Where do you search for me? - Kabir

मोको कहाँ ढूंढ़ं रे बन्दे मैं तो तेरे पास में।
ना तीरथ में ना मूरत में, ना एकान्त निवास में।
ना मंदिर में ना मस्जिद में, ना काशी कैलाश में।
ना मैं जप मे ना मैं तप में, ना मैं व्रत उपवास में।
ना मैं क्रियाकर्म में रहता, ना ही योग सन्यास में।
नहिं प्राण में नहिं पिण्ड में, ना ब्रह्मांड आकाश में।
ना मैं भृकुटी भंवर गुफा में, सब श्वासन की श्वास में
खीजी होय तुरत मिल जा इस पल की तलाश में।
कहैं कबीर सुनो भाई साधो, मैं तो हूं विश्वास में । 

English Translation:

Where do you search me?
I am with you
Not in pilgrimage, nor in icons
Neither in solitudes
Not in temples, nor in mosques
Neither in Kaba nor in Kailash
I am with you O man
I am with you
Not in prayers, nor in meditation
Neither in fasting
Not in yogic exercises
Neither in renunciation
Neither in the vital force nor in the body
Not even in the ethereal space
Neither in the womb of Nature
Not in the breath of the breath
Seek earnestly and discover
In but a moment of search
Says Kabir, Listen with care
Where your faith is, I am there. 

The mother divine.

From the past few days this blog has seen some very intimate and high knowledge from 'The Yoga Vasistha' where Sage Vasistha instructs Lord Rama regarding the four paths to liberation.

Today I had been to the Ashram to be with the Master during the DEVI PUJA. It is very special and of course very fortunate to be in HIS presence when the divine mother is being invoked. And the location of it in the satvik and pure enviroment of the Veda-Agama pathshala makes it all the more blissful.
As and when the puja progressed.....Mind vanished, thoughts subsided, tears of bliss rolled and what remained was pure self. When the holy chantings of Lalita Sahasranama got over and Bhanu Ma started singing "Bhagya da Lakshmi...." the bliss inside me knew no bounds. When the singing also began to subside I opened my eyes only to see that the MASTER was in front of me now. Oh! Back to duality!

While my way back only one thought was coming again and again "OH! HOW FORTUNATE AM I!"
Don't you think so?

P.S. The Narada Bhakti sutra sessions at IISc which was on full swing since the past 15 days finally concluded today. Lots of knowledge has seeped inside. It means so much more now than when I listened to it for the first time 3 yrs back.

Yoga Vasistha: Good company(Satsanga)

Satsanga(company of wise) is yet another gate keeper to liberation. Satsanga enlarges one's intelligence, destroy's one's ignorance and one's psychological distress. Whatever be the cost, however difficult it may be, whatever obstacles may stand in its way,  Satsanga should never be neglected. For satsanga alone is one's light on the path of life. Satsanga is indeed superior to all other forms of religious practices like charity, austerity, pilgrimage and the performance of religious rites. One should by every means in one's power adore and serve teh holy men who have realised the truth and in whose heart the darkness of ignorance has been dispelled. They  who , on the other hand, treat such a holy men disrespectfully surely invite great suffering.

These four - contentment, satsanga, spirit of enquiry, and self-control are the four surest means by which they who are drowning in this ocean of samsara can be saved.Contentment is the supreme gain. Satsanga is the best coompanion to the destination.. The spirit of enquiry is the greates wisdom. And, self-control is supreme happiness.

Yoga Vasistha: Contentment

Contentment is another gate keeper to liberation. He who has quaffed the nectar of contentment does not relish craving for sense pleasures; no delight in this world is as sweet as contentment which destroys all sins.
What is contentment? To renounce all craving for what is not obtained unsought and to be satisfied with what comes unsought, without being satisfied in the self, he will be subjected to sorrow. With the rise of contentment the purity of one's heart blooms. The contented man who possesses nothing owns the world.

Yoga Vasistha: Spirit of Enquiry

Vasistha continued:
Enquiry(the second gate keeper to liberation) should be undertaken by an intelligence that has been purified by a close study of the scripture, and this enquiry should be unbroken. By such enquiry the intelligence becomes keen and is able to realise the supreme; hence enquiry alone is the best remedy for the long-lasting illness known as samsara.
The wise man regards strength, intellect, efficiency and timely acton as the fruits of enquiry. Indeed, kingdom, prosperity, enjoyment as well as final liberation are all the fruits of enquiry.When the mind has been rendered dull by the absense of enquiry, even the cool rays of the moon turn into deadly weapons, and teh childish imagination throws up a goblin in every dark spot. Hence, the non- enquiring fool is a storehouse of sorrow.
They in whom the spirit of enquiry is ever awake illumine the world, enlighten all who come into contact with them, dispel the ghosts created by an ignorant mind, and realise the falsity of sense-pleasures and their objects.
The eye of spiritual enquiry does not lose its sight even in the midst of all activities; he who does not have this eye is indeed  to be pitied. It is better to be born as a frog in the mud, a worm in the dung, a snake in a hole, tha to be one without this eye.
What is enquiry? To enquire thus "Who am I? How has this evil of samsara(repetitive history) come into being?"
Knowledge of truth arises from such enquiry and ends all sorrow.