Kabir 's The Great Love


Tale of love, untellable




Love's not grown in gardens;
Love's not sold at market.
He who wants it, king or commoner,
gives his head and takes it.
Studying great books many have died
none ever becomes learned.
Two letters and a half in love,
who studies them is learning.
Narrow is the lane of love.
Two will never fit.
When I was, the Lord was not.
Now He is; I am not.
Kabir says: clouds of love
came on me showering;
Soaked the heart
greening the inner jungle.
A heart dry of love;
God again untasted.
This is man in this world;
His arising wasted.
Roused, ecstatic with His name,
love-drunk, overflowing,
reveling in His vision
Why bother with liberation?
Tale of love, untellable.
Not a bit is ever told.
The sweets of a dumb one -
he enjoys and smiles.


Tell and still it is hidden



Knowledge of inner experience
many come asking for.
Struck dumb savoring the sweet,
whose mouth will tell the tale?
The sign of the dumb
only the dumb understand.
Likewise the joy of a sage
only a sage knows.
Not of written words
but of experiencing:
When the bride meets His embrace
the guests all fade away.
That which sees cannot speak,
which speaks cannot hear,
that which hears cannot explain.
Why tongue, eyes, ears?
What is full empties out;
What is empty fills up.
Empty, full - neither to be found.
The experience is this.
Such a wonder! It is never told.
Tell, and still it is hidden.
Koran and Vedas couldn't write it.
If I say it, who will listen?

Drunk with boundless youth



O blessed women,
Sing the wedding songs!
I've come home with Lord Ram,
My Beloved

Body, mind, the five elements,
All loved and offered in welcome.
Ram has come to live with me
And I'm drunk with boundless youth. 
The body is a pool of Vedas
Brahma himself recites!
United with Ram - round and round.
How fortunate am I!
Gods arrive in millions
And sages in thousands.
Says Kabir: I'm to wed.
And the man's immortal!

A true lover never dies



Dying, dying, all go on dying,
None die a proper death.
Kabir met with death,
Never to die again.
Dying, dying, all go on dying
without a second thought.
Only mine's an artful death.
The rest die and rot.
Die you must, so die!
All whirlpools fall away.
Such is death. So why die
Hundreds of times a day?
When there's fear of death
Love cannot be felt.
The abode of love is far away.
Understand this well.
Nothingness dies, the soundless dies;
Even the infinite dies.
A true lover never dies.
Says Kabir: know this.
Death - the whole world fears.
Death my heart overjoys.
When will I die and give myself
In ecstasy complete?

One who walks alone

Confused, choosing for and against, 
The whole world goes astray.
Choiceless and celebrating God;
He is a true sadhu.
People all bound together
As donkey tied to donkey.
Who has inner vision,
He's authentic man.
One who walks alone,
He alone finds truth.
Heart absorbed in love
Never again comes back.
Wholeness is total vision;
Everything is holy.
Says Kabir: it can't be understood.
This is something unwritten.

Why wander away?




Sadhu, who's kidding who?
The formless in forms,
And forma within the formless, 
So why wander away?
They say, "He is forever young, immortal,"
But the invisible remains unexpressed;
No family, no character, no color,
Yet permeating every being.
Some say,
"He is in each atom and the whole cosmos."
Others say, "He has no beginning or end."
One says,
"Atomic, cosmic - drop this nonsense!"
Kabir says, "He's Bhagwan!"
Vedas say'
"Beyond forms reasts the formless."
With form or not - forget it, blessed woman, 
and see in all His home.
Never touched by happiness, sadness,
Darshan day and night.
Covered in light, sleeping on light,
Head resting on light.
Kabir says:
Listen brother sadhu,
The real master is light troughout.
To call him heavy, I'm much afaraid.
To call him light is a lie.
What do I know of Ram?
These eyes have never seen Him

Enter your Temple

Sadhu, consider this:
Ride in a boat and drown midstream;
Helpless, get across.
Reach the town by some back way;
Get looted on the highway.
By one rope all get tied,
Both the bound and the free.
Enter your temple;
Be bathed from all sides.
Who remains without stays dry. 
Chop off the head for eternal joy;
An unchopped head is suffering.
The whole world looks without seeing,
Eyes remaining blind.
Says Kabir: I understand,
seeing the ways of the world.

Why go to others?



I'm in a muddle.
You resolve it, Bhagwan.
When you are mine,
Why go to others?
Is mind greater than
What's minding mind?
Is Ram greater than
He who knows Ram?
Is Brahma greater than
What he arose from?
Are the Vedas greater than
Their very source?
Says Kabir:
I'm so confused...
Is the temple greater than
He who serves God?

Relax in Joy

Lord of death turns into Ram.
Misery gone, I relax in joy.
Foe reversed becomes a friend;
Fiends are seen as gentle men.
Now, for me, all is blessed.
Knowing Bhagwan, silence descends.
A million problems in the body
Turn into joyful, simple samadhi.
A recognizing deep within my heart:
Disease no more affects me.
Mind now becomes eternal.
I knoiw now: I was living dead.
Says Kabir: I'm simply joyous.
I'm not afraid, nor frightening others.

Come what may, allow



Stop wavering, mad mind!
Come what may, allow it!
The Sati is ready for the fire of death.
Dance in ecstasy, beyond all doubts.
Drop greed, attachments, fancies.
Do the brave fear death?
Does the sati cling to her body?
Society, scripture, family prestige -
The hangman's noose at the neck.
Move on the path and return midway -
Ha! Ha! Everyone laughs.
This whole world's so nasty.
Only he who prays is true.
Says Kabir: never abandon the name.
Fall down! Stand up! Fly high!

These 10 poems from Kabir have been commented upon by Osho in his book "The Great Secret".