Thiti (Kabir Ji)

The being whose love is attached with the lotus-feet of Gobind, through the grace of Saint-Guru, the mind of that being becomes filth-free. Bhagat Kabir references the thirteen core philosophical texts of Hinduism on the thirteenth day after the new moon. These religious texts explore philosophy and prescribe ways to merge with the Divine. Bhagat Kabir, on the other hand, urges us down a distinct path, forgoing the idea that complex knowledge systems and rigid discipline are necessary, or even helpful, for union. He speaks to those who have studied and followed religious texts yet still feel separated from IkOankar (One Creative and Pervasive Force, 1Force, the One). The name Ram is used for IkOankar here, highlighting the sublime beauty of the Divine. Bhagat Kabir centers praise and love for this beautiful One. He says that the beautiful One is unreachable and unfathomable, further uprooting the idea that a seeker can meet the Divine through rigid methodology like that of religious texts. Bhagat Kabir illuminates that the dualities of the mind are falsehoods; social divisions and prejudices are illusions. One who experiences union comes to recognize this and instead feels the presence of IkOankar pervading everywhere, within everyone.

Through the thirteenth day, we are invited to reflect on the vastness of IkOankar and contemplate the Divine as unreachable and unfathomable. Efforts to simplify and define IkOankar are of many kinds and varieties. People globally have been creating various systems and coming to various conclusions for thousands of years. From these systems, we create our own dualities about who is higher and who is lower in society; we believe certain people are closer to IkOankar and more honored, while others are lesser. These beliefs create divisions and are a source of grief globally. Guiding us away from the entrapments of these systems, Bhagat Kabir helps us remember that the yearning here, the yearning behind all this complexity, is the yearning to feel connection with IkOankar, who pervades everywhere. We are urged toward loving devotion, praise, and Nam (Identification with IkOankar), rather than getting caught up in religious dogma or philosophical abstraction. We are urged to recognize IkOankar within all things and beings. There, our prejudices and biases crumble; we recognize all people as Divine. We come to see the shortcomings of a transactional relationship with IkOankar based on the prescriptions of religious texts. Instead, we come to feel a real, lasting connection with Ram, the beautiful One within us, and sing the praises of the beautiful One naturally and effortlessly. Will we forgo the faith we have put in disciplines prescribed by religious texts, whether there are thirteen or thirty? Will we move past our assumptions, beliefs, and judgments to feel the all-pervasive One in all? Will we challenge the ways we have come to overlook the vastness of IkOankar, creating rigidity, and return to love instead?