“Life has meaning only if one barters it day by day for something other than itself. “
– Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Kabir – The couplet
???? ?? ???? ????, ???? ??? ???? |
?? ???? ??????? ??, ?? ??? ?? ?????? ||

transliterated:
Bandhe ko bandhe mile, choota kaun upaay |
Jo mile nirbandhko, pal mein le chhoodai ||

Translation:
When a bound person meets another bound person, both are equally helpless |
But a bound person who meets a free man, can be free in no time at all ||

My thoughts:
As a general rule, humans tend to find comfort with others of their own kind of thinking and state. The other common truth about humans is that we are social beings, and use our circle of friends, acquaintances and family to find answers to anything that vexes us.

However, the truth is that if the other is struggling with the same problem, he cannot help me with the answer that he has yet to find. In this manner, as the days of a life progress, we dig ourselves into very deep holes lined with unanswered questions, and pretty soon, all daylight is invisible to us inside the tunnel we have forced ourselves into.

This is when it helps to seek out an unburdened soul – for this soul, in the absence of my binding vexations, finds simple, easy and often fun solutions to my issues along with other side benefits that my blinders had hidden from my sight.

A real teacher is a good guide, and a simple person – for the complex ones are too busy resolving their own complexities to truly understand my questions properly.