Saturday 28 October 2017

Forgotten Saints

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:

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