chalne hi chalne mein kitna jeevan, hai, bita daala
'door abhi hai', par, kehta hai har path batlaanewaala
himmat hai na badhoon aage ko saahas hai na firoon peechhe,
kinkartavyavomoodh mujhe kar door khadi hai madhushaala
The madhushala is unattainable as long as one desires the madhushala.
The commentary should stop right here, but I will carry on, nevertheless, for it is a beautiful verse that goes into the heart of desire itself. As long as we desire something, two things are inevitable. We will be impatient, while seeking it, and secondly, there will always be those who will purport to teach you the way to attaining it while telling you how difficult it is.
It is a salesman's adage: there is profit in difficulty and mystery. Every guru, every master, every path batlaane waala, will always tell you how difficult it is to attain happiness and how only he knows the way to get there. Invariably, it is an expensive way as well! However, the demand for these spiritual wares is inelastic, in spite of the fact that man spends an entire lifetime in disillusionment and disappointment.
Every so often, we feel like giving up: the heart knows the inevitability of failure. The desire for happiness is the brick wall that separates us from happiness, and despite this simple lesson, we do not have the courage to go back, for then we are left with ourselves; and the self is a dangerous, fearsome, horrible thing that scares us witless.
Ghalib said it best:
hai kahaan tamanna ka doosra qadam ya rab!
hamne dasht-e imkaan ko ek naqsh-e pa paaya
Where is desire's next step, My Lord!
I found the desert of possibilities as but one footstep wide.
The entire range of human desire, said Ghalib, is just one footstep wide, for the moment you take it, you are lost. This includes the desire for spirituality as well. Any desire is unattainable: the kingdom of Heaven is only for those who don't give jack-shit for it.
Atheism, which is not the same as non-belief in God, is the only true religion, for God only appears to those who have the pure flame of religiousness in them that does not follow a book. A religious life demands the shunning of religion. A moral life demands the shunning of social morals. The two are incompatible. Truth is a pathless land, but one thing is sure: is does not lie alongside the road to the temple.
'door abhi hai', par, kehta hai har path batlaanewaala
himmat hai na badhoon aage ko saahas hai na firoon peechhe,
kinkartavyavomoodh mujhe kar door khadi hai madhushaala
The madhushala is unattainable as long as one desires the madhushala.
The commentary should stop right here, but I will carry on, nevertheless, for it is a beautiful verse that goes into the heart of desire itself. As long as we desire something, two things are inevitable. We will be impatient, while seeking it, and secondly, there will always be those who will purport to teach you the way to attaining it while telling you how difficult it is.
It is a salesman's adage: there is profit in difficulty and mystery. Every guru, every master, every path batlaane waala, will always tell you how difficult it is to attain happiness and how only he knows the way to get there. Invariably, it is an expensive way as well! However, the demand for these spiritual wares is inelastic, in spite of the fact that man spends an entire lifetime in disillusionment and disappointment.
Every so often, we feel like giving up: the heart knows the inevitability of failure. The desire for happiness is the brick wall that separates us from happiness, and despite this simple lesson, we do not have the courage to go back, for then we are left with ourselves; and the self is a dangerous, fearsome, horrible thing that scares us witless.
Ghalib said it best:
hai kahaan tamanna ka doosra qadam ya rab!
hamne dasht-e imkaan ko ek naqsh-e pa paaya
Where is desire's next step, My Lord!
I found the desert of possibilities as but one footstep wide.
The entire range of human desire, said Ghalib, is just one footstep wide, for the moment you take it, you are lost. This includes the desire for spirituality as well. Any desire is unattainable: the kingdom of Heaven is only for those who don't give jack-shit for it.
Atheism, which is not the same as non-belief in God, is the only true religion, for God only appears to those who have the pure flame of religiousness in them that does not follow a book. A religious life demands the shunning of religion. A moral life demands the shunning of social morals. The two are incompatible. Truth is a pathless land, but one thing is sure: is does not lie alongside the road to the temple.