Monthly Archives: July 2015

“Trust because you are willing to accept the risk, not because it’s safe or certain.”
-Anonymous
 
Kabir – The couplet
जो तू चाहे मुक्ति को, छोड़ दे सबकी आस ।
मुक्त ही जैसा हो रहे, सब कुछ तेरे पास ॥
 
Transliterated:
Jo Tu Chaahe Mukti Ko, Chhod De Sabki Aas |
Mukt Hi Jaisa Ho Rahe, Sab Kuchh Tere Paas ||
 
Translation:
It you are desirous of deliverance (moksha), give up hanging on to life’s attractions |
As you find the ultimate freedom, you will find you possess everything!  ||
 
My understanding:
Desire and possession are the two biggest bottomless pits we trap ourselves in – and then we complain that freedom is eluding us!

I have heard many say they desire moksha – freedom from the cycle of life and death – but in the very next breath, they are already contemplating on what they need to do to make their life more interesting/better/more livable.

Those desirous of moksha have to first understand what they are asking for – for being trapped in the encumbrances of life is the very thing moksha is the opposite of – and yet, they seem to ask for both. The subsequent complaint, that both are elusive, is a never-to-be-solved vicious circle – if you want the one, the other cannot exist.

Now here is the hidden secret – as soon as we give up falling prey to the mirage of life’s physical promises, we find that life becomes truly pleasurable, fun and truly livable. And then, at the end of this physical life, we can joyfully step into true deliverance.

However, we fear that which we do not know – and that fear makes us reject it even if it presents itself in its true glory in front of us, unasked. So we have to:

• Give up this irrational fear of the unknown
• Understand the falsities that are the mirage of life’s promises
• Recognize that only me, and no one else, can truly put me on the path to moksha

Then we will have fond the true joy of life and living and learning!

“But what is liberty without wisdom, and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint.”
– Edmund Burke
 
Kabir – The couplet
आवत गाली एक है, उल्टन होए अनेक ।
कहे कबीर नहीं उलटिए, वही एक की एक ॥
 
Transliterated:
Awat Gari Ek Hai, Ultan Hoye Anek |
Kah Kabeer Nahi Ultiye, Wahi Ek Kee Ek ||
 
Translation:
The incoming insult is one, but the response is manifold|
Says Kabir, withhold the response, limit the insult to the one||
 
My understanding:
To respond is an instinct that has been woven deep into our genes – and not just ours. Every living being responds to stimulus. However, as humans, we have learnt to use wisdom to temper our response. We have used our learning ability to teach our domesticated animals to temper their response too!

However, this tempering, for the larger part, has stayed based in knowledge rather than wisdom. We respond as we deem appropriate based on our understanding of the input, rather than thinking forward to the result of what our response may cause. And that is where wisdom steps in to play that all-important role. When wisdom is awakened, we are filled with the realization of two things –

• Any response to negativity will only foster more of what we do not want / are trying to avoid
• Such input rarely if ever deserves/merits a response.

When we hold back the response, we also have to learn to dissolve it in the fire of wisdom – for if not, it adds to a store of perceived insults in the self that at some point will burst out in a flood of negativity on an unsuspecting victim.

So we have to learn to use wisdom to not respond, and to melt the memory in the ocean of universal love. When we do that, we are ready to start our next stage of learning!