not preach to masses like a prophet; instead, he revealed to them his philosophy.

32. His truths were not shouted in the agora for the world to heed, but whispered beneath a cypress shade.

33. The soul to him, is not fed by bread alone, but by the understanding of the mind, body and soul.

34. I watched him give away his last coin to a lone beggar who asked for none out of shame.

35. He has greater need than I shall 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 the revelation of To Ena.

37. Instead, he wrapped himself in linen, plain and unadorned like an ordinary man would.

38. Adornment in his thoughts, is the armour of the insecure ones. Asterion had no insecurities to conceal nor display.

39. I asked him once ever he ever missed his former life of opulence and prominence.

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 man he had been reduced, not the truth he then carried with his age.

42. He spoke often of To Ena with such passion and intellect, as the singular path in life.

43. He taught me that To Ena is not a doctrine to impose, but a direction that leads one to the path of enlightenment.

44. It points inwards in the soul, not upwards in life. This we must always remember.

45. It asks not for worship like the Pagan gods or the Christian god, but for awareness of its presence.

46. Asterion believed that wisdom was not taught, but uncovered through the teachings of philosophy.

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.

49. There lies the quiet truth that waits to be revealed, waiting to be discovered by us.

50. He did not seek disciples to be his followers, yet I remained loyal to him and to his message.

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.

52. For I had never known a man so free and wiser than he. Asterion was a man like no other.

53. Free from praise, free from possession and free from 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 wisdom'.

57. Instead, he taught me through the practice of silence the important value of awareness.

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.

61. Until only the genuine essence remains behind, as a witness to the truth that reveals life.

62. I once asked him what he feared in life the most. He never spoke much of his fears to me.

63. He paused, then said—It was to have died before awakening. This was my greatest fear before.

64. Not the death of body that we associate to life, but 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.

66. He had no shrine of his own to revere him, no followers to count as victory, no legacy carved in stone.

67. Yet his words etched themselves into my soul daily, as if they were the living scrolls that inspired me.

68. Heromenes, do not seek to be remembered for what you relinquished in life—warned me.

69. He emphasised the importance of remembering my self for the things that honour my memory; for it is my self who I must reveal with my virtues.

70. He would tell me that in that remembering, to 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.

73. He was convinced that the path is not marked by signs of divinity, but by silence and awareness that will guide you 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.

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.

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 the opposite of what he had known.

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.

80. I followed him once to the hills beyond Eleusis to watch him observe and meditate.

81. There, he sat beneath a fig tree and spoke to no one, except to his inner thoughts.

82. I asked him what he was doing at the moment afterwards. I was amazed by his gentle calmness.

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.

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.

91. He lived in a small hut, built with his own hands. It was difficult to believe that he had forsaken his wealth for modesty.

92. To him, it was the shelter that reflected his self, which was simple, sufficient and modest in its structure.

93. He read no ancient scrolls or religious scriptures, yet spoke with the clarity of the future, as if he had been born with 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 its bustling life. He was sincere in his admission to me.

96. He miss nothing of that nature, for he have found everything he needed in where he dwelt.

97. Everything that mattered, that was essential to him. These other things were merely distractions.

98. He taught me to walk slowly, to speak less, to observe more. It was in observation that I would discover more awareness.

99. The world rushes like a blazing chariot, but the truth waits for its arrival. It has more patience than men do.

100. It waits in the quiet corners of the soul of man, where it watches over us with attention.

101. He no longer feared the grasp of death, or ignored its inevitability. This I could sense in his eyes and voice.

102. I learnt that death, is but the final shedding of the body. This is only more of a physical recognition and occurrence.

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 indoctrination.

105. To him, belief is borrowed from other men, but being is earned through living and experience.

106. He earned his inner peace through his renouncement. This had made him a better man.

107. He gave up what he never truly possessed before. Some people said he was mad and others mocked his intelligence.

108. Titles, wealth and reputation—they were sheer illusions that only conceal his truth.

109. He possessed only what he understood then, and embraced with his knowledge what he had seen which was his truth unfold.

110. And 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.

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.

113. Not because it is evil in its nature, but because it is endless in its satisfaction in life.

114. He taught me to desire less that was unnecessary, and in doing so, to suffer less.

115. He knew that the man who wanted nothing, was the richest of all. This may seem to be contradictory to want most men believe.

116. He no longer argued for the pleasing of his ego, for he saw argument as ego’s favourite sport.

117. He told me to let others win and declare their victory, where I should seek only the truth to honour my name.

118. He did not preach Meleticism as one would think—he embodied it in person with such a fond passion.

119. He taught me to let my life be my teaching. This would echo always in my mind daily.

120. Words fade quickly, but example endures the test of time. Thus, choose wisely your thoughts.

121. I watched him give his last cloak to a traveller in winter, who was suffering due to the coldness.

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 example of what he professed of his philosophy.

124. To Ena is the path of balance that one should seek. We must never mistake it for a god.

125. Between thought and silence, between self and surrender, you will find it there present.

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 your 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. 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.

134. He saw rightly, and he lived rightly. Not as a righteous man of doctrine, but as a virtuous man of philosophy.

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.

138. He believed that the truth never shouts. Instead, it reveals itself in the wisdom one shows.

139. It whispers, and only the humble hear it. If we only shout, we deafen that truth and distorted as well.

140. He taught me humility not through words expressed, but through the notion of presence.

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.

143. He lived as the valley did—low, quiet and aware. A man always humble and honest in his character.

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.

145. He taught me to question everything, even him. He never proclaimed himself superior over other men.

146. He told me to not follow him, follow what is true instead. He was merely a messenger of the message.

147. Even if it led me elsewhere in life. That I should not doubt my sincerity, nor fear my limitations as a man.

148. He feared no contradiction that could occur, nor oppressed the objections of others so adamantly.

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.

152. He told me to let my death be as my life was, unadorned and simple. I have nothing to conceal or to be ashamed of.

153. He did not seek any legacy of his own nor fame to be exalted in behalf of his name.

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, if I continued to follow his philosophy.

157. I carry his words not in scrolls, but in the silence and awareness that he installed in me.

158. I walk slowly with my thoughts at times, as he did with the wisdom he demonstrated.

159. I speak less than needed, as he taught with the knowledge he provided his students.

160. I observe more in my daily life, as he lived with the humbleness he expressed before me.

161. And in doing so, I honour him through my writing and through my wisdom achieved.

162. Not with statues that gloried him, but with the stillness and awareness in my thoughts.

163. Not with any praise that worshipped him, but with the practice of his teachings.

164. For Asterion renounced the world that he was born into, and in doing so, found his path in life.

165. He found the world beneath the world of illusions and power that ruled over his mind and conduct.

166. The truth beneath all the noise that once had deafened his awareness and compassion.

167. The self beneath the soul that once had been controlled by the whims of his ego.

168. And he gave that truth to me without demanding anything in return that was of material substance.

169. Not as possession to claim, but as an invitation to learn and explore his philosophy.

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.

172. And I was changed with a newer vision of life that was rewarding and lasting in its effects.

173. Not into someone new, but into something true that was the living breath of his philosophy.

174. Asterion’s renouncement was his rebirth as a man. Not of the Holy Spirit that the Christians professed, but of the self.

175. And through him, I too was reborn. Not through a divine force, but in my mind, soul and flesh.

176. I no longer seek the applause of men to amuse my ego. I saw in my inner self, the mirror of my reflection.

177. I seek the quiet approval of 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 a mortal man.

180. I no longer fear obscurity to distort my thoughts so quickly. I practise the virtue of temperance.

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 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.

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 lasting presence in To Ena, the One that guides me still.

186. The singular path that guides me forth, and teaches me to rise to the challenge after each stumble.

187. The quiet way that awakens my soul, when I have found myself lost in my thoughts.

188. The truth beneath all truths that establishes my self, and reveals the character that I have built.

189. I walk it now, not behind it, but beside it. Not as slave to a god, but as man of freedom.

190. For Asterion walks still—in my memory, in my daily practice and above all, with his presence.

191. Athens has forgotten him like the dreary dust that blows from the hills, but I have not.

192. Verily, I remember him; for I shall not allow his name and memory to die in vain.

193. Verily, I remember the fig tree, the silence and the gaze in him that epitomised his knowledge.

194. Verily, I remember the renouncement that he undertook and revealed to me with honesty.

195. Not as a loss to regret in life, but as the liberation of his self that released him from his burdens.

196. Not as ending to his inner suffering, but a philosophical beginning to his new journey.

197. For in Asterion’s renouncement, I saw the birth of his wisdom in person, as di the others who knew him.

198. A wisdom not clothed in supreme grandeur that other sages masquerade, but in grace.

199. And I understood then: To Ena is not a path we follow—it is a truth we become. If he was willing to renounce the life that he had, I too am willing to do the same.

200. And in following our path, we are finally free to become enlightened. It is in enlightenment that we find the way of the truth.

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