Kabira

Q: Shri Mataji, how can we develop that same heart that poets like Kabir have for You?

Shri Mataji: Why not? See the handicap of Kabir. You have no handicaps. Kabir had no Mother to tell him, no Mother to love him, look after him and tell him all these things. He had a guru, and you know Kabir's life, Kabir wanted to become the disciple of Ramananda Swami, but he was a Muslim or low-caste or whatever it is, so he could not reach Ramananda Swami. The disciples would not allow him to go near Ramananda Swami.
So one day Kabira went and slept on the steps of the River Ganges, all night in the cold, waiting for Ramananda Swami to come, because he used to always pass the same way; and his feet fell on Kabira, and he said: "Oh, my child, what are you doing here?" So Kabira got up and he said: "Sir, you have accepted me as your disciple today." He [Ramananda] said: "Yes, I have", and then Ramananda Swami took him and trained him into something great.
You don't have these handicaps, where Kabir never had anybody to support him or help him around. Actually single-handed he fought the whole world. Horrible people were around him. Even today those who are in his place in Patna or in all places where he lived, I was surprised that he described Kundalini as Surathi and they described tobacco as "Surathi". Such horrible nonsensical people, making fun of everything. There Kabira lived and developed that heart. You don't have all these handicaps at all. You all speak the same language, you live with the same ideas, you have your own Mother to tell you everything, so you can develop the same heart as Kabira had.
(Q+A after Talk, Sydney, 06/05/87)

"Nanak Sahib has described [Kundalini] as surti. Kabira especially has described it as surti. But imagine human beings how they are. Kabira was born in Bihar, most of his work was in Bihar. Later on he went to Punjab, and in Bihar they call tobacco as surti. Yes, in Bihar they do. It’s very surprising to call tobacco as surti. So many things of Granth Sahib can only be understood when you get your Self Realization, otherwise you cannot."
(Public Program, Sydney, 17/3/90)

"Kabira wrote such beautiful poetry and the way they interpreted was so nonsensical and so much different from the spirit of Kabira's songs. About everything they can twist the words according to their own need."
(Easter 2000, Istanbul, Turkey)