Kabir Quotes & Sayings

Now I have no caste, no creed,
I am no more what I am! — Kabir

The Beloved is inside you and also inside me. You know the tree is hidden inside the seed. Let your arrogance go. None of us has gone far. Inside love there is more power than we realize. — Kabir

the sun is within me and so is the moon — Kabir

Go over and over your beads, paint weird designs on your forehead, wear your hear matted, long, and ostentatious, but when deep inside you there is a loaded gun, how can you have God? — Kabir

The man who is kind and who practices righteousness, who remains passive against the affairs of the world, who considers all creatures on earth as his own self, he attains the Immortal Being; the true God is ever with him. — Kabir

There is dew
on these poems in the morning,
and at night a cool breeze may rise from them.
In the winter they are blankets, in the summer a place to swim.
I like talking to you like this. Have you moved
a step closer?
Soon we may be
kissing. — Kabir

Men have always looked before and after, and rebelled against the existing order. But for their divine discontent, men would not have been men, and there would have been no progress in human affairs. — Kabir

The world will die, but I shall not die.If God dies, then I will die;If he does not die, then why should I die? — Kabir

I sell mirrors in the city of the blind. — Kabir

But if a mirror ever makes
you sad
you should know
that it does
not know
you. — Kabir

If you make love with the divine now, in the next lifeyou will have the face of satisfied desire. — Kabir

The instruction of the foolish is a waste of knowledge; soap cannot wash charcoal white. — Kabir

Wherever you are is the entry point — Kabir

The essence of life is in remembering God. — Kabir

Do not keep the slanderer away,
treat him with affection and honor:
Body and soul, he scours all clean,
babbling about this and that. — Kabir

When you really look for me you will see me instantly. — Kabir

A sore pain troubles me day and night, and I cannot sleep; I long for the meeting with my Beloved, and my father's house gives me pleasure no more. The gates of the sky are opened, the temple is revealed: I meet my husband, and leave at His feet the offering of my body and my mind. — Kabir

My Beloved One gleams like the lightning flash in the sky. — Kabir

When the flower opens, the bees will come. — Kabir

I laugh when I hear the fish in the water is thirsty. — Kabir

Reading books everyone died, none became any wise.
One who reads the word of Love, only becomes wise. — Kabir

If you want the truth, I'll tell you the truth. Listen to the secret sound, the real sound, which is inside you. — Kabir

If by worshipping stones one can find God, I shall worship a mountain. If by immersion in the water salvation be attained, the frogs who bathe continually would attain it. As the frogs, so are these men, again and again fall into the womb. — Kabir

So high is my Lord's palace, my heart trembles to mount its stairs: yet I must not be shy, if I would enjoy His love. — Kabir

Don't open your diamonds in a vegetable market. Tie them in bundle and keep them in your heart, and go your own way. — Kabir

When the bride is one with her lover, who cares about the wedding party? — Kabir

The flute of the infinite is played without ceasing, and its sound is love. — Kabir

The purpose of labor is to learn;
when you know it, the labor is over. — Kabir

Many have died; you also will die. The drum of death is being beaten. The world has fallen in love with a dream. Only sayings of the wise will remain. — Kabir

Be strong then, and enter into your own body; there you have a solid place for your feet. — Kabir

Do what you do with another human being, but never put them out of your heart. — Kabir

Faith,Waiting in the heart of a seed, Promises a miracle of life which cannot prove at once. — Kabir

I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty.
You don't grasp the fact that what is most alive of all is inside your own house;
and you walk from one holy city to the next with a confused look!
Kabir will tell you the truth: go wherever you like, to Calcutta or Tibet;
if you can't find where your soul is hidden,
for you the world will never be real! — Kabir

O friend! hope for Him whilst you live, know whilst you live,
understand whilst you live: for in life deliverance abides.
If your bonds be not broken whilst living, what hope of deliverance in death? — Kabir

If it were possible to meet the Beloved while laughing and in a state of comfort, why should one suffer the anguish of separation? — Kabir

As long as a human being worries about when he will die, and what he has that is his,
all of his works are zero.
When affection for the I-creature and what it owns is dead,
then the work of the Teacher is over. — Kabir

There's a moon in my body, but I can't see it! A moon and a sun.
A drum never touched by hands, beating, and I can't hear it! — Kabir

There is no river at all, and no boat, and no boatman.
There is not even a rope to tow the boat, and no one to pull it.
There is no earth, no sky, no time, no thing, no shore, no ford! — Kabir

As the river surrenders itself to the ocean, what is inside me moves inside you. — Kabir

The savor of wandering in the ocean of deathless life has rid me of all my asking:
As the tree is in the seed, so all diseases are in this asking. — Kabir

Music without words means
leaving behind the mind.
And leaving behind the mind
is meditation.
Meditation returns you
to the source.
And the source of all is sound. — Kabir

The river that flows in you also flows in me. — Kabir

So long as man clamours for the I and Mine, his works are as naught: When all love of the I and the Mine is dead, then the work of the Lord is done. — Kabir

The home is the abiding place; in the home is reality; the home helps to attain Him Who is real. So stay where you are, and all things shall come to you in time. — Kabir

The Kazi is searching the words of the Koran, and instructing others:
but if his heart be not steeped in that love, what does it avail, though he be a teacher of men? — Kabir

Seeking Why run around sprinkling holy water? There's an ocean inside you, and when you're ready you'll drink. — Kabir

It is the spirit of the quest which helps — Kabir

My heart is so intoxicated with love that I have no wish to speak. — Kabir

All know that the drop merges into the ocean, but few know that the ocean merges into the drop. — Kabir

Take a pitcher full of water and set it down in the water-now it has water inside and water outside. We mustn't give it a name, lest silly people start talking again about the body and the soul. — Kabir

As long as I talked unceasingly about the Lord,The Lord stayed away, kept at a distance.But when I silenced my mouth, sat very stillAnd fixed my mind at the doorway of the Lord,I was linked to the music of the Word,And all my talking came to an end. — Kabir

Though One Brahman is the Cause of the Many ... Behold but One in all things it is the second that leads you astray. — Kabir

Do not praise yourself not slander others: There are still many days to go and any thing could happen. — Kabir

Nada is found within. It is a music without strings which plays in the body. It penetrates the inner and outer and leads you away from illusion. — Kabir

A learned man's knowledge will be of no avail to him if he doesn't have control over his tongue — Kabir

Be quiet in your mind, quiet in your senses, and also quiet in your body. Then, when all these are quiet, don't do anything. In that state truth will reveal itself to you. — Kabir

Slowly slowly O mind ...
Everything in own pace happens,
Gardner may water a hundred buckets ...
Fruit arrives only in its season. — Kabir

Plunge into the truth, find out who the Teacher is, Believe in the Great Sound! — Kabir

Listen to me, my Friend! My beloved Lord is within. — Kabir

When at last you are come to the ocean of happiness, do not go back thirsty. — Kabir

Stand firm in that which you are. — Kabir

I am not a Hindu, Nor a Muslim am II am this body, a playOf five elements a dramaOf the spirit dancing With joy and sorrow. — Kabir

What is a holy person? The one who is aware of others' suffering. — Kabir

As the bee collecteth honey with great zest, so the fool collecteth wealth. — Kabir

What is found now is found then. If you find nothing now, you will simply end up with an apartment in the City of Death. — Kabir

The truth of love is the truth of the universe: it is the lamp of the soul that reveals the secrets of darkness — Kabir

All darkness vanished, when I saw the Lamp within my heart. — Kabir

Are you looking for me?
I am in the next seat.
My shoulder is against yours.
you will not find me in the stupas,
not in Indian shrine rooms,
nor in synagogues,
nor in cathedrals:
not in masses,
nor kirtans,
not in legs winding around your own neck,
nor in eating nothing but vegetables.
When you really look for me,
you will see me instantly
you will find me in the tiniest house of time.
Kabir says: Student, tell me, what is God?
He is the breath inside the breath. — Kabir

The river and its waves are one surf: where is the difference between the river and its waves?
When the wave rises, it is the water; and when it falls, it is the same water again. Tell me, Sir, where is the distinction?
Because it has been named as wave, shall it no longer be considered as water?
Within the Supreme Brahma, the worlds are being told like beads:
Look upon that rosary with the eyes of wisdom. — Kabir

The Lord is in me, the Lord is in you,as life is in every seed, put false pride away and seek the Lord within.. — Kabir

Listen to me brother! bring the
vision of the Beloved in your heart — Kabir

What is seen is not the Truth
What is cannot be said
Trust comes not without seeing
Nor understanding without words
The wise comprehends with knowledge
To the ignorant it is but a wonder
Some worship the formless God
Some worship his various forms
In what way He is beyond these attributes
Only the Knower knows
That music cannot be written
How can then be the notes
Say Kabir, awareness alone will overcome illusion. — Kabir

It is time to put up a love-swing!
Tie the body and then tie the mind so that they
swing between the arms of the Secret One you love,
Bring the water that falls from the clouds to your eyes,
and cover yourself inside entirely with the shadow of night.
Bring your face up close to his ear,
and then talk only about what you want deeply to happen. — Kabir

There is nothing but water in the holy pools. I know, I have been swimming there. All the gods sculpted of wood or ivory can't say a word. I know, I have been crying out to them. The Sacred Books of the East are nothing but words. I looked through their covers one day sideways. What Kabir talks of is only what he has lived through. If you have not lived through something, it is not true. — Kabir

The moon shines in my body, but my blind eyes cannot see it:
The moon is within me, and so is the sun.
The unstruck drum of Eternity is sounded within me; but my deaf ears cannot hear it.
So long as man clamors for the I and the Mine, his works are as naught:
When all love of the I and the Mine is dead, then the work of the Lord is done.
For work has no other aim than the getting of knowledge:
When that comes, then work is put away.
The flower blooms for the fruit: when the fruit comes, the flower withers.
The musk is in the deer, but is seeks it not within itself: it wanders in quest of grass. — Kabir

Path presupposes distance; If He be near, no path needest thou at all. Verily it maketh me smile To hear of a fish in water athirst! — Kabir

The stone neither speaks nor gives anything. Therefore its service is fruitless and its worship is of no avail. — Kabir

The apple blossom exists to create fruit; when that
comes, the petal falls. — Kabir

If you don't break your ropes while you're alive, do you think ghosts will do it after? — Kabir

He is the real Guru Who can reveal the form of the formless before your eyes; who teaches the simple path, without rites or ceremonies; Who does not make you close your doors, and hold your breath, and renounce the world; Who makes you perceive the Supreme Spirit whenever the mind attaches itself; Who teaches you to be still in the midst of all your activities. Fearless, always immersed in bliss, he keeps the spirit of yoga in the midst of enjoyments. — Kabir

If you cannot understand something, then you have understood it incorrectly. — Kabir

I do not quote from the scriptures;
I simply see what I see. — Kabir

Tahiya hote pavan nahin pani, tahiya srishti kown utpati;
tahiya hote kali nahin phula, tahiya hote garbh nahi mula;
tahiya hote vidya nahin Veda, tahiya hote shabd nahin swada;
tahiya hote pind nahin basu,
nahin dhar dharni na pavan akasu;
tahiya hote guru nahin chela, gamya agamya na panth duhela.
Sakhi: avigati ki gati ka kahown, jake gawn na thawn
gun bihuna pekhana, ka kahi lijai nawn
In that state there is no air or water, and no creation or creator; There is no bud or flower, and no fetus or semen; There is no education or Vedas, and no word or taste; There is no body or settlement, and no earth, air or space; There is no guru or disciple, and no easy or difficult path.
Sakhi: That state is very strange. I cannot explain it. It has no village or resting place. That state is without gunas (qualities). What name can on give it? — Kabir

Do you believe there is some place that will make thesoul less thirsty? In that great absence you will find nothing. — Kabir

When you feel most alive, find out why, This is one guest you won't greet twice. — Kabir

I went in search of a bad person; I found none as I, seeing myself, found me the worst. — Kabir

One love it is that pervades the whole world, few there are who know it fully: They are blind who hope to see it by the light of reason, that reason which is the cause of separation - The house of reason is very far away! — Kabir

Wear a crown of flowers on your head, let its roots reach your heart — Kabir

Wherever you are, that's the entry point. — Kabir

Only in the heart can one experience the divine presence of truth. — Kabir

Between the poles of the conscious and the unconscious, there has the mind made a swing:
Thereon hang all beings and all worlds, and that swing never ceases its sway. (pg. 16) — Kabir

Listen, my friend. He who loves understands. — Kabir

The guest is inside you, and also inside me;
you know the sprout is hidden inside the seed.
We are all struggling; none of us has gone far.
Let your arrogance go, and look around inside.
The blue sky opens out farther and farther,
the daily sense of failure goes away,
the damage I have done to myself fades,
a million suns come forward with light,
when I sit firmly in that world.
I hear bells ringing that no one has shaken,
inside "love" there is more joy than we know of,
rain pours down, although the sky is clear of clouds,
there are whole rivers of light.
The universe is shot through in all parts by a single sort of love.
How hard it is to feel that joy in all our four bodies!
Those who hope to be reasonable about it fail.
The arrogance of reason has separated us from that love.
With the word "reason" you already feel miles away. — Kabir

Just throw away all thoughts of
imaginary things,
and stand firm in that which you are. — Kabir

Inside this clay jug there are canyons and pine mountains,
and the maker of canyons and mountains!
All seven oceans are inside, and hundreds of millions of stars. — Kabir

I felt in need of a great pilgrimage, so I sat still for three days and God came to me. — Kabir

Sing such a song with all of your heart that you'll never have to sing again. — Kabir

Forgiveness is a game only saints play Kabir. — Kabir

Love does not grown on trees or brought in the market, but if one wants to be "LOVED" one must first know how to give (unconditional)LOVE.. — Kabir

Listen to your own Self. If you listen to that Self within, then you find the Truth. — Kabir