Kabir (also Kabira) (Hindi: कबीर, Punjabi: ਕਬੀਰ, Urdu: کبير) was a mystic poet and saint of India, whose writings have greatly influenced the Bhakti movement. The name Kabir comes from Arabic al-Kabīr which means 'The Great' - the 37th name of God in Islam.
BETWEEN THE POLES OF THE CONSCIOUS
BETWEEN the poles of the conscious and the unconscious, there has the mind made a swing:Thereon hang all beings and all worlds, and that swing never ceases its sway.
Millions of beings are there: the sun and the moon in their courses are there:
Millions of ages pass, and the swing goes on.
All swing! the sky and the earth and the air and the water; and the Lord Himself taking form:
And the sight of this has made Kabîr a servant.
FRIEND, HOPE FOR THE GUEST WHILE YOU ARE ALIVE
Friend, hope for the Guest while you are alive.Jump into experience while you are alive!
Think... and think... while you are alive.
What you call 'salvation' belongs to the time
before death.
If you don't break your ropes while you're alive,
do you think
ghosts will do it after ?
The idea that the soul will join with the ecstatic
just because the body is rotten—
that is all fantasy.
What is found now is found then.
If you find nothing now,
you will simply end up with an apartment
in the City of Death.
If you make love with the divine now, in the next life
you will have the face of satisfied desire.
So plunge into the truth, find out who the Teacher is,
believe in the Great Sound!
Kabir says this: When the Guest is being search for,
it is the intensity of the longing for the Guest
that does all the work.
Look at me, and you will see a slave of that intensity.
HANG UP THE SWING OF LOVE TODAY !
Hang the body and the mind between the arms of the beloved,
in the ecstasy of love's joy:
Bring the tearful streams of the rainy clouds to your eyes,
and cover your heart with the shadow of darkness:
Bring your face nearer to his ear,
and speak of the deepest longings of your heart.
Kabir says: 'Listen to me brother!
bring the vision of the Beloved in your heart.'
HIDING IN THIS CAGE
Hiding in this cageof visible matter
is the invisible
lifebird
pay attention
to her
she is singing
your song
ARE YOU LOOKING FOR ME ?
Are you looking for me ? I am in the next seat.
My shoulder is against yours.
you will not find me in the stupas, not in Indian shrine
rooms, nor in synagogues, nor in cathedrals:
not in masses, nor kirtans, not in legs winding
around your own neck, nor in eating nothing but
vegetables.
When you really look for me, you will see me
instantly
you will find me in the tiniest house of time.
Kabir says: Student, tell me, what is God ?
He is the breath inside the breath.
FRIEND, WAKE UP ! WHY DO YOU GO ON SLEEPING ?
Friend, wake up ! Why do you go on sleeping ?The night is over— do you want to lose the day
the same way ?
Other women who managed to get up early have
already found an elephant or a jewel...
so much was lost already while you slept...
and that was so unnecessary !
The one who loves you understood, but you did not.
You forgot to make a place in your bed next to you.
Instead you spent your life playing.
In your twenties you did not grow
because you did not know who your Lord was.
Wake up! Wake up ! There's no one in your bed—
He left you during the long night.
Kabir says: The only woman awake is the woman
who has heard the flute !
HAVING CROSSED THE RIVER
Having crossed the river,where will you go, O friend?
There's no road to tread,
No traveler ahead,
Neither a beginning, nor an end.
There's no water, no boat, no boatman, no cord;
No earth is there, no sky, no time, no bank, no ford.
You have forgotten the Self within,
Your search in the void will be in vain;
In a moment the life will ebb
And in this body you won't remain.
Be ever conscious of this, O friend,
You've to immerse within your Self;
Kabir says, salvation you won't then need,
For what you are, you would be indeed.
HOPE FOR HIM
O friend! hope for Him whilst you live, know whilst you live,understand whilst you live: for in life deliverance abides.
If your bonds be not broken whilst living, what hope of
deliverance in death?
It is but an empty dream, that the soul shall have union with Him
because it has passed from the body:
If He is found now, He is found then,
If not, we do but go to dwell in the City of Death.
If you have union now, you shall have it hereafter.
Bathe in the truth, know the true Guru, have faith in the true
Name!
Kabîr says: 'It is the Spirit of the quest which helps; I am the slave of this Spirit of the quest.
HOW DO YOU
How do you,Asks the chief of police,
Patrol a city
Where the butcher shops
Are guarded by vultures;
Where bulls get pregnant,
Cows are barren,
And calves give milk
Three times a day;
Where mice are boatmen
And tomcats the boats
They row;
Where frogs keep snakes
As watchdogs,
And jackals
Go after lions ?
Does anyone know
What I’m talking about ?
Says Kabir.
HOW HUMBLE IS GOD
God is the tree in the forests thatallows itself to die and will not defend itself in front of those
with the ax, not wanting to cause them
shame.
And God is the earth that will allow itself to
be deformed by man's tools, but He cries; yes, God cries,
but only in front of His closest ones.
And a beautiful animal is being beaten to death,
but nothing can make God break His silence
to the masses
and say,
"Stop, please stop, why are you doing this
to Me? "
How humble is God ?
Kabir wept
when I
knew.
I HAVE ATTAINED THE ETERNAL BLISS
I have attained the Eternal Bliss.There is no time for sorrow or pain,
for now I enjoy singing His glory.
The tree of His pleasure has neither root, nor seed,
as revealed by the grace of the true Guru.
Now there is effulgence of a million suns,
my swan has dipped in the lake of His knowledge.
Says Kabir, listen, O wise brother,
Now comings and goings have come to an end.
I HAVE BEEN THINKING
I have been thinking...I have been thinking of the difference between water
I have been thinkingI have been thinkingand the waves on it. Rising,
water's still water, falling back,
it is water, will you give me a hint
how to tell them apart ?
Because someone has made up the word
'wave,' do I have to distinguish it
from water ?
There is a Secret One inside us;
the planets in all the galaxies
pass through his hands like beads.
That is a string of beads one should look at with luminous eyes.
I LAUGH WHEN I HEAR THAT THE FISH IN THE WATER IS THIRSTY
I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirstyYou don't grasp the fact that what is most alive of all
is inside your own house.
and so you walk from one holy city to the next with
a confused look!
Kabir will tell you the truth: go wherever you like,
to Calcutta or Tibet;
if you can't find where your soul is hidden,
for you the world will never be real !
I PLAYED DAY AND NIGHT
I played day and night with my comrades,and now I am greatly afraid.
So high is my Lord's palace,
my heart trembles to mount its stairs:
yet I must not be shy, if I would enjoy His love.
My heart must cleave to my Lover;
I must withdraw my veil,
and meet Him with all my body:
Mine eyes must perform the ceremony of the lamps of love.
Kabîr says: 'Listen to me, friend:
he understands who loves.
If you feel not love's longing for your Beloved One,
it is vain to adorn your body,
vain to put unguent on your eyelids.'
O FRIEND
O friend! hope for Him whilst you liveO friend! hope for Him whilst you live,
know whilst you live, understand whilst you live:
for in life deliverance abides.
If your bonds be not broken whilst living,
what hope of deliverance in death ?
It is but an empty dream, that the soul shall have union with Him
because it has passed from the body:
If He is found now, He is found then,
If not, we do but go to dwell in the City of Death.
If you have union now, you shall have it hereafter.
Bathe in the truth, know the true Guru,
have faith in the true Name!
Kabir says : 'It is the spirit of the quest which helps;
I am the slave of this Spirit of the quest.'
O MY HEART ! THE SUPREME SPIRIT
O MY heart !the Supreme Spirit,
the great Master,
is near you: wake, oh wake !
Run to the feet of your Beloved:
for your Lord stands near to your head.
You have slept for unnumbered ages;
this morning will you not wake ?
THE TIME BEFORE DEATH
Friend ? hope for the Guest while you are alive.Jump into experience while you are alive!
Think... and think... while you are alive.
What you call 'salvation' belongs to the time
before death.
If you don't break your ropes while you're alive,
do you think ghosts will do it after ?
The idea that the soul will join with the ecstatic
just because the body is rotten
that is all fantasy.
What is found now is found then.
If you find nothing now,
you will simply end up with an apartment in the
City of Death.
If you make love with the divine now, in the next
life you will have the face of satisfied desire.
So plunge into the truth, find out who the Teacher is,
Believe in the Great Sound !
Kabir says this: When the Guest is being searched for,
it is the intensity of the longing for the Guest
that does all the work.
Look at me, and you will see a slave of that intensity.
WHEN I FOUND THE BOUNDLESS KNOLEDGE
Kabir:My mind was soothed
When I found the boundless knowledge,
And the fires
that scorch the world
To me are water cool.
WHEN THE DAY CAME
When the Day came -
The Day I had lived and died for -
The Day that is not in any calendar -
Clouds heavy with love
Showered me with wild abundance.
Inside me, my soul was drenched.
Around me, even the desert grew green.
WHERE DO YOU SEARCH ME
Moko Kahan Dhundhere BandeMein To Tere Paas Mein
Na Teerath Mein, Na Moorat Mein
Na Ekant Niwas Mein
Na Mandir Mein, Na Masjid Mein
Na Kabe Kailas Mein
Mein To Tere Paas Mein Bande
Mein To Tere Paas Mein
Na Mein Jap Mein, Na Mein Tap Mein
Na Mein Barat Upaas Mein
Na Mein Kiriya Karm Mein Rehta
Nahin Jog Sanyas Mein
Nahin Pran Mein Nahin Pind Mein
Na Brahmand Akas Mein
Na Mein Prakuti Prawar Gufa Mein
Nahin Swasan Ki Swans Mein
Khoji Hoye Turat Mil Jaoon
Ik Pal Ki Talas Mein
Kahet Kabir Suno Bhai Sadho
Mein To Hun Viswas Mein
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Where do you search me ?
I am with you
Not in pilgrimage, nor in icons
Neither in solitudes
Not in temples, nor in mosques
Neither in Kaba nor in Kailash
I am with you O man
I am with you
Not in prayers, nor in meditation
Neither in fasting
Not in yogic exercises
Neither in renunciation
Neither in the vital force nor in the body
Not even in the ethereal space
Neither in the womb of Nature
Not in the breath of the breath
Seek earnestly and discover
In but a moment of search
Says Kabir, Listen with care
Where your faith is, I am there.
OH, FRIEND, I LOVE YOU, THINK THIS OVER
Oh friend, I love you, think this overcarefully ! If you are in love,
then why are you asleep ?
If you have found him,
give yourself to him, take him.
Why do you lose track of him again and again ?
If you are about to fall into heavy sleep anyway,
why waste time smoothing the bed
and arranging the pillows ?
Kabir will tell you the truth: this is what love is like:
suppose you had to cut your head off
and give it to someone else,
what difference would that make ?
THE LAST FLIGHT
Ud Jayega Huns Akela,Jug Darshan Ka Mela
Jaise Paat Gire Taruvar Se,
Milna Bahut Duhela
Naa Jane Kidhar Girega,
Lageya Pawan Ka Rela
Jub Howe Umur Puri,
Jab Chute Ga Hukum Huzuri
Jum Ke Doot Bade Mazboot,
Jum Se Pada Jhamela
Das Kabir Har Ke Gun Gawe,
Wah Har Ko Paran Pawe
Guru Ki Karni Guru Jayega,
Chele Ki Karni Chela
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
The Swan Will Fly Away All Alone,
Spectacle of the World Will Be a Mere Fair
As the Leaf Falls from the Tree
Is Difficult to Find
Who Knows Where it Will Fall
Once it is Struck with a Gust Of Wind
When Life Span is Complete
Then Listening to Orders, Following Others, Will Be Over
The Messengers of Yama are Very Strong
It's an Entanglement with the Yama
Servant Kabir Praises the Attributes of the Lord
He Finds the Lord Soon
Guru Will Go According to His Doings
The Disciple According to His
THE LORD IS IN ME
The Lord is in me, and the Lord is in you,As life is hidden in every seed.
So rubble your pride, my friend,
And look for Him within you.
When I sit in the heart of His world
A million suns blaze with light,
A burning blue sea spreads across the sky,
Life's turmoil falls quiet,
All the stains of suffering wash away.
Listen to the unstruck bells and drums!
Love is here; plunge into its rapture!
Rains pour down without water;
Rivers are streams of light.
How could I ever express
How blessed I feel
To revel in such vast ecstasy
In my own body?
This is the music
Of soul and soul meeting,
Of the forgetting of all grief.
This is the music
That transcends all coming and going
http://nicefun.net/oil-paintings-indian-culture-40-pics-vt33345.html
