The 15th century poet Kabir writes:
I laugh when I hear that the fish in
the water is thirsty :
You do not see that the Real is in
forest to forest listlessly !
Here is the truth ! Go where you
will, to Benares or to Mathura ;
if you do not find your soul, the
world is unreal to you.
And another poem:
The Yogi dyes his garments, instead
of dyeing his mind in the colors of love :
He sits within the temple of the Lord,
leaving Brahma to worship a stone.
He pierces holes in his ears, he has a
great beard and matted locks, he
looks like a goat :
He goes forth into the wilderness,
killing all his desires, and turns
himself into an eunuch :
He shaves his head and dyes his
garments ; he reads the Gita and
becomes a mighty talker.
Kabir says : " You are going to the doors
of death, bound hand and foot ! "
-- Translated by Rabindrath Tagore (1915)
