Take me through the dark

Clothes Don't Make the Saint
The William Altig Choir

🎵 Dhammapada Blues Series – Song 5 (Verses 9-10)

The Buddha knew it 2,500 years ago: wearing the robe doesn't make you holy.

You can put on the clerical collar, the mala beads, the meditation aesthetic for the 'gram—but if you haven't done the inner work? That's just a costume. The preacher with the perfect suit who can't keep his vows. The influencer with the crystals who's raging in the DMs. Performance isn't transformation.

But the one who's actually cleaned house inside? Who lives what they preach? Who earned it through discipline and truth? They can wear whatever they want—they ARE the teaching.

This is a song for anyone tired of spiritual performance culture. A call to check yourself before you check in online.

🙏 Part of the Dhammapada Reborn project—ancient Buddhist wisdom transmitted through American Blues.

Lyrics: 
[Verse 1]
Preacher man on Sunday morning, suit pressed clean and white
Got the congregation swaying, saying everything sounds right
But his secretary's crying, his children don't know his name
All that holy talk on Sunday don't mean a thing if it's all a game

[Chorus]
Clothes don't make the saint, baby
The robe don't make you clean
You can dress up like an angel
And still be something mean
It ain't the cross around your neck
Or the beads upon your wrist
It's what you do when nobody's watching
That's what makes the list

[Verse 2]
Influencer posting sunrise, crystal bowl and sage
Talking bout enlightenment while she's seething backstage
Got a hundred thousand followers but can't look in the mirror
All that spiritual aesthetic just makes the truth get clearer

[Chorus]
Clothes don't make the saint, baby
The robe don't make you clean
You can dress up like an angel
And still be something mean
It ain't the mala on your arm
Or the mantra that you speak
It's when you're tested by the world
That we see if you are weak

[Bridge]
I've seen women in house dresses with more wisdom than a priest
I've seen janitors with kindness that put bishops at the least
The robe's just cloth, the collar's just white
The question is: did you do the work? Did you make yourself right?

[Verse 3]
Now I ain't saying don't wear the uniform if you earned it true
I'm saying check yourself before you wreck yourself, what's really you?
Cause wise folks been saying this since a long time ago
Costume's easy, character's hard, and it's the only thing that shows

[Final Chorus]
So clothes don't make the saint, baby
The robe don't make you clean
But if you've done the work inside
Then wear it like a queen
It ain't about the symbol
It's about what's in your soul
When you've expelled the poison
Then you're worthy of the role

[Outro]
You can fool the crowd. You can fool yourself for a while.
But truth has a way of coming out in the wash.
So do the work first. Become what you claim to be.
Then whatever you wear? It's righteous.

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