Ang-1301 — Chapter 67
Kabeer, the fish is in the shallow water; the fisherman has cast his net.
You shall not escape this little pool; think about returning to the ocean. ||49||
Kabeer, do not leave the ocean, even if it is very salty.
If you poke around searching from puddle to puddle, no one will call you smart. ||50||
Kabeer, those who have no guru are washed away. No one can help them.
Be meek and humble; whatever happens is what the Creator Lord does. ||51||
Kabeer, even the dog of a devotee is good, while the mother of the faithless cynic is bad.
The dog hears the Praises of the Lord's Name, while the other is engaged in sin. ||52||
Kabeer, the deer is weak, and the pool is lush with green vegetation.
Thousands of hunters are chasing after the soul; how long can it escape death? ||53||
Kabeer, some make their homes on the banks of the Ganges, and drink pure water.
Without devotional worship of the Lord, they are not liberated. Kabeer proclaims this. ||54||
Kabeer, my mind has become immaculate, like the waters of the Ganges.
The Lord follows after me, calling, "Kabeer! Kabeer!" ||55||
Kabeer, tumeric is yelow, and lime is white.
You shall meet the Beloved Lord, only when both colors are lost. ||56||
Kabeer, tumeric has lost its yellow color, and no trace of lime's whiteness remains.
I am a sacrifice to this love, by which social class and status, color and ancestry are taken away. ||57||
Kabeer, the door of liberation is very narrow, less than the width of a mustard seed.
Your mind is larger than an elephant; how will it pass through? ||58||
Kabeer, if I meet such a True Guru, who mercifully blesses me with the gift,
then the door of liberation will open wide for me, and I will easily pass through. ||59||
Kabeer, I have no hut or hovel, no house or village.
I hope that the Lord will not ask who I am. I have no social status or name. ||60||
Kabeer, I long to die; let me die at the Lord's Door.
I hope that the Lord does not ask, "Who is this, lying at my door?" ||61||
Kabeer, I have not done anything; I shall not do anything; my body cannot do anything.
I do not know what the Lord has done, but the call has gone out: "Kabeer, Kabeer." ||62||
Kabeer, if someone utters the Name of the Lord even in dreams,
I would make my skin into shoes for his feet. ||63||
Kabeer, we are puppets of clay, but we take the name of mankind.
We are guests here for only a few days, but we take up so much space. ||64||
Kabeer, I have made myself into henna, and I grind myself into powder.
But You, O my Husband Lord, have not asked about me; You have never applied me to Your Feet. ||65||
Kabeer, that door, through which people never stop coming and going
- how can I leave such a door as that? ||66||
Kabeer, I was drowning, but the waves of virtue saved me in an instant.
✦ Connected Across Traditions
The Golden Rule
Matthew 7:12
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Hadith (An-Nawawi 13)
“None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.”
Leviticus 19:18
“Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Mahabharata 5.1517
“One should never do to another what one regards as injurious to oneself.”
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.”
Humility & Surrender
Bhagavad Gita 18:66
“Abandon all varieties of dharma and simply surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions; do not fear.”
Matthew 5:5
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
Tao Te Ching 22
“If you want to become whole, let yourself be partial. If you want to become full, let yourself be empty.”
Quran 2:45
“Seek help through patience and prayer. It is indeed exacting, but not for those who are humble.”
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.”