Kabir on the need for critical examination to weed out the false and fraudulent...

[ajay0]

Hell is truth seen too late; duty neglected in its season. - Tryon Edwards


Many gullible people fall tragically victim to the slick tongues of conning fraudsters and pseudo-scholars, and end up having wasted a substantial amount of their youth, time, resources and energy chasing falsehood and never-ending delusion.

Critical examination (as Kabir taught) thus is a vital duty of every seeker of truth, to distinguish or discern between the genuine and fraudulent, so as to move along the path of truth and correct application and keep off from falsehood and misapplication.

 

[Marcion]

It is said that when the time is right, the Guru comes to you, no need to go search for Him.
So I'm wondering, what then is the need to examin different teachers or paths if all that is needed is a deep felt yearning for emancipation or enlightenment?

Does not everyone get the teacher they deserve at a certain stage in their developement?

 

[Vinayaka]

It is said that when the time is right, the Guru comes to you, no need to go search for Him.
So I'm wondering, what then is the need to examin different teachers or paths if all that is needed is a deep felt yearning for emancipation or enlightenment?

Does not everyone get the teacher they deserve at a certain stage in their developement?

In my view, the Guru is the narrowing down to one path, so that it is less confusing. But before that, when one first hears of the guru concept, sure it's natural to explore some. It's more like reading a travel guide to Europe though ... mostly just intellectual, not really application of that knowledge at all. Most people know little of the Guru concept, let alone what any one Guru actually is teaching or emitting to catalyse transformation.

The yearning you speak of, in my view comes later in the cycle, after much of the other desires have already been lived, in one lifetime or another, and that path has been pretty much exhausted.

 

[ajay0]

It is said that when the time is right, the Guru comes to you, no need to go search for Him.
So I'm wondering, what then is the need to examin different teachers or paths if all that is needed is a deep felt yearning for emancipation or enlightenment?

Does not everyone get the teacher they deserve at a certain stage in their developement?

Okay but there are also pseudoscholars, fraudsters and criminals posing as sages and saints for exploitation purposes. Numerous incidents of such are reported in the newspapers.

People will get a teacher they deserve, but would they have the proper ability to recognize the teacher! They can fall for a false teacher complete with a silver tongue and showmanship and avoid the correct one who may look ordinary, unassuming and commonplace. The gullible are especially impressionable.

It is in this sense that Kabir's teachings are quite valuable for the sincere seeker in all religious cultures.

 

[ajay0]

Truth of the Self cannot be attained through perverted arguments. ~ Adi Shankaracharya (Vivekachudamani 65)


This teaching by Adi Shankaracharya shows the need for concise, flawless and precise reasoning in Jnana Yoga (yoga of intellect) for Self-realization.

Perverted arguments, which is far from the spirit of sattvic Vaada, and slips into the rajasic jalpa and tamasic vitanda, results in falsehood, and non-realization of the Self.

Thus cultivation of the skills of accurate thinking and correct perception is necessary for success in Jnana Yoga, and perception of Brahman as the pure consciousness within.

Many fraudsters and pseudo-scholars can easily be detected by perverted argumentation that is far removed from the standard lines of thinking emphasized in Vedantic scriptures as well as Vedantic methods of self-inquiry. Critical examination, as taught by Kabir, can easily enable one to discern this variance and judge correctly.

This enables one to steer away from deluded streams of reasoning and falsehood and to follow approved and correct methods of reasoning and thereby verify the scriptural truths experientially for oneself.

 

[Aupmanyav]

It is said that when the time is right, the Guru comes to you, no need to go search for Him.

.. and why do you think that what is said is always true?