Kabir

Kabir (fl. 15th century) was a famous Indian devotional mystic poet and saint. His writings influenced Hinduism's Bhakti movement, and his verses are found in Sikhism's scripture Guru Granth Sahib, the Satguru Granth Sahib of Saint Garib Das, and Kabir Sagar of Dharamdas. Today, Kabir is an important personality in Hinduism, Sikhism and in Sufism. He was a disciple of Ramananda, the founder of the Ramanandi Sampradaya.

He was born in the city of Varanasi in what is now Uttar Pradesh, he is known for being critical of organised religions. He questioned what he regarded to be the meaningless and unethical practices of all religions, primarily what he considered to be the wrong practices in Hinduism and Islam. During his lifetime, he was threatened by both Hindus and Muslims for his views. When he died, several Hindus and the Muslims he had inspired claimed him as theirs.

Kabir's suggestion was that "truth" is with the person who is on the path of righteousness, who considers everything, living and non living, as divine, and who is passively detached from the affairs of the world. To know the truth, suggested Kabir, drop the "I", or the ego. Kabir's legacy survives and continues through the Kabir panth ("Path of Kabir"), Sant Mat sect that recognises Kabir as its founder. Its members are known as Kabir panthis.