Kabir – Day 13

 

Today’s thought –

A poem of prayer and wishes on this Christmas day:

Understanding the world – bit by bit! 

The year is gone, another cycle of seasons done
Snow on the ground, and another lot of bills undone
Do we look forward to the coming year, another glorious unknown,
Or cower – driven by thoughts of more work into the corner, woebegone?

Many cycles gone, some of the lessons I have learnt,
Teach me to put this into the frame of experience current
This world, this life, is not a power spent,
But a surging wave, resurgent from each pushback, a new agent!

So as we start this holiday season, I wish all a time wonderful,
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Grand New Year, of cheer so full,
A time with hearts filled with pleasure and love blissful
Young and old, all with hands and minds joined in prayer of thanks soulful !!

 – Mani , Dec 24 2008

…and now, Kabir, Day 13 (an old favorite for those of you familiar with Kabir’s writings):

The couplet transliterated:

Pothi Padh Padh Jag Mua, Pandit Bhayo Na Koye |
Dhai Aakhar Prem Ka, Padhe so Pandit Hoye     ||

Translation

Reading all the written wisdom of the world made no one man wise
He who learnt to read a phrase with love, became the truly wise man.

My Understanding

Here is another allegorical couplet – and today, on this birthday of Christ, it is particularly important to understand this universal message.

Today’s world, with the Internet, modern communication and the importance of media, is FULL of information that most everyone has access to if they choose to. However, without appropriate background, even the most trivial of information can be misread as a world-altering news, and the most critical of news can be written off as trivial.

Awareness and compassion are what are missing in this flood of knowledge – without that, even the most critical book has no value to impart. Talk of Love is of no use coming from a person with selfish intent. Declaration of Independence is meaningless for a people bound by the silken ropes of Desire. Even the sweetest Manna (Divine Food) has no taste to offer a world driven by the dark nature of consumerism.

Here, in this couplet, Kabir the ever-compassionate teacher, shows us the simple solution. He tells us that the way to wisdom is not ‘more’ but ‘enough’. Only when we practice and imbibe the true meaning of the words Love and Compassion will we become truly wise. That is when we will begin to live life the way it is meant to be lived.

How many of you agree with this (both the explanation as well as the thought)?