Thag 6.9 — Jenta, the High Priest’s Son

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Thag 6:9 Jenta, the Royal Chaplain’s Son

    I was
drunk with the intoxication
of my birth, wealth, & sovereignty.
Drunk with the intoxication
of my body’s build, coloring, & form,
I wandered about,
regarding no one
as my equal or better.
    Foolish, arrogant, haughty,
    my banner held high.
I—disrespectful, arrogant, proud—
bowed down to no one,
not even
        mother,
        father,
or those commonly held
in respect.

Then—seeing the ultimate leader,
supreme, foremost of charioteers,
    like a blazing sun,
arrayed with a squadron of monks—
casting away pride & intoxication
through an awareness serene & clear,
    I bowed down
    my
    head
to him, supreme
among all living beings.

Haughtiness & contempt
    have been abandoned
    —rooted out—
the conceit “I am” is extracted,
all forms of pride, destroyed.
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