“It means bondage when the mind desires something or grieves at something, rejects or accepts anything, feels happy or angry with anything.”
– Ashtavakra Gita – Chapter 8 Verse 1

..and now, Kabir Day 28:

The couplet transliterated:
Bhoop dukhi avadhoot dukhi, dukhi runk bipreet|
Kahe Kabir Yeh sub dukhi, sukhi sant man jeet ||

Translation:
Unhappy are the king and the learned, even the beggar lives unhappy |
Says Kabir, amongst all, only the saint in control of his mind is happy ||

My understanding:

James Shirley says it wonderfully in his poem “Death The Leveller”:
“The glories of our blood and state
Are shadows, not substantial things;
There is no armour against Fate;
Death lays his icy hand on kings:
Sceptre and Crown
Must tumble down,
And in the dust be equal made
With the poor crookèd scythe and spade.”

Unhappiness is a familiar state of mind for most humans – some even get unhappy when they have nothing to get unhappy about – for they worry that the next moment will bring great unhappiness.

There is infinite wisdom in the fact that true happiness lies in the truly small things – the morning sun, the ice on the roof, the grass under the frost, the twinkling star in a dark sky, the smile on a child’s face, the twinkle in a spouse’s or friend’s eye.

Find that happiness, and prosper – for it takes little to truly smile, but that smile is enough to light up the whole world in its radiance!