My Favorite Poem:
Kabir
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Contents
Introduction. 1
XVII
from Songs of Kabir. 1
Reflection
of Kabir. 4
Symphony
of Light 5
It is as it is. 6
A
Life in Resonance with Dhamma. 7
A Joy of Life. 7
I did some search for the poem that can come close to this one by Kabir (See my Kabir file at my home page). So far, I couldn’t. I am simply amazed by the work of Kabir, the resonating sense that is transmitted so directly to me. It may be just related to my subjective experience. Still, I would like to share in this file what I believe as the pinnacle of the human experience. Please let me know if anyone knows of any poem like this? (This is 17th stanza out of 100 that is contained in the Songs of Kabir)
By the way, as if to add the legs to the snake, I added a few of my poems following his poem. Good day! - Kio Suzaki
==
XVII
II. 61. grah candra tapan jot varat hai
THE light of the sun, the moon, and the stars shines bright:
The melody of love swells forth, and the rhythm of love's detachment
beats the time.
Day and night, the chorus of music fills the heavens; and Kabir
says
"My Beloved One gleams like the lightning flash in the sky."
Do you know how the moments perform their adoration?
Waving its row of lamps, the universe sings in worship day and night,
There are the hidden banner and the secret canopy:
There the sound of the unseen bells is heard.
Kabir says: "There adoration never ceases; there the Lord of the
Universe sitteth on His throne." {p. 61}The whole world does its works and commits its errors: but few are
the lovers who know the Beloved.
The devout seeker is he who mingles in his heart the double currents
of love and detachment, like the mingling of the streams of Ganges
and Jumna;
In his heart the sacred water flows day and night; and thus the
round of births and deaths is brought to an end.
Behold what wonderful rest is in the Supreme Spirit! and he enjoys
it, who makes himself meet for it.
Held by the cords of love, the swing of the Ocean of Joy sways to
and fro; and a mighty sound breaks forth in song.
See what a lotus blooms there without water! and Kabir says
"My heart's bee drinks its nectar." {p. 62}What a wonderful lotus it is, that blooms at the heart of the
spinning wheel of the universe! Only a few pure souls know of its
true delight.
Music is all around it, and there the heart partakes of the joy of
the Infinite Sea.
Kabir says: "Dive thou into that Ocean of sweetness: thus let all
errors of life and of death flee away."
Behold how the thirst of the five senses is quenched there! and the
three forms of misery are no more!
Kabir says: "It is the sport of the Unattainable One: look within,
and behold how the moon-beams of that Hidden One shine in you."
There falls the rhythmic beat of life and death: {p. 63}Rapture wells forth, and all space is radiant with light.
There the Unstruck Music is sounded; it is the music of the love of
the three worlds.
There millions of lamps of sun and of moon are burning;
There the drum beats, and the lover swings in play.
There love-songs resound, and light rains in showers; and the
worshipper is entranced in the taste of the heavenly nectar.
Look upon life and death; there is no separation between them,
The right hand and the left hand are one and the same.
Kabir says: "There the wise man is speechless; for this truth may
never be found in Vadas or in books."
I have had my Seat on the Self-poised One, {p. 64}I have drunk of the Cup of the Ineffable,
I have found the Key of the Mystery,
I have reached the Root of Union.
Travelling by no track, I have come to the Sorrowless Land: very
easily has the mercy of the great Lord come upon me.
They have sung of Him as infinite and unattainable: but I in my
meditations have seen Him without sight.
That is indeed the sorrowless land, and none know the path that
leads there:
Only he who is on that path has surely transcended all sorrow.
Wonderful is that land of rest, to which no merit can win;
It is the wise who has seen it, it is the wise who has sung of it.
This is the Ultimate Word: but can any express its marvellous
savour? {p. 65}He who has savoured it once, he knows what joy it can give.
Kabir says: "Knowing it, the ignorant man becomes wise, and the
wise
man becomes speechless and silent,
The worshipper is utterly inebriated,
His wisdom and his detachment are made perfect;
He drinks from the cup of the inbreathings and the outbreathings of
love."
There the whole sky is filled with sound, and there that music is
made without fingers and without strings;
There the game of pleasure and pain does not cease.
Kabir says: "If you merge your life in the Ocean of Life, you will
find your life in the Supreme Land of Bliss."
What a frenzy of ecstasy there is in {p. 66} every hour! and the worshipper is pressing out and drinking the essence of the hours: he
lives in the life of Brahma.
I speak truth, for I have accepted truth in life; I am now attached
to truth, I have swept all tinsel away.
Kabir says: "Thus is the worshipper set free from fear; thus have
all errors of life and of death left him."
There the sky is filled with music:
There it rains nectar:
There the harp-strings jingle, and there the drums beat.
What a secret splendour is there, in the mansion of the sky!
There no mention is made of the rising and the setting of the sun;
In the ocean of manifestation, which is the light of love, day and
night are felt to be one. {p. 67}Joy for ever, no sorrow,--no struggle!
There have I seen joy filled to the brim, perfection of joy;
No place for error is there.
Kabir says: "There have I witnessed the sport of One Bliss!"
I have known in my body the sport of the universe: I have escaped
from the error of this world..
The inward and the outward are become as one sky, the Infinite and
the finite are united: I am drunken with the sight of this All!
This Light of Thine fulfils the universe: the lamp of love that
burns on the salver of knowledge.
Kabir says: "There error cannot enter, and the conflict of life
and
death is felt no more."
{p. 68}
====
In this stanza, Kabir points the state of bliss in the most exquisite words that I have not seen elsewhere. The poem expresses the sense of arriving at the bliss, and experiencing the nirvana as if the Buddha and many(?) others may have experienced. As seen above, he says it is where the unstruck music is heard, ( reminding the koan of Hakuin – the sound of one hand clapping). It is where the inward and the outward are become as one sky, the infinite meets the finite and the cosmic rays shower throughout the universe....
Out of 100 verses contained
in the Song of Kabir, I felt that this one, 17th
, is the crux of such experience although Kabir does
not forget to show how the sport of the unattainable one is played elsewhere, (which
reminds me of the Buddha’s middle way).
But for the sharing the scenery and experience
of nirvana, I thought this one might give us a resonating sense at the core of
our existence.
By the way, one other wondrous “indescribable” description of nirvana I can think of is found in the early section of the Avatamsaka (Kegon) sutra with slightly different twist from Kabir. However, unfortunately, I do not have the English translation to share. (I could not find on the net. Please let me know if there is anyone who can share with me. I have not read the Cleary’s book on Kegon.) So, I decided to attach here a few of my poems I wrote sometime ago that points what I believe Kabir points in slightly different manner.
(Some may see these works as a self-indulging exercise. Or, these effort may be seen as ignoring the suffering of the world. However contradictory this may sound, I still like to say that this world (finite) is the other world (finite) as it is. Perhaps, art (poetry) provides means to bridge this paradox. Breathing Kabir is a way to unite all. My conviction is, whatever the situation, in the midst of the suffering, and without trying to escape, we may find the extinction of suffering as Kabir and many others might have found.)
==
As if
listening to the sound from afar..
There
is a transparent state beyond the time-space dimension
where
the whole nerve system
and
all cells of body fully activate.
To
the end of the universe,
and
inside the mitochondria or DNA
of all
cells
everyone enjoys the liberation.
As
each performs the given role
and
help with each other with no conflict,
there
is the most natural state
of
life expressing itself.
Without
thinking of truth, enlightenment,
defilements or else,
Everyone
dances
the
dance of the universe.
Yes,
by utilizing our whole senses as an artist
Let’s
throw our whole existence into the ocean of this universe！
And
covered by the spray of the universe over our whole body,
let us
play the symphony of light!
As I listen to the
stereo..
My body moves on its
own…
Covered by the vibration,
All cells of my body
share the happiness.
My mind is transparent
while the whole world
vibrates
in happiness.
Yes, Right, in such a
way…
As birds sing,
Everyone dances.
The tribe men from
Amazon,
and those in Africa.
People may comment
to see me being like
this,
"He must be
demented!"
But, it's OK.
It is because I found
the answer
to that question of
"So what?"
It is simply…
everything is as it is.
As if
a butterfly shows up from somewhere when flowers start to bloom,
when
birds sing their song, I find my body covered with Dhamma Piti*.
Yes,
there is something here to point that
the
wisdom of nature is unfathomable.
As
much as women putting a make-up to become attractive,
or
anyone trying to win the sports game or win in philosophical debate,
or
being attracted to make money or to become famous,
there
is something similar in all of these orientations.
That
is the sense of oneness that everyone seeks for,
to
find at the core of us the pleasure of resonating with the infinite.
The
same is true for sex, isn’t it? To grasp that moment to discover the
infinite,
we
want to have our body and mind melted in the ecstasy.
Then,
we find the comedies and tragedies performed all around.
So,
stop now and ask what is really going on!
What
if we do not know that
seeking for happiness is…not finding one?
“How sad it is to search for IT afar…It
is like in the middle of water…
yet
crying out in thirst,” so Hakuin said.
But look! I hear the sound of wind chime… chirping of the
birds ….
And,
the guitar of Segovia continuing while the cool breeze passes through the room.
Without
seeking, but realizing what’s going on…
what
if we live with the sharpened senses
at all
of our mind-body cells and DNAs,
and
discover the vibration of the universe?
* Piti: emotion of joy, delight, zest, exuberance
(7/15/03)
For
no reason, but perhaps a sound may trigger it.
Perhaps
a butterfly in the air,
The innocent flower in the sun…
Perhaps,
Segovia’s guitar..
These
bring joy to me, with reason but no apparent reason.
It
is a joy of life
For
the life to experience life as it is.
I
feel all through my body…
From the top of my head to the bottom of my sole…
And throughout my whole body.
Covered
by the shivering sense,
All
cells of my body breathe the breath of universe
Interconnected
with each other
to the end of the universe,
vibrating and expressing as they are meant.
With
tears, I remember someone once said,
This
world is nirvana as it is.
Whatever
that may mean,
It is my cells that know it,
And expressing what it is as it is.
So,
may I say simply…have a good day, and a good life!
(7/11/03)
* back to my home page: www.suzaki.has.it