Go not elsewhere.
“Be strong and enter into your own body; for there your foothold is firm. Consider it well, O my heart! Go not elsewhere. Kabir says: ‘Put all imaginations away, and stand fast in that which you are’. ” - Kabir
In the Buddha’s Great Discourse on the Foundations of Mindfulness - he begins by stating that the technique he is about to outline is the only way for the purification of beings, the overcoming of sorrows, and the disappearance of pain. The core of the technique, as the 15th century mystic poet Kabir also notes, is entering into your body, and experiencing reality as it comes.
We often think spirituality is other-worldly, to be found in ecstatic out of body experiences. But Kabir says stand fast in that which you are. Our foothold is firm in our bodies - we’ve had them since birth, we understand (for the most part) how they interface with the world. What better place to experience truth than right here? The problem is we think it will be glamorous. That pain in your leg, ache in your foot, itch on your ear - this is truth - the truth of impermanence. This is why Kabir opens the poem with be strong. The body is a perpetually uncomfortable place, and in the beginning, to sit with it takes immense discipline.
The Buddha and Kabir agree that you should put away your elaborations and imaginations - and simply contemplate feelings and thoughts as they arise. Learn to stand fast with what you are - your body and mind as they appear to you in the present. The technique is simple: go not elsewhere, stay with yourself, and consider feelings and sensations as truth manifest.
It is as it is.
-Sasha