Kabir

Dear Kabir,
Your poem, Brother I’ve seen some, greatly interests me. You start by addressing the reader as “Brother”. Is this a literal or metaphorical? If it is in fact metaphorical, what are you trying to portray? I interpreted this as the human race as one universal family. In Buddhism, a religion that largely influenced your works, all living beings, man or animal, are one soul living on our earth. Understanding this, we all are brothers of this world. You go on to say that you’ve seen some “amazing sights”, including a lion watching over pasturing cows, a mother born after her son was, and a guru prostrate prostrated before his disciples. Although you were primarily influenced by old Brahmanic Hinduism, Hindu and Buddhist Tantrism, I interpreted this as having Christian connotations. You say you have seen a lion watching over the cows; immediately I thought of “and the lamb will lie down with the lion”, a common Bible quotation from the book Isaiah. This quotation is commonly thought to be symbolic of the peace that will encompass the entire earth when Jesus will reign as king over the earth. It also connects with a common theme of Buddhism: that all living creatures are part of one soul. No matter how ferocious the lion is and no matter how weak the cow is the two can always lie together in the same pasture. Additionally, you state that you saw a son delivered before his mother. Is this a reference to Jesus Christ, son of Mary? In Christianity, Jesus was in fact delivered before his mother, Mary, because Jesus is God himself. Also, if there was heavy Christian symbolism in this poem, why did you decide to remark on it if you were primarily influenced by eastern religions? I again interpret Christian symbolism in your next line: A guru prostrated before his disciple. This sparks the image of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet, rather than having his disciples’ wash his feet. You later say you have seen a fish spawning on treetops and a cat carrying a dog and a...