” One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power. Most people dabble their way through life, never deciding to master anything in particular.”
- Anthony Robbins

Kabir – The couplet
मन के बहुत सतरंग है, चुन चुन बदले सोय |
एक रंग में जो रहे, ऐसा बिरला कोए ||

transliterated:
Man ke bahut satrang hai, chun chun badale soye |
Ek rang mein jo rahe, aisa birla koi ||

Translation:
The mind flits like a butterfly through many colors, picking one after the other |
When the mind finds focus, it can then direct the soul to success ||

My thoughts:
Our rationality tends to sometimes lead us astray. We need to find reason, and this quest often leads as astray of our target. Sometimes, reason becomes evident only after attaining that which is sought.

This is why many generals insist on discipline and look for obedience rather than free thought. Everyone has a different perspective, and this colors our view of the object. The entire army needs to think as one – the decision is the burden of the general alone. In the absence of such discipline, many wars would have led to pure chaos.

Our entire being is in and of itself larger than any army. Each of senses perceives different from the rest. Each limb has different ways to get to where it needs to be, and each independent part of the body needs to do something different, but in complete coordination, for the body to be where it needs to be at any time. And this still needs coordination with the mind for the inner being to be in sync with the external world.

Focus and concentration – these are what will help us find the right way every time. But we still need direction from our goal, our ambition. So they are not the entire answer, but they are the right way to the answer.

“Life has meaning only if one barters it day by day for something other than itself. “
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Kabir – The couplet
बंधे को बंधे मिले, छूटे कौन उपाय |
जो मिले निर्बंध को, पल में ले छुड़ाई ||

transliterated:
Bandhe ko bandhe mile, choota kaun upaay |
Jo mile nirbandhko, pal mein le chhoodai ||

Translation:
When a bound person meets another bound person, both are equally helpless |
But a bound person who meets a free man, can be free in no time at all ||

My thoughts:
As a general rule, humans tend to find comfort with others of their own kind of thinking and state. The other common truth about humans is that we are social beings, and use our circle of friends, acquaintances and family to find answers to anything that vexes us.

However, the truth is that if the other is struggling with the same problem, he cannot help me with the answer that he has yet to find. In this manner, as the days of a life progress, we dig ourselves into very deep holes lined with unanswered questions, and pretty soon, all daylight is invisible to us inside the tunnel we have forced ourselves into.

This is when it helps to seek out an unburdened soul – for this soul, in the absence of my binding vexations, finds simple, easy and often fun solutions to my issues along with other side benefits that my blinders had hidden from my sight.

A real teacher is a good guide, and a simple person – for the complex ones are too busy resolving their own complexities to truly understand my questions properly.

“..for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity.”
- The New Testament – Proverbs 24:16

Kabir – The couplet
जो कोई निन्दे साधू को, संकट आवे सोय |
नरक जाये जन्मे मरे, मुक्ति कब हू न होय ||||

transliterated:
Jo koi ninde sadhu ko, sankat aave soye |
Narak jaaye janme mare, mukti kabahu na hoye ||

Translation:
He who curses the righteous, suffer much in life |
Lives in hell, he does, and finds not but a moment of peace||

My thoughts:
In our daily rush to get to the end of the day, we rarely pause to stop and see the effect our words, actions and thoughts have on those around us. But it is these very actions and words that define our ability to enjoy a peaceful night of sleep at the end of the day.

Every human, rich or poor, needs to feed, and needs to sleep. If I can find enough food to stave off my hunger, and I can sleep a full night without restless tossing, I am already better off than 80 percent of humanity. How much money can buy me that level of satisfaction?

“Not the maker of plans and promises, but rather the one who offers faithful service in small matters. This is the person who is most likely to achieve what is good and lasting.”
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Kabir – The couplet
भूखे को कुछ दीजिये, यथाशक्ति जो होय |
ता ऊपर शीतल वचन, लाखों आत्मा सोय ||

transliterated:
Bhookhe ko kuch dijiye, yatha shakti jo hoye |
Taa upar sheetal vachan, lakhon aatma soye ||

Translation:
Feed the poor, to the extent personal resources allow |
Blessed by a satisfied soul, we gain the strength to satisfy many more ||

My thoughts:
The quote and the couplet above already state the obvious. But there is an underlying truth that is often ignored. When we serve, especially when we serve without thought of gain or return, we get more than another soul’s blessing. We learn, we discover more of our real self, and we become more that we were when we started.

This is because service helps us reach in and find that inner core of strength to go beyond a material need to understand another person. This learning is more than an entire life can pay for – and the enrichment gained is otherwise unattainable.

Without civic morality communities perish; without personal morality their survival has no value.
- Bertrand Russell

Kabir – The couplet
शील क्षमा जब उपजे, अलग ध्रिस्टी तब होए |
बिन शील पहुंछे नहीं, लाख कहे जो कोई ||

transliterated:
Sheel, kshama jab upaje, alag dhristi tab hoye |
Bin sheel pahunche nahi, lakh kahe jo koi ||

Translation:
Morality and forgiveness, when realized, change our very perception of the world around |
Without morality, we end up at the door of nowhere, no matter how much we say ||

My understanding:
Morality is guided by ethics, and when combined with the virtue of forgiveness, allows us to overcome our darkest fears and most troubling moments.

For our fears, when truly understood, stem from our own lack of knowledge – not from any threat to our being.

Ethics tells us what is right, and morality guides our action. When this is coupled with the ability to forgive, we have finally learned to live. This is the stepping stone, nay the foundation block, on which we can simplify our lives and perceive the real truth, rather than the fog that our five physical senses impose on our perception.

The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.
- Oscar Wilde

Kabir – The couplet
कबीरा ज्ञान विचार बिन, हरी ढूंड न को जाए |
तन में तिरलोकी बसे, अब तक परखा नाही ||

transliterated:
Kabira gyan vichar bin, Hari dhoondan ko jaaye|
Tan mein Tirloki base, ab tak parkha naahi ||

Translation:
Without appropriate thought or knowledge, we look for God is all external spaces |
The truth is, God is inside us, but we perceive not the wonder inside! ||

My understanding:
We as humans have been gifted with the magic of rationality, reasoning and clear thought. However, we put all this aside the moment we are faced with any new question – and the quest for God is one of those timeless quests.

We search everywhere, when the simple reality is that he is the inner voice, the core of peace and understanding, the nub of clarity that exists in all of us. If only we still the noises of our crowding thoughts and external input for a sheer fleeting moment, we will find our personal God, and life will forever be changed with this realization.

Find that God inside, and find eternal peace and bliss.

True bliss is a right we were all born with – it is up to us to find and enjoy it!

“In history as in human life, regret does not bring back a lost moment and a thousand years will not recover something lost in a single hour.”
- Stefan Zweig

Kabir – The couplet
मन उन्मना न तोलिये, शब्द के मोल न तोल |
मुरख लोग न जनासी, आप खोये बोल ||

transliterated:
Man unmana na toliye, shabd ke mol na tol|
Murakh log na jaanasi, aapa khoye bol ||

Translation:
When the mind is disturbed, pay no heed to the words that flow – they mean nothing |
The fool, ignorant of this simple truth, raves, rants and loses||

My thoughts:
In the previous post, I had talked about the need to listen to that, which is not being said. Even here, that statement holds true. Find inner silence, and then listen to that which is not being said. That allows us to hear past the anger and emotion, and arrive at the heart of the matter quickly. This allows us to offer appropriate help, or stay away till the others find their own inner peace.

Juxtaposing this couplet on the previous one, one is able to see the completion of the circle – speak only after understanding, express with love, and silence the self when overcome by emotion.

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
- Maya Angelou

Kabir – The couplet
पहेले शब्द पहचानिये, पीछे कीजे मोल |
परखी परख रतन को, शब्द का मोल न तोल ||

transliterated:
Pehele shabd pehchaaniye, peeche kije mol |
Parakhi parakh rattan ko, shabd ka mol na tol ||

Translation:
Recognize the words being said, then understand, leave the judgment for much later |
A goldsmith can tell us the value of the gold, but not the value of the gift ||

My thoughts:
Once again, this is a couplet that says more with what is not being said. The value of a jewel is not just its commercial value – which any reasonable appraiser can help determine. The true value is determined by the thought behind the gift, the effort to ensure it is shaped just the right way to say that which words cannot express.

So Kabir is asking us to dig deeper, go beyond that which is being said, to understand that which is being expressed. To really be able to do this, I have to silence my inner voice, find complete peace and silence, and then let the words fill me. Then I am able to hear without interference, and perceive the true meaning of the statement, the look, and the gesture.

This state of peace is the first step to true understanding, and thenceforth to real bliss!

“Whoever renders service to many puts himself in line for greatness – great wealth, great return, great satisfaction, great reputation, and great joy.”
- Jim Rohn

Kabir – The couplet
ज्ञान समगन प्रेम सुख, दया भक्ति विश्वास |
गुरु सेवा ते पाइए, सतगुरु चरण निवास ||

transliterated:
Gyan samagan prem sukh, daya bhakti biswas |
Guru seva te paiye, satguru charan niwas ||

Translation:
Knowledge, good company, love, a peaceful composure, forgiveness, devotion, trust |
When all are added to service at a teacher’s feet, one finds heaven on earth ||

My thoughts:
C.S. Lewis was quoted as saying “What does not satisfy when we find it, was not the thing we were desiring.”

We only see with our eyes, hear with our ears, touch with our skin, taste with our tongue and smell with our nose. We then take this as the representation of what we are receiving. But true receipt happens only after we have completed the job of perception and understanding. Just as the sight of a bright exterior is not representative of the hidden interior, the five physical senses do not interpret and translate true meaning or desire.

This is where we, as rational thinking beings, need to use our innate rationality to weed out desire from requirement. What we need is what we must look for – not what we just sense as attractive or pleasing.

Receiving, however, is only the first part – we must take just as much as we need, and then offer service everywhere we can. Once we fold ourselves into the practice of service, we will uncover the fountain of infinite bliss. For real pleasure comes when we do something that puts a smile in the heart of another – not when we attempt to get others to do that for us.

“All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love.”
- Leo Tolstoy

Kabir – The couplet
कबीरा प्याला प्रेम का, अंतर लिए लगाय |
रोम रोम में रम रहे, और अमल क्या खाय ||

transliterated:
Kabira pyala prem ka, antar liye lagaay |
Rom rom mein ram rahe, aura amal kya khay ? |

Translation:
Says Kabir, I have drunk from the cup of love |
Every cell in me is full – what more wonderful could I have?

My thoughts:
If maya (illusion) is the creator of all chaos, love is the supreme cleanser. When we learn to love, we learn to forgive. Once all is forgiven, negativity has no space to exist. And when negative thoughts vanish, we fill up with love, which illuminates us from inside and brings out the real person hidden inside each of us.

Love is the potion that intoxicates beyond reason, while simultaneously allowing us to be crystal clear in our thought and action. When we come equipped with such powerful medicine naturally, what need for the chemical drugs our pharmacies produce?

“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”
- Aristotle

Kabir – The couplet
काला नाला हीन जल, सो फिर पानी होए |
जो पानी मोती बने, सो फिर नीर न होए ||

transliterated:
Kala nala heen jal, so phir paani hoye|
Jo paani moti bane, so phir neer na hoye||

Translation:
Even the dark waters of a dirty drain, filtered by nature, become the clear waters of a river |
But that water which has been absorbed to become a pearl, does not go back to being water ever again||

My thoughts:
Life is the filter, cleanser, and the mirror, which helps us wash of the grime of each day to emerge as a new person at each dawn. Having been put through the furnace of my experiences yesterday, I have emerged today as a little less carbon and a little more diamond. Each day, while I am still human, I need to use this furnace to cleanse myself of deadweight and better expose the light inside me that is bursting to see daylight.

Experience is the process that makes us a pearl – and once made, we cannot go back to being the inexperienced person we were before!

“Patience is power.
Patience is not an absence of action;
rather it is “timing”
it waits on the right time to act,
for the right principles
and in the right way.”
– Fulton J. Sheen

Kabir – The couplet
शील क्षमा जब उपजे, अलग दृष्टि तब होए |
बिन शील पहुंचे नहीं, लाख कहे जो कोए ||

transliterated:
Sheel, kshama jab upaje, alag dhristi tab hoye|
Bin sheel pahoonche nahi, lakh kahe jo koye||

Translation:
When patience, forgiveness and determination surface, one’s vision and perception becomes true |
Without patience and determination, the truth will never become visible||

My thoughts:
Nature is our best teacher of the virtue of patience. Look all around you. Tempests, hurricanes, drought, blinding sunlight and long frosts all beat up and even destroy all of man’s creations. Nature, however, always comes back with a smile and a bright new green to welcome the new dawn. It is implacable in its pursuit of the morn, despite all obstacles in its path.

Patience, of necessity, fosters the company of forgiveness and determination. We need determination to wait out the storms of life, and forgiveness to give up temporary losses, for the morning will surely always come, and it will surely bring new bounties!

This, then, is our true strength – to be patient, and do the right thing at the right time!

“He that lies down with dogs shall rise up with fleas.”
- Benjamin Franklin

Kabir – The couplet
कबीरा मन पंछी भये, भावे तहे ते आजाये |
जो जैसा सांगत करे, तो तैसा फल पाये |

transliterated:
Kabira man pancchi bhaye, bhaave taha te aajaye |
Jo jaisa sangat kare, to taisa phal paaye ||

Translation:
The bird, free in flight, alights where it’s fancy leads it|
Our choice of company, defines who we are and become||

My thoughts:
I have often misread this and related quotes. As parents, as teachers, as guides, we look to present the “correct” and “proper” environment for our wards to grow and foster in. However, the mind, unbound by the body, but a slave to the vagaries of desire (maya), picks that which best suits its fancy.

We can but guide, teach and hope the right choices are made. Even if the right ones are made, there is no guarantee that they will be the ones that are kept. As the world changes, choice needs to change to adapt – and the change needs to be picked with great caution – for all that glitters is not gold ☺

So our duty is to show the right path – by speech, thought and living example. Each individual is free to make their own choice – even if we disagree. Our responsibility ends at the completion of the example – and theirs begins after the choice is made. Each of us have to carry the burden of our choices by our own selves – and that is what the world will judge us by.

“It takes quite a spine to turn the other cheek. It takes phenomenal fortitude to love your enemy. It takes firm resolve to pray for those who persecute you.”
- Rob Bell

Kabir – The couplet
खोद खाद धरती सहे, काट कून वनराय |
कुटिल वचन साधू सहे, और से सहा न जाय ||

transliterated:
Khod khaad dharti sahe, kaat koon vanraay |
Kutil vachan sadhu sahe, aur se saha na jaay ||

Translation:
The earth sustains the blows of a hammer, the tree of an axe – without retaliation|
Only the learned can accept slander without effect, lesser mortals can only react||

My thoughts:
The Bible (Matthew 5), Mahatma Gandhi, and every wise person and book before, between and since, have always urged us to turn the other cheek, and even demonstrated by example. Sant Eknath (1533 – 1599, a great devotee of Lord Vitthala) demonstrated forbearance most famously by his taking bath 108 times in the river Godavari to wash off the spit of persons who were convinced that they had to insult him. After 108 times, after their mouths had run dry, and he still came back with a smile, they asked him why he was not mad at them. To which his famous response came – it is thanks to your act that I was able to achieve 108 baths in one day in these holy waters. Thank you for the opportunity!

If we were to think back, each and every day, nigh every moment, we are presented with opportunities to be humble and receive of this world’s and God’s bounty. However, our ego, our own personal opinion of how the world is all about us, gets in the way and prevents us from lighting that wonderful internal light that can light up our countenance and the world brighter than a thousand suns.

True strength comes not from mighty physical deeds, but form simple acceptance. When we accept and bow our head, even the mightiest arm stays, stops and waits for the next moment. When there is no reaction, action stops and understanding floods the space, washing out all confusion.

Let us teach patience, acceptance and forbearance to the world, one person at a time. Reach into yourself, and allow the world to see, feel and benefit from the real you. That is the real purpose of our existence in this moment!

“When you least feel like it, do something for someone else. You forget about your own situation. It gives you a purpose, as opposed being sorrowful and lonely.”
– Dana Reeve

Kabir – The couplet
सेवक सेवा में रहे, सेवक कहिये सोय |
कहे कबीरा बावला, सेवक कभी न होय ||

transliterated:
Sevak seva mein rahe, sevak kahiye soy |
Kahe kabira bavla, sevak kabhi na hoy ||

Translation:
The disciple offers service always, and stays a student always|
The (senseless) egotist, with falsified pretenses, can never be a disciple||

My thoughts:
Our days fold into each other, as we focus on using our own abilities to our individual (perceived) betterment. However, history is proof to the fact that the only way to becoming happy, satisfied and truly complete is by using our knowledge and ability to help all those we can.

When we take, we deplete some of our own collected savings and goodwill to pay for that which we take. When we give without thought of recompense, however, we receive manifold in return, and the world stops to take care of our deepest wants without our asking.

Give freely, for that is the only way to receive!

“I had looked for happiness in fast living, but it was not there. I tried to find it in money, but it was not there either. But when I placed myself in tune with what I believe to be the fundamental truths of life, when I began to develop my limited ability, to rid my mind of all kinds of tangled thoughts, and fill it with zeal and courage and love, when I gave myself a chance by treating myself decently and sensibly, I began to feel the stimulating, warm glow of happiness.”
- Edward Young

Kabir – The couplet
कबीरा यह गति अटपटी, चटपटी लाखी न जाए |
जो मन की खटपट मिटे, उधर भया ठहराए ||

transliterated:
Kabira yeh gati atpati, chatpati laakhi na jaaye |
Jo man ki khatpat mite, uddhar bhaya thehraaye||

Translation:
(Kabir says) this pace of life is fast but aimless, and hence the mind is frustrated|
Once the mind finds a quiet moment, it finds both rest and true purpose||

My thoughts:
We often measure our day, our moment, our availability and our worth in terms of physical time. We then match up this time to our desires, and panic that there is not time enough in a lifetime to satisfy even a small percentage of desire.

However, if we stop for a moment, put aside all concern for the ticking of the clock, and focus on what the end goal of the fulfillment of desire is, we will realize that even desire aims to fill us with happiness.

So instead of chasing desire, and subjecting ourselves to the momentary pleasure at the end followed by the empty feeling that it is done and now we need to look for more, we need to teach ourselves to practice satisfaction, and enjoy the eternal happiness that results.

” A mirage is not real, but yet we see it. A dream taking place while sleeping is not real, yet we experience it during the time of the dream as a reality.”
- Remez Sasson

Kabir – The couplet
माया माया सब कहे, माया लाखे न कोई |
जो मनसे न उतारे, माया कहाए सोई ||

transliterated:
Maya maya sab kahe, maya laakhe na koi |
Jo manase na utaare, maya kahaaye soi ||

Translation:
References to illusions are all around, yet the illusion in front of us is not recognized|
That which seems like reality, is the true illusion that engulfs us||

My thoughts:
How often have we been caught up in the entirety of a moment and made rushed decisions, only to later reflect on the real insignificance of what seemed to be the most important act in the world?

We learn in early biology class that what we perceive as sight is only the brain’s interpretation of what the eyes signal as received input – yet we take that to be the true sight of what is in front of us. Psychologists have proved beyond doubt that the mind can coerce the brain to perceive what the mind prefers – and the brain does succumb to the coercion.

The human being is permanently engaged in a struggle with making reality what is truly but a convenient truth – and yet, we have, throughout history, gone to war and even our graves with that perceived conviction.

This is the true strength of illusion – to make us believe that it is the true reality. That is the maya that Kabir wants us to conquer. When we can get past our own vulnerability to illusion, we can become the true powerhouse that we are destined to be.

“Happiness is a conscious choice, not an automatic response.”
- Mildred Barthel

Kabir – The couplet
झूटे सुख को सुख कहे, मानत है मन मौज |
जग चबेना काल का, कुछ मुख में, कुछ गौड़ ||

transliterated:
Jhute sukh ko sukh kahe, maanat hai man mauj |
Jag chabena kaal ka, kuch mukh mein, kuch gaud ||

Translation:
We often mistake sensual pleasure for satisfaction, and the mind is led astray|
The world (us) is chewing time, some in the mouth, the rest in food displays||

My thoughts:
When I want to be happy, I search for things that will satisfy me. Around me, everyone resorts to food as the first step in this path. Inevitably, my search unearths more than I need to satiate my body’s hunger. So now I have to find a way to preserve it to savor later when I will be hungry again, and the cycle repeats.

Meanwhile, I have lost track of the original purpose – to be happy. And it keeps digging itself further into the background till it is almost completely forgotten. All this while, on the other hand, I have been nurturing the opposites – desire (for taste), frustration (not finding what my mind wants but brain cannot define in the form of readily available food), jealousy (for those who seem to be able to enjoy the food on their plate) and heartache (from all the indigestion I bring on myself from the food I eat).

Others try to find happiness in their soul mate. The first struggle is to find the one that will be the soul mate. Then we spend a large portion of our life shaping and re-molding the person to be the perfect fit – only to realize we have changed ourselves during all this time, and so we need to re-mold, all over again, from the beginning. If only we can realize that our real mate is not the one we love, but the one that loves us. And if we can learn to love that person, without doubt or question, the perfect marriage has once again happened. The rest that remains is to stay true to purpose. Happiness comes when we accept without question, and spread sunshine when we can, and step away when we cannot.

The pursuit of sensual pleasures takes us away from the path to true happiness and satisfaction. Food, craving, desire for love, earthly possessions, even the wish to see the sun rise a specific way in a specific place are all sensual cravings. The satisfaction they give is very momentary, and it always leaves us feeling a little emptier and craving a lot more – until we realize that the desire is an endless pit that will never fill.

True happiness, realized from simple events (I can breathe, I can smile, my heart still beats, I can still think) always stays a brimming cup, and spreads sunshine into the darkest places. One happy person can light up a roomful of people lost under craving.

Be happy – do not chase after desire!

“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.”
- Lewis B. Smedes

Kabir – The couplet
क्षमा बड़े को उचित है, छोटन को उत्पत |
का विष्णु का घट गया, जो भ्रिग्हू मारी लात ||

transliterated:
Kshama bade ko ucchit hai, chhotan ko utpat |
Kaa Vishnu ka ghat gaya, jo Bhrighu maari laat ||

Translation:
Forgiveness is a fitting virtue of the truly great, others get flustered by it|
Why should God (Vishnu) be botheres, even when a mortal sage (Bhrighu) kicked him||

My thoughts:
Lewis B Smedes found the sweet spot in his quote above.

As a mortal, I tend to put me (I, me, mine) before everything else. I am the center of the universe, and nothing else matters ☺ Hence, it is up to the other to forgive and forget – not me!

However, if I can find the wherewithal to think my actions through, forgiveness buys me the peace, acceptance and tranquility that no wealth of this world can pay for. When I find tranquility, I find the ability to transcend both the problem and its cause.

This is what Kabir is referring to. Greatness is not achieved by doing great or grand things – it is achieved when one simplifies life and does all the little things right!

“Mindfulness is the aware, balanced acceptance of the present experience. It isn’t more complicated that that.
It is opening to or receiving the present moment, pleasant or unpleasant, just as it is, without either clinging to it or rejecting it.”
- Sylvia Boorstein

Kabir – The couplet
कबीरा धीरज के धरे, हाथी मन भर खाये |
टुक टुक बेकार में, स्वान घर घर जाये ||

transliterated:
Kabira dheeraj ke dhare, haathi man bha khaaye |
Tuk tuk bekar mein, svan ghar ghar jaaye ||

Translation:
Mindful of its needs, an elephant eats well enough to satisfy its hunger|
A dog, however, impatiently wanders everywhere for food, hungry or not||

My thoughts:

We humans tend to be reactive rather than receptive. We react first, and judge afterwards.

If we could instead learn patience, we would slowly but surely learn to be receptive, both to the world outside and the soul and body inside. This would allow us to accept happenings with a calmer approach. This calmer approach will help us satiate the need, rather than attempt to satiate desire. That is the real difference Kabir is talking of between the elephant and the dog. The elephant satiates its hunger with available food and then proceeds to the next moment, while the dog searches to satisfy the demands of its nose, and often stays unsatisfied.

We as humans hunger for love, food, rest, satisfaction, peace and gratification in all we do. However, all of this is desire, especially when combined with the ubiquitous “I” or “me”. When we can still our mind, if only for a moment, and be dispassionate about our surroundings and ourselves, we can differentiate between need and desire.

When we learn this art, we can distinguish effectively between requirement and craving. That will be our first step on the path to eternal bliss!

“Trying to make a single momentous change is often not only not successful, but often does not result in the desired effect. In fact, it is far better to make small habitual positive life changes that will catapult you to success. “ – Lighthouse Marketing Blog

Kabir – The couplet
श्रम से ही सब कुछ बने, बिन श्रम मिले न काही |
सीधी ऊँगली घी जमे, कबासु निकसे नाही ||

transliterated:
Shram se hi sab kuch bane, bin shram mile na kaahi |
Sidhi ungli ghee jame, kabashu nikase naahi ||

Translation:
Only by working (laboring) can something be achieved, not any other way |
Once butter as been processed into ghee, it will not come our (of the cup) with a straight finger (needs a spoon or curved surface)||

My thoughts:

We always desire success. Our definition of success is the end goal. But more often than not, we completely and blissfully ignore the reality that there are multiple small steps between our current state and the moment when we achieve the desired goal. The ONLY way to achieve that goal is to spend the time and work our way through each individual step/task, no matter how small or insignificant or even undesirable it seems.

Once the goal is achieved, we then need to understand the goal in its entirety. Up close, it may seem different than what we surmised at the beginning of the journey. This should not be taken to mean the goal has changed – it only means our initial understanding was flawed.

If we then develop the discipline of finding satisfaction in doing each task on this path and slowing down to enjoy each moment of satisfaction, our path will be the desirable path and the goal will shower us with much more benefits than we can hope for!

“If one regards himself superior or equal or inferior by reason of the body that is impermanent, painful and subject to change, what else is it than not seeing reality? Or if one regards himself superior or equal or inferior by reason of feelings, perceptions, volitions or consciousness, what else is it than not seeing reality? If one does not regard himself superior or equal or inferior by reason of the body, the feelings, perceptions, volitions or consciousness what else is it than seeing reality?”
— SN 22.49 (Buddhist teachings)

Kabir – The couplet
ज्ञानी से कहिये क्या, कहत कबीरा लजाय |
अंधे आगे नाचते, कला अकारत जाय ||

transliterated:
Gyani se kahiye kya, kahat Kabira lajaaye|
Andhe aage naachte, kala akaarat jaaye ||

Translation:
How can I say anything to a learned man, says Kabir, shyly |
Dancing in front of a blind man, is of no avail to the art form||

My thoughts:

“A feeling of superiority is a very pleasant mental state, but it is essentially akusala — unhealthy and unskilled, highly dangerous in its results.” – What Can Be Done About Conceit? by Dr. Elizabeth Ashby
Pride inevitably lands us at the feet of conceit – which can give the body and the physical brain a very addictive (but short-lived) high.

Pride and conceit do drive a person to work for more – but the high from each “achievement” is very short-lived – driving the person to attempt the next “achievement” – and the low from each even partial failure can be debilitating.

That was why our elders preach moderation and a calm detachment – as Lord Krishna
preached to Arjuna (in the Bhagawad Gita) , it is our job to do what we need to do – results will come but that cannot be our focus. Our job is to do our tasks with a sense of calm detachment (the detachment is from the result, not the task itself).

Pride and conceit lead to addiction and ultimate failure. Peaceful outlook and calm satisfaction will ALWAYS lead to happiness and hence realization of Life’s true goals.

“Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man.”
- C.S.Lewis

Kabir – The couplet
कदे अभिमान न कीजिये, कहा कबीर समझाए |
जा सीर अहा जो संचारे, पड़े चौरसिया जाए ||

transliterated:
Kade abhimaan na kijiye, kaha Kabir samjhaye|
Ja seer aha jo sanchare, pade chaurasiya jaaye ||

Translation:
Do not practice pride, teaches Kabir as he explains |
He whose head floats in the clod of pride, is lonely even in the town square||

My thoughts:

Pride is one of the primary cardinal sins we are always warned to stay away from, and yet it is our first resort, our primary comfort zone and our provider of solace for many of our failings.

When I do not make it to the next level, pride tells me the game was designed in a faulty manner. When I fail, pride preaches that success was not an option made available, and my failure was really masked success. When I do not know the answer, pride prevents me from reaching out to seek help and find answers.

Pride distances the individual from the group, when, by design, we are a social being that achieves greatness by participating in the larger whole. We increase our individuality when we fully integrate into the larger society, and yet this truism is lost as we succumb to the lure of pride.

Pride is the hidden poison we need to stay away from.

“A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth. “
- Ecclesiastes

Kabir – The couplet
धन रहे न यौवन रहे, रहे गाँव न धाम |
कहे कबीरा जस रहे, कर दे किसीका काम ||

transliterated:
Dhan rahe na yauvan rahe, rahe gaanv na dham |
Kahe Kabira jas rahe, kar de kisika kaam ||

Translation:
Wealth does not endure, nor youth; village and holy space will also succumb to time |
Say Kabir, a good name will live eternal – go out and help someone in need||

My thoughts:

Solomon (in the book of Ecclesiastes) presents an interesting concept – that the day of death is to be celebrated rather than the day of birth. In expanding that thought, there is a different way of seeing the purpose of life.

When we come into this world, we have a clean slate – no baggage, unknown purpose and a clear lack of dependencies. By the time we are done with our life, we have all three, and perhaps a lot more.

In the process of living our life, we accumulate joy, pain, satisfaction, frustration, and a host of other conflicting emotional baggage. Death is the moment when we are relieved of this and we return to a state of peace and oneness with the universe.

This is also true for all that is a creation or construct of this material world. Commerce and wealth are part of only the material world – so also the house, the village, and our place of reaching out to a higher power (pilgrimage place, temple, church). The soul, God, the Maker, the higher power, are all omnipresent and omniscient. We, in human form, need to define material space – not the soul.

The true wealth of a good name, too, is eternal – who forgets the name of David, Ashoka, Mahatma Gandhi or Helen Keller? When we serve without thought for a result other than making the served satisfied, we receive a great wealth in return. When we do with result(s) anticipated, we may get some of the result – but none of the name.

We get exactly what we give – no more and no less.

“The giving of wealth results in obtaining wealth, the giving of teaching results in obtaining wisdom, the giving of fearlessness results in obtaining health and long life.”
-Buddhist teaching

Kabir – The couplet
चिड़िया चोंच भर ले गयी, नदी का घट्यो न नीर |
दान दिए धन न घटे, कह गयो दास कबीर ||

transliterated:
Chidiya chonch bhar le gayi, nadi ka ghatyo na neer |
Daan diye dhan na ghate, keh gayo daas Kabir ||

Translation:
The beakful of water the bird takes, makes no difference to the river’s volume |
Donations do not reduce one’s wealth, so says Sage Kabir||

My understanding:

Giving is the best way or receiving and retaining – no matter what we are talking about. Wealth, knowledge, peace, and harmony – even the negatives like anger, jealousy and pride – all increase for us as we learn to give and share.

This is one of the greatest truths and yet most humans stay blinded to it by the mists of maya. This is just like a bank – until we put some money away, we do not have a balance to draw from. Unless the balance stays there for a while, it will not grow with interest.

Similarly for our wealth, knowledge, peace and tranquility – the more we give, the more we are banking for our future use. For when the moment of adversity arrives, this is the only fund we can draw from. The material world cannot replenish the mind, heart or soul. Our collected deeds, goodwill and love will be our steadying oar when all else is lost.

“It is lack of love for ourselves that inhibits our compassion toward others. If we make friends with ourselves, then there is no obstacle to opening our hearts and minds to others.”
-unknown

Kabir – The couplet
पोथी पढ़ पढ़ जग मुआ, पंडित भय न कोई |
ढाई अक्षर प्रेम से, पढ़े सो पंडित होय ||

transliterated:
Pothi padh padh jag mua, pandit bhaya na koi |
Dhai akshar prem se, padhe so pandit hoye ||

Translation:
Reading all the books of the world, has not made a scholar ever |
A word spoken with love, has allown one to gain real wisdom||

My understanding:

I am revisiting an old favorite couplet – but going a few layers deeper (at least to my perspective).

Knowledge is not the true path to wisdom – knowledge only fills us up with facts and information. Love allows us to empathise, and hence leads to compassion. When we practice compassion, we gain an understanding – why the flower flower, why a child cries, why our friend frowns. This compassion allows us to share our own being and become part of the solution rather than create a new problem.

That, then, leads to true wisdom. Love creates empathy, which generates compassion, and compassion generates understanding , which is the soul of real wisdom.

So the sage Kabir has once again proved his intense depth – there is more hidden in this simple couplet than all the riches of the legendary Atlantis!

” A mistake is not a truth because it is shared by many people, just as a truth is not false because it is emitted by a single individual. ”
- Mahatma Ghandi

Kabir – The couplet
अति हट मत कर बावरे, हट से बात न होय |
ज्यों ज्यों भीगे कमरी, त्यों त्यों भारी होय ||

transliterated:
Ati hat naa kar baavare, hat se baat na hoy |
Jyon jyon bheege kamari, tyon tyon bhari hoy ||

Translation:
Do not insist to the point of stubbornness – insistence does not help any end be acheived |
As the bag of salt gets wetter, it only becomes heavier – not easier to carry||

My understanding:

I have often seen a child carry on for something he/she wants, and a parent give in if only to appease the child. However, this is not true of life.

No matter how long we carry on, we cannot change reality through mere word. We cannot also change behavior by demanding it for long enough.

Change needs justification. Change needs a different way of thinking. Change needs a different perspective. We can only convince people to listen to us as long as we are reasonable, as long as we make sense. Else, we become a nag and get tuned out.

If I do not want to be the heavy bag of salt, I will have to learn to be pleasant, brief and to the point. In the extreme case, the bag of salt, if left in water long enough, will have the salt melt and flow away, leaving behind only an empty bag. [In this metaphor, I am the bearer of the bag, the bag is my mind and voice, and the salt is my desire/idea. ]

“Argue for your limitations, and sure enough they’re yours.”
- Richard Bach

Kabir – The couplet
मीठा सब कोई खात है, विष है लागे धाय |
नीम न कोई पीवासी, सबे रोग मिट जाय ||

transliterated:
Meetha sab koi khaat hai, vish hai laage dhaay |
Neem na koi peevasi, sabe rog mit jaay ||

Translation:
All of us willingly enjoy (eat) sweets, even though the sweet is as poison to us |
No one willingly drinks the juice of the neem, though it can destroy much sickness||

My understanding:

We like to take the easy path in life.

Sweets taste good, though the after-effects are often deleterious to our health. Medicinal foods, though greatly beneficial, often taste bad to abominable, and hence we avoid them.

The tongue sees food for but a couple of seconds – and yet defines what we eat. The stomach, intestines, and the rest of the digestive system that have to separate the good from the bad, and deal with all that enters the mouth, have little to no say in what we eat.

We live our life in a similar fashion. Fleeting impressions often shape our life rather than well-thought out and understood actions. We rarely, if ever pause to understand that what looks good from a distance may in fact be extremely dangerous to us.

So here is a clarion call to slow down, deliberate more and put more thought into our everyday decisions.

“Now that it’s all over, what did you really do yesterday that’s worth mentioning? “
- Coleman Cox

Kabir – The couplet
शीतल शब्द उच्छारिये, अहम् मानिये नाही |
तेरा प्रीतम तुझ में है, दुश्मन भी तुझ में है ||

transliterated:
Sheetal shabd ucchhariye, aham maaniye naahi |
Tera preetam tujh mein hai, dushman bhi tujh mein hai ||

Translation:
Our words need to be soothing, completely absent of ego |
For all our love is inside of us, as also our enemies, our negativity||

My understanding:

We often hear the statement “hindsight is 20-20”. As the first quote on the top says, think back to the events and activities of yesterday. How many of them, on review, were worth the angst and heartache you put yourself through while in the moment?

Life is such – we presume the worst even while hoping for the best, and then agonize ourselves and all around us in the worry that we did not take more into consideration when figuring out the worst – we KNOW that the worst is far greater than what we dream of ☺

And then the moment passes, and all is well. Even the worst is not really a bad world. All it really needed was a moment of quiet introspection and a smile – both of which we are not ready to give at the apt moment.

So, please – stop, think, and spread only love. Life is very very beautiful, and the world is here to please us, make us happy!

“I am not young enough to know everything.”
- Oscar Wilde

Kabir – The couplet
पढ़ा सुना सीखा सभी, मिटी न संशय शूल |
कहे कबीर कसे कहूँ, ये सब दुःख का मूल ||

transliterated:
Padha suna seekha sabhi, miti na sanshay shool |
Kahe Kabir – kaise kahoon, yeh sab dukh ka mool ||

Translation:
As we began to learn to read and write, the more our confusion increase, not decrease |
Says Kabir – how should I express this? – half-knowledge is the root of all pain ||

My understanding:

Humans are always in a rush. As soon as we complete a word, we presume the sentence. Having read the sentence, we know the paragraph. A word later, the story has filled our being – at least, our version of the story – the way I want it to be, the way that suits my way of thinking, my way of being.

We have to learn to do a lot of things, just as we teach our children.

Learning the alphabet does not mean we have learnt grammar. Mastery of grammar does not imply clarity of expression. Clear expression still does not necessarily include clarity of thought or pleasant artistry.

I am still learning to say what I mean, and so are the old masters. This humility is the only way to continue to open doors to further learning and understanding, to peel back more layers of the fruit if we are ever to perceive the seed hidden inside – the little nub that explains our reason for existence.

“Self importance is our greatest enemy….our self importance requires that we spend most of our lives offended by someone.”
–Carlos Castaneda

Kabir – The couplet
माया तजा तो क्या हुआ, मान तजा न जाये |
मान बड़े मुनिवर गये, मान सबन को खाये ||

transliterated:
Maya taja to kya hua, maan taja na jaaye |
Maan bade munivar taje, maan saban ko khaye ||

Translation:
Giving up wealth takes little effort , but nigh impossible it is to give up ego |
Ego has reduced the greatest and enlightened to ordinary, no one is immune to it’s charms ||

My understanding:

As a race, one of the greatest facets of being human is our ability to recognize, celebrate and thrive in our diversity.

Ego, on the other hand uses differences to drive separation and distance me from everyone else.

Ego has made a politician of the statesman, a soldier of the general, an ordinary man of the enlightened.

Ego has no redeeming quality for a good life – for it uses our good energy to amplify and feed the negative side.

Give up ego, and stay on watch – for it will always lurk just around the corner, in range and always ready to pounce.

“We smile at the ignorance of the savage who cuts down the tree in order to reach its fruit; but the same blunder is made by every person who is over eager and impatient in the pursuit of pleasure.”
– William Channing

Kabir – The couplet
धीरे धीरे रे मना, धीरे सब कुछ होय |
माली सींचे सौ घड़ा, ऋतू आये फल होय ||

transliterated:
Dheere dheere re mana, dheere sab kuch hoye |
Maali seenche sau ghada, ritu aaye phal hoye ||

Translation:
Patience, O Heart – everything takes time |
No matter the amount of watering by the gardener, fruit will only arrive in season||

My understanding:

We rush, and want everything around us to speed up with us. But the real virtue is to learn to slow down to the pace of everything around us.

Children do not grow up and gain wisdom overnight – they need time to grow, to learn, to experience. Protecting them from the “badness” of the world does not make them better – only less equipped. The story of Mahavira is but an example of this.

Only the tree that has weathered a few storms provides both cool shelter from the sun and enough fruit to satiate a hungry man.

Experience needs time – time to gain, and then more time to understand, appreciate and imbibe. Then, and only then, are we ready to really learn from the experience – and this needs more time. So then, experience will be experience only after we give it time, effort and understanding!

People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But the self is not something one finds, it is something one creates.
- Thomas Szasz, “Personal Conduct,” The Second Sin, 1973

Kabir – The couplet
कस्तूरी कुंडल बसे, मृग ढूढे बन माहि |
ऐसे घाट घाट राम है, दुनिया देखे नाही ||

transliterated:
Kasturi kundal base, mrig dhoonde ban maahi |
Aise ghat ghat Ram hai, duniya dekhe naahi ||

Translation:
The musk deer has its musk inside, yet hunts the fragrance all over the forest |
So also Ram (realization) is inside and all around us – and yet we see it not||

My understanding:

The most profound things in life are often the easiest to find – if we can slow down our racing thoughts enough.

We are fully equipped to find our place and purpose in this world – if we can quiet the furnace of our thoughts and focus on the consciousness inside us.

Our true greatness is not in what we do, but rather in what we can do and the reason we exist. If we can find that and focus on it to the exclusion of all else, we can each be greater than ourselves, and the world will truly become “heaven on earth” !

“While we are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions.”
- Stephen Covey

Kabir – The couplet
करता था सो क्यों किया, अब करे क्यों पछताए |
बोया पेड़ बबूल का, आम कहाँ ते पाए ||

transliterated:
Karta tha so kyon kiya, ab kare kyon pachtaye |
Boya ped babool ka, aam kahan te paaye ||

Translation:
Why did you do that which is done, and why cry after the deed |
Having sown seed of a date palm, the fruits will not be grapes ||

My understanding:

Very simple, this couplet and the thought. As you sow, so shall you reap. However, very profound too.

For each pin that pricks us in the course of our daily life, we often tend to blame fate, circumstance, and the great beyond for our suffering while taking all ownership of all pleasure and happiness and the causes thereof. Another pointer to the fickle nature of human ego and its fragile existence.

I am centrally responsible for all that happens to me and around me. And when I fully embrace this thought, life gains a rich new glow, purpose and meaning for me.

“Fast, easy and cheap may work for a one-night-stand, if that’s what you’re into, but it’s not going to work for a healthy, sustainable relationship. Once we make a real committment, the other changes will follow.”
- Beth Bader (http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2008/12/05/food-for-thought-we-are-what-we-eat/ )

Kabir – The couplet
जैसे भोजन कीजिये, वैसे ही मन होए |
जैसे पानी पीजिये, वैसे वाणी होए ||

transliterated:
Jaise bhojan kijiye, vaise hi man hoye |
Jaise paani pijiye, vaise vaani hoye ||

Translation:
The food one eats will reflect in the heart of the person |
The water one drinks is what defines the voice of the person ||

My understanding:

Almost universally, each individual pays the least attention to the self – until something goes wrong – sometimes, waiting till it is horribly wrong.

The way we are made, our only source of nourishment is what we eat – for we cannot use the energy from the sun and air to replenish spent energy. However, we often enough race through food, with scant attention to detail – until the physical body is beyond redemption. We then blame everything else from the world economy to global warning for our inability to eat right or properly.

If I do not take care of myself, how can I blame it on anyone or anything else? Life is not tough – we make it hard by not pacing ourselves properly – filling our calendar till we have no time for ourselves, or the ones we love.

The food I eat, and how I eat it, will define my temperament and outlook for the day. If I spend time enjoying it, I can truly appreciate the love and effort that went into transforming it from the raw materials to the serving on the plate in front of me. This allows me to then expand my pleasure to beyond me to the entire world – and the glow will make the world a better place.

The water I drink is what smoothens the vocal passages, an sweetens or roughens the voice.
When temperament and voice are in sync and gentle, the world is a wonderful place. We disturb this even tenor in our rush.

Let us resolve now to slow down, enjoy ourselves and transform the world into a happier place!

“Humility gives you a teachable spirit that makes everything easier.”
- Seth Barnes (http://www.sethbarnes.com/?filename=the-importance-of-humility)

Kabir – The couplet
सबसे लघुता ही भला, लघुता से सब होय |
जैसे द्वितीय का चन्द्रमा, शशि लहै सब कोई ||

transliterated:
Sabse laghuta hi bhala, laghuta se sab hoye |
Jaise dwitiya ka chandrama, shashi lahai sab koye ||

Translation:
The humble person is better than the rest, all can relate better to the humble one|
Just as the new moon on the day after no-moon day, is loved by all more than even the full moon!!

My understanding:

Humility is the core strength in every one of us that allows us to become all that we can be. Humility teaches us that all are equal, that any individual does not posses all.

To quote Hugh Prather (“Notes to myself on becoming a person”), ‘Once I realize that I know no more than the next man, does this wisdom make me any the wiser?’

I am but a grain of sand in the beach that is humanity. My knowledge is limited – for the more I know, the more I realize how much more there is to learn. My wealth in this world is also limited – if one person had all the wealth, and no one else had anything, then the wealth would be worthless since the others would find other things to trade with ☺

My real worth comes from my acceptance of my being limited, and my willingness to always stay open to learning. From there springs the true wealth of realization. This realization is what makes life worth living.

“Have you ever noticed how refreshingly fun it is to be around positive thinking people who seem to naturally maintain a positive attitude? No matter how bad the circumstances, negativity never even enters their minds, let alone crosses their lips to form negative, faithless words!”
- Positive Attitude Tips – by Karen Wolf
about.com – http://christianity.about.com/od/practicaltools/a/positivethinkin.htm

Kabir – The couplet
चन्दन जैसा साधू है, सर्प ही सब संसार |
ताके अंग लिपटा रहे, मन में नहीं विकार ||

transliterated:
Chandan jaisa sadhu hai, sarp hi sab sansar |
Taake ang lipta rahe, man mein nahi vikar ||

Translation:
The realized person is like the sandal tree, the rest of the world a snake |
Though the snake wraps itself around the tree, the tree loses not its scent or become poisonous ||

My understanding:

Today, more than ever before in history, the temptation to take the easy path, the quick pickings, the short-cut, the quick cheat, is all around us. Google is full of tips on the quick win.

However, this is where the innate goodness of man and our desire to do things the right way wins, even now. While I will not say I have never taken shortcuts (I have, very often), I always stop short of doing that which is wrong – at least by my definition. That little voice, our conscience, is the sandal tree in the couplet above.

The snake is my desire, my ambition, my jealousy. The snake is always with me – but so is my conscience. And I am happy to say that the conscience is alive, well and healthy!

Every time we take that extra miniscule moment to listen to , pay attention to that voice in our head that we know is the conscience, the sandal tree keeps growing and flowering. Water it, feed it, and watch life prosper!

“I don’t want to come to the end of my life and find that I have just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.”
- Diane Ackerman

Kabir – The couplet
जिन ढूंडा तिन पाईय, गहिरे पानी पैथ |
मै बौरी डूबन दरी, रही किनारे बैठ ||

transliterated:
Jin dhunda tin payiya, gahire pani paith |
Mai bauri duban dari, rahi kinare baith ||

Translation:
The seeker found the sought, by diving into the deep |
Apprehensive of the depth, I stayed safe on the shore ||

My understanding:
On the face of it, this is an extremely simple thought – no risk, no gain- and no loss!

However, there is deeper significance to it.

Every moment of life presents us with the opportunity for enormous gain – if we dive into the unknown risk supported only by our collected wealth of experience. The only way to see beyond is by scaling the peaks in front of us.

More importantly, the exploration of the opportunity is a primary purpose, not a possible potential benefit of being born. We each have a responsibility to see further, learn more, dive deeper and gather more (riches of knowledge) than what is present in our world as it exists now.

That is the yardstick by which the great seer Kabir is asking us to measure ourselves by – that I made the effort to do more than I could every moment of the way.

The significance of man is that he is that part of the universe that asks the question, What is the significance of Man? He alone can stand apart imaginatively and, regarding himself and the universe in their eternal aspects, pronounce a judgment:
The significance of man is that he is insignificant and is aware of it.
-Carl Lotus Becker (Progress and Power, 1935)

Kabir – The couplet
हेरत हेरात हे साखि, रह्य कबीर हेरै |
बूंद समानी समुंद में, स्प कट हेरी जाई ||

transliterated:
Herat herat he sakhi, rahya kabir herai |
Boond samani samund mein, so kat heri jai ||

Translation:
Looking (searching) here and there, everywhere, I lost myself in the search |
Like the drop of water in the ocean: how can one find it once merged into the ocean?||

My understanding:
We – me, you, and all other humans – are just one of many billions of species, on one tiny planet, that is just one of many in a solar system that is itself just one of many billions in the universe.

Our significance comes from and finds strength in the realization of this truth – that we are but a single entity in a collection, which is itself an insignificant portion of a much larger whole.

We need to accept that each of us, as individuals, are important contributors and participants, but it is society as a whole that permits us to assume and retain an identity. Without society to participate in, we have nothing to contribute to and no one to receive from. That whole, then, is the ocean that Kabir refers to – and the entity that we can understand as God.

God is not an external entity, a wielder of magic, or a granter of boons. God is the single unified Identity that society, humanity, Life in the larger form, represents. That is the source of strength and inspiration – the collective larger existence.

The world is not for us – we are for the world. If we vanished today or went missing, the world would not pause for even a millisecond. On the other hand, if the world vanished, we would have nothing to do and be completely out of place. We all need to understand and absorb this truth.

Prayer is not about asking God to give us things – it is about reaching deep into ourselves to find peace and the strength to take on the challenges the world presents. If we do not find the time to pray, we cannot take on the world.

This world is ours – we make it whole. Let us make it better – not because of someone else, but for ourselves! When we do, everyone, and everything, will find a better reason for existence.

I believe that love cannot be bought except with love.
- John Steinbeck

Love cannot triumph unless it becomes the one passion of our life. Until we have a passionate love for Our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament, we shall accomplish nothing.
- St. Peter Eymard

Kabir – The couplet
प्रेम न बड़ी उपजै, प्रेम न हात बिकै |
रजा प्रजा जोही रुचे, शीश दही लै जाय ||

transliterated:
Prem na badi upjai, prem na haat bikaay |
Raja praja johi ruche, sheesh dehi le jaay ||

Translation:
Love is not a field crop to harvest, nor is it sold in the marketplace |
And yet king or citizen, when they desire it, willingly sacrifice life in exchange ||

My understanding:
Some amongst us claim not to believe in that which cannot be perceived, and hence their lack of faith in God.

Yet the same person happily professes undying love for the passion of their life.

We, as humans, tend to contradict ourselves depending on the situation. Since love makes us feel good, we ‘go for it’, as the saying goes. And yet we refuse, steadfastly, to put in the little effort towards introspection that will help us realize the eternal bliss and perfect peace that ‘God-realization’ will give us.

This is not a call to gain religion (or maybe it is, at least partly). God is not just a luminiscient being up there who can solve everything and has all the answers. ‘God’ is the reference we use for the construct that allows us to center our focus and concentrate our own innate energies to finding thise simple yet elusive answers to questions that consume our daily living.

So, back to the original topic – love. Love is the pathway to finding both satisfaction and peace – again, non-transient and yet all-powerful entities. When we love, we learn to look over and beyond the small imperfections that our other negative instincts (jealousy, desire) magnify into insurmountable obstacles. Love is the lubricant that makes the journey of life a comfortable ride, and the discovery of the self a simpler quest.

Love is something latent within all, not something that can be traded for or bought with currency. Love is as omniscient and intangible as life itself, for it is the other true face of the coin of life. So instead of looking for it, use it, and it will allow us to bloom!

But have you ever tried to get your mind to wander? It’s about as easy as getting a cat to stay where you tell it to, or telling a toddler not to cry, or willing the heavy clouds not to rain on your picnic.
– by Kristin on May 5, 2010 (http://www.halfwaytonormal.com/?p=1058)

Kabir – The couplet
तन बोहित मन कग है, लाख योजन उडी जय |
कबहू दरिया अगम बही, कबही गगन समाई||

transliterated:
Tan bohit man kag hai, lakh yojan udi jai |
Kabahu dariya agam bahi, kabahi gagan samai||

Translation:
The body is bound (to earth) but the mind can fly, many leagues at once |
Sometimes to distant lands, other times into the sky, unlimited in reach||

My understanding:
Each human being is a wonderful mixture of opposites, of different faces of the same coin, an admixture or reality and fantasy all bound into a single composite existent presentation.

The body is our host, our physical manifestation, and our presentation of the self to the physical world. This is bound by physical laws, and is slave to physical forces like gravity and ambient temperature. The mind, on the other hand is the free bird, untouched by either the pains or the pleasures of the physical flesh.

However, we often confuse one for the other, and therein is our undoing.

Desire makes us blur the distinction between the mind and body, and jealousy and craving make us believe the body can achieve the effortless aimless wandering of the mind.

Peace and satisfaction help center the mind in the body, so that both can be at the same place at the same time – which is the first step on the path to salvation, mukti, moksha, heaven or whatever other name we call our real goal by.

A clear understanding of this dichotomy and the need to center the mind in the body before doing anything else needs to be the first procedure in the attainment of the step to peace and satisfaction.

“When an ordinary man attains knowledge he is a sage; when a sage attains understanding he is an ordinary man.”
–Zen Buddhism

Kabir – The couplet
साहिब तेरी साहिबी, सब घट रही समाई |
ज्यों मेहेंदी के पट में, लाली लाखी न जाई ||

transliterated:
Sahib teri saahibi, sab ghat rahi samai |
Jyon mehendi ke pat me, lali lakhi na jai||

Translation:
O Lord, your Greatness exists and manifests everywhere|
Just as the dye in the Mehendi leaves, though red – shows not in the leaves that are green evne when ground to paste ||

My understanding:
We often tend to ask questions, and then expect the answer to find its way back to us. More often than not, the answer is right there, and the question is only a step in the path to the answer (goal).

Our concept and structure of God uses a construct that says He is all powerful, and holds all powers and answers.

In reality, man is a representative of that same construct – The Supreme Being. We have all of the solutions, all of the methods, all of the inventions locked away deep inside the folds of the brain. Every invention known to us, realized by us, every benefit, every glory, every achievement, came from the work of man.

And yet we lament that God has not given us what we need? He has bestowed us with the ability, it is now our duty to visualize and realize the wealth that is inside of us.

Perhaps the undoing of this quandary is in our current definition of God. If we were look on Him as the Supreme Teacher, instead of the Supreme Being, perhaps we would look to learn from him, instead of just waiting for his Blessings to shower on us (in reality, the showers never ceased – we are still able to read this letter and comprehend – right? If I can do this, then all my faculties are intact, which means God is right here with me, now and for ever.).

All of this is is my own learning from the ocean of knowledge, at whose edge I sip – perhaps I do not comprehend this right? If so, all elders and teachers who are reading this, please correct my thinking.

“The soul of religion is one, but it is encased in a multitude of forms.”
–Mahatma Gandhi

Kabir – The couplet
पछा पिछके करने, सब जग रहा भुला |
िनर्पछ हो के हरी भजे, सोई संत सुजन ||

transliterated:
Pachha pachhi ke karane, sab jag raha bhulan |
Nirpachh ho ke hari bhaje, soi sant sujan ||

Translation:
Divied into groups with differing agendas, humanity has lost sense of direction|
He who prays to God, impervios to religion, is the true Believer, the Teacher ||

My understanding:
Religion, over the ages, has been transformed from the path to inner peace to a doctrine meant to control groups.

When a follower disagrees, he searches (as we do with all our arguments, debates and disagreements) for other like-minded individuals. IF there are enough, this is the new group, and sometimes becomes “new religion”.

What we need is less talk, and more introspection. All of humanity is essentially good and kind. Groups, doctrine and dogma take us away from this inner truism and make us behave in ways we (sometimes intensely) disagree with, just to ‘keep up with the Joneses’.

If we were to return to basics, the sun, while still just as warm and bright, would look truly brilliant, and the birdsong around us would be heard as the true song of real freedom that it really is.

Well-meaning individuals trying to solve specific problems created all borders, religion, politics and beaurocracy. We forgot the problems, but hung on to the resultant processes as the Absolute Truth.

We need to go back into the mists of time, re-discover the problem, and document it along with the solution – it is only then that we will realize the childishness of our excesses.

Religion is not the God we pray to, or the faith we profess to follow. Spend time in introspection, and we will all learn to love all around us. That is true religion.

Agree?

As an unperfect actor on the stage,
Who with his fear is put beside his part,
Or some fierce thing replete with too much rage,
Whose strength’s abundance weakens his own heart;
So I, for fear of trust, forget to say
The perfect ceremony of love’s rite,
And in mine own love’s strength seem to decay,
O’ercharg’d with burthen of mine own love’s might.
O! let my books be then the eloquence
And dumb presagers of my speaking breast,
Who plead for love, and look for recompense,
More than that tongue that more hath more express’d.
O! learn to read what silent love hath writ:
To hear with eyes belongs to love’s fine wit.
–William Shakespeare

Kabir – The couplet
अकथ कहानी प्रेम की, कुछ कही न जाये |
गूंगे केरी सरकरा, बैठे मुस्काए ||

transliterated:
Akath Kahani Prem Ki, Kuch Kahi Na Jaaye |
Goonge Keri Sarkara, Baithea Muskaae ||

Translation:
Love is a story expressed, not told, speech does not describe it well|
Just at the dumb man eating sweets, his face describes the taste the best ||

My understanding:
We often lose sight of the goal in our attemt to describe a situation in language – forgetting that language is not the only mode of expression we have.

Our faces, our expression, our actions, even our inaction, all speak louder than words.

The beautific expression on the face of a child enjoying a cake cannot be expressed in words – and words do not convey the satiation or exquisite taste the face does.

Similarly, we often get too involved in our rituals, losing sight of the reason we observe them – prayers are meant to take us closer to God, not distance me from my fellow man. Religion is a bonding experience, not a separatist movement.

However, our attempt to put in words that which we experience allows ego to insert itself into the playbook, and then all bets are off.

So maybe we have to relearn the art of using all our faculties for expression – both the expression of what we feel and the reading of that which is expressed to and around us?

And maybe the written word will once again find its rightful place as a team member, rather than the lone voice?

For we are all created from love, for the purpose of love, to extend the reach of love, and are meant to spend this life bathed in the glorious light of love.

So let us ignore that which does not express or intend lvoe, and instead focus on love as the only reason for existense. Love God, love yourself, and love all that is all around us as well as that which we cannot perceive, but perhaps can imagine?

For love is the one salve that can put the world’s unrest to bed, and suffuse us with the true glory of existense.

“The glories of our birth and state
Are shadows, not substantial things;
There is no armour against fate:
Death lays his icy hands on kings;
Sceptre and crown
Must tumble down,
And in the dust be equal made
With the poor crooked scythe and spade.”
-       James Shirley (Death’s Final Conquest)

Kabir – The couplet
किबरा गर्व न कीिजये, काल गहे कर केस |
न जाने िकत मारे है, क्या देस क्या परदेस ||

transliterated:
Kabira Garv Na Keejiye, Kaal Gahe Kar Kes |
Na Jaane Kit Mare Hai, Kya Des Kya Pardesh ||

Translation:
Says Kabir be not proud or vain, for Time is dark and mysterious |
We know not when we run out of time, or even if it is in a place of our choice (home/abroad) ||

My understanding:
Continuing from the past couple of days….

Since time immemorial, we have been fascinated by the concept of death, and what lays beyond.

However, this, on deeper reflection, turns out to be but another distraction from the purpose of life, and a big boost to ego. For what can be more pleasant to the ego than to wonder on the grandness of my legacy, my “footprints in the sands of time”, what I bequeth to those who will come after me?

In the pursuit of this grandeur, I will waste much and misuse the time I have to plan for what comes after, giving up that which I could receive now – simple peace, an understanding of the need of this moment, the ability to provide light for my soul now.

This is the maya of creation – we have all we need, and yet, we are loaded with desire for that which always stays elusive: and the pursuit of the desire leaves us with neither – no satisfied desire, and no ability to receive and appreciate that which is already ours.

And it is this maya that Kabir, James Shirley, and every enlightened individual since the time of Creation have warned us to watch out for.

“In this place, with thoughts of transience uppermost on my mind, I inevitably reflect on the words of others who once pondered the same things. At such times, I think of the question posed by a long-ago psalmist – “What is man, that thou art mindful of him?” – or the Buddhist who meditated on the crematory smoke arising from Toribeyama. Walking through a cemetery, one is forcefully reminded, above all else, of the fragility of human life. We tend to take for granted that our lives will continue indefinitely; rarely do we think about how we all – you yourself, everyone you know, everyone you love or care about – will grow old and, one day, will die. Through familiarity, we begin to believe the people, places and situations that surround us to be permanent. It is a natural and human tendency, and a habit difficult to break – difficult, that is, unless one is confronted inescapably with the truth of our own mortality.”

-       Ebon Musings – The Atheism pages (www.ebonmusings.org)

Kabir – The couplet

कबीरा गर्व ना कीिजये, ऊँचा  देख  आवास |
काल परों भुइं लेटना, ऊपर जमसी घास ||

transliterated:

Kabira garv na keejiye, oonha dekh aavaas |
Kaal paron bhooin letna, oopar jamsi ghaas ||

Translation:

Says Kabir, do not be vain, looking at your high mansion(position) |
When the time comes, you will be flat on the ground, and grass will grow on and all around ||

My understanding:

Everything I do is all about me, for me, by me, in praise of me. I celebrate my existense, my brilliance, my strength, my ability, ME.

In all of this, I blissfully ignore the very real fact of my mortality, the fragility of my existense in this form and shape. What is this me, where is the “I” when the body is dust?

If the soul is timeless, why am I in a rush to finish everything before I begin? If this life is all the time I have, why am I chasing after trivialities and frivolities? How do I bridge this chasm?

The first step is to recognize the existense of the chasm – until I acknowledge its presence, I cannot begin to search for the path across. And I cannot give up under the excuse of the enormity of the expanse to cross, for the bridging of this gap is one of the true purposes of life. For only when I bridge it can I begin to develop the theme of the true purpose of life and existense.

God is a construct I use to help me explain the un-obvious, and understand the mysterious. However, I need to take the next step too – God shows me the path, but I am the one who needs to make the journey.

The question should never be “Am I ready?” – for I always am. The question should always be – I have taken this step – what is not most appropriate next one?

For as we saw yesterday, that which is done can be chalekd up to experience, and the futre is still only a plan – this moment and what I do now is what is important, the only thng that matters. What I do now will be what makes the experience richer (because I am using it) and the plan sensible (since I am working to it) without losing focus of the one thing I control – the here and now.

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, “I used everything you gave me.”

- Erma Bombeck

The miracle is not to fly in the air, or to walk on the water, but to walk on the earth.  – Chinese Proverb

Kabir – The couplet

जीवत समझे जीवत बुझे, जीवत ही करो आस  |

जीवत करम कि फांसी न काटी, मुए मुक्ति कि आस ||

transliterated:

Jeevat Samjhe Jeevat Bujhe, Jeevat He Karo Aas |

Jeevat Karam Ki Fansi Na Kaati, Mue Mukti Ki Aas ||

Translation:

The living can see, the living can realize, we can liberate ourselves only when alive |

If we do not free the self from bondage while living, the soul has no hope of freedom after death! ||

My understanding:

Tomorrow so consumes our daily moments, we forget about the now, and rarely research the why of where we are at the moment (this moment, now – the one that was a possiblity some time ago and is but a memory now).

When I sing, I forget to focus on the music’s interaction on my self and focus on the effect it has on the audience around – forgetting that if I cannot please myself, how will I ever please the world?

When I am at work, my thoughts are on the evening’s plans – when the evening is here, I worry about the next day’s jobs. If I force myself to focus, I dwell too long in the past and what I may have done different – all the time, giving up the precious now, which is the only space where I can make it be exactly what I want it to be, what I feel it needs to be – if only I could stay in the moment ..

If I cannot for a moment focus on the now and make this moment all it can be, of what use is a life filled with a lifetime of moments contemplating other moments without beginning or end?

“The Bible also tells us, “With humility comes wisdom.” Every day I realize I’m just a sinner like everyone else, and I have been forgiven only because of God’s grace. God gave us our gifts and abilities. He blessed our efforts. If we start thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought to, it takes away from our proper worship of God. Pride blinds us to our own faults.”
- Billy Graham

Kabir – The couplet
तिमर गया रिव देखते, कुमित गयी गुरु ज्ञान |
सुमित गयी अित लोभते, भक्ित गयी अिभमान ||

transliterated:
timir gaya ravi dekhate, kumati gayi guru gyan |
sumati gayi ati lobhate, bhakti gayi abhiman ||

Translation:
Darkness disappears with the rising sun, ignorance by the Guru’s wisdom |
Good intellect is lost to greed, devotion is lost in the face of ego ||

My understanding:
One of the greatest gifts we receive is rationality, alongside the ability to understand, even when we disagree. However, this rationality and understanding are offset by ego, which we seem to treat as a compensating value?

If we apply the same rationality and understanding to our own ego, ego instantly loses, but flares up immediately in a different form – as that of conceit and belief in our own correctness. When we kill that, it again raises its head, in the guise of self-righteousness. This evolves to conceit, and keeps morphing, never going away. In the process, we tend to tire and succumb, sometimes early, sometimes late, but more often on the wrong side of the question.

The only way to beat this down is with learning, acquiring knowledge, finding and following the advice of a true Teacher, and being constantly on the vigil, for we die before ego does. And the only way to keep ego down is to be on the vigil at all times, same way as we always lock the door if we want to keep robbers out – not jst at night or during holidays….

Would you agree?

“A well-informed mind is the best security against the contagion of folly and of vice. The vacant mind is ever on the watch for relief, and ready to plunge into error, to escape from the languor of idleness.”
- Ann Radcliffe, The Mysteries of Udolpho, 1764

Kabir – The couplet

हरी कृपा तब जािनए, दे मानव अवतार |
गुरु कृपा तब जािनए, मुक्त करे संसार ||

transliterated:
Hari kripa tab janiye, de maanav avatar |
Guru kripa tab janiye, mukt kare sansar ||

Translation:
It is God’s Grace that gives us human birth (life) |
But is the Guru’s (teacher’s) grace that frees us from human bondage ||

My understanding:
Life, explained in all the complexity of science, still remains a miracle of creation. Without devolving this into a discussion on evolution versus creation, human life, we have to agree, is still magical in it’s nature. Our ability to reason and understand is still way beyond science’s ability to explain.

For allowing us to partake in and participate in this miracle of Life, we have to thank God. However, (and this is the crux) we have to first thank the Teacher(s) who gave us the ability to evolve our reason an understanding to be able to fully understand and grasp the miracle we have each been presented with. In “The Spirit Guide” (http://www.myhometownnews.net/index.php?id=20982 ), James Tucker explains that “Every living person has a dual nature.

We have the lower earthly nature ruled by the mind or ego, and physical needs and hungers ruled by the body.

At the same time, we have the higher spiritual nature ruled by the heart, soul and instincts.”

The higher spiritual nature that he refers to is latent in all born humans, but needs to be brought to the conscious forefront and used appropriately – and this is the job the Teacher has inherited through the mists of time.

We are born closer to the animal nature in us, but grow and evolve to the higher human experience, guided by the various Gurus life brings us into contact with. These Gurus include parents, teacher, siblings, acquaintances, elders, friends and even our enemies – for enemies teach us and sharpen us more than friends ever can (does that not make enemies our closest friends and dearest teachers? Why do we hate them so much then when we only benefit from them? Reflect on this, and shake their hand in gratitude the next time you meet – this is another way to rid the world of the deceptive maya of hate and prejudice!).

So, awake to the reality that we are what our teachers mold us into, and thank them for the wonderful job they continue to do!

“Truth is ever to be found in simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things. As the world, which to the naked eye exhibits the greatest variety of objects, appears very simple in its internal constitution when surveyed by a philosophical understanding, and so much the simpler by how much the better it is understood.”
- Isaac Newton

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.
- Confucius

Kabir – The couplet
माला फेरत युग भया, िफरा न मन का फेर |
कर का मनका डार दें, मन का मनका फेर ||

transliterated:
Mala pherat jug bhaya,phira na man ka pher|
Kar ka man ka dar dein, man ka manka pher ||

Translation:
Chanting with beads lifelong, does not calm the mind |
Cleanse the heart, and find peace in simplicity ||

My understanding:
Simple things and simple thoughts, for some reason, do not seem to attract us ☺

We humans, as a race, make simple things complex, and then complain about the confusion – yet the confusion does not make us happy OR satisfied.

We begin to look for the meaning of the word peace, but before we have turned the first page of the dictionary, we are already arguing the content of the analects of Aristotle, or the philosophy of some poor soul in some corner of the world.

We judge by actions, without any attention to the thought behind an act.

Instead of talking up storms, the world will be happier if we can just be – one with the world, and one with ourselves. True peace is inside us – and the outside world is but a reflection of the inside. Chaos inside cannot lead to world peace – find peace within, and the world becomes beautiful!