Moth -BY KABIR

Joy is brief.
Sorrow and grief are endless.
The mind's an elephant,
mad,amnesiac.

Air and flame burn as one,
just as when the moth, its eye enchanted by light,
flies straight into the lamp,
and wing and fire flare together.

Who hasn't found
restful peace in a moment of pleasure?
So you brush aside the truth,
and chase the lies you hold so dear.

At the end of your days
you feel the temptation, you covet joy,
even though old age and death
are close at hand.

The world's embroiled in illusion,error:
this is the process always in motion.
Man attains a human birth:
why does he waste and destroy it?

Ant -BY KABIR

Beware of the world,
     brothers,
     be alert---
you're being robbed
     while wide awake.
Beware of the Vedas,
     brothers,
     be vigilant---
Death will carry you away
While the guard
     looks on.

The neem tree
becomes the mango tree,
    the mango tree becomes
    the neem,
the banana plant
spreads into a bush--
    the fruit on the coconut palm
ripens into berry
right under your noses,
    you dumb and foolish
    rustics!

Hari becomes sugar
    and scatters Himself
    in the sand.
No elephant can sift
the crystals from the grains.
    Kabir says, renounce
    all family, caste, and clan.
Turn into an ant,
     instead---
pick the sugar from the sand
     and eat.

Where the mind is without fear-By Rabindranath Tagore

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake

Bulleh! to me, I am not known

By:Bulleh Shah Not a believer inside the mosque, am I Nor a pagan disciple of false rites Not the pure amongst the impure Neither Moses, nor the Pharaoh Bulleh! to me, I am not known Not in the holy Vedas, am I Nor in opium, neither in wine Not in the drunkard`s intoxicated craze Niether awake, nor in a sleeping daze Bulleh! to me, I am not known In happiness nor in sorrow, am I Neither clean, nor a filthy mire Not from water, nor from earth Neither fire, nor from air, is my birth Bulleh! to me, I am not known Not an Arab, nor Lahori Neither Hindi, nor Nagauri Hindu, Turk, nor Peshawari Nor do I live in Nadaun Bulleh! to me, I am not known Secrets of religion, I have not known From Adam and Eve, I am not born I am not the name I assume Not in stillness, nor on the move Bulleh! to me, I am not known I am the first, I am the last None other, have I ever known I am the wisest of them all Bulleh! do I stand alone? Bulleh! to me, I am not known

The Traveler

--By Laxmi Prasad Devkota
Translated By Pratit Gurung

Which Sanctuary are you visiting, Oh! traveler?
Which temple are you going to?
What will you offer in worship oh traveler?
How will you take it with you?
To which kingdom are you going to? riding upon people's backs!
Your bones are marvelous columns,
Your muscles are the walls
Your brain is the golden roof,
which are doors to the senses!
Your veins are the flow of rivers,
A temple in itself incomparably Marvelous!
Oh! Which temple will you go Pilgrim?
To which temple's door?
In the glorious throne of the Mind,reigns the Almighty
Your infinite rays of consciousness, is its apex crown
This wonderful temple of the body,amidst the universe!
God is within but your eyes are outside,which city are you searching in?
God resides in the depth,for how long will you drift on the surface?
If you're seeking,illuminate your heart with the shining light of passion
Oh! Pilgrim friend! God walks along with you in the middle of the road
God kisses the hands of the working man who works selflessly
With divine grace does it hold its servant's hands!
the almighty sings by the side of the road in the song of birds
The almighty speaks in the songs of human pain and suffering
Yet, nowhere will it reveal itself to our physical eyes
To which temple will you go traveler?
To which strange promised land?
Return,return...oh! traveler
Go and hold the feet of the people!
Put ointment in the rankling wounds of the afflicted
Be human and make god's divine face smile......

Do not believe.... -Tathāgata Buddha

“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”

An Old Poem of J. Krishnamurti:

I have no name,
I am as the fresh breeze of the mountains.
I have no shelter; I am as the wandering waters.
I have no sanctuary,
like the dark gods; Nor am I in the shadow of deep temples.
I have no sacred books; Nor am I well-seasoned in tradition.
I am not in the incense Mounting on the high altars,
Nor in the pomp of ceremonies.
I am neither in the graven image,
Nor in the rich chant of a melodious voice.
I am not bound by theories,
Nor corrupted by beliefs.
I am not held in the bondage of religions, Nor in the pious agony of their priests.
I am not entrapped by philosophies, Nor held in the power of their sects.
I am neither low nor high,
I am the worshiper and the worshiped.
I am free.
My song is the song of the river Calling for the open seas,
Wandering, wandering, I am Life.
I have no name, I am as the fresh breeze of the mountains.