\u201cIf you haven\u2019t found it yet, keep looking\u2014and don\u2019t settle.\u201d
\u2014 Steve Jobs, Stanford Commencement Address, 2005<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kabir \u2013 The couplet<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u0915\u092c\u0940\u0930 \u0938\u0940\u092a \u0938\u092e\u0902\u0926 \u0915\u0940, \u0930\u091f\u0948 \u092a\u093f\u092f\u093e\u0938 \u092a\u093f\u092f\u093e\u0938\u0964 Transliterated<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Kab\u012br s\u012bp samand k\u012b, ra\u1e6dai piy\u0101s piy\u0101s | Translation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Kabir says: the pearl-oyster in the ocean keeps crying, \u201cThirst, thirst.\u201d My understanding<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n At first, Kabir\u2019s image seems absurd. How can an oyster surrounded by an ocean remain thirsty? The traditional poetic belief is that the pearl-oyster waits for a particular raindrop falling under the Sv\u0101ti constellation\u2014the drop from which a pearl is formed. The ocean is not lacking in quantity. It is simply not what the oyster longs for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The oyster here represents the seeker whose longing for Ram cannot be satisfied by the abundance of the world. Kabir is using devotional poetry, not making a scientific claim about oysters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Steve Jobs speaks in a different setting. His advice concerns finding meaningful work and love: keep looking; do not settle. Kabir\u2019s concern is spiritual. Yet both challenge the assumption that whatever is plentiful and immediately available must be enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How often do I respond to thirst by increasing the quantity of what does not nourish me? More information. More possessions. More praise. More entertainment. More activity. I can stand in an ocean of options and still wonder why something within me remains dry!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps the problem is not scarcity. Perhaps I am drinking the wrong water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kabir\u2019s oyster asks me to distinguish a genuine longing from a passing appetite. What am I actually seeking beneath the desire for recognition, success or distraction? Peace? Meaning? Love? The Divine? And which substitutes briefly occupy me without addressing that deeper thirst?<\/p>\n\n\n\n This does not justify stubbornness or contempt for ordinary life. The image is not permission to neglect responsibilities, relationships, wise counsel or simple blessings while waiting for some imagined perfect experience. Spiritual longing should make me more truthful, compassionate and steady. If it merely makes me feel superior, ego has borrowed the oyster\u2019s shell!<\/p>\n\n\n\n A practical response may be very small: five quiet minutes without a screen, an honest apology, an undistracted conversation, a sincere prayer, or one necessary act performed with complete attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I do not have to abandon the ocean. I only have to stop pretending that every kind of water answers the same thirst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ocean may be vast. But the heart still knows the drop from which a pearl can grow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cIf you haven\u2019t found it yet, keep looking\u2014and don\u2019t settle.\u201d\u2014 Steve Jobs, Stanford Commencement Address, 2005 Kabir \u2013 The couplet \u0915\u092c\u0940\u0930 \u0938\u0940\u092a \u0938\u092e\u0902\u0926 \u0915\u0940, \u0930\u091f\u0948 \u092a\u093f\u092f\u093e\u0938 \u092a\u093f\u092f\u093e\u0938\u0964\u0938\u092e\u0926\u0939\u093f \u0924\u093f\u0923\u0915\u093e \u092c\u0930\u093f \u0917\u093f\u0923\u0948, \u0938\u094d\u0935\u093e\u0901\u0924\u093f \u092c\u0942\u0901\u0926 \u0915\u0940 \u0906\u0938\u0965 Transliterated Kab\u012br s\u012bp samand k\u012b, ra\u1e6dai piy\u0101s piy\u0101s |Samadahi ti\u1e47k\u0101 bari gi\u1e47ai, sv\u0101\u0303ti b\u016bnd k\u012b \u0101s || Translation Kabir says: the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,4,9,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kabir","category-philosophy","category-philosophy-and-religion","category-religion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.akella.org\/mani\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.akella.org\/mani\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.akella.org\/mani\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.akella.org\/mani\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.akella.org\/mani\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=903"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.akella.org\/mani\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/903\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":904,"href":"https:\/\/www.akella.org\/mani\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/903\/revisions\/904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.akella.org\/mani\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.akella.org\/mani\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.akella.org\/mani\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\u0938\u092e\u0926\u0939\u093f \u0924\u093f\u0923\u0915\u093e \u092c\u0930\u093f \u0917\u093f\u0923\u0948, \u0938\u094d\u0935\u093e\u0901\u0924\u093f \u092c\u0942\u0901\u0926 \u0915\u0940 \u0906\u0938\u0965<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Samadahi ti\u1e47k\u0101 bari gi\u1e47ai, sv\u0101\u0303ti b\u016bnd k\u012b \u0101s ||<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It counts the ocean as a straw, hoping for a drop that falls under Sv\u0101ti.<\/p>\n\n\n\n