History books should teach
something about everything. It is then that students can pursue any one line of
thought.
India is a land of spiritual
masters. Few minutes back I happened to know about a great saint “Baba Farid”.
The chance encounter of knowing this name was its appearance on a Hindu Wedding
Card.
Baba Farid is well known in Punjabi
Literature.
134 hymns of Baba Farid is part
of the Guru Granth Sahib. One of the works of Baba Farid is presented below:
“The day of
the bride’s wedding is pre-ordained.
On that day,
the Messenger of Death, of whom she had only heard, comes and shows its face.
It breaks the
bones of the body and pulls the helpless soul out.
That
pre-ordained time of marriage cannot be avoided. Explain this to your soul.
The soul is
the bride, and death is the groom. He will marry her and take her away.
After the
body sends her away with its own hands, whose neck will it embrace?
The bridge to
hell is narrower than a hair; haven’t you heard of it with your ears?
Fareed, the
call has come; be careful now - don’t let you be robbed.”
Another spiritual master unheard of by an average Indian is Hazrat
Babajan (Died on 21st September 1931 around 125 years of age).
The unbelievable
part of Hazrat Babajan was her travel undertaken when she was around 18 years
of age (we are talking of early 19th century). She travelled all the
way from Afghanishtan to Peshawar to Rawalpandi to India. It is assumed Hazrat
Babajan left her mortal body in Pune after a spiritual stay of around 25 years.
It is believed that
Meher Baba was initiated by Hazrat Babajan.
The sad part we
have never heard about these great saints from anyone nor taught to us in history
class.
As a mark of
respect to another Great Sufi Saint Hafez (1315 – 1390). I will share here one
of his poetry on Perfect Equanimity. I think we are living in times when we the
Pretenders are surrounded by Pretenders:
Perfect Equanimity
Look how a mirror
will reflect with perfect equanimity
all actions
before
it.
There is no act in this world
that will ever cause the mirror to look away.
There is no act in this world that will
ever make the mirror
say ‘no.’
The mirror, like perfect love, will just keep giving
of itself to all
before
it.
How did the mirror ever get like that, so polite,
so grand, so compassionate?
It watched God.
Yes, the mirror remembers the Beloved
looking into itself as the Beloved shaped existence’s heart
and the mirror’s
soul.
My eye has the nature of God.
Hafiz looks upon all with perfect equanimity,
as do my words,
dear.
My poems will never tell you no,
because the Mirror is
not like
that,
and if God ever hits you with a don’t -
He has His fingers crossed,
He is just fibbing
for your own
good.
From: Love
Poems From God by Daniel Ladinsky
References:
