Crawl to begin.

Triumph to complete.

Renounce to leave.

I was born at Gorakhpur (India), a small but spiritually important town, located at the crossroads of a few places of spiritual importance. Lumbini, where Buddha was born, lies about 126 km to the North West. Kushinagar, where Buddha left his worldly body, lies about 54 km to the East. Maghar, where the great Indian philosopher of the Bhakti movement, Kabir left his worldly body in 15th century, lies about 26 km to the West. Gorakhpur itself is named after the 11th century yogi, Gorakhnath, the founder of the Nath sect, an ascetic order that stresses the physical and spiritual disciplines of Hatha Yoga.

I have personally been deeply influenced by the simplicity of Kabir’s philosophy. He was the contemporary of Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh faith and his writings find a place in the spiritual scripture of the Sikhs, The Guru Granth Sahib.

Kabir’s life is a simple reflection of crawling, triumphing and renouncing.

Having been abandoned at birth, he was bought up by a family of weaver. His early life was a phase of learning, filled with an awkward struggle for mastery.

He then moved to Varanasi, a conscious decision to test himself on the anvil of spirituality by immersing in a place that offered competition from many like minded people.

Finally, his last act which many see as renouncing from the spiritual competition at Varanasi, is the real reflection of triumphing over the Self. To break the shackles of superstition associated with the importance of Varanasi with death, he moved to Maghar. The background to the meaning of Death in Varanasi and the final act of Kabir, can be read in my article that was published by Asian Geographic through link here. Click to access Death in Varanasi.

Having been raised by a weaver, Kabir maintained the profession of a weaver.

As I photographed the weavers in Rajasthan, making an awkward bend to accentuate the perspective of leading lines created by the threads, I was reminded of Kabir.

Click first photo below and scroll to view entire series in slide show.