Kabir never gave up his occupation of weaving. People would tell him – it does not suit you now. It no longer befits you to weave cloth and go and sell it in the market.”
Kabir would laugh and say, ”It is all His play. Within and without are one.”
We cannot understand this, for we are so caught in the grip of the outside world that within and without can never be one for us.
Zen master have said: ”Samsara and moksha are one – the world and liberation are one and the same. This shocks us. How can that be? We are caught in the grips of the world, we are plagued by the world. Liberation is exactly the opposite: it is where we shall be free, tranquil, blissful, where there is no pain. In our minds liberation stands in opposition to the world, but when a person is liberated he finds nothing opposing or conflicting in this world. All conflicts and opposition cease, all distances between the within and the without fade away, because all distances are created by the ego.
What within and what without? All is one! But the ego stands as a wall between them and creates the differences. If we were to step into the river with a pot and fill the pot with the river water we could say that there is water inside the pot and water outside of it; but what is the difference? Merely a wall of clay! What happens when this wall breaks? Then what is outside and what is inside? What is within is without; what is without is within.
That is why Kabir says, ”When I sit and when I stand that is my worship. When I walk it is my prayer.” Now Kabir no longer goes to the temple, for there is no distance between shop and temple; they are one and the same. Now Kabir does not run to the Himalayas for there is no difference between the marketplace and the mountains. Kabir does not even renounce the house, for he sees no difference between ’mine’ and ’your’. What is the person to run away from then?
All distances fall when the ego falls. Then there is nothing within and nothing without. Then there is neither matter nor God; then both are one. That is non-duality, the indivisible – where all is one and all boundaries fall, but this can only happen when natural freedom enters one’s life. Then such a person, because of his independent nature, can go out into the world and, remaining in the world, he can also live within his own self. For him there are no obstructions. Inside a palace he is as much a sannyasin as he is outside on the road. If he has a million rupees he is still not possessive, not an owner; and if he has nothing he is still the greatest of possessors, for all the world is at his command.
It is however very difficult for us to recognize, for we are familiar with only one side of existence. You assert the difference between the water outside and the water inside the vessel. What is hidden within you is what is outside of you. The space within is the space without. Your body is the vessel of clay that creates this slight difference.
Samsara, the world, and sannyas are not two things. They seem to be two, for you know only one of them – the world; you do not know sannyas. Therefore you think of sannyas in terms of the world. Your concept of sannyas springs from your concept of the world; therefore you call him a sannyasin who is completely the opposite of a worldly man. You say: See! What a great sannyasin. He walks barefooted! He remains naked, stands in the sun and rain, and sleeps in the grass.
You can never think of a sannyasin in any other terms. King Janak can never be a sannyasin to you. How can he be? He lives in a palace. Krishna cannot be a sannyasin to you. How can he be? He wears his peacock crown and plays his flute. No! For you they cannot be sannyasins.
When your slavery to your mind ends and the essence within you is liberated, you will come to know that liberation is everywhere. Then the shop is no longer a hindrance nor the palace an obstacle. For liberation is the state of your experience. When you reach salvation the world is no mere; then there is no within and without. All is one! Then worship and work are the same. Then a person accepts life as it comes, as it is. There is no need to make the slightest change.
