“With open eyes, I joyously behold the beautiful form of God everywhere.” — Kabir
“O Saints! If I speak the truth who will believe me? In the world lies appear to become the truth. The precious, flawless, and priceless jewel is shining, but there is no buyer and no owner. This priceless jewel is shining in all directions, and its brilliance spreads everywhere. When the Satguru showered his grace on me, I was able to see the invisible and attributeless God. In sahaj samadhi (natural union [meditation]) enlightenment dawned, and easily I found union with God. Now, wherever I look, there I see Him, as my gem-like mind has pierced (seen) the perfect diamond. You can obtain the Eternal Essence from the Satguru. This is the advice of Kabir.” (Kabir, Shabda # 7, The Bijak)
Commentary:
The essence of spiritual teaching and practice is to realize divinity within. The soul is spoken of as being a precious diamond that is beyond price, and is flawless. This precious diamond does not really have a buyer, and it has no owner. This is so because nobody can sell or buy the soul, and the soul has no owner because the soul is the gift from God, and it accepts a physical body in order to live in a material world. God is also not the owner of the soul because the soul is a part of God. So, in a spiritual or mystical sense, the soul does not belong to God but the soul is a manifestation of God Himself. This type of truth is hardly taught in the various religions of the world. So Guru Kabir asks the question that who will believe him if he speaks what he knows to be the Truth or the Reality. He has observed, as we continue to observe, that in the world, a great deal of falsehood is passed on to be the truth. People often gullibly accept all the false paraphernalia of religion to be the Truth and the Essence. They literally become bogged down with the practice of religion, but do not arrive at the realization or knowledge of this peerless Essence of God dwelling within.
Guru Kabir is saying that the brilliance of this Eternal Divine Light that is within is shining in all directions, and has spread everywhere. God is not hidden in any corner of the world, but is manifested everywhere. That is why He is said to be Omnipresent. It is the lack of spiritual vision, on our part, that causes us not to ‘see’ God. In one of his bhajans Guru Kabir said, “With open eyes, I joyously behold the beautiful form of God everywhere.” He wants us to have the same experience. But as long as we accept as truth the teachings going around, then we will not have that realization.
He states that with the grace of the Satguru he was able to see the invisible Lord who is beyond all qualities or attributes. How many of us can understand such Divinity? God truly has no qualities, but we ascribe qualities to Him. God is neither male, nor female, nor neuter gender. God is neither good nor bad. He is beyond the dualities of the material world. God is the power that ‘just is’. How can we realize such a being? Guru Kabir states that in an easy way, he gained unity with this Being (God), and he became enlightened. Now he states that wherever he looked, he saw this Divinity. His mind was pure as a gem, and it was able to pierce the priceless diamond of God that dwells within as the soul. He advises us that we can also obtain this Eternal Essence if we follow the teachings given by the Satguru.
The lesson here is that we must seek the Reality through purity of the heart, and not to accept all the falsehood perpetrated in the name of religion.
— The Complete Bijak of Kabir, translation and commentary by Dr. Jagessar Das
