Monthly Archives: April 2012

2012
04/04

Category:
Kabir
Philosophy

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Equanimity is a difficult skill

“Happy the man who can endure the highest and the lowest fortune. He, who has endured such vicissitudes with equanimity, has deprived misfortune of its power.”
 – Seneca (Roman philosopher from mid 1st century AD)

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

transliterated:
Agni aanch sahana sugam, sugam khadag ki dhaar |
Nahi nibahan ek ras, maha kathin vyavahaar ||

Translation:
The bite of a flame can be endured, as can the slice of a sharp dagger |
To deal with all in one tone and temper, though, is a truly difficult task ||

My thoughts:
We live in a space of extremes and opposites.

We know heat because we understand cold. Happiness is enjoyed only after understanding the pangs of sorrow. Suffering (minor or major) precedes true joy. We love because we can hate. Sanity is perceived because madness exists.

In the middle of these opposites (and the associated extremes) we live with a deep desire for calmness. This state of calm, the true center of peaceful bliss, is achieved when we can perceive and work with both ends of the spectrum, without being drawn to, influenced by or attached to either extreme or end.

Then we have found another definition of the path to real happiness.