When I Sit Firmly

I saw this poem for the first time in an email one of my many beloved brothers sent me today. And as I kept reading Kabir's poetry I came to another which made me gasp in wonder and reminded me once again that poets are indeed magicians. Both poems are below.

The guest is inside you, and also inside me;
you know the sprout is hidden inside the seed.
We are all struggling; none of us has gone far.
Let your arrogance go, and look around inside.

The blue sky opens out farther and farther,
the daily sense of failure goes away,
the damage I have done to myself fades,
a million suns come forward with light,
when I sit firmly in that world.

—Kabir

Are you looking for me? I am in the next seat.
My shoulder is against yours.
you will not find me in the stupas, not in Indian shrine
rooms, nor in synagogues, nor in cathedrals:
not in masses, nor kirtans, not in legs winding
around your own neck, nor in eating nothing but vegetables.

When you really look for me, you will see me
instantly—
you will find me in the tiniest house of time.

Kabir says: Student, tell me, what is God?
He is the breath inside the breath.

—Kabir

(And to my sister Pat, I want to say thank you. I looked in the malachite box and found a hazelnut. Today I can remember the wisdom of the hazelnut and the salmon. Today is a new day. Today I re-member love.)