THE GOSPEL OF KABIR

Kabir was an illiterate weaver but was realized with true knowledge about life. Living in the traditional city of Varanasi steeped in tradition and rituals it was impossible to convince the religious establishment about the simplicity of his message. They created an unfortunate ruckus about this caste and lack of erudition. The religious zealots of both communities as well as the military rulers insulted and persecuted him. He in turn also resorted to similar tactics to ridicule the establishment and their ways. He explained that experience is the only basis of true knowledge.  Without practice, without realization, erudition is only a burden on the mind.  The infinite cannot be comprehended through the finite means of intellect and logic, nor can it be described in language, which again is limited to the world of mind and matter. Kabir strongly rejected all external observances and worship and said that if by worshipping stone God could be met, he would have gladly adored a mountain. Even when he was near his death, while most people would reach Varanasi for their final breath, he walked out to die in Magahar (Uttar Pradesh) only to prove that it does not matter where the body is discarded. Such was the courage of his spirit and conviction. However to be fair, Kabir was not a rebel by any standards. His message and poems resonates with the rhythm of the Vedas, Upanishads and the teachings of Gautama Buddha. In a sense Kabir did not utter anything new that was unknown to this land but like the Buddha he only distributed existing knowledge in the language of the common folk. Like the Buddha Kabir too was self-realized and was loved by the ordinary folks but disliked by the upper castes who felt threatened by their sincerity and popularity.

Kabir laced his teachings and his poems with examples from the daily routine life which he saw around him, that of a weaver or a potter. He created link between their how they lived and how they ought to live. He motivated his followers to break their ties with this illusory and impermanent world and establish ties with the supreme formless and attributeless God. Kabir spoke about ‘dying while living’, ‘dying before death’, implying to become ‘dead’ or imperious to the world and its attachments, that is adopting a mental attitude of complete detachment from all physical comforts and needs. He said that the sense organs are the gateways through which one became entrapped and therefore one has to watch over the sense organs to remain detached and focused on God. For Kabir, God was the universal energy that existed in everything around us, and yet neither bound nor restricted to anything. God represented the life force freely flowing across various forms and the master of all moving and nonmoving elements. Such a God could never be known through texts and rituals or the outer sensory world. Such a God could only be found by turning one’s focus inwards, could only be experienced through meditation aided with name repetition. For the sake of his various followers he would chose to call his Master both Ram and Allah because naming it anything would not change its essence.

Kabir glorifies such a Master as the fountainhead of ambrosia and says that even if one is able to unite with the Master at the cost of one’s head, it is a cheap bargain. The realization of the Master within oneself is possible only when ego is completely annihilated.  Such a state is the apex of love and surrender.  Kabir always equated God as love and love as God.  One should always be absorbed in the love for the Master because longing strengthens love.  It makes love all-absorbing and intense.  Kabir proclaimed that love is the essence of all spiritual pursuits.  Love is also a path of agony, sighs and tears; it is a path of sacrificing one’s entire being. He alone is entitled to drink the nectar of love who offers the price of his head.

 Kabir considers the sole objective of life to be united with the Master and for that the path is within. The biggest obstacle on this path is the mind.  Kabir calls it a thief because it robs a man from pursuing his sole purpose of life and diverts him to mindless pursuits through lust, anger attachment, greed, avarice, jealousy, hate and ego, thus dissipating the precious opportunity of human birth. Mind also is always changing, always restless, never sticking to one form of pleasure but delights in variety and gives up one pleasure the moment it tastes something better. Moreover in the world every action has a motive force or causes behind it and in turn, every action becomes the cause of future effects.  This sequence of cause and effect, which keeps the soul confirmed within the perimeter of the worlds of mind and matter, is known as the law of Karma. The motive force behind all karmas in the mind, and body is the instrument that executes the mind’s dictates.  As a result of these actions, the mind comes back to the world again and again in different bodies and surroundings.  The soul, knotted together with the mind, has to follow.  Kabir says that the soul is tied by the chain of karmas like day and night. Even good deeds cannot liberate the soul from the chain of birth and death, for such is the inexorable law of cause and affects that in order to enjoy the reward of good actions, the soul has to come back to this world. Kabir suggest three ways to overcome the force of the threefold affliction of karma; namely acceptance, surrender and name repetition practice. Kabir says that the devotee can only be free of the bondage of the mind by concentrating it on the region of the universal mind i.e. the all-pervading power. When the devotee grasps the original state of the mind, the mind becomes still. For this one has to take the help of the mind, for only through the mind, the mind can be controlled and attain perfection. 

The feelings of success and failure that accompanies the process of going through one’s destiny lead to further karmic bonds.  Man therefore should accept with open arms whatever comes his way.  Kabir urges his followers to live in the world like a guest and not get involved in the affairs of the world. Living according to God’s will means doing one’s duty in the world without getting involved in it and without bothering about the result of one’s efforts.  Kabir compares the human body to a pot made by the great potter where the pot has no say and is entirely at the potter’s mercy.  The potter can put them in the open to face the sun and rain or store them carefully within his house. Since he has molded them he protects then from damage if he wants to or breaks them if he so desires.

Kabir describes his path as the middle path.  It is neither a path of attachment, nor of renunciation. It is neither of involvement, nor of segregation. It is neither of abstinence, nor of indulgence.  It is a path of moderation. The true follower stays in his family, fulfills his obligations and attends to his spiritual exercises thus attaining a state of inner renunciation while living in the world with discrimination, contentment and purity of thought and conduct.

Bibliography: (a) Kabir – The Weaver’s Song by Vinay Dharwadker published by Penguin Books, First published 2003.  (b) Sant Kabir – Bard of Ram and Rahim by Pandit Ram Sharan published by Vijay Goel, First edition 2009. (c) 1008 Kabir Vani – Nectar of Truth and Knowledge by lalchand Doohan ‘Jigyasu’ published by Manoj Publication 2008 edition.