“Be careful of living your life based only on faith and signs, or you might find yourself standing in a South American jungle holding a glass of Kool-aid. Commonsense is the foundation of any good testimony.”
– Shannon L. Alder
Kabir – The couplet
पाथर पूजे हरि मिले , तो मैं पूजू पहाड़ |
घर की चाकी कोई ना पूजे, जाको पीस खाए संसार ||
transliterated:
Paathar puje hari mile, to main poojoon pahaad |
Ghar ki chakki koi na pooje, jaako pees khaye sansaar||
Translation:
If by praying to a stone, I could find God, I will pray to the hill |
No one prays to the stone mill, it feeds the world ||
My understanding:
We, humanity, have been gifted with the wonderful presents of common-sense, intelligence and reason. However, we have tended to ignore these gifts in favor of the more mundane, but much easier path, of a flock of sheep.
The shepherd tends the flock to his convenience, not for the mental uplift of his flock. So is the case with most leaders – they drive us to achieve their goals, which may not always be in synchrony with ours (if we took the time to define them).
Kabir, here, is asking us to recognize our purpose and calling in life, once again, and give credit where it is due – rather than where it is convenient.
God helps us when we help ourselves. The teacher is asking us to recognize and attune our actions to best serve our purpose for existence.