Kabir: Sant Mat Without the Cant

Saints, I see the world is mad.
If I tell the truth they rush to beat me,
if I lie they trust me.

Some modern commentators have tried to present Kabir as a synthesizer of Hinduism and Islam; but the picture is a false one. While drawing on various traditions as he saw fit, Kabir emphatically declared his independence from both major religions of his countrymen, vigorously attacked the follies of both, and tried to kindle the fire of a similar autonomy and courage in those who claimed to be his disciples. In a famous couplet he declares:

I've burned my own house down,
the torch is in my hand.
Now I'll burn down the house of anyone
who wants to follow me.

If Kabir insisted on anything, it was on the penetration of everything inessential, every layer of dishonesty and delusion. The individual must find the truth in his own body and mind, so simple, so direct, that the line between "him" and "it" disappears...he persistently evades our attempts to define or explain him. Was he a Hindu? A Muslim? Were his ancestors Buddhists? Did he practice yoga? Did he have a guru? Who was it? The impossibility of ascertaining these basic facts about Kabir's religious life is part of his legacy of teaching.

The Bijak of Kabir, Linda Hess (2002), 5-7.