by Peter Holleran


   Kabir (1398-1518) was a weaver-saint and a contemporary of Guru Nanak . Although he was a Muslim from one of the lowest castes in Irldia, he came to rival the Brahmans in influence, with many thousands of Hindu disciples. In fact, the Kabir panth sect today has one million members in Northern India who honor him as their founder. When Christian missionaries came to convert them they found, to their frustration, that the Kabir panthis were unable to comprehend how Christ was in any way superior to or even different than Kabir. Indeed, Kabir is said to have incarnated in all of the four ages or yugas.

   Kabir, a favorite among many non-dual teachers, nevertheless preached the glory of the Name or Word of God, given through direct contact with the guru:

   “Hold your tongue, avoid loose talk, stay with the tester.
   Remember the Word from the guru’s mouth.” (1)

   “When one merges in the Master’s words
   He will be attached to the Lord’s Name;
   When he is attached to the Lord’s Name
   His delusions depart, his fears end.

   When the moon becomes one with the sun
   The unstruck melody resounds within;
   When the melody of the bagpipes resounds
   The soul shares the throne with the Lord." (2)

   "Apply yourself, 0 friend,
   To the practice of Shabd-
   The Shabd from which even
   The creator came into being;
   Imprint that Shabd
   In your heart, 0 friend." (3)

   Thus, it is clear that Kabir expounded the virtues of shabd yoga and was a master of that school. Tradition holds that Ramanand was his guru, but Ramanand was not a shabd-Master, and so the debate continues on the reasons Kabir had for taking Ramanand as his guru and also where he learned the path of Shabd Yoga. Kabir makes reference in some of his verses to one Sheikh Taqi, so it is possible that he had a Sufi master, but 'Taqi' is a name that could be applied to any realized soul, so we can not be sure of this. It is not unlikely that Kabir did submit himself to a Sufi teacher, for many saints in that tradition practiced the path of shabd yoga. Hazrat Nizamuddin and Khwaja Muinuddin were two such examples. There is reason to believe that Kabir wanted to be a disciple of Ramanand in order to gain respect among the people of Banares. When Kabir began to teach about God-realization through the practice of the Word or Shabd, he was ridiculed by the orthodox Hindus, who wanted to know where he got his 'new' theories, and the Muslims labelled him an infidel. In their eyes he had no guru as well.

   Kabir employed a clever means in order to get the orthodox Ramanand to accept him as his disciple. He knew he could not ask him directly and hope of being accepted, so one morning he lay down on the steps leading to the river where Ramanand took his morning bath. When the guru tripped over Kabir's body, in fear of his life he cried out, "Ram! Ram!" Kabir claimed that Ramanand had thus transmitted to him his mantra and had to accept him as a disciple. In due course, as evidenced by his later poems and writings, Ramanand converted to the path of the saints, or shabd-marg, and changed his stance from that of an orthodox Hindu to one who admitted low-caste devotees (Ravidas, Dharma, Sadna) into his fold. Ramanand followed in the footsteps of other saints like Jaidev, Namdev, Tukaram, and Mirabai who at first were worshippers of divine incarnations (Vishnu, Rama, etc.) and who later adopted the path of Shabd. The Adi Granth, an immense compilation of devotional poems by Saints and devotees of that persuasion, which was compiled in 1604 by Guru Arjan Singh, the fifth Guru in the line of Sikhs from Guru Nanak, contains the following verse:

   "0 Satguru, I sacrifice my all to you, you who have cut the chains of my confusion, my delusion. The Lord pervades all, says Ramanand, and the Guru's Shabd eradicates a million karmas." (4)

   Kabir, author of the famous Bijak, is considered the greatest of all Hindu lyric poets. His verses are often bold and searing, exposing the hypocrisy of organized religion and ritual.

   "Saints, I see the world is mad.
   If I tell the truth they rush to beat me,
   if I lie they trust me.
   I've seen the pious Hindus, rule-followers,
   early morning bath-takers-
   killing souls, they worship rocks.
   They know nothing.
   I've seen plenty of Muslim teachers, holy men
   reading their holy books
   and teaching their pupils techniques.
   They know just as much.
   And posturing yogis, hypocrites,
   hearts crammed with pride,
   praying to brass, to stones, reeling
   with pride in their pilgrimage,
   fixing their caps and their prayer-beads,
   painting their brow-marks and arm-marks,
   braying their hymns and their couplets,
   reeling. They never heard of soul.
   The Hindu says Ram is the Beloved,
   the Turk says Rahim.
   Then they kill each other.
   No one knows the secret.
   They buzz their mantras from house to house,
   puffed with pride.
   The pupils drown along with their gurus.
   In the end they're sorry.
   Kabir says, listen saints:
   they're all deluded!
   Whatever I say, nobody gets it.
   It's too simple." (5)

   In shabd yoga teachings, the goal of the path is generally proposed as the highest inner region tihe soul attains through mystical ascent. This region is spoken of in paradoxical language, such as the "wonder region", "unknowable", unnamable", and "inaccessible". Kabir poetically describes the state of Sahaj, however, in a manner that implies that this region is not actually a region at all, but rather an absolute transcendental condition that is neither born nor dies and is beyond trance:

   "Where there is neither sea nor rains,
   Nor sun nor shade;
   Where there is neither creation
   Nor dissolution;
   Where prevails neither life nor death,
   Nor pain nor pleasure;
   Beyond the states of Sunn and trance;
   Beyond words, 0 friend,
   Is that unique state of Sahaj.
   It can be neither weighed
   Nor exhausted,
   Is neither heavy nor light; It has no upper regions
   Nor lower ones;
   It knows not the dawn of day
   Nor the gloom of night;
   Where there is neither wind
   Nor water nor fire,
   There abides the perfect Master.
   It is inaccessible,
   It is incomprehensible,
   It is, and it will ever be;
   Attain it through the Master's grace." (6)

   No ego can realize this state; Kabir explains what is required:

   "Love grows not in the field and is not sold in the market,
   Whosoever would have it, whether king or beggar, must pay
      with his life.
   Carry your head upon your palm as an offering
   If you would step into the Wonderland of love." (7)

   At the time of his death both Hindus and Muslims claimed his body, but when they went to remove the cloth that covered it they found only flowers in its place. Thus, even in death Kabir worked to bring the two religions closer to the truth.


1. The Bijak of Kabir, Sabda 4, trans, by Linda Hess and Shukdev Singh (San Francisco: Northpoint Press, 1983), p. 98
2. V.K. Sethi, Kabir, The Weaver of God's Name (Mystics of the East Series} (Beas, India: Radha Soami Satsang Beas, 1984), p. 476
3. Ibid, p. 225
4. Ibid, p. 13
5. Hess and Singh, Op. Cit., p. 42
6. Sethi, Ope Cit., p. 257-258
7. Kirpal Singh, The Crown of Life, A Study in Yoga (Delhi: Ruhani Satsang, 1970), p. 183