It is a delight to see two of our recent Maitri Tunes contributors Arun dada and Kanti kaka, both Vinoba elders, "jam" together in childlike innocence and joy. Rahul shares a wonderful account of these two beautiful pilgrims meeting each other again after years of being on their own journeys.
Click below to listen (you can also download here):
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As a seeker, it has been a secret desire to be a fly on the wall to witness the meeting of people who have inspired me in my journey. Arun dada and Kantikaka's was one such Maitri Milan and I was fortunate to be around.
Last weekend at Kantikaka's studio in Ahmedabad, they met after years with the enthusiasm of teenagers. And yet, there was an undercurrent of the extraordinary permeating the room. I was reminded of what Osho said about such a union : "What happens when a mirror faces another mirror? To really know 'who I am', you have to be absolutely empty. And when two such persons meet, then two mirrors will be facing one another and only emptiness will be mirrored. Infinite emptiness will be mirrored. That is the most graceful moment, the most blissful, grace descends, flowers shower. The whole world celebrates that oneness has been attained. Another set of travelers have reached home."
During the course of the next hour, Kantikaka took us around his studio talking passionately about his latest sculptures. Despite his frail frame, he walked us to each of his works. A Sardar Patel anecdote here, a Vinoba wisdom-nugget there - our Gandhi quotient zoomed up manifold in a just over an hour :) Hearing him explain the technicalities of sculpture making to us, this 90+ year elderly seemed forcefully engaged with his sculpting even at his advanced age - accepting commercial assignments (though selectively) and showing no signs of slowing down. And yet evidently, the silent stream of wisdom flowed through each of his actions. In meeting Kantikaka, we were watching the coming together of his doing and non-doing i.e. doing without doership.
Gandhiji's reflections in his autobiography on Shrimad Rajchandra (aka Raichandbhai who was a pearl and diamond merchant) came to mind : "Raichandbhai's commercial transactions covered hundreds of thousands. He was a connoisseur of pearls and diamonds. No knotty business problem was too difficult for him. But these things were not the center round which his life revolved. That center was the passion to see God face to face. And I saw him thus absorbed in Godly pursuits in the midst of business, not once or twice, but very often. I never saw him lose his state of equipoise.”
We could not hold our inquisitiveness and asked him a few questions on his spiritual journey. To which, Kantikaka generously shared 3 key questions - which he felt are indicative of the depth of a seeker's journey.
"(1) Are you seeking any answers?
(2) Do you have any desires?
(3) Do you have any complaints?
If the answer is in affirmative to any one of these questions, then you have not stopped within.
If you are not holding any questions, then you have attained Shanti (peace). If your desires have silenced, then you know Santosh (contentedness). If you have no complaints with existence, then you are Anand (happiness)"
Towards the end of the meeting, Arundada spontaneously offered the gift of a song to Kantikaka. To see Kantikaka's physical being respond to key moments of this song - brought to life by Arundada- shall remain a precious moment of our lives. Fortunate to be in audience were our own Mukesh Anand, Paragbhai, Kantikaka's niece Jayshreeben and Catherine, a French national attending a MBL retreat at the ESI campus.
This small group of people including me were spoilt for choice - and in a constant dilemma - should we immerse ourselves in the soulful melody of this song - or catch a glimpse of the meeting of these two shunyas - it was like a meeting of the infinites. Catherine is French and did not understand a word of the Gujarati lyrics. Yet - as she told us later - she felt completely tuned in as she let her mind rest and her heart take over. The rest of us, with our knowledge of Gujarati, were only slightly better off. As the predominant language spoken here was the one of the heart, and their inner silence rang far louder than the words exchanged.
Lyrics and translation:​
Hari taney shu smariye, Aapne jal maa jal sam rahiye (2)
Van boley, van sambhaliye ne mablakh vaato kariye (2) … Aapne jal maa….
This song is a (realized) seeker's address to the Almighty.
Lord, what is the need to remember your name, when I am indeed one with you. My existence is like being water in water(ocean).In this world of Oneness, words fall short and silence is at work
Koney konu darshan karvu, konu dharvu dhyaan (2)
Chalney evu rahiye jevu lilaash saathe paan (2)
Hoon paani tu dariyo ema shu dubiye shu tariye (2) … Aapne jal maa…
Who will worship whom? Who will meditate and who will be the subject of meditation? Isn’t it all the same, like the greenness in leaves? I am water and you are the ocean – making distinctions is meaningless
Chakli ne peecha thi ganvi kem kari ne alagi
Paankhon ne peecha thi ganva kem kari ne alaga
Hoon chhu taaraathi alago e samajan kyaanthi valagi? (2)
Haath jodvaa koney koney charane jai ne dhaliye (2) … Aapne jal maa….
Is a sparrow different from its wings? Is a feather different from the wing? The duality seems unreal - merely superimposed. Who will bow down to whom, in this interplay of the Infinite
Hari taney shu smariye, Aapne jal maa jal sam rahiye (2)
Van boley, van sambhaliye ne mablakh vaato kariye (2) … Aapne jal maa….
Lord, what is the need to remember you, when I am indeed one with you. In that world of Oneness, words fall short and silence is at work.
