Monday, May 31, 2004

Says Kabir, listen O saints!

Kabir saw how social conventions had hardened into blind beliefs. He also noticed how people indulged in greed, hypocrisy and selfishness under the cover of religion. He refused to keep quiet. In an age when freedom of speech was unknown, he dared speak freely. He hit at rituals ruthlessly. He defied all that tended to hide the truth and divide people. His addressed his poems to people trapped in ignorance.

His creed is love. It simply connects. His poetry assures that God is nothing but Love. He is personal experience. He is known to each differently. He is in every heart, in that invisible space which Kabir refers to as the void between the breaths. Every breath brings His message but lost in sleep we cannot hear it. We need a Kabir to awaken us.

Where do u look for me dear?
I am closer than close to you.

Neither in temple-mosque am I,
Nor in Kaba-Kailash,
Nor in rituals, nor in yoga-ways.

Neither in goat-sheep am I,
Nor in axe-knife,
Nor in skin-tail, nor in flesh and bone

He who yearns, finds at once,
Far from the crowd,
I live in a quiet refuge.

Listen to me in the void, says Kabir
In between all the breaths.



The shadow of the evening
Grows darker and
Love overpowers body-mind.

Throw open the window
To the west, and
Dive deep in the Void of love

Sip the nectar,
From the lotus of awareness
And let waves embrace you.

In the glorious Void-palace,
Listen to the music
Of conch, bells and lute.

Listen, O saint-brothers,
I found my Lord-Eternal
Within myself, says Kabir.

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