The process of withdrawing mind and soul from the body and bringing them to the eye center has been called 'dying while living' by the Saints. This is the first step in the soul's inner spiritual journey, for only after vacating the body or leaving the physical world can the soul enter the inner spiritual worlds. When the mind, soul and consciousness are withdrawn, all awareness of the physical body and surroundings is temporarily lost. The body becomes dead to everything, although the physical functions of the body, such as breathing, blood circulation and so on, continue undisturbed.

In these short poems Kabir praises dying while living as a factor essential in gaining the treasure of spiritual knowledge — the diamond of Shabd or Naam, the rare jewel of God-realization. Those who vacate the body and go to the inner regions during the period of their spiritual practice — that is, those who die while living — conquer death and become free from the chain of birth and death.

To die is better than to live
If one only knew how to die;
He who dies before death's approach,
Ageless and deathless he becomes
In Kaliyug, this age of darkness.

K.G., p. 50:8

Infallible is the Lord's touchstone,
The counterfeit cannot pass by;
He alone will stand the test
Who while living knows how to die.

K.G., p. 51:9

Kabir, rare are they
Who while living die;
Free from all fear they merge
In the Lord's qualities
And wherever they look
Only Him they see.

A.G., p. 1364:5

A.G., p. 1366:29

Kabir, a vast ocean is this body,
Hard to fathom its depth;
One who dies while living
And plunges within
Earns the rarest of jewels.

K.S.S., p. 114:2

Like the diver of the deep seas,
Dying while living, I dived
Into the ocean within;
A handful of knowledge I brought back
Which contained a vast treasure.

K.S.S., p. 114:3

I dived into the ocean
And emerged from the sky —
The firmament I made my home;
This slave thus obtained
A priceless diamond.

K.S.S., p. 114:4

How can you find God, the diamond,
While you long to remain alive?
The disciple, while living, who dies
Fetches the jewel
From Master, the ocean.

K.S.S., p. 114:5

K.S.S., p. 115:11

He who burns the house
Emancipates it;
He who preserves it
Will lose it.
A great wonder I saw:
Who died while living
Killed death itself.

K.S.S., p. 116:29