“Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing, only a signal shown, and a distant voice in the darkness; So on the ocean of life, we pass and speak one another, only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence.”
-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Kabir – The couplet
कबीर इस संसार को, समझौ कई बार ।
पूँछ जो पकड़े भेड़ की, उत्र्य चाहे पार ॥
Transliterated:
Kabir Is Sansaar Ko, Samjhau Kai Baar |
Poonch Jo Pakdai Bhed Ka, Utrya Chahai Paar ||
Translation:
Says Kabir to the world, explaining over and over again|
You cannot cross the ocean of life by holding onto a sheep’s tail ||
My understanding:
I have talked for a while about the self, overcoming desire, staying focused and working hard to realize the self. Here then, is another very important guideline to achieving Purushartha – the object of human life.
Our ancient texts and teachers have told us of the four purusharthas – Dharma (righteousness), Artha (prosperity), Kama (pleasure) and Moksha (liberation). Consider any one of the four – to truly achieve it, we have to both stay focused and work towards the goal by ourselves, alone. What will work for me is unique to me, just sufficiently different from everyone else that I need to walk my own path, even as I study the path and methods of others so as not to repeat their mistakes.
We have to participate in society so that we can both provide to the pool of accumulated knowledge and draw from that well as per our need. But we then need to take that learning, view it through the lens our Guru has shaped for us (that is unique again to each of us – so the lens, when shared, will misguide everyone else other than the one it is shaped for), and then follow the path that reveals itself to us without allowing distractions to lead us astray.
When we develop that discipline, success is assured.