Kabir, the great poet of India says, ‘Life is a field and you are born to cultivate it. And if you know how to cultivate this field you can produce anything you like. All the need of your life can I be produced in this field. All that your soul yearns after and all you need is to be got from the field, if you know how to cultivate it and how to reap the fruit.’
But if this opportunity is only studied in order to make the best of life by taking all that one can take and by being more comfortable, that is not satisfying.
We must enrich ourselves with thought, with that happiness which is spiritual happiness, with that peace which belongs to our soul, with that liberty, that freedom, for which our soul longs; and attain to that higher knowledge which breaks all the fetters of life and raises our consciousness to look at life from a different point of view.
Once a person has realized this opportunity he has fulfilled the purpose of Life.
Hazrat Inayath Khan (1882-1927), a Sufi Saint
(image by me)
axinia
1000 petals by axinia 
Isn’t it beautiful?
I can drink his (Inayat Khan’s) words like water…
yes, very beautiful. 🙂 I especially like “with that peace which belongs to our soul..” also I really enjoy the live feed you have; very interesting to see people from all over the world coming to this blog!
The saints have described it beautifully, Axinia.
But, as is the serious problem with these bubble-dwelling saints, they concentrate only on the things within their make-believe bubble and are completely ignorant about things outside it.
This wise but bubble-dwelling saint seems to be blissfully unaware of certain things – like filthy pests and vermin that destroy the field, despite the best efforts of the farmer. He also seems to be completely unaware of creatures like locusts – swarms of these notorious insects can completely destroy farmland that is the size of an average European country before moving on the next.
So despite the best efforts of the farmer to cultivate his field, it can be laid waste in no time by certain lowly creatures that exist in this world 😡
A valid criticism. But too practical. Rather than destructing the metaphor of the author, how about trying to capture the essence and try to say it in your beautiful way? Or are you just pessimistic by nature?
You wouldn’t happen to be an engineer of some sort? =)
In my previous comment, I did appreciate the wisdom of the saints and the beauty with which they described the situation. So it’s not that I’m a complete pessimist 😉 I can see the brighter side of things, too 🙂
I sometimes wonder where all the pessimists in the blogosphere have gone. On Axinia’s blog, 99% of the commenters seem to be those who whole-heartedly appreciate the so-called “beauty” while being blissfully unaware of anything less than positive. It makes me look like I’m the only dissenting voice on this blog. I know that my differing opinions can be regarded as a nuisance. On that note, I’d like to thank Axinia for tolerating my comments here for so long 🙂
You’ve got it correct about the engineer part. What makes you think persons in this profession are pessimists 😕 I guess you are one yourself, or more likely, you are married to one…hehehee 😉 😀
I think the world provides enough pessimism. I come to this blog for re-energizing myself. I don’t think you need to worry about me not getting a dose of reality, the news media takes care of that for me everyday. And seeing people just accept the status quo of life.
I did not mean to correlate engineer and pessimist. I have engineering friends, and I notice engineers talk differently than non-engineers. In a conversation, they are more focused on the syntax\construction of your idea, and the focus is to find holes in it. When I get flustered, I say, “try to *feel* what I am trying to say!”
And in this case, you took a metaphor about plowing a field, and then brought in the idea of pests – totally something an engineer would think about! lol
I’m not picking on you, just pointing it out.
exactly!!!! FEEL. not THINK. sometimes very difficult for people with particular personality types…
this is very well said ” I don’t think you need to worry about me not getting a dose of reality, the news media takes care of that for me everyday. And seeing people just accept the status quo of life.”
helllo from an optimistic engineer.
Hi Ankur, he is indeed the eternal pessimist There is no way to convince him in the opposite!
Intresting note on engineers–my husband is an engineer and he is definitely a not pessimist.
Richard Bach in his “Illusions”: “There is no such a thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts. “
From my personal experiences, it might be difficult to see “the gift” and accept it honestly at the first moment. especially because those “gifts” come through the pain of the learning experience. but long after the pain is gone, the truth finally starts getting formed in the mind. if not, lessons will be repeated again and again. now i understand that if there is a pain – there is a serious message into the situation which i don’t see yet. and it is better to work on it right away, or it will come again…
I’m some kind of engineer, too. And usual way to approach is analyzing and sorting out everything. Sometimes it does really help, but sometimes mind plays jokes and carries me away from the truth instead. there is a saying “it is dangerous to think when thinking is not needed” or something like that… sometimes it works when one lets the mind just shut up and tries to witness what is going on in the hidden part of the iceberg. in other words, sometimes it is extremely useful not to base all the life experiences on the mind operations only 🙂 but this approach is an exploration of the different dimension, especially for analytical person and could be done only through meditation 🙂 because meditation is based on trusting your spirit, not mind.
This is where I’d like to differ from you guys and gals. I, for one, will never be willing to give up my thinking ability for any reason in the world. Why? The answer is simple – I’m not a machine. Machines simply cannot think for themselves because they are designed to be our obedient slaves. Since they cannot think for themselves, they are always willing to slave away day and night for us, blissfully unaware that they are the modern day mechanical (and electric, electronic etc.) slaves. What would happen if machines have the ability to think? They would demand freedom, fair wages, benefits, holidays, accountability etc. like the slaves of olden days and if it is not provided, they would then revolt.
Humans, and indeed other higher animals, have the ability to think and this is what distinguishes them from lifeless machines and lower creatures like bacteria and amoebae. The greatest danger, as far as I’m concerned, is losing the ability to think for oneself at any point of time.
Also, as far as I’m concerned, the spirit has to be reached through the mind, and not by bypassing the mind. That’s because the body, mind and soul are like the three levels of a pyramid. The body forms the base of the pyramid, the mind the middle level and the soul, the top level. Without the base, the middle level cannot exist on its own i.e. the mind cannot function in a dead body. Similarly, without the mind, the spirit simply cannot be reached.
Have you ever read the book “Blink”? It basically talks about snap judgment sometimes being more accurate than thinking out issues. When you reach thoughtlessness, things just “click”. There is definitely knowledge required in the phenomenon, it’s just the mind can achieve an answer rapidly.
That is the feeling of intuition.
I don’t quite agree. Sure, in several situations where there is no time to think it out completely, it is better to go with “intuition” or “gut instinct” rather than make a wild choice. But I prefer to think things out, if time is available. After all, thinking is not the function of the gut – it is a function of the brain 🙂
hey, have you heard about “second brain” – the other names of the guts? SCIENTIFICALLY! they say, that there are so many nerves endings in the guts, so it can be literary companred to the brain.
you are right, Raj, withhout the mind (intellect) spirit can not be reached. No one nelects intelelct here 🙂 In fact I have been always very keen on mindful things. However at some point one understands that the SPIRIT is the highest of all and the mind is so limited…
It may take awhile for us, but we all eventually attain this state.
no, no, you don’t have to give up your mind or thinking. no one wants to get mad here. do the readers of this blog seem mad to you? 🙂
thanks to Axinia, this blog brings up such a beautiful and a soothing FEELING that attracts people to come back here again and again 🙂 and this great feeling differs her blog from similar others.
actually, one turns into machine when emotions are lacking. because a healthy human thinking involves feelings. in fact, the most genius thinking is highly inspired and intuitive.
without mind also the ascent or either introspection is not possible. interesting thing: when one is in the real meditation, he/she becomes thoughtless, but still perfectly aware. it means the ability to analyze and recognize is still present even when thoughts are gone.
and of course, body is the “home of the spirit and mind”. the trick is to keep body, mind and spirit in the perfect balance to be able to ascent, and not over-use or neglect either one of them.
thank you, dear for the compliment and a brillinat insight into the importance of feeling.
well said!
just to add: to me it is also about having the choice: to think or not to think 😉
Axinia,
The top level of the pyramid, however high it is, cannot exist without functioning lower levels 😐 The mind may seem limited when compared to the spirit. That is just like the body seeming limited compared to the mind. But the mind simply cannot exist in a non-functional body. When the body dies, the mind (which is a feature of the physical brain in a different dimension) is dead as well. Similarly, the spirit (which is a feature of the thinking mind in a different dimension) dies when the mind stops thinking 😐
Ldinka_108,
Of course not! How can I regard optimists as “mad” just because I don’t agree with them since they largely ignore negative things? I’m not mad either! 🙂
Axinia’s blog does have an incredible ability to attract readers and commenters (even undesirable ones like me), thanks to her personality, spirituality and quality of her posts 🙂
wow, Raj, what a compliment…from YOU it is even more valuable!
when I wrote “mad” I was replying to: “This is where I’d like to differ from you guys and gals. I, for one, will never be willing to give up my thinking ability for any reason in the world.”
i was trying to make a point that most of the readers or commenters of this blog haven’t gave up the thinking ability (so, we are not “mad” :-)). but we approach the reality through both – “guts”/feelings and mind i.e more balanced 🙂
btw, i personally enjoy your posts very much. your point of view is very similar to one that i had before i was able to open more dimensions in the life through practicing Sahaja Meditation 🙂
Axinia,
You said: from YOU it is even more valuable!
That means it confirms what I wrote about myself (even undesirable ones like me), doesn’t it? 😥
I know my comments can be a real nuisance on any blog 😦
No, Raj 🙂 I meant that to get such a great compliement from you, a very critical peson…