Monthly Archives: January 2019

“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.” – Albert Einstein

Kabir – The couplet
यह तत वह तत एक है, एक प्राण दुइ गात |
अपने जिय से जानिये, मेरे जिय की बात ||

Transliterated:
Yah tat wah tat ek hai, ek praN dui gaat |
Apane jiy se jaaniye, mere jiy ki baat. ||

Translation:
That being is the same as this, as one soul in two bodies ||
Listen in  your heart, and you will hear my innermost thought ||

My understanding:

Continuing from a previous thread, in our material-driven society today, reason seems to have become our primary driver, pushing aside the honed instinct of millennia. We see this in every aspect of our daily life – our choice of clothes, food, entertainment and even friends. We work to please our external senses, at the expense of our inner peace.

When we turn this around, it simplifies life, eases our tensions, allows more free time and makes life much more peaceful. And that is what life teaches us – whether through the voice of Kabir or Einstein!

“To know that you do not know is the best. To think you know when you do not is a disease. Recognizing this disease as a disease is to be free of it.”- Lao Tzu

Kabir – The couplet
ज्ञान सम्पूर्ण न भिड़ा, ह्रिदय नाहि जुड़ाय |
देखा-देखि भक्ति का, रंग नहीं ठहराय ||

Transliterated:
Gyan Sampuran na bhida, hriday naahi juDaai |
Dekha-dekhi bhakti ka, rang nahi Teheraay ||

Translation:
When knowledge acquired is not assimilated fully, it does not embed in the mind/heart |
Devotion learnt this way, will not have any real effect on the person/soul ||

My understanding:

Through time immemorial, man has frequently committed the error of presuming that reading once has made him a master of the subject. Teachers have compounded this by grading the student as “knowledge-able” on receiving proof that the student can regurgitate the learning, sans understanding of the underlying thought.

To read once is to get introduced. To be taught by a teacher is to be given an overview of the underlying data. To review is to ensure that this knowledge is appropriately stored by the mind. But it requires repeated application and mergence with other knowledge for the knowledge to begin the journey to true wisdom.

True wisdom begins to emerge when we recognize the gap between our knowledge and the ocean of wisdom that so very greatly overwhelms this little pool of knowledge. Knowledge of the gap allows us to discard false pretenses and open ourselves to the true acquisition of understanding – which is when we step into the world of the wise!

“Everything you think, feel, say, and do contains seeds of more of itself.”

― Alan Cohen

Kabir – The couplet
शब्द बराबर धनि नाही, जो कोई जाने बोल |

हीरा तो दामों मिले, शब्द ही मोल न तोल ||

Transliterated:
Shabd barabar dhan nahi, jo koi jaane bol |

Heera to daamon mile, shabd hi mol na tol ||

Translation:
There is no treasure like the spoken word, use your words with care |
Even diamonds can be bought for a price, but words are truly priceless ||

My understanding:
Every word, spoken, lays seed to a new thread that grows into its own forest of ideas, reactions, conversation and debate. This is a forest that many participate in and partake of, and if done right,  

Every word, not spoken, creates a different forest – only this stays in our own mind, seeding a forest that grows faster than weeds in a sultry hot patch of land. And this forest blocks out all potential for healthy growth of the mind!

So speak, but thoughtfully, and we will be like the glorious sun spreading health and happiness over every patch of land it shines on.

“There are many things in life that will catch your eye, but only a few will catch your heart. Pursue those.” – Michael Nolan

Kabir – The
couplet

सौ योजन साजन बसे,
मानो ह्रदय मंझार |

कपट सनेही आंगने,
जानू समुन्दर पार ||

Transliterated:

Sau yojan saajan basey, maano hriday manjhaar |

KapaT sanehi
aangane, jaanu samundar paar ||

Translation:
Those dear to you may be oceans away, but are always in your heart |
The false friend may live in your backyard, but to the mind he is leagues away ||

My understanding:

The hear know what the mind and senses do not recognize – it is the first to identify without doubt or error our friends and foes. But we have been trained to use the mind and ignore the heart.

Trust your heart, and your gut – they have been honed by millennia of instinct and blessed by Divinity to be always true. Follow the direction of the heart and you will never be led astray. Do not try to rationalize that which the heart says is right – it is not just a feeling but the right one!