Ang-301 — Chapter 25
Gauree, Kabeer Jee:
In the darkness, no one can sleep in peace.
The king and the pauper both weep and cry. ||1||
As long as the tongue does not chant the Lord's Name,
the person continues coming and going in reincarnation, crying out in pain. ||1||Pause||
It is like the shadow of a tree;
when the breath of life passes out of the mortal being, tell me, what becomes of his wealth? ||2||
It is like the music contained in the instrument;
how can anyone know the secret of the dead? ||3||
Like the swan on the lake, death hovers over the body.
Drink in the Lord's sweet elixir, Kabeer. ||4||8||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee:
The creation is born of the Light, and the Light is in the creation.
It bears two fruits: the false glass and the true pearl. ||1||
Where is that home, which is said to be free of fear?
There, fear is dispelled and one lives without fear. ||1||Pause||
On the banks of sacred rivers, the mind is not appeased.
People remain entangled in good and bad deeds. ||2||
Sin and virtue are both the same.
In the home of your own being, is the Philosopher's Stone; renounce your search for any other virtue. ||3||
Kabeer: O worthless mortal, do not lose the Naam, the Name of the Lord.
Keep this mind of yours involved in this involvement. ||4||9||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee:
He claims to know the Lord, who is beyond measure and beyond thought;
by mere words, he plans to enter heaven. ||1||
I do not know where heaven is.
Everyone claims that he plans to go there. ||1||Pause||
By mere talk, the mind is not appeased.
The mind is only appeased, when egotism is conquered. ||2||
As long as the mind is filled with the desire for heaven,
he does not dwell at the Lord's Feet. ||3||
Says Kabeer, unto whom should I tell this?
The Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, is heaven. ||4||10||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee:
We are born, and we grow, and having grown, we pass away.
Before our very eyes, this world is passing away. ||1||
How can you not die of shame, claiming, This world is mine?
At the very last moment, nothing is yours. ||1||Pause||
Trying various methods, you cherish your body,
but at the time of death, it is burned in the fire. ||2||
You apply sandalwood oil to your limbs,
but that body is burned with the firewood. ||3||
Says Kabeer, listen, O virtuous people:
your beauty shall vanish, as the whole world watches. ||4||11||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee:
Why do you cry and mourn, when another person dies?
Do so only if you yourself are to live. ||1||
I shall not die as the rest of the world dies,
for now I have met the life-giving Lord. ||1||Pause||
People anoint their bodies with fragrant oils,
and in that pleasure, they forget the supreme bliss. ||2||
There is one well, and five water-carriers.
Even though the rope is broken, the fools continue trying to draw water. ||3||
Says Kabeer, through contemplation, I have obtained this one understanding.
There is no well, and no water-carrier. ||4||12||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee:
The mobile and immobile creatures, insects and moths
- in numerous lifetimes, I have passed through those many forms. ||1||
✦ Connected Across Traditions
Impermanence & Letting Go
Dhammapada 20:277
“All conditioned things are impermanent. When one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering.”
Tao Te Ching 76
“A man is born gentle and weak. At his death he is hard and stiff. The soft and yielding is the disciple of life.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2
“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.”
Bhagavad Gita 2:22
“As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.”
The Path to Wisdom
Proverbs 4:7
“Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.”
Dhammapada 20:282
“Wisdom springs from meditation; without meditation wisdom wanes.”
Analects 2:11
“If you study the past and use it to understand the present, you are worthy of being a teacher.”
Tao Te Ching 33
“Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom.”
Good vs Evil / Light vs Darkness
Yasna 30:3
“Now the two primal Spirits, who reveal themselves as Twins, are the Better and the Bad, in thought and word and action.”
John 1:5
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Dhammapada 1:1-2
“Mind is the forerunner of all actions. If one speaks or acts with a pure mind, happiness follows like a shadow.”
Genesis 1:3
“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.”