Kabir’s Wisdom

“The fish in the water that is thirsty needs serious therapy”

Poet Saint Kabir

Kabir01 

Guru Nanak meeting Kabir, Asian Art Museum, 19th Century, Opaque Watercolor

The renowned mystic, poet, and saint, Kabir, was born in Varanasi, India sometime in the early 1400’s, a time in history that parallels the lives of other great leaders, such as Guru Nanak. Some 541 hymns from Saint Kabir are to be found in the Siri Guru Granth Sahib and indeed it is said that in his lifetime Kabir reached “a remarkable synthesis of Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and even Christian beliefs.”  Like Nanak, Kabir lived an extremely humble life on the outskirts of town, was a family man and a weaver. His writings were referred to as “banis” or “slokas,” having the express intent to evoke the highest truth and spiritual development for the reader. As evidenced in the excerpt above, “the glorious role of the mystic is to help us accept God more as He Is–and ever less than our prejudices and fears want him to be.” 

Kabir in Siri Guru Granth Sahib 

PRABHAATEE: First, Allah created the Light; then, by His Creative Power, He made all mortal beings. From the One Light, the entire universe welled up. So who is good, and who is bad? || 1 || O people, O Siblings of Destiny, do not wander deluded by doubt. The Creation is in the Creator, and the Creator is in the Creation, totally pervading and permeating all places. || 1 || Pause || The clay is the same, but the Fashioner has fashioned it in various ways. There is nothing wrong with the pot of clay – there is nothing wrong with the Potter. || 2 || The One True Lord abides in all; by His making, everything is made. Whoever realizes the Hukam of His Command, knows the One Lord. He alone is said to be the Lord’s slave. || 3 || The Lord Allah is Unseen; He cannot be seen. The Guru has blessed me with this sweet molasses. Says Kabir, my anxiety and fear have been taken away; I see the Immaculate Lord pervading everywhere.

Pages 1349-1350

*Love Poems from God, copyright 2002, Daniel Ladinsky 

reprinted from a communication from Sikh Dharma International