“In this place, with thoughts of transience uppermost on my mind, I inevitably reflect on the words of others who once pondered the same things. At such times, I think of the question posed by a long-ago psalmist – “What is man, that thou art mindful of him?” – or the Buddhist who meditated on the crematory smoke arising from Toribeyama. Walking through a cemetery, one is forcefully reminded, above all else, of the fragility of human life. We tend to take for granted that our lives will continue indefinitely; rarely do we think about how we all – you yourself, everyone you know, everyone you love or care about – will grow old and, one day, will die. Through familiarity, we begin to believe the people, places and situations that surround us to be permanent. It is a natural and human tendency, and a habit difficult to break – difficult, that is, unless one is confronted inescapably with the truth of our own mortality.”
– Ebon Musings – The Atheism pages (www.ebonmusings.org)
Kabir – The couplet
????? ???? ?? ??????, ???? ??? ???? |
??? ???? ???? ?????, ??? ???? ??? ||
transliterated:
Kabira garv na keejiye, oonha dekh aavaas |
Kaal paron bhooin letna, oopar jamsi ghaas ||
Translation:
Says Kabir, do not be vain, looking at your high mansion(position) |
When the time comes, you will be flat on the ground, and grass will grow on and all around ||
My understanding:
Everything I do is all about me, for me, by me, in praise of me. I celebrate my existense, my brilliance, my strength, my ability, ME.
In all of this, I blissfully ignore the very real fact of my mortality, the fragility of my existense in this form and shape. What is this me, where is the “I” when the body is dust?
If the soul is timeless, why am I in a rush to finish everything before I begin? If this life is all the time I have, why am I chasing after trivialities and frivolities? How do I bridge this chasm?
The first step is to recognize the existense of the chasm – until I acknowledge its presence, I cannot begin to search for the path across. And I cannot give up under the excuse of the enormity of the expanse to cross, for the bridging of this gap is one of the true purposes of life. For only when I bridge it can I begin to develop the theme of the true purpose of life and existense.
God is a construct I use to help me explain the un-obvious, and understand the mysterious. However, I need to take the next step too – God shows me the path, but I am the one who needs to make the journey.
The question should never be “Am I ready?” – for I always am. The question should always be – I have taken this step – what is not most appropriate next one?
For as we saw yesterday, that which is done can be chalekd up to experience, and the futre is still only a plan – this moment and what I do now is what is important, the only thng that matters. What I do now will be what makes the experience richer (because I am using it) and the plan sensible (since I am working to it) without losing focus of the one thing I control – the here and now.