I got totally lost in Kabir land --wanted to feature him in the upcoming Awakin Oakland reading -- and just now it occurred to me to check the silent Monday schedule, and I realized that I missed the Moved by Love call!
But here's my belated (silent-transcribed)contribution of this song and a couple of other Kabir classics, for the MBL family:
[When a philosophy transforms your world view, when it enters your body and colours every fibre of your being, when its beauty and power rise in your senses like a heady wine, then you sing and travel and wander about, unmindful of all except the power of Word and song, and the un-put-downable urge to share it, and spread the wonder… in this video we find ourselves looking with this drunken gaze of Kabir –an unblinking ability to see the divine, the beloved, in all creatures and all beings!]
My lord's got me drunk
what a potion
he gave me!
A redness descends in my eyes
My true guru
got me drunk
The divine lies hidden
in every body
like the red unseen
in the green henna leaf
The redness of my beloved
is such that
wherever I look,
I see red!
I set out in search of red,
I became red myself!
Everyone is crying
for the beloved red
That ruby-red is
in everyone's pocket
you didn't search
in your own pocket
and left this world
empty handed!
A spark ignites --
a light fills my body
A redness descends in my eyes
My true guru
got me drunk
A redness descends in my eyes
In trees, in water,
in all forms of life -
my lord blossoms
No place is bereft
Wherever I look - my lord
A redness descends in my eyes
She permeates
every vessel
A redness descends in my eyes
I drank from the cup
till I was out of my mind
I wandered about
like a crazed one!
A lock of many lifetimes
has spring opened!
A light fills my body
A redness descends in my eyes
And here's another powerful Kabir song that shakes one's core if one is listening to the unstruck chord within that connects us with the dance, music and harmony of it all...
Love doesn't grow in gardens
love doesn't sell in markets
Without love you go
in shackles to the city of death.
A body lacking love
is a cremation ground.
Like a blacksmith's bellows
it breathes without life.
Love, love, they all say,
yet no one knows what love is!
Love knows no swell or ebb
True love dwells deep within.
In every swan-soul resides Ram.
There's no abode without Ram.
In the whole Universe this light resides,
On the string of awareness, I climb to the sky.
From the navel lotus, feel the presence.
In the heart lotus, a jewel turns.
An unstruck drum resounds in the city
and echoes in the Universe.
If you seek the guru, search in your body.
Don't wander about the city.
Nanak describes the guru's power:
it speaks within there is no other.
And this last piece, about the body, the mind, the heart and the vision of the Beloved...
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!
bring the vision of the Beloved in your heart.'
I'm still trying to find the song that speaks of the thief (death) coming to town, robbing our senses ... it seems that Prahlad-ji sang that song for the first time at Banyan Grove (sister Linda had not heard it before) -- but perhaps one of you knows that Kabir song?
I hope to see you all on the next call!
UPDATE: (July 18th)
Our dearest sister Aabha found the song and translated it for us! Here it is:
Be awake, be alert,
One day a thief
will come to the city
He’ll not be invisible
He won't break any door
He won't destroy the house
He won't care about the city
His interest will be you
He’ll take you away
He won’t carry a bow,
Neither a cannon, nor a sword
He won't strike with a gun
Coming and going he won’t be visible
He will spin you from inside
Your friends, family will be helpless
Wealth and treasure will remain here
You came to this world closed fisted
You will leave with open hands
Kabir says you will face
the destiny of your
actions
But here's my belated (silent-transcribed)contribution of this song and a couple of other Kabir classics, for the MBL family:
[When a philosophy transforms your world view, when it enters your body and colours every fibre of your being, when its beauty and power rise in your senses like a heady wine, then you sing and travel and wander about, unmindful of all except the power of Word and song, and the un-put-downable urge to share it, and spread the wonder… in this video we find ourselves looking with this drunken gaze of Kabir –an unblinking ability to see the divine, the beloved, in all creatures and all beings!]
My lord's got me drunk
what a potion
he gave me!
A redness descends in my eyes
My true guru
got me drunk
The divine lies hidden
in every body
like the red unseen
in the green henna leaf
The redness of my beloved
is such that
wherever I look,
I see red!
I set out in search of red,
I became red myself!
Everyone is crying
for the beloved red
That ruby-red is
in everyone's pocket
you didn't search
in your own pocket
and left this world
empty handed!
A spark ignites --
a light fills my body
A redness descends in my eyes
My true guru
got me drunk
A redness descends in my eyes
In trees, in water,
in all forms of life -
my lord blossoms
No place is bereft
Wherever I look - my lord
A redness descends in my eyes
She permeates
every vessel
A redness descends in my eyes
I drank from the cup
till I was out of my mind
I wandered about
like a crazed one!
A lock of many lifetimes
has spring opened!
A light fills my body
A redness descends in my eyes
And here's another powerful Kabir song that shakes one's core if one is listening to the unstruck chord within that connects us with the dance, music and harmony of it all...
Love doesn't grow in gardens
love doesn't sell in markets
Without love you go
in shackles to the city of death.
A body lacking love
is a cremation ground.
Like a blacksmith's bellows
it breathes without life.
Love, love, they all say,
yet no one knows what love is!
Love knows no swell or ebb
True love dwells deep within.
In every swan-soul resides Ram.
There's no abode without Ram.
In the whole Universe this light resides,
On the string of awareness, I climb to the sky.
From the navel lotus, feel the presence.
In the heart lotus, a jewel turns.
An unstruck drum resounds in the city
and echoes in the Universe.
If you seek the guru, search in your body.
Don't wander about the city.
Nanak describes the guru's power:
it speaks within there is no other.
And this last piece, about the body, the mind, the heart and the vision of the Beloved...
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!
bring the vision of the Beloved in your heart.'
I'm still trying to find the song that speaks of the thief (death) coming to town, robbing our senses ... it seems that Prahlad-ji sang that song for the first time at Banyan Grove (sister Linda had not heard it before) -- but perhaps one of you knows that Kabir song?
I hope to see you all on the next call!
UPDATE: (July 18th)
Our dearest sister Aabha found the song and translated it for us! Here it is:
Be awake, be alert,
One day a thief
will come to the city
He’ll not be invisible
He won't break any door
He won't destroy the house
He won't care about the city
His interest will be you
He’ll take you away
He won’t carry a bow,
Neither a cannon, nor a sword
He won't strike with a gun
Coming and going he won’t be visible
He will spin you from inside
Your friends, family will be helpless
Wealth and treasure will remain here
You came to this world closed fisted
You will leave with open hands
Kabir says you will face
the destiny of your
actions
Reflections
Share your thoughts or questions