Mindful Poetry: "Stand Firm in that Which You Are" by Kabir

This is one of my very favorite poems of all time. I think about all the time I spend with thoughts of “imaginary things”…with conversations I should have, or things I should do.

I recite the phrase, “Just throw away all thoughts of imaginary things, and stand firm in that which you are.” often…it has become a way for me to check in with myself…to make sure I am here now.

I said to the wanting-creature inside me:
What is this river you want to cross?
There are no travelers on the river-road, and no road.
Do you see anyone moving about on that bank, or nesting?

There is no river at all, and no boat, and no boatman.
There is no tow rope either, and no one to pull it.
There is no ground, no sky, no time, no bank, no ford!

And there is no body, and no mind!
Do you believe there is some place that will make the
soul less thirsty?
In that great absence you will find nothing.

Be strong then, and enter into your own body;
there you have a solid place for your feet.
Think about it carefully!
Don't go off somewhere else!

Kabir says this: just throw away all thoughts of
imaginary things,
and stand firm in that which you are. 

The Kabir Book: Forty Four of the Ecstatic Poems of Kabir, Translation by Robert Bly.

Beacon Press, Boston, 1993.