Monthly Archives: September 2010

“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

????? ???? ?? ??????, ????  ???  ???? |
??? ???? ???? ?????, ??? ???? ??? ||

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

???? ???? ???? ????, ???? ?? ??? ??  |

???? ??? ?? ????? ? ????, ??? ?????? ?? ?? ||

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
???? ??? ??? ?????, ????? ??? ???? ????? |
????? ??? ??? ?????, ????? ??? ?????? ||

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?