Followers of the
northern Indian poet-saint Kabir form a religious group.
Some Kabirpanthis are ascetics, while others live in houses.
The group's most prominent center, which houses an austere
community, is at Benares (where Kabir is said to have resided).
Although Kabir opposes ceremony, worship, and dependence on
anything other than one's own unmediated experience in his poetry—a background
that suggests yoga practice—the Kabirpanth has adopted all of these traditional
religious trappings.
The Bijak, a collection of poetry and epigrams ascribed to
Kabir, is the community's holy scripture.
Kabir, who has become an object of adoration, is depicted in
its holy centers.
On particular days, elaborate rites are carried out.
This is odd since many of the activities that Kabir
criticized seem to have been accepted by the group that claims to follow his
teachings.
Given Kabir's constant emphasis on the necessity for direct,
intimate encounters with the divine, the idea of his being regarded as the
founder of a sect would have been absurd to him.
See David Lorenzen, “Traditions of Non-Caste Hinduism: The
Kabir Panth,” Contributions to Indian Sociology, Vol. 21, No. 2, 1987, for more
information.
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