Saints value the path of spiritual practice and experience, not that of talking, listening and professing. Kabir says that mere talking about the path of spirituality and the inner worlds will not lead the devotee to God-realization. He has to practice, he has actually to tread upon the inner path and experience the bliss of divine love. In the following two poems, Kabir rejects external observances, rituals and ceremonies, calling them vain and misguided practices. The mind is infested with passions and cravings, which will only be overcome if the devotee goes within, enjoys inner bliss and develops true love for the Lord.

All talk, all assertion,
Is confusion, a trap;
The Lord and love for Him
Are unique, beyond words.

Men talk, they profess, they hear,
But nothing is achieved by talking;
Practice alone bears fruit.
Through evil actions,
Through false and misguided practices,
Never can the Lord be met.
He who is steadfast in truth,
Who adopts the right practice,
To Him the Lord reveals His true form.

All talk, all assertion,
Is confusion, a trap;
The Lord and love for Him
Are unique, beyond words.

Your body's home is afire
With cravings and passions,
But within the home also exists
The reservoir of love and grace;
Become aware of it
And quench the raging flames,
Says Kabir, the Lord's slave.

All talk, all assertion,
Is confusion, a trap;
The Lord and love for Him
Are unique, beyond words.

K.G., p. 117:201
Kathni badni sab janjāl

Without devotion to the Lord
All your practices are an illusion;
Although with zeal you indulge in them,
It's all in vain, you ignorant fool.

Vain are your penances,
Vain your austerities,
Vain what you deem
Your vast knowledge;
Without the Lord's Name,
Vain are your meditations;
Your contemplations, vain.

Vain your rites and rituals,
Vain your adorations,
Vain your do's and dont's;
They plunge you into the depths
Of the sea of delusion,
They will never let you reach
The shores of bliss and peace.

Men crave sense pleasures,
They always rush to satisfy
The palate of their mind;
But where truth is taught they raise doubts
And indulge in endless arguments.

Kabir the slave is absorbed
In the love of his Lord;
He has dispelled all delusions,
He has given up all vain pursuits.

K.G., p. 129:252
Hari bin jhoote sab byohār