Nothing from outside, nothing from within, can shake the serenity of the wise man. Just as a hurricane leaves a cliff unchanged, so trouble leaves the wise man unmoved. And in this way, he places himself beyond the ups and downs of emotions and passions.
Self-presence is normally disturbed by the delusions of the “I.” But once the “I” is eliminated, the wise man acquires full self-presence and controls everything he does: when he speaks, when he reacts, when he walks.
Through this sincere and spontaneous abandonment of himself and his things, the true wise man, once freed from all the appropriating bonds of the “I,” plunges unhindered into the profound bosom of freedom. Therefore, once he has achieved the experience of mental emptiness, the wise man comes to live free from all fear and remains in the stability of one who is beyond all change.
And so, the poor and dispossessed, feeling detached from themselves, slowly enter the warm waters of serenity, humility, objectivity, kindness, compassion, and peace. As we can see, we are now at the heart of the Beatitudes.
The artificial man, that is, the one subjected to the tyranny of the “I,” is always turned outward, obsessed with looking good, with making a good impression, worried about “what people think of me,” “what they say about me”; and, in the face of vicissitudes, he suffers, fears, and shudders. Vanity and selfishness bind man to a painful existence, making him a slave to the whims of the “I.”
The wise man, on the other hand, is essentially turned inward: having freed himself from the obsession with the image, because he has convinced himself that the “I” does not exist, he cares absolutely nothing about anything thought or said in reference to an “I” that he knows does not exist; he lives disconnected from artificial concerns, in a joyful interiority, silent, profound, and fruitful.
He moves in the world of things and events, but his dwelling is in the realm of serenity. He engages in external activities, but his intimacy is rooted in that immutable foundation that, beyond change, gives rise to all his activity.
Taken from the book ” From Suffering to Peace,” Chapter III. Subtitle “From Poverty to Wisdom” by Father Ignacio Larrañaga OFM.
