In God Makes the Rivers to Flow; An Anthology of the World’s Sacred Poetry & Prose, Eknath Easwaran includes a selection from Kabir entitled “The Temple of the Lord.” I’ve written the following poem-like reflections inspired by this selection.
The Veil of Illusion
O man, the object of supremest value,
For which you search throughout the world,
Is here within you,
But the veil of Illusion ever separates you from Him.
Tear the veil boldly asunder and you will find Him.
—Kabir
The veil of Illusion.
How can I tear it boldly usunder? I can’t see it! It is an illusion.
I can’t see it. And I can’t see through it.
I look at myself with my own eyes, and all I see is my own eyes.
I look deeply into my eyes, and all I see is my pupils, my irises, the whites.
We live in a world of eyes seeing I’s.
We live in a world of I’s that long to see beyond themselves.
I, for one, look at my body and see flesh on bone.
I can’t see through my flesh to the divine.
I can’t tear my flesh and see the divine.
The veil is thick.
Even though you tell me, Kabir, that the divine is here within me, I can’t pierce the veil.
The saints say, “Look within.”
What am I looking within?
Not my body. My body is an object that can’t be seen through.
I am not my body.
If I look within myself, what do I see?
I can’t see. I’m blind.
Without my body, I’m blind.
Can God be seen without sight?
The saints say, “Look within.”
Kabir says to tear the veil of Illusion.
The Illusion is the keyboard my fingers type on.
The Illusion is the desk that holds my screen.
The Illusion is the screen.
The Illusion is a 3-D movie.
The Illusion is what I call “Reality.”
Am I supposed to tear up Reality?
Am I supposed to see through Reality?
Am I supposed to see within Reality?
The saints say, “Look within.”
Look within.
If I look within Reality, I see more Reality.
How can I see God?
Yes, I search throughout the world. I seek the saints. Who tell me nothing.
Maybe the Illusion is that anything is not God.
Then, when I look in my eyes I see God; I see Reality.
Maybe.
And, maybe, I despair, the veil is all there is to see.
Lord, help me. Answer my deepest longing.
Tear the veil for me. Let me see!
