“There is no path to peace. Peace is the path.”
– Mahatma Gandhi
Kabir – The couplet
आपा तजे और हरि भजे, नख सीख ताजे विकार ।
सब जीवन से निरबैर रहे, साधु मति है सार ||
Transliterated:
Apa Taje Aur Hari Bhaje, Nakh Seekh Taje Vikaar |
Sab Jeevan Se Nirbair Rahe, Sadhu Mata Hai Saar||
Translation:
Give up pride, learn to pray, learn peace and give up all faults |
Be not an enemy to anyone, this is the way of saints||
My understanding:
Any path we embark on presents its destination as the ultimate goal. Our inherent sense of inertia forces us to believe that the destination of the path we step on has to be the ultimate goal. So we press through, gather our entire energies and put up what amounts to the ultimate effort. Then, on arriving at the goal, we realize there are more paths to take. At some point, the same sense of inertia dumps a sense of despondence on us, tells us that the paths will never end, and envelop us in all forms of negativity.
Rather than allow that sinking feeling to settle in, we need to shrug this off, and understand that the ability to walk each path is us satisfying the need of that moment. The goal is there to ensure we walk the path in the right direction. The destination is not the end – it is just the next beginning.
When we understand this, we can walk without being weighed down by our unreasonable expectations. Without that crushing weight on our backs, all paths become easy strolls in pleasant gardens on sunny paths filled with birdsong and pleasant scents. When that becomes our experience, life becomes unending bliss. And that is the best way to find our self. For we are bliss incarnate – it is not something external to us!