—Kabir
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When Eruch stopped speaking, one could feel the waves of love coming from the focal point in this Divine Ocean—Baba, and washing almost visibly over us. We were silent with the Silent One, each lost in his own thoughts.
A message was then read, which was mimeographed later for all who were present: "Divine Bliss and Human Suffering." Baba describes how the "ordinary man suffers for himself; Perfect Masters suffer for humanity, whereas the Avatar suffers for one and all beings and things," thus answering a question that was frequently asked after Baba's motor accident in the U.S. in 1952.
Now, as the waiters began to serve our dinner, the "golden-voiced" David Ross, of radio and TV renown, feelingly read a number of spiritual poems dedicated to Baba, some of which have already been published in the Awakener. Two beautiful translations from Kabir, the God-realized poet-master of India, were given, followed by an excerpt from Baba's favorite Persian poet, Hafiz:
"This day is dear to me above all other days, for today my beloved Lord |
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is a guest in my house; |
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My chamber and my courtyard are beautiful with His Presence. |
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My longings sing His Name, and they are become lost in His great beauty; |
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I wash His Feet, and I look on His Face; and I lay before Him as an offering, |
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my body, my mind, and all that I have. |
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What a day of gladness is that day in which my Beloved, who is my treasure, |
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comes to my house! |
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All evils fly from my heart when I see my Lord. |
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My love has touched Him; my heart is longing for the Name |
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which is Truth." |
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The Lord is in me, the Lord is in you, as life is in every seed.
O servant! put false pride away, and seek Him within you.
A million suns are ablaze with light, the sea of blue spreads in the sky,
The fever of life is stilled, and all stains are washed away, when I sit
in the midst of the world.
Hark to the unstruck bells and drums! Take your delight in love!
Rains pour down without water, and the rivers are streams of light.
One Love it is that pervades the whole world, few there are who know it fully;
They are blind who hope to see it by the light of reason,
that reason which is the cause of separation.
The House of Reason is very far away!
How blessed is Kabir, that amidst this great joy he sings within his own vessel.
It is the meeting of Soul with soul;
It is the music of the forgetting of sorrows!
It is the music that transcends all coming and all going forth."
O Thou, who hast ravished my heart by Thine exquisite grace and Thy shape,
Thou carest for no one, and yet not a soul from Thyself can escape,
At times I draw sighs from my heart, and at times, O my life, Thy sharp dart;
Can aught I say represent all the ills I endure from my heart?
How durst I to rivals commend Thy sweet lips by Thy ruby's tint gemmed,
When words that are vivid in hue by a soul unrefined are contemned.
As strength to Thy beauty accrues every day from the day sped before,
To features consummate as Thine, will we liken the night-star no more.
My heart hast Thou reft; take my soul! For Thine envoy of grief what pretense?
One perfect in grief as myself with collector he may dispense.
| O Hafiz! in Love's holy fane
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| Lay hold of His skirt with thy hand |
| And with all sever ties from today." |
| —Hafiz |
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