One life in many forms
The river and its waves are onesurf: where is the difference between the river and its waves?When the wave rises, it is the water; and when it falls, it is the same water again. Tell me, Sir, where is the distinction?Because it has been named as wave, shall it no longer be considered as water?
Within the Supreme Brahma, the worlds are being told like beads:Look upon that rosary with the eyes of wisdom.
Constantly regard the universe as one living being, having one substance and one soul; and observe how all things have reference to one perception, the perception of this one living being; and how all things act with one movement; and how all things are the co-operating causes of all things which exist; observe too the continuous spinning of the thread and the contexture of the web.
The Editors’ note
Both ask the reader to see one reality in many things. For Kabīr the river and its waves are the same water, rising or falling, and the worlds are told like beads within the Supreme Brahma. Marcus Aurelius asks himself to regard the universe as one living being, of one substance and one soul, in which all things work together as causes.
They part on the many. Kabīr treats the difference between wave and water as a matter of names, to be seen through “with the eyes of wisdom”. Marcus keeps each thing as a distinct part of one ordered whole, a single web whose threads remain threads.