Questioner:  An idol is a piece of stone, how can one benefit from doing its darshan?
Dadashri:  It is helpful to many other people, is it not? The Lord has said that one should not have a narrow-minded perspective (ekantik) but a perspective of universal acceptance (anekantik). Anekantik means if a child is running around naked, no one will tell him off, but if a fifty-year old man does the same, people will get angry with him. The old man may question, “Why are you telling me off? Why are you not saying anything to this child?” We would tell him, “You sir! You are an adult.  This child is small and at his age what he is doing is acceptable, whereas at your age, it is not.” In this way it is necessary to look at everyone with a universal perspective. Many Muslims do not believe in idols, but they believe in alters or little porticos and it is acceptable in their beliefs; they are correct by their view point. 
Kabir Sahib used to live in a Muslim locality near a masjid. When it came time for the bangh (Muslim prayer rituals of reciting the prayers as loudly as possible at predawn hours)…have you heard them sing the bangh? They put their fingers in their ears and then they call out the bangh, do they not? Now Kabir Sahib was very knowledgeable and a prominent saint, so he proclaimed, “Do you think Allah is deaf that you are calling out your prayers at the top of your voice? He hears everything.  If you were to put ankle bells on an ant, he can hear them. So why are you shouting at the top of your lungs?  It really hurts my ears!”  The Muslims became very angry with him; “You are criticizing our God and our religion!” they retorted and beat him up! 
If Kabir Sahib had come to me complaining, ‘To begin with they are wrong and then they beat me up!’  ‘We’ would have said, “Whatever they do is correct. You made a mistake. You have to understand the other person’s viewpoint before you speak. To speak before considering the viewpoint of others and to assess them through your own viewpoint is a very dangerous mistake. To assume that others have the same view point as yours is a big mistake.” ‘We’ would further explain to Kabir Sahib, “The louder they speak, the more their internal veils will shatter and Allah will hear them. Their veils are much denser than yours. Yours are like a thin cloth so even if you were to think in your mind, it will reach the Lord within you. For them, the louder they sing the better. For them that is correct.” Now if the Christians were to say their prayers out loud like that, it would ruin everything. They need a peaceful and quiet surrounding. No one must utter a word. There is a difference in everyone’s language and beliefs. So if someone is speaking his own ‘language’ and we speak to them in our ‘language’, it is comparable to the incident of Kabir Sahib. Those who do not understand the principle of anekant will be beaten up like Kabir Sahib. They take a beating because of their own mistake! 
Kabir had tremendous awareness. Many devotees have awareness but Kabir’s awareness was very keen. There have only been five to seven devotees with such awareness, tremendous awareness. Kabir did not become enlightened although for him the final path to liberation was just around the corner. Had he found the path, he would have worked wonders!
During the time of Kabir, the Brahmin priests used to perform yagnas (rituals of sacrificial fire). In one such yagna, the Brahmins had brought a big goat to sacrifice in the fire. Upon seeing this Kabir inquired, “Why have you brought this goat here?” The Brahmins told Kabir, “What are you doing here? Go away from here. This is none of your business.” Kabir understood immediately and spoke, “This goat is alive.  He is healthy.  Why are you sacrificing him in the fire? How much pain he will feel and suffer if you throw him in the fire.”  The Brahmins said, “If we sacrifice him in the fire, he will go to heaven.” Kabir immediately responded, “Why are you making this goat go to heaven?  Why not sacrifice your father in the fire, he is growing old, why not secure a life in heaven for him instead?” What a sentence to utter! It is enough to make anyone’s head spin, is it not? So the Brahmins beat him up badly. Kabir used to get beaten wherever he went. To speak a word without understanding the Lord’s principle of anekant (to accept all viewpoints and remain in the center. Ekant means to have just one viewpoint), will beget you a beating! Otherwise, there has never been a devotee such as Kabir. He was wonderful; he had no worldly desire. No worldly passion could tempt him; he had become desire less (nispruhi). However, he had taken a lot of beating wherever he went because he did not understand the Lord’s anekant.