Kabir
14
I said to the wanting creature inside me:
What is this river you want to cross?
There are no travelers on the river-road, & no road.
Do you see anyone moving about on that bank, or resting?
There is no river at all, and no boat, and no boatman.
There is no towrope either, and no one to pull it.
There is no ground, no sky, no time, no bank, no ford!
And there is no body, and no mind!
Do you believe there is some place that will make the soul less thirsty?
In that great absence you will find nothing.
Be strong then, and enter into your own body;
There you have a solid place for your feet.
Think about it carefully!
Don't go off somewhere else!
Kabir says this: just throw away all thoughts of imaginary things, &
stand firm in that which you are.
15
My body & my mind are in depression because you are not with me.
How much I love you and want you in my house!
When I hear people describe me as your bride I look sideways ashamed,
Because I know that far inside us we have never met.
Then what is this love of mine?
I don't really care about food, I don't really care about sleep,
I am restless indoors & outdoors.
The bride wants her lover as much as a thirsty man wants water.
And how will I find someone who'll take a message
to the Guest from me?
How restless Kabir is all the time! How much he wants to see the Guest!
16
The flute of interior time is played whether we hear it
Or not.
What we mean by "love" is its sound coming in.
When love hits the farthest edge of excess, it reaches wisdom.
And the fragrance of that knowledge!
It penetrates our thick bodies,
It goes through walls -
Its network of notes has a structure as if a million suns
Were arranged inside.
This tune has truth in it.
Where else have you heard a sound like this?
17
What comes out of the harp? Music!
And there is a dance no hands or feet dance.
No fingers play it, no ears hear it,
Because the Holy One is the ear, and the one listening too.
The great doors remain closed,
But the spring fragrance is inside anyway,
And no one sees what takes place there.
Men and women who have escaped from
The gross part of their brain will understand
This poem.