January 28
You look for freedom outside, from door to door. The fragrance is in your own body — and you wander through the world looking for it. Whoever needs nothing anymore within is already free.
Songs of Kabir (freely rendered)
Listening mode
You look for freedom outside, from door to door. The fragrance is in your own body — and you wander through the world looking for it. Whoever needs nothing anymore within is already free.
When you badly need something, you listen poorly. Praise you have been waiting for, you check at once: was it warm enough, was it really meant for you, will it last until tomorrow? What the other person actually said almost gets lost. You have measured a gap, not heard a sentence.
If the same remark comes on a day when you don't need it, it becomes strangely clear. You notice which detail caught someone's eye, and perhaps also that it wasn't the one you yourself were proud of. That can interest you instead of hurting you.
It doesn't follow that it would be good to need no one anymore. Some needing is simply closeness. Someone who feels they depend on nothing can also become unreachable. The difference lies rather in whether a need still lets you see the person in front of you, or whether all it asks for now is a fresh supply.
Often you only notice afterwards on which day you simply listened. It was no special day. On that day you just didn't need to have anything confirmed.
