“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
– Viktor Frankl
Kabir – The couplet
बाज़ीगर का बंदर, ऐसा जीव मन के साथ |
नाना नाच दिखाए कर, रखता अपनी बात॥
Transliterated:
Baazigar ka bandar, aisa jeev man ke saath |
Nana naach dikhaye kar, rakhta apni baat||
Translation:
The mind is a monkey, the companion of, and the pet of, the person|
The tricks and dances it performs are but a representation of its trainer’s commands||
My understanding:
In his sage wisdom, Kabir gives us a simple message about controlling our mind and aligning it with spiritual truth instead of allowing the mind to carry away the self with its whims and fancies.
Viktor Frankl, similarly, reflects on the idea that while we cannot control every external event or thought that comes our way, we can choose how we respond to them. This gap between experiencing something and reacting to it is where we exercise control over our minds, similar to how Kabir discusses the importance of controlling the ‘monkey mind’ to adhere to one’s inner truth. Frankl’s perspective emphasizes our autonomy and responsibility in shaping our reactions and, by extension, our lives.
Frankl highlights the crucial space between stimulus and response, where we can choose our actions, mirroring Kabir’s metaphor of the mind as a monkey that must be mastered. Both suggest that despite external chaos or distractions, true control and freedom come from managing our internal responses and decisions.