Kabir: Between the conscious and the unconscious, the mind has put up a swing:

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Between the conscious and the unconscious, the mind has put up a swing:

Kabir, Kabir poetry, Muslim / Sufi, Muslim / Sufi poetry, poetry, [TRADITION SUB2] poetry, Yoga / Hindu poetry

by Kabir
(15th Century) Timeline

English version by
Robert Bly

Original Language
Hindi

Muslim / Sufi

Yoga / Hindu

15th Century

Between the conscious and the unconscious, the mind has put up a swing:
all earth creatures, even the supernovas, sway between these two trees,
and it never winds down.

Angels, animals, humans, insects by the million, also the wheeling sun and moon;
ages go by, and it goes on.

Everything is swinging: heaven, earth, water, fire,
and the secret one slowly growing a body.
Kabir saw that for fifteen seconds, and it made him a servant for life.

-- from The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry, by Stephen Mitchell

Amazon.com

/ Photo by Johnny Jet /

Themes

Bower

Fire

Garden

Moon

Sun

Recommended Books

	The Bijak of Kabir, Translated by Linda Hess / Translated by Shukdeo Singh
	The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry, by Stephen Mitchell
	Kabir: The Weaver's Songs, by Kabir / Translated by Vinay Dharwadker
	Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West, Translated by Daniel Ladinsky
	One Hundred Poems of Kabir: Translated by Rabindranath Tagore, by Kabir / Translated by Rabindranath Tagore

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This is a rather loose translation, but I like it.

Everything is swinging: heaven, earth, water, fire,
and the secret one slowly growing a body.

There is a continuous flowing between the subtle and the manifest, between spirit and matter. Spirit pours through matter, giving it life and awareness. Matter, in turn, gives form to spirit, striving to embody the limitless amidst limitation.

And so the swing goes back and forth, patiently, playfully, sometimes exhilarating, sometimes frightening.

It isn't a process where we find that perfect spot and then it all stops. "It never winds down." It is an interplay that continues, and we find our rightful place by seeing the entire dance...

Kabir saw that for fifteen seconds, and it made him a servant for life.

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