The Empty Tomb of Satguru Kabir
At the time of Kabir's passing, Guru Kabir drew a sheet over his body and began chanting. Reciting the glory of the Guru, he left this body and merged into God.
Kabir had disciples with both Hindu and Muslin backgrounds. After the shock of realizing what had transpired, that Kabir had left the body, Kabir's initiates began to consider the funeral arrangements. There was a considerable and heated debate between his followers as to whether the rites should be Hindu or Muslim because all considered him to be their guru and spiritual master. It is said that after some time spent in this heated debate, the sheet covering Guru Kabir's body was lifted. To everyone’s amazement Guru Kabir's material body had disappeared. Lotus flowers were found under the sheet instead of his physical body. The disciples were humbled, and they divided the flowers, giving half to the Muslim followers and the other half to the Hindu devotees. The funeral rites were duly performed for the respective traditions using the flowers in place of the missing body of the great sage.
Another Account of the Missing Body of Kabir
“One of the most loved legends associated with Kabir is told of his funeral. Kabir’s disciples disputed over his body after his passing. The Muslim initiates of Kabir wanted to claim the body for burial according to their traditional customs. The Hindu satsangis wanted to cremate the body. Kabir appeared to the arguing disciples and told them to lift the burial shroud. When they did so, they found fragrant flowers where the body had rested. The flowers were divided, and the Muslims buried the flowers, while the Hindus reverently committed them to the fires [of cremation].”
Says Kabir, "I have returned the body in the condition that I received it".
Since Kabir was found among lotus flowers as an infant, just so, he departed from his life in a city called Magahar, leaving not a corpse, but a heap of lotus flowers…. It is said.
Kabir and the Sants are not big on sacred sites, tombs or samadhs, but are focused within, not upon rituals, pilgrimages and external ceremonies.
Says Kabir, “Do not go to the garden of flowers!
O Friend! go not there;
In your body is the garden of flowers.
Take your seat on the Thousand Petals of the lotus,
and there gaze upon the Infinite Beauty.” (Kabir)
Kabir: Plucking Flowers of Spirituality Within Your Body Through the Meditation Practice of the Sants — A Great Summary of the Spiritual Journey According to Kabir and the Sants of India
The body is a forest of blooming flowers,
But only the wise can pluck them.
How does one attain to this wisdom?
Firstly, go to the perfect Teacher,
And learn from him the inner teachings.
Contemplate on the words of the saints,
And strengthen your faith day by day.
Secondly, cast all your doubts away,
And shun the perception of duality.
See the One dwelling inside and outside.
Achieve this and you're a saint.
Thirdly, rise above outer attributes,
And take a seat at the "third eye",
This is truly the suitable throne
Where you hear the Divine Melody.
Fourthly, reign in the restless mind,
And abandon all your cleverness.
Swing on the swing of divine love,
And entreat the Teacher for the gift of devotion (bhakti).
Fifthly, acquaint yourself with the eternal elements.
And exert mastery over the senses.
Sixthly, let consciousness pierce the six chakras,
And reaching above them, see the Light.
Make perfect the left and right nerve currents,
And dwell in the cave of the Void.
Seventhly, let truth enlighten your life,
And behold the Supreme Spirit within you.
Grab hold of the silken thread of realization,
And climb to the Eternal Abode.
Eighthly, let the lotus of consciousness bloom,
And render your heart resplendent.
When in your soul you see the Eternal,
Then you're fit to be called a saint (Sant).
Ninthly, your portals of perception will open,
When you make an ally of the Perfect Master.
You will see that the soul is not the body,
When the Master shows the soul's unity with God.
Tenthly, you'll reach the door of liberation,
Where the Divine Melody resounds.
Kabir says, "Listen to me, my brothers and sisters,
Only a rare one considers my teaching."
(A Bhajan of Sant Kabir, Published in, "The Kabir Voice" Newsletter, Surry, BC Canada)
