Monthly Archives: February 2009

Today’s thought (from this web link):

“Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.”

Bobby – age 7

An author and lecturer once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a 4 year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman’s yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked him what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, “Nothing, I just helped him cry.”

..and now Kabir Day 41:

The couplet transliterated:

Guru dhobi seekh kapada, saabu sirjan haar |

Surati sila par dhoiye, nikasai jyoti apaar ||

Translation:

Teacher, washerman, student and the cloth, all are cleansed by the soap of the Lord’s name |

On the washing stone that is the Love of God and Neighbor, the cleansed glow with inner light ||

My understanding:

Another beautiful opportunity to step beyond this marketing-driven material world, and step into the wonderful garden of love. Here resides true peace, complete satisfaction and real happiness.

Kabir highlights what little Bobby says – it is not the presents, but the peace in the room and the satisfaction in the air that is the real spirit of Christmas. It is in the quiet of the little boy who, by just being, allows the other person to come to terms and even accept the loss as another step forward.

Prayer and the Lord’s name are a name we use to explain and quantify what we cannot see, touch or feel, and explain that which we cannot express. Instead of rationalizing, if we stop to just experience, true love – not just of our near and dear, but of everything and everyone near and far, known and unknown – will envelop us and allow us to transcend all differences.

Today’s thought –

“The man who acquires the ability to take full possession of his own mind may take possession of anything else to which he is justly entitled.”

Andrew Carnegie

 

Kabir Day 40

 

The couplet transliterated:

Baazaigar ka bandara, jeeva man ke saath |

Nana naach nachaya kari, raakhe apna haath ||

 

Translation:

Like the showman’s monkey, man is slave to his mind |

Making him dance to its tune, the mind controls him ||

 

My understanding:

Two different ways of looking at the same statement, coming from two completely different times and societies, but stating a most basic and essential truth – the relationship of mind and body.

 

Kabir has compared man to the average showman’s monkey – not a pet, but more of a puppet, dancing to a predefined and limited tune, trained to perform specific dances and steps, no more and no less. The monkey, at least in the public eye, is permitted only so much exhibition and no more. So is it free to express? Yes – but only as long as the expression fits the tune and is part of the repertoire – so the real answer is no.

 

Man is similarly bound by the mind, which in turn is driven by desire. The desire may be lofty or more basal, but it binds the mind, which in turn restricts the body.

 

Hence, be it Kabir, Carnegie, or the many teachers, preachers and wise men in between, the message is to understand – for understanding is the beginning of taking back the control and freeing the mind from those silken bonds.

Today’s thought – on giving..

 

“One of the great movements in my lifetime among educated people is the need to commit themselves to action. Most people are not satisfied with giving money; we also feel we need to work.”

Peter Drucker

 

“Is the rich world aware of how four billion of the six billion live? If we were aware, we would want to help out, we’d want to get involved.”

Bill Gates

 

..and, now, Kabir Day 39

 

The couplet transliterated:

Chidi chonch bhar lai gayi, nadi ghatya na neer |

Daan diye dhan naa ghatai, Kah gaye daas Kabir ||

 

Translation:

As the bird takes away water beak after beak, the river loses neither water nor level|

Giving wealth does not make a man any the lesser, so says Kabir, the everyman ||

 

My understanding:

Here, Kabir, allegorically, once again refers to the true wealth of man, not just the paper the commercial world calls money.

 

A teacher becomes wiser by teaching, and engineer better by building, and a doctor better by practicing.

 

The devotee unveils the Face of God inside himself ever so slowly by praying, and the lover learns the true meaning of love by loving – not by wanting love.

 

Money, by itself, has no intrinsic value. Its value is derived from the worth we gain from it. If no one cared for diamonds, the whole diamond industry might be found wanting for work – irrespective of the abundance or scarcity of diamonds.

 

Drucker and Gates above talk of this need of the educated man – the need to go and prove the worth of our education – by giving, not receiving. For therein lies true satisfaction – from the ability to be of use to others, to society.

 

Kabir, in simple words, reinforces the concept – the river exists to please, but loses not when the bird drinks from it – for it is in fulfilling the thirst or wanderers and hundry fields that the river finds its true purpose.

Talking of teachers, for without teachers, how would we ever learn?

 

“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.”

– Henry B. Adams

 

“A master can tell you what he expects of you. A teacher, though, awakens your own expectations.”

Patricia Neal

 

..and now, fun but deep –

Never try to teach a pig to sing….it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

Anonymous

 

.. Kabir Day 38:

 

First, the couplet transliterated:

Guru kumhaar seekh kumbh hai, gadh gadh kaatai khot |

Antar haath sahaar dai, baahar baahai chhot ||

 

Translation:

The teacher is the potter and the student the pot, and the teacher removes defects one by one |

The hand inside protecting the pot from shattering, the hand outside beats to shape it right ||

 

My understanding:

A wonderful introduction to the difficult world of the teacher (the teacher here being anyone who teaches – parents, the village elder, the stranger on the street).

 

A student needs to be taught, which means the mold might need some recasting so the end result is perfect. The process of creation requires the one being created to be put through the fire of the furnace before he can be called ready. The teacher has the task of ensuring the fire is just right – not too hot or it will destroy, not too dim or the creation will not last. And the only way to truly create is to be in love with the creation – for which artist can churn out art mechanically in a truly wondrous fashion?

 

The teacher is the artist, and has to be harsh to the creation that is, in truth, a part of him. The harshness is the ONLY way to create a truly lasting work – and yet, non-lasting work is ever something that was not part of the artist, something the artist did not love from the core of his being.

 

So then, as a student, it behooves me to find that teacher who satisfies these criteria. For the ‘teacher’ who wants to please me will not be able to better me, and hence cannot be the one I need. The true teacher is like the egg – hard on the outside, soft on the inside, filled with the wonder of life, and yet delicate enough that the relationship needs very careful, special handling.

Today’s thoughts

(two but working as one 😉 )

 

“Just in case you believe that great social problems are beyond your scope, consider this story: God said to me: Your task is to build a better world. I answered: How can I do that? The world is such a large, vast place, so complicated now, and I am so small and useless. There’s nothing I can do. But God in his great wisdom said: Just build a better you.”

– Anonymous

 

“A Native American Elder once described his own inner struggles in this manner: Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil. The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog all the time. When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and replied, “the one I feed the most.”

– George Bernard Shaw

 

..and now, Kabir Day 37

 

The couplet transliterated:

Bhagati duhelu Ram ki, jaise khante ki dhar |

Jo dole to kati pade, nahi to utare paar   ||

 

Translation:

Difficult is the path of devotion, like walking on a razor’s edge |

Waver, and you will get cut, while the steady will find salvation ||

 

My understanding:

Kabir here lays a basic truth down – the path of devotion is possibly the most difficult one to travel.

 

Devotion demands that we believe in something science cannot explain, an entity we cannot touch or feel, a voice we cannot hear, an experience that cannot be explained. Minus the devotion, the above aptly describes all the symptoms of a candidate for admission to a facility for the mentally impaired.

 

Devotion demands that we remain steadfast in the face of all adversity, keep our head down and work on when the chips are down, and do not lose sight of the goal when the going is good or the path seemingly easy. Steadfastness is a required ingredient here, as also calmness, in the face of both extreme happiness and great sorrow and the whole spectrum in between.

 

The true devotee finds strength not outside but from deep within himself.

 

What then, is devotion, really? Is it not the ability to put down a strong keel on the boat that is life’s journey, and be able to weather both dark storms and traverse gay sunny days with the same speed and without losing direction or purpose? Does it not mean the ability to find true peace in the heart of the boat, without being distracted by either the thunder or lightning of the storm or the gay birdsong of springtime? Is it not the ability to age without withering, gain wisdom without putting down others?

 

That then, is the greater world that God wants us to make (from the first quote above), the one inside us that we veer away from more often than not – for if we take care of that, the rest of the world outside will follow suit as a natural progression.

 

And this is where the Indian’s advice (from the GB Shaw quote above) pegs it perfectly – as we work to improve ourselves, we need to keep watching ourselves to ensure that we are indeed working towards our goal and not allowing the goal to manipulate us or dictate our behavior.

 

Any thoughts?