A seeker's hopes of God-realization cannot be fulfilled until he comes in contact with a perfect Master. There is no dearth of sages and spiritual leaders in the world who profess to guide others but have not realized God themselves.The true seeker, who wants nothing but the Lord, remains thirsty in their company. The rainbird stays thirsty even on the shores of a lake, since it is not ordinary water but drops of rain that it yearns for; likewise the true seeker is not satisfied with empty promises of realization after death, intellectual surmises or practices that merely lead to the lower spiritual regions. Kabir says that it is only through the Lord's own grace that a man comes across an adept who has himself realized the Lord.

My hopes of meeting the Lord
Remained unfulfilled;
Other than the Lord, who can sever
The deadly noose of my karmas?

The lake is brimming with water,
Yet the rainbird is sad.
Such is the brunt of my karmas
That I'm parched; I am thirsty
For one glimpse of my Lord.

I came across many a sage,
Yet obtained not an inkling of God;
Only the Lord can lead me
To the one who has met Him.
When you meet the true, the valiant Saint,
All sufferings and miseries end.

A fish in shallow waters
Suffers in anguished thirst;
So Kabir tosses in agony,
Longing for Thee, beloved Lord.

K.G., p. 96:119
Ās nahi pooriyā re