“Our Souls have sight of that immortal sea
Which brought us hither,
Can in a moment travel thither,
And see the Children sport upon the shore,
And hear the mighty waters rolling evermore.”
– William Wordsworth (Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood)
Kabir – The couplet
तन बोहित मन काग है, लाख जोजन उड़ जाइ ।
कबहु दरिया अगम बहे, हकबहु गगन समाइ ||
Transliterated:
Tan Bohit Man Kaag Hai, Lakh Jojan Ud Jaai |
Kabahu Dariya Agam Bahe, Kabahu Gagan Samai ||
Translation:
The body is a ship, the mind a bird, flying away a thousand miles |
Sometimes far away in the ocean, sometimes into the blue sky it flies ||
My understanding:
We are limited only by our senses failing to help us fully grasp our true potential. The same creative/evolutionary energy that shaped our body to what we are today also housed the mind and all associated faculties in this body. Rather than feel limited by our physical body, why not explore and see what our true potential can really be?
To better understand this, permit me to use an analogy. When separated from the vehicle, the engine is capable of generating enormous power – enough even to self-destruct. But that great energy, in the vehicle, provides valuable use. The vehicle does limit the engine, but provides a space for both to together provide lasting value. Separate, they cannot do much by themselves – the engine generates power but there is no consumption mechanism, and the moment one is harnessed to it, it gets limited by the ability of the harness. Similarly, the body has its own limitations – it can do only so much irrespective the power the engine can generate. If the engine generates more than the body can handle, both will self-destruct! Harnessing a rocket engine to a car is a recipe for disaster – and harnessing a car to a rocket is a waste of fuel – the rocket cannot even expect to budge.
So, to make the most efficient use of the soul and the body, we have to learn to read, control and use the soul optimally within the capability and capacity of the body. Rather than fret at lack of usability and appropriateness, why not tune the body’s sensor, feedback, monitoring and physical abilities to best use available resources and pair them to the energy source optimally? As the pairing improves, the soul will enhance, and if the right amount of growth is achieved, man will become superman, and from there even perhaps God! For each transition however, just the same way as with the vehicle, each major enhancement and upgrade needs a visit to the appropriate workshop, and the work of qualified technicians and engineers. So also, for each major growth step, we need both to be able to slow down completely, shut down the external senses, and under the guidance of the right Teacher, step into the next phase of life.
Change and growth are not magical automatic transitions – sometimes (actually very often) the change is accompanied by physical pain and stress. The Teacher (like a surgeon with the use of appropriate medicines) can help ease the transition, but there will be some pain, and some relearning to use the new you appropriately. And each of these requires us to stop completely what we are doing so we can take the next step in our evolution. And after the transition, we have to learn to live and accept our new life and new space in Life – we cannot expect to return to the old life and still hold our new station.
So learn to embrace change – for it is as inevitable as time and the cycle of seasons. Grow, and watch the world evolve with you. As we evolve, we will see that which remained hidden from us till we became ready, and developed the faculties to grasp, understand and use all that this world has for us.
Until then, the mind will keep wandering far away from the body – on what seem like flights of fancy. It is really giving us a glimpse into possibility. If it is to us to take the leap of faith to make that possibility reality!