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which is beyond words.

Really, the mind is the only barrier to silence.

Silence belongs to the state of no-mind.

A preacher came to address some small children.

Before beginning he put a question to them:

If you were asked to address a gathering

of such intelligent boys and girls

who expect a good lecture from you,

and if you had nothing to speak on,

what would you say?

A small child replied: I would keep quiet.

I would keep quiet.

This child-like simplicity is needed to experiment with silence.

136. Love.

Sannyas is a pilgrimage to Mt. Everest –

naturally there are difficulties on the way.

But the fruits of determination are sweet too,

so bear everything calmly and joyously

but don’t give up your commitment.

Serve your mother even more than before –

sannyas is not a running away from responsibility.

Your family is not to be given up,

rather you have to make the whole world your family.

Encourage your mother to take sannyas too.

Tell her: You have seen enough of the world,

now raise your eyes towards God.

But make sure she is caused no trouble on your account.

This doesn’t mean giving in or compromising –

sannyas knows no compromise.

Strong, bold and resolute is the soul of sannyas.

137. Love.

Love does not discriminate

even in dreams,

and in that love which is prayer too,

there are no distinctions at all.

Now I am no more.

The word I is simply a convenience

and as such causes many difficulties.

When the clouds of the I disappear

nothing remains but love –

love without cause,

unconditional love.

Here I stand in the marketplace:

who is ready to come and take it from me?

Kabir stands in the marketplace, torch in hand.

If you are ready to burn your house down, come with me.

138. Love.

Ah, if the veena were outside you could hear its music,

but it is inside

and we do not hear it.

But we can become one with it.

And how much is music worth that ends with listening?

Ultimately the musician, the veena, the music,

the listener

are not separate.

Look inside,

go within,

and see who is waiting there for you.

139. Love.

The springs of meditation are close at hand

but the layers of suppressed sex work like rocks.

The repression of sex has choked your life with anger,

its smoke pervades your whole personality.

When you were meditating in front of me the other day

I saw all this very clearly,

but I could also see that your will is very strong too,

your thirst for God is also strong

and you are working hard,

so there is no need to be disheartened.

Difficulties are there,

blocks are there,

but they will disintegrate

because the breaker is not yet broken.

Meditate totally and soon the springs will be reached.

But you have to put your whole being at stake –

nothing less will do.

Hold back a bit and you will miss.

Time is short so gather all your strength;

whilst the opportunity is here

your effort must be total.

It is difficult to say whether you will have such an opportunity

in another life, so everything must be finished in this one.

If the gates don’t open this time

you will have to start from the very beginning next time –

and then it is far from sure that I will be with you.

In your last life you worked for it

but the work was not completed;

and it was the same in the life before that.

For three lives you have repeated the same cycle

again and again –

it is time now to break it.

It is already late,

any further delay would be foolish.

My regards to all.

140. Love.

The meaning of sadhana

is to enter into one’s own nature,

to live in it,

to be it.

One must therefore know what is not one’s nature

so as to be aware what one wants to be free of.

Recognizing it becomes freedom from it.

A disciple of Bankei asked him:

I become overwhelmed by anger.

I want to be rid of it but I cannot be.

What shall I do?

Bankei did not say a word,

just stared deep into the eyes of the disciple,

who began to sweat

in those few heavy minutes of silence.

He wanted to break the silence

but couldn’t gather the courage.

Then Bankei laughed and said: It’s strange!

I searched and searched but could find

no anger within you.

Still, show me a little of it, here and now.

The disciple said: It is not always here.

It comes all of a sudden, how can I produce it now?

Bankei laughed again and said:

Then it is not your true nature.

That remains with you always,

and if your anger had been part of it

you could have shown it to me.

When you were born it was not with you,

when you die it will not be with you.

No, this anger is not you.

There is a mistake somewhere.

Go away and think again,

search again, meditate again.

141. Love.

God purifies in every way.

It is not only gold that has to pass through fire

to be purified

but man too.

For man this fire is the anguish of love.

It is a blessing when this fire enters a person’s life;

it is the fruit of infinite prayers, infinite births.

It is the intensity of thirst that turns finally into love,

but unfortunately few are able to welcome it

because few can recognize love in the form of anguish.