Monthly Archives: February 2011

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

Kabir – The couplet
???? ?? ??? ??? ??, ??? ?? ???? ??? |
??? ? ??? ??????, ??? ??? ??? ??? ||

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!