As technology has progressed, and we have become more and more self-reliant, the Individual has taken centre stage, with family and even society fading ever so gently into the background. Whilst this may be liberating to those seeped deep enough into spirituality, for most of us, this has vastly inflated the importance of our individual selves, the major manifestation of which tends to be our ego. And we cling onto our individuality with such a possessive passion, that we are oftentimes unwilling to undergo transformatory experiences, sheerly because they generally involve giving up a little bit of who we are currently.
And it is in such times, the timeless poetry of Kabir comes into its own, as he so eloquently says “Chalti chakki dekh kar, diya Kabira roy, do patan ke beech mein, sabut bacha na koy”. Now whilst this has a literal meaning concerning the grinding of grains in a mill, the deeper metaphorical meaning talks about how the pressures of the world don’t spare anyone. We are all crushed and forced to transform between the grinding stones of life. Change is constant, and the harder we struggle, the more painful we make this ultimate eventuality.
Whilst the origins of Kabir are shrouded in mystery, one of the accounts talks about him being discovered as a child by a weaver couple, who brought him up as their own child in Varanasi. He was deeply influenced by the Bhakti movement, taking Swami Ramanand as his guru, and of course he later himself became one of its most influential figures thanks mainly to his exquisite poetry, which he wrote in the form of dohas or couplets. He is probably one of the few mystics who is revered by Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs equally, with the Guru Granth Sahib containing a significant portion of his writings. We celebrate his birthday on Jyestha Poornima which falls on Sun, the 4th.
The individual is the key to unlocking the mysteries of the world, but also the easiest way to get lost in its glittering mirages. How we choose to wield our individuality makes all the difference. On the one hand we can use it to dive deeper and using the principle of As Within, So Without, we can connect to theuniversal consciousness and seek answers to the deepest questions. Equally, we could just end up using it as a mask for the ego, which has an insatiable appetite for hedonistic pleasures, and lose our way completely. What can guide us on such slippery slopes is the profound writings of seers like Kabir, who managed to transcend the individual and commune with the superconscious collective.
