Table of Contents

July 2010 - Dadavani - English

EDITORIAL

Through which vision The Gnani saw the world as flawless?

The Lord saw the world as flawless

The world is flawless: with many proofs

Flawless vision – Faultless world

Come to a single answer

The science of cause and effect

Circumstances are of the non-Self and are dependent on the non-Self

Adjustment against wrong beliefs

May no living being be hurt!

What is the true earning?

It is not possible to hurt anyone and attain moksha

The precise justice of nature

The grave risk of upsetting another person

This punishment is the result of my own mistake

Only our own balance sheet

Worldly relationships

Echoes of the ego in the worldly life

The results are not under your control

Satisfying the ego

The science of karma

Difference in intellect: Difference of opinions

One’s own vibrations create one’s wandering

Counter-vibrations for hurting someone

You only have to have the inner intent

It is worthwhile to remain aware in this world

Supreme Soul in the form of a vibhuti

Lord saw benefit even in loss

Love for favorable circumstances

Bitter circumstances can be made sweet

Pure awareness in worldly life

Equanimity is not reacting to the unfolding karma effect

The internal evidences create the result

Mistakes are your superior

Bondage through opinion only

Entrenched opinions due to worldly association

Blindness of opinion

How to get rid of opinions

Practice of countless past lives

When opinions leave, You are free

What a magnificent principle of the Gnani Purush!

As is the opinion, so is the effect

Who clashed with whom?

Who joins you in the funeral pyre?

Take the beating and be free

What does commonsense mean?

The demarcation between the intellect and pragnya

Repentance from the heart

Supreme Soul veiled by kashayas

A life without conflict is the path of moksha

The worldly life exists due to unsettled account of karma

Squeeze the juice out of the ego

Account of respect-insult

The phenomenal value of pratikraman

Purification of mistakes with pratikraman

Resolving the complaints through memory

Free yourself from all your past life agreements

Prakruti (the relative self) does wrong: Purush (the Self) does right

Analysis of the prakruti

Through the elemental vision the world is always flawless

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July 2010 - Dadavani - English

Through which vision The Gnani saw the world as flawless?

EDITORIAL

There are only two things: circumstances and Atma (the Self). If one remains as the Self then what else is left? Only circumstances. Andcircumstances are of the non-Self and are dependent on the non-Self; they are settling as they are discharging. But the prevailing importance of intellect during the unfolding circumstance, makes one forget the fact and as a result numbers of questions arise as to why such a thing happened in my life? Why did it happen? It is not my fault, I am innocent and yet why people are interacting with me like this under the power of wealth, authority or intellect? This is how worldly interaction or personal questions arise; and because of not understanding the underlying truth, one does not get the solution and that is why one sees the other person at fault. One blames the other person because of dominance of intellect and ego and finally nurtures his own ego. And yet the inner burning does not stop at all. And by experiencing the force of kashayas: anger-pride-deceit-greed; getting stuck in opinions, one does not experience true happiness in life.

Adverse circumstances arise in life of everyone, for sure. Lord Mahavir saw the person driving nail like hard sticks in his ears as flawless. What kind of a vision must Lord Mahavir have that he could remain vitarag (without attachment and abhorrence) even under the circumstance, which would otherwise create terrible abhorrence? Lord Mahavir had elemental vision and on basis of that knowledge based vision, the Lord could analyze that this circumstance is verily the unfolding of my own karma, the other person is Shuddhatma- pure Soul, the account of karma of pudgal (the non-Self complex) is being settled, the one who is doing this karma is not the doer but he is an evidentiary instrument (nimit), this circumstance has come only because unfolding of my own karma and I have to settle this unfolding of karma with equanimity. What a wonderful this vision is!

The knowledge of the Lord says that this world is verily the result of my own projection. The effects of causes created by me are verily unfolding through the other person; and in all that; what can the other person do? Is it not possible that the other person may not want to and yet he may have to carry out such worldly interaction against his will? So then what kind of happiness will he achieve by seeing a person who is faultless, at fault? Intellect will always establish that the other person is at fault but Gnan will establish him faultless and hold that the current punishment is the result of my own mistake only. If You want to go to—experience moksha, if you want to become free from the world, then listen to pragnya (the liberating energy of the Self) instead of listening to the intellect; remain free from binding opinions, be grateful to the one who insults you, and thus accomplish the flawless vision of the Lord.

How can one develop such flawless vision? To develop such flawless vision, the proofs (have been numbered and underlined) are available from absolutely revered Gnani Purush Dadashri’s divine speech. If we study this in detail, the flawless vision that arises through it, will definitely help us progress spiritually.

~Deepak Desai

(Pg.2)

Through which vision The Gnani saw the world as flawless?

The Lord saw the world as flawless

Questioner: Lord Mahavir saw the entire world as faultless.

Dadashri: The Lord saw the world as faultless. He saw this through His own flawless vision. He did not see anyone at fault. I too have seen the world as flawless and find that no one is at fault. (1)Whether someone garlands me or insults me, he is faultless. (2)It is due to illusion that people appear to be at fault. It is the vision that is at fault.

Questioner: How can we be flawless?

Dadashri: It can only be attained through seeing everyone in the world as faultless. I see everyone as faultless, whether a person reveres or insults me, (3)whether a person has good intentions or malevolence towards me, I see them both in equal light.

(4)Nobody is at fault in the world. (5)If they did make any mistakes, the mistakes were of their past life, (6)so in this life they end up making mistakes against their wishes. Do these mistakes not happen against your wishes? (7)One makes mistakes because of the baggage one brings into this life, and that is why no one is at fault.

The world is flawless: with many proofs

We see the entire world faultless. We believe that the whole world is faultless. (1)Is this belief ever likely to change, even for a minute? (2)When we believe that it is faultless and we see it as such, is it ever likely to change?

That is because (3)no one in this world is at fault. I am saying this exactly as it is. Through my intellect I am ready to give you proof of this. I can readily prove this to all the intellects in the world, if they want proof of it.

I am ready to give proofs to people. I am a hundred percent ready to give the proof. One will then agree and say, ‘yes, this is a complete proof.’

Flawless vision – Faultless world

We see everyone as nirdosh (without any fault), because we have made our vision nirdosh (flawless) and through that vision we see the entire world as nirdosh. (1)From the elemental perspective no one is at fault.

Questioner: Looking from the relative viewpoint, the one who does wrong will appear at fault, will he not?

Dadashri: (2)When is one considered to be at fault? It is when his Shuddhatma is doing wrong but (3)Shuddhatma is a non-doer. Shuddhatma cannot do anything. (4)You see him as being in what is discharging. (5)As long as you see anyone at fault in this world, realize that inner purification has not been attained; until then the knowledge that

(Pg.3)

prevails is sense organ mediated (indriya) knowledge.

Come to a single answer

In mathematics the teacher may ask you to work backwards, using the answer to solve your problem. In the same way I am telling you to assume or believe just one thing and that is: No one in this world is at fault, the entire world is faultless. With this assumption the answer will come. Do you see faults in people?

Questioner: If I look for them, I can.

Dadashri: (1)In reality there are no faults. The fact that you see faults is because of your misunderstanding. It is your lack of understanding that makes you see even the slightest fault in others.

If you accept the fact that no one in this world is at fault, then you will have answers to all your problems. (2)No one is at fault in this world, and (3)you remain bound because of your own faults. (4)There is no other person’s fault at all. (5)If anyone hurts you or insults you, you alone are at fault and not the other person.

The science of cause and effect

Are these mind, body and speech effective or not? They are effective. They are effective at birth. If there is an effect, there has to be a cause. And if there is a cause, there will be an effect. (1)This way the cycle of cause and effect, effect and cause continues.

(2)As are the causes, so are the effects. Good causes produce good effects and bad causes produce bad effects. (3)One cannot be free from these effects until the causes stop. Causes will not stop as long as ‘I am Chandubhai’ is engrained in your belief and your knowledge. They will only stop when a Gnani awakens you and makes you realize your true Self. I destroy your causal body leaving you to take care of ‘Chandulal’s’ effects and while doing this, there will be no attachment or abhorrence and therefore no new seeds will be sown. (4)Yes, you will have to experience the effects. (5)Effects cannot be changed by anyone. This is scientific. Any of the scientists will have to accept what I am saying.

Circumstances are of the non-Self and are dependent on the non-Self

(1)‘Gross circumstances, subtle circumstances and circumstances of speech are (of) the non-Self (par) and are dependent on the non-Self (paradhin).’

(2)When only this simple sentence remains in your understanding and awareness, then no matter what another person says, it will not have any effect. This sentence is not an imaginary sentence. It is exact. I am telling you that which is ‘exact’ and as it is. I am not telling you to follow my words by respecting them. ‘Exact’ is only this – that which is ‘exact’ is only this way: (3)You suffer because you do not understand the facts as they are.

Adjustment against wrong beliefs

Questioner: The inner jada bhaavs (jada bhaav—the belief of one’s existence in the matter—the non-Self, ‘I am eating, I am the doer.’) are such which makes you see the other person is at fault.

Dadashri: (1)If we say that he is at fault then in our mind we feel that he is at fault and then those jada bhaavs will take over. (2)Otherwise if we say, ‘No, he is a very good person.’ then they will stop.

(Pg.4)

May no living being be hurt!

Questioner: What is our duty, role (dharma)as human beings?

Dadashri: (1)Our dharma is to see how our mind, speech and body can help people of the world. Run errands for others; give others right understanding through your words, hurt no one through mistakes; that is dharma. Do not hurt any living beings (jiva). Take a vow to abstain from hurting all living beings; if this is not possible, then take a vow to abstain from hurting human beings. And if you have taken a vow to abstain from hurting human beings, then take a vow, (2)‘Let no living being be hurt through my mind, speech and body.’ This is all the dharma you have to understand.

What is the true earning?

Only the intent not to hurt anyone in this world is considered true earning in this life. You should affirm such intention every morning. (1)Accept any abuse anyone gives you and (2)do not try to analyze what you may have done to merit the abuse. (3)If you accept it, then your account of karma account will be cleared on the spot. (4)If you do not accept it and instead retaliate, then that account will continue into your next life and that is what we call roonanubandha. Instead of settling the matter, people retaliate with four times the force. The Lord tells you to (5)give to others what you like to receive yourself. Do not give to others what you do not like to receive. If someone tells you, ‘You are a good man,’ you should tell him, ‘Sir, you too are a good man.’ If you speak in this manner, it is acceptable.

It is not possible to hurt anyone and attain moksha

Questioner: After taking your Gnan, we feel that we too should flow away just like the holy River Ganges.

Dadashri: Yes, You should flow without affecting (asar) or hurting anyone. (1)It is not possible to hurt anyone and attain the ultimate liberation (moksha). (2)If you hurt anyone, he will throw his rope and catch you and impede your flow, and if you give happiness to everyone, they will let you go. They will let you go even if you give them just Betel nuts as mouth freshener (paan), a homemade cigarette or even a piece of clove as a mouth refresher. People harbor expectations of getting something from you. How can you claim to be a benevolent person if people did not have expectations from you? (3)All those headed for moksha are kind people. Therefore, you have to show kindness on your way to moksha.

Questioner: People have expectations, but why should we have expectations?

Dadashri: (4)You should not have any expectation (apeksha). It is just that you give them something small, a token like paan-sopari (betel nut and betel leaf people use as mouth fresheners in India) and move on. Otherwise, he will hinder you by speaking untruths and ill of you. (5)Therefore, deal with them one way or another and get your work done. People will not let you go to moksha that easily. They will say, ‘What is wrong here that you want to go over there! Why don’t you have fun with us here?’

Questioner: But that is if we listen to them, is that not so?

Dadashri: They will hurt you and hinder you even if you do not listen to

(Pg.5)

them or ignore them. For them, all the four directions are open, and for you only one direction is open. Their directions are a life as a human, celestial, hell or as an animal, whereas you have only one – the path of liberation. So what do they care? They can afford to do hurtful things but you cannot.

(6)Keep everyone pleased. Please them and move on. If someone is staring at you and you tell him, ‘How are you Sir?’ then he will let you go, but if you do not say anything, he will think that you are very arrogant and start causing problems.

Questioner: If we try to appease the other person, will it not create attachment (raag) in us?

Dadashri: You do not have to appease them like that. How do you appease a policeman? Does that cause you to have raag towards the policeman?

Questioner: No.

Dadashri: And also there is no need to appease everyone. (7)When someone obstructs your path, then one way or another, appease him and get your work done. It does not take much for them to obstruct your way. (8)Do not complain or make waves if someone’s actions hurt you, but instead it is worth settling the situation somehow, and moving on.

The precise justice of nature

(1)There is no one born in the world that has the energy to hurt you! (2)And if there is such a person, then even if you look for hundreds of thousands of ways to avoid him, you will not succeed in avoiding him! So which way should you turn? Should you be preoccupied in looking for those ways? No, you will not get anywhere. (3)So give up all the running around and go towards the Self.

The grave risk of upsetting another person

(1)This world is our own projection. No one else is responsible here. If there was a God as a superior over us, we would be absolved of our sins if we worship him. But it is not like that. The responsibility is entirely ours. (2)Even the responsibility of something as simple as a thought is verily ours. We are whole and sole responsible for sure. No one is up there. (3)No one is your superior, you are the only one.

(4)We as individuals everyone is separate, but all are Souls indeed, and therefore the other person is verily a God too. Try to help everyone. If you can’t do that, do not hurt or upset anyone even a bit. People do not attempt to mess with tigers or poisonous snakes because they know they can kill, but they do not hesitate to do so with humans. (5)You cannot provoke anyone because God is residing in everyone. Do you understand this? Have you ever incensed anyone?

Questioner: Usually one does this to someone who is inferior and subservient to him.

Dadashri: (6)As long as you have a practice of scolding those who are under you, you will certainly come across somebody who will scold you. I never have to scold anyone, therefore no one yells at me. Our subordinates are not there for us to scold; we have to get our work done in such a way so they feel satisfaction. We feed Rs.10 worth of green grass to the bull and receive Rs. 30 worth of work from him.

(Pg.6)

These day laborers will come and work with us only if they gain some benefit. If we treat them as slaves where would they go? (7)God—Bhagwan resides in all creatures; in humans God has manifested as ishwara. It may not be parameshwara the absolute manifestation of God; nonetheless it is God (ishwara). Why is he called an ishwara God? If he decides and holds in the mind that, ‘I want to shoot this person someday,’ is he not able to do so? That is how all these human beings are as ishwara Gods, so therefore never upset or incense anyone, even a bit.

This is why I say that in this current era of the time cycle, ‘Adjust everywhere’. It is not worth misadjusting anywhere. This world is worth escaping from. This science is capable of taking us to moksha in one or two life times. So get on with it and accomplish Your objective.

This punishment is the result of my own mistake

How does the world obstruct us? (1)It is because our secret mistakes that world obstructs us. I do not have any secret mistakes so no one is obstructing me. (2)The moment one says, ‘why did you obstruct me?’ is the beginning of the loss of clarity of vision in what follows.

(3)People are my mirror; it is the instrument to see the self. (4)If this person gets hurt because of me then I should know that I have made some mistake. Therefore I will not rest until I correct the mistake. If any worldly interaction mistake has happened, it has to be corrected, does it not? But nothing needs to be ‘done’ there, You simply have to know only. That knowledge which comes in action is verily true knowledge. That knowledge which does not come into action, then know that this knowledge is wrong.

Only our own balance sheet

(1)Nothing is wrong in this world at all. (2)Any person who gives anything to you; he is returning what you had given to him. (3)If you had not loaned it, no one would come to credit in your account, would anyone? (4)Whatever you have given to others, will be returned to you, but you don’t know when you had given to him and therefore when you check in today’s account, you think you have not given to him and that is why you think that this person has come to give me anew. (5)No one will ever come to loan anything new to you, ever, and this is for sure. All debts are from past life only, so you should credit them right away. Now if you loan it again then the business will continue.

(6)If you had cursed someone twice in the past life then he will curse you twice in this life, and at that time if you find it bitter, then you will curse him five times more. You feel bitter when two curses that you have given, come back then what will be your condition when the five curses return to you? So stop the new account of lending. Quit the businesses in which you incurred a loss and felt pain. (7)If someone abuses you twice then you should credit quietly from within, because that which had been loaned has come back, therefore credit this now and stop lending again. Therefore, only that which had been loaned comes back in this worldly life. If you understand this then will your problem be solved or not? Therefore we want to solve our problem by any means.

(Pg.7)

Worldly relationships

(1)You (the Self) are permanent and everything else is temporary so how can there be a resolution between the two? That is why the world is trapped in such a state of confusion. (2)As far as relatives are concerned, you should act according to your relationship with them. You should not be rigid or adamant about right and wrong if you are to sustain that relationship. Rigidity will destroy the relationship. (3)When the other person is trying to destroy the relation, you should mend it if you want to maintain that relationship. These are all temporary relations. For example if your wife says, ‘Tonight there is a full moon’ and you say, ‘No, it is a moonless night’, then the bickering will start and it will last all night. In the morning she will be sulking and you will know that the argument is not over when she deliberately bangs the cup of tea while serving you. (4)Instead it is better if you understand the situation when she becomes adamant. (5)Gently turn the argument around by pretending to consult a horoscope calendar and then tell her she is right that there will be a full moon tonight. If you don’t do this, the argument will get out of control and then if you were to give in suddenly, she will fall harder and (6)you will have to bear the consequences. Instead it is better to be aware from the start and let go gently.

Echoes of the ego in the worldly life

(1)Ego makes one blind. The greater one’s ego, the blinder one becomes.

Questioner: Is ego not needed to do work?

Dadashri: No, that lifeless ego (nirjiv ahamkar) is different. That is not called ego at all. People will not even refer to such a person as being egotistic.

Questioner: Then which ego is harmful?

Dadashri: You all know me as a Gnani Purush, but do people outside in the worldly life know that I am a Gnani? Yet people will not see anything in me that will lead them to call me egotistic (ahamkari), whereas they might say that about you. (2)It is the ego that has ruined everything.

Questioner: But does the worldly life not run on this ego?

Dadashri: The worldly life does not run on the ego. (3)The ego should not go beyond its boundary; otherwise, it will be harmful.

Questioner: The echoes of our old ego have fallen on others; this is why they see us as being egotistic.

Dadashri: (4)You will have to wait until the echoes/effects from your old ego go away. (5)It is not going to go imprecisely.

There was a boy from a much respected family who had a habit of stealing. He stopped stealing and came to me and told me, ‘Dada, people still call me a thief.’ I told him, (6)‘You had been stealing for the last ten years and people did not know of that. They considered you an honest man. Now that you are not a thief, even if you are honest, your past ten years of stealing will keep resonating. So tolerate it for ten years, but do not start stealing again because you may feel in your mind, ‘They call me a thief anyway, so I might as well steal!’ Do not do that.

The results are not under your control

(Pg.8)

Questioner: The one who is doing something wrong knows what he is doing, yet why does he do wrong?

Dadashri: (1)When something wrong happens, it is a result, an effect, of a charged karma of past life. (2)If we throw a ball and then tell the ball to remain exactly where we threw it, is it possible? No, it is not. Once you throw the ball, it falls under the control of another power and the results are inevitable. So whatever the manner in which you threw the ball; if you threw it from a height of three feet, as a result it will rebound to the height of two feet and if you threw it from a height of ten feet, will bounce back seven feet. (3)But results will automatically come to an end; the bouncing will automatically stop, provided You do not stick your hand in it again.

Questioner: At such a time, can we say that one gets drawn into doing wrong because he has been doing so from time immemorial?

Dadashri: It is nothing like that. (4)This is all dependent on vyavasthit shakti – the energy of scientific circumstantial evidences. Therefore, it is not one’s mistake.

Satisfying the ego

(1)What you see around you is not sansar (the worldly life). (2)The ego itself is worldly life. In such a world what is wrong if nothing is satisfied? If a man has borrowed five hundred rupees from you and when the time comes for him to return the money he does not do so. (3)Your ego remains unsatisfied. To satisfy your ego you file a lawsuit, but if that man comes to you pleading and weeping and gets down on his knees to you, your ego becomes satisfied and so you will let him go.

The science of karma

(1)In the past life, one bound karma through the ego for pride (maan).In this life, many buildings are being built under his name and ownership and so he becomes a maani, meaning that he takes and exhibits pride in that. Why does he become a maani with so much pride in this life? (2)He becomes maani because of the account of karma of past life. Now people would say, ‘He is binding karmas. He is creating karma because he is walking around with a lot of pride; it is evident.’ People call this ‘karma,’ whereas in (3)Lord Mahavir’s language, this is the fruit, effect of karma of past life (karma-fada). By ‘fruit’ ‘we’ mean that even though he does not want to display pride (‘do’ maan), he has to (undergo the effect); it happens automatically.

And (4)when people say ‘He gets angry,’ or ‘He has a lot of pride,’ or ‘He has a lot of ego,’ he will have to suffer the consequences of all this, right here in this life. (5)The result of his pride will be that he will lose his reputation and fame. He will have to suffer this right here. If, on the other hand, when he exhibits pride he feels it is wrong to do so and that he needs to be humble and without pride (nirmaani), then he is binding new karma of humility. The effect of such intent will be realized in the next life wherein he will be humble (nirmaani).

The theory of karma is like this: (6)While doing something wrong, if the inner intent (bhaav) reverses and changes to the contrary, then such will be the karma that will be bound for next life. (7)And if while ‘doing’ something wrong, one is pleased

(Pg.9)

with what he is doing and has the intent and decision, ‘This is verily worth doing,’ then he binds even a heavier new karma. This karma will become heavy and ‘sticky’ (nikachit), which he will have no choice but to suffer.

Difference in intellect: Difference of opinions

In today’s world, there maybe only three people in a household, but by the end of the day they will have thirty-three different opinions. How is one to find a solution? (1)Wherever there is intellect that divides (bheda buddhi) there is bound to be difference of opinions. (2)Gnan does not find fault with anyone whereas the intellect finds faults in everyone. The intellect will find faults in even one’s own brother whereas Gnan will not find fault even in a stepmother. If a stepmother serves her stepchild burnt rice from the bottom of the pot, the intellect will immediately rise and accuse the stepmother of being unfair; it will cause the stepson grief. (3)But if the child has attained Gnan, that Gnan will immediately make him aware that, ‘She is a pure Soul and I am a pure Soul and (4)whatever is happening is the interplay and discharge between the two pudgals (non-Self complexes), and that the accounts of karma are being settled.’

One’s own vibrations create one’s wandering

(1)If you do not interfere with anyone, there is absolutely nothing anyone can do to you. I can give you this guarantee in writing. (2)Even if there is nothing but snakes here, they will not even touch you; that is how much assurance, guarantee, there is in this world. (3)There is no one to bother you in this world if you stop instigating and bothering others, if you stop interfering. (4)These sufferings are all consequences of your own interference. When you stop interfering, no consequences will come your way. (5)You are the Lord of the whole world, of the whole universe. There is no boss, no superior, over you. You are the absolute supreme Soul (parmatma) for sure! No one is out there to bother you.

(6)These are all your own consequences (parinaam). As of today, stop creating any vibrations; stop thinking about anyone. When such thoughts arise, erase them with pratikraman (apology to the pure Soul of one you have ‘hurt’ coupled with the remorse of any wrongdoing) so the whole day will pass without any vibrations. If you pass the days in this way, it is more than enough. That verily is spiritual effort (purusharth).

Counter-vibrations for hurting someone

(1)When you hurt anyone in the world, the inner effect and vibration of that hurt, the echo, is bound to affect you. When a husband and wife get a divorce and the man remarries, the ex-wife will continue to feel the hurt. The echoes of this hurt will inevitably be there within the man and (2)he will have to clear (pay off) that account.

Questioner: Please explain this in more detail.

Dadashri: What ‘we’ are trying to convey is that (3)when you become instrumental (a nimit) in causing the slightest of pain (dukh) to another being, then its effect will inevitably fall upon you. You will have to settle that account, so beware.

(Pg.10)

(4)If you scold your assistant at work, will its effect not fall upon you? It will for sure. So tell me, how can the world become free from suffering?

(5)Therefore, the effect (asar) within of hurting anyone will not leave you alone. When you hurt children in your attempts to improve them, the effect of the hurt caused to them will fall on you. So talk to them in such a way that it will not cause such an effect and they will improve. Is there not a difference between a copper vessel and a glass one? Do you consider them to be the same? (6)You can repair the dents caused to a copper vessel but a glass vessel will break. Otherwise, the entire life of the child is ruined.

(7)The beatings and the suffering you endure in life are due to ignorance of this matter. You may say things to improve this person or that person, but the effect of the pain you cause in the process will fall on you.

Questioner: One has to tell children something, these days, does he not?

Dadashri: There is nothing wrong in telling them, but speak in a way that it does not hurt them and that the echoes of that do not fall on you. (8)You have to make a decision that you do not want to hurt anyone in the slightest extent.

(9)The one who has become such that no one gets hurt by him, in the slightest degree, is the blissful one. There are no two ways about this. The Agnas ‘we’ give you are such that you become free from all kinds of miseries. And you will not find any difficulty in practicing those Agnas. ‘Our’ Agnas are not restrictive in any manner.

You only have to have the inner intent

You also have to look at things from the perspective of how you would feel if someone were to slap you. (1)In all situations, keep in mind how you would feel if you were the one on the receiving end.

If you have borrowed ten thousand rupees from someone and your financial circumstances get worse, a thought may cross your mind, ‘What is the big deal if I do not pay him back?’ (2)At that time you should ask yourself, ‘How would I feel if someone borrowed money from me and did not pay me back?’ You must maintain an intellect, which is impartial and just. Within, your awareness should be, (3)‘I would feel very hurt if it were to happen to me, similarly he would feel hurt too and therefore I do want to pay him back.’ That is how you should decide. If your intention is such, you will be able to pay him back.

It is worthwhile to remain aware in this world

No matter how crazy and foul words a person may say to you, if you happen to respond to him, then regardless of how beautiful your response is, (1)the slightest of negative vibration arising from this is not acceptable. (2)The other person can say all he wants to; he is independent. (3)When children throw stones, are they not unrestricted? (4)They are unrestricted as long as a policeman does not stop them. (5)Other people can do whatever they wish. If the other person creates enmity towards you, he will not let you go to liberation (moksha) for thousands of lifetimes. That

(Pg.11)

is why ‘we’ tell you, ‘Be careful. If you encounter a difficult and crooked person, do whatever you can to appease him and become free from him. It is worth being free from this world.’

Supreme Soul in the form of a vibhuti

(1)You are the owner of the entire universe. So do not harass or interfere with any living being (jiva). Help them if you can, and there is no problem if you cannot, but there should not be any interference with them or harassment towards them.

Questioner: Does that mean that we should consider the other soul as the supreme Soul (parmatma)?

Dadashri: No, do not consider him so, this would be wrong; he really is a parmatma,the supreme Soul-Self! That which is false, you may remember or you may not, whereas here (2)one really is the supreme Soul. But these supreme souls (parmatmas) have come in the form of a vibhuti (vibhuti as the manifestation of the magnificence, splendor, energies and glory of the absolute pure Soul in a human body);they are nothing else. Then, (3)even if a person is begging, he too is a vibhuti. People generally refer to a king as a vibhuti and not a beggar. (4)From the original supreme Soul, extra (vishesh) qualities and attributes have arisen, giving result to an extra form (vishesh roop). (5)That is called vibhuti and that verily is God; is it not? Therefore, you must not interfere with or harass anyone. (6)If the other person interferes, then you should tolerate it because when God interferes, then we must accept it.

We, the Self, are truly not this worldly form (vyavahar swaroop). (7)This, the worldly life, is all a temporary adjustment. Just as children play with toys, (8)the whole world too is playing with ‘toys.’ One does not do anything for the benefit of the Self; one continues to live in pain (dukh) of dependency and continues to clash and stumble. Infinite energies of the Self are fractured because of inner conflict (gharshan) and reactive clash (sangharshan).

(9)When the servant breaks the tea cups and saucers, then clash (sangharshan) will arise in his boss. Why is that? It is because there is no awareness of ‘what is mine, the Self,’ and ‘what is of the non-Self.’ (10)There is no awareness of who controls and runs everything that is related to the non-Self.

(11)Wherever you feel, ‘I am doing this and running this,’ nothing related to that is done by You. You, the worldly self ‘Chandulal,’ simply believe that you do. What you are supposed to run, you have no knowledge of. Self effort (purusharth) begins after You become a purush, the Self. So, then, how can anyone ‘do’ purusharth when he has not even become a purush?

Lord saw benefit even in loss

Lord Mahavir taught His disciples that when they went out, (1)if people hit them with a stick, they were to take it as, ‘At least it is only a stick; the hand is not broken. The hand is spared.’ They were to consider that much of a benefit. (2)If someone breaks one arm, he has to be grateful that at least he did not break the other one also. (3)If both hands get cut off, they should say that at least they have their legs. (4)If both the arms and both the legs are cut off, they should say at least they are alive (5)and at least able to see. The Lord has shown you the way to look at benefit-

(Pg.12)

loss (benefit – laabh and loss – alaabh). Do not cry; be happy. There is nothing wrong with that; is there?

(6)The Lord Mahavir saw with an enlightened view (samyak drashti) through which one ‘sees’ benefits even in adverse circumstances.

Love for favorable circumstances

(1)Now for You, only circumstances(saiyog) remain. You do not know how to ‘use’ the pleasant circumstances. (2)It is because you suffer (vedavoon) the pleasant circumstances through, ‘I am enjoying,’ that you have to suffer the bitter and painful ones. (3)But if you simply remain the ‘knower’ of pleasant circumstances, then the ‘knowing’ will remain during the painful ones too. But you cannot get rid of old habits and that is why you become the enjoyer. (4)The Self does not enjoy anything at all. It just continues to ‘know’ everything. The one that enjoys is the illusory soul; it is the relative self (pratishthit atma) that was charged in the past life. You have to ‘know’ too that, ‘Oh ho ho! This pratishthit atma has become engrossed in the pleasant circumstances!’

Bitter circumstances can be made sweet

There are only two things in the world: saiyog (circumstance) and saiyogi (entity that has to face the circumstance). (1)If the saiyogi is straightforward, so will be the circumstances. (2)If you have to face a disagreeable circumstance, you have to immediately realize that because you had been disagreeable in the past, you now have to face a circumstance that follows suit. (3)There is no need to ‘straighten out’ the circumstance. Rather, become straight yourself. There are infinite circumstances, so when will they all become agreeable? People in the world try to make the circumstances agreeable, (4)but if they were to become agreeable themselves, so will the circumstances. If one becomes straightforward himself, he will still encounter circumstances that are disagreeable but after a while the circumstances will change. (5)When there is no superior above you, why do you have to face disagreeable circumstances? (6)It is because you had been disagreeable that you have to face disagreeable consequences. If a person has dysentery, is his illness an immediate consequence of his neglect? No, (7)the seeds of dysentery had been planted twelve years ago, which has now come into effect. And this effect has to break a twelve-year-long mistake, does it not? (8)If he does not make the same mistake again, he will not have dysentery again, will he? (9)If you board a train and find it crowded, it is because you had created a cause for such an effect. If you come with a large load of baggage of karma, the circumstances you will be obliged to encounter will also be heavy and if you come with very light baggage, your circumstances too will be very agreeable. (10)Your own mistakes are your superior; do you have anything to fear anymore once you understand this? No matter who sees ‘us’; they feel happy. When ‘we’ become cheerful, the other person will feel the same. One doesn’t just feel happy and cheerful, when he sees ‘us’; he becomes speechless and awed. (11)The other person is your own reflection.

Pure awareness in worldly life

What do you have to do after you attain Self-realization, knowledge of the

(Pg.13)

Self?

You now have to maintain awareness (upayog). Until now you never had the direct, pure awareness of the Self. (1)You were ‘dancing’ according to your relative-self (prakruti) and then you claimed, ‘I danced! I made the donation! I did this…I did that. I did so much service!’ Now You have attained the Self, so You have to be in that direct, pure awareness of the Self. (2)You have become the Self (a purush) and the relative-self (prakruti) has been separated and disconnected. (3)However, the prakruti is not going to refrain from doing its part; it is not going to let go. And You, the purush, have to remain in purusharth; be the Self. It means You have to ‘do’ the purusharth. You have to remain within the Agnas,the special directives that the Gnani Purush has given you; remain in Your upayog, in the awareness as the Self.

What does upayog mean? When you are out walking and there are dogs, cats and donkeys passing by but you see them casually, you have wasted the upayog (awareness). If you see the pure Soul (Shuddhatma, the Self) in them as you are walking, that is called pure awareness (shuddha upayog). Shuddha upayog is so precious that if one remains in it continuously for an hour, he will attain the life of Indra - the king of all heavenly beings!

Questioner: Can pure awareness be maintained in worldly business or in daily interactions of the worldly life?

Dadashri: (4)Interaction in the worldly life (vyavahar) and pure awareness (shuddha upayog) have nothing to do with each other. One may be involved in his business or something else. Pure awareness (shuddha upayog)arises only after attaining Self-realization; it arises after he becomes the Self, a purush. No one can attain pure awareness before attaining Gnan. Now, You can have pure awareness.

Questioner: So if we see the donkey as pure Soul (parmatma – supreme Self), we believe it to be a parmatma, then…

Dadashri: No, no. (5)You do not have to believe it to be a parmatma. The supreme Self is the one within, and the one that you see on the outside is a donkey. You have to put your sacks on the donkey’s back and you have to see the parmatma within him and get your work done.

(6)You should interact with your wife after seeing the supreme Self within her. Otherwise, is a married man going to become an ascetic (bavo)? Should these young married men who have taken Gnan become ascetics? No, no, (7)they do not have to become ascetics. All they have to do is ‘see’ God within their wives. (8)What does the God within, the Self, say? ‘Do my darshan; acknowledge Me, the Self. I do not have any other complaints or needs. The worldly dealings are verily worldly in nature, but in Your worldly dealings, ‘see’ Me, be mindful of Me, maintain pure awareness (shuddha upayog).’

Equanimity is not reacting to the unfolding karma effect

The principle of Akram Vignan is such that if a person is dropping his money, first we stop the money from falling (we stop the causes) and then we pick up the money he has dropped (then we tackle the effects). The world keeps picking up the fallen money. Hey you! Why don’t you first stop the money from falling, otherwise

(Pg.14)

there will be no end to it (nikaal).

(1)Worldly interaction (vyavahar)for You will not present much difficulty, once You deal with the vyavahar that unfolds for You. (2)Then whatever discharging intent is presenting as desire (bhavna), it will be there, ready and waiting for you ahead of time. ‘We’ (the Gnani and the fully enlightened Lord within) had gone to Lake Vihar for a visit. There I had a new kind of thought, ‘There are one hundred mahatmas here – fifty women and fifty men. It would be so nice if they did Mataji’s garba (devotional folk dance dedicated to the Goddess Amba).’ With this thought, the moment I turned around they all stood up and started doing garba! Now I had not asked anyone and yet it happened. So this is what happens. Your thoughts will not go to waste, your words will not be wasted. What is happening to people nowadays? Nothing ‘grows or blossoms’ for them. Their speech does not grow, their thoughts do not grow and neither does their conduct. One will make three trips to collect on a loan he made, but his debtor will never be there. Finally, when he does meet the debtor, the debtor will become aggravated at him.

This path is such that your debtor will come to your home to return your money! If you make seven or so trips to collect your money without success, and then, when you finally meet him, he tells you to come back in a month’s time; (3)if at that time there is no change within you (i.e., you do not get aggravated), then the money will come to your home!

Internal changes and reactions (effects - parinaam) do occur within you, do they not? Changes and reactions like, (4)‘He is a useless person. He has no sense. He wasted my trip.’ Such are the changes that occur within you. Therefore, when you go to him again to collect your money, he will curse you. No changes take place within ‘us,’ so then where is the problem? (5)When changes occur within, then initially, even if the other person was not going to get upset and become obstinate, he will!

The internal evidences create the result

Questioner: Does that mean we are the ones who ruin everything?

Dadashri: (1)We are verily the ones who ruin that which is ours. Whatever obstacles we encounter, we have created them for sure. What is the way to improve a person who is obstinate and objectionable? (2)No matter how much pain (dukh) a person causes you, if you do not harbor any negative feelings for him, then that is the best way to improve him. In that way he will improve and things will improve for you too. But worldly people will not refrain from having negative thoughts about such a person. We the mahatmas are told to ‘deal with equanimity’; (3)‘with equanimity’ means we should not have any kind of thoughts about him.

If pratikraman (ask for forgiveness from the pure Soul of the one you have ‘hurt,’ coupled with remorse of the wrongdoing) is done for a tiger, even the tiger will do what you tell him. There is no difference between a tiger and a human. (4)The difference lies in your vibrations (spandan); that has an affect. (5)As long as you have in your mind the awareness that the ‘tiger is a violent animal,’ then it will be violent. And if you have the awareness that the tiger is a Shuddhatma (pure Soul), then it is Shuddhatma for sure. Everything

(Pg.15)

is possible.

(6)When you throw a ball, by its intrinsic nature (swabhav) it will stop bouncing. That is its natural (sahaj) attribute. This is where the whole world’s efforts are wasted; (7)people try to stop or change the effects, while the causes continue. Thus the cycle of a seed from the tree, and a tree from the seed, continues. (8)Nothing is attained by cutting off the leaves or the branches of the tree. The work is done only if the tree is removed along with its roots. Here, in Akram Vignan, we place a ‘medicine’ in the taproot, the main root system; thereafter, the entire tree dries up and dies.

(9)This life is a tree that grows and grows life after life (sansar-vruksha). It produces sweet fruits as well as bitter ones. And you are the one who has to eat them.

When monkeys come and destroy all the mangoes on the tree, how far will the owner’s reactions (parinaam)spoil within? He will be so disturbed that without even thinking about the future he will say, ‘This problem will be solved only if I cut this tree down.’ Now, will such words that come out in the presence of God within go to waste? (10)There is no problem if there are no resulting changes (parinaam) within. Everything will be calm. Everything will come to an end.

If you decide just this that, (11)When someone causes you pain and suffering, or steals from you, then it is nobody’s fault, but it is my fault. (12)If you accept the fact that it is all due to your own unfolding of past karma, then liberation is yours. Liberation is yours if you do not see others at fault. But instead people do exactly what they are not supposed to, they accuse others by saying: ‘He did this to me; he stole from me, etc.’

Mistakes are your superior

There is no superior over you and no one to scold you and no one to obstruct you. (1)If you get scolded, or obstructed, it is because of your own mistakes. Nobody is there to scold you if you do not have any mistakes. (2)There will be no superior to scold you when your mistakes are destroyed. There will be no one to obstruct or harass you. You may ask the Lord, ‘Sir, you have gone to moksha but what should I do when people steal from me?’ The Lord will tell you, (3)‘People do not steal. They steal from you as long as your mistake is there. So destroy your mistake.’ (4)Otherwise you have so much energy and power within you that no one can bother you. Every jiva (embodied soul) has brought with it independent energy. Every jiva is absolutely free and independent. (5)If you feel any dependency, if you feel persecution at the hands of others, it is because of your own mistakes. It is because of these mistakes that one has to become someone’s son-in-law or father-in-law. (6)This whole worldly predicament is a result of your own mistakes. In reality, (7)there is no one above you other than your own mistakes. Therefore, destroy your old mistakes and do not allow new ones to occur.

Bondage through opinion only

Questioner: There are many people who are such that opinions like, ‘He is a good man, he is useless, he is cunning and greedy, and he is here to cheat and take my money away,’ abound for them.

Dadashri: (1)Opinions that become

(Pg.16)

bound are verily the bondage. (2)If a person had taken some money from ‘our’ pocket yesterday, and if he comes here again today, ‘we’ will not have an opinion or suspicion about him as being a thief. (3)This is because yesterday the unfolding of his karma was like that and (4)who knows what the unfolding of his karma will be like today?

Questioner: But the saying is that life force (praan) and the inherent nature (prakruti) go together.

Dadashri: We do not have to look at praan and prakruti; we have nothing to do with that. (5)That poor man is under the influence of the unfolding of his karma. He is suffering his karma and (6)we are suffering ours. We have to remain aware.

Questioner: At that time, we may or may not be able to maintain equanimity.

Dadashri: If you do everything according to what ‘we’ tell you, that (7)everything is karma-dependent, then your work will be done. (8)That which is ours will go only if it is meant to. Therefore, there is no reason for you to fear anything.

Entrenched opinions due to worldly association

The Lord Mahavir saw everyone as without mistakes(nirdosh). He never saw anyone at fault. And (1)when your vision becomes so pure, you too will have an environment which is clean and clear. Then this world will appear like a garden. (2)In reality, people do not have bad attributes. One forms an opinion about others within, and thus gets bound. (3)‘We’ may talk about anyone but ‘we’ do not have any opinions of, ‘He is like this or like that,’ at all!

You will also experience (anubhav) that since you got rid of your opinion about this man, this change has occurred within him. (4)What do you have to do in order to change your opinion? For the opinion, ‘This man is a thief,’ you have to say, ‘This man is honest.’ You have to say, ‘I had formed a wrong opinion about him. I am now letting go of that opinion. It is a wrong opinion…it is wrong.’ (5)Keep repeating that your opinion is wrong, and in doing so, your mind will change. Otherwise, the mind will not change.

However, we do not have opinions about everyone. (6)If someone steals every day, why do you have to form an opinion, ‘He is a thief’? He steals due to the effect of his karma, and the person he steals from is also because of the effect of that person’s karma. How does that have anything to do with you? (7)But when you call him a thief, is that not an opinion? (8)And really speaking, is he not the Self?

Blindness of opinion

(1)Say a man is always donating money and to believe that today too he will donate money, is purvagraha prejudice-preset opinion. If someone comes here everyday and taunts us and then one day he comes to invite us for dinner, the moment we see him we will think he has come here to taunt us; that is prejudice. (2)This world continues due to prejudices. (3)Let go of the prior judgments because they will keep changing. (4)Even if a thief steals in front of your eyes, do not have prejudice towards him, you never know that he may even become an honest man tomorrow. I do not have any prejudice even for a moment.

If a poker player comes here and

(Pg.17)

you have an opinion about him of, ‘He is a poker player’ it will bother you as long as he is sitting here. Others will have not problem with him. Why is that?

Questioner: It is because others do not know that he is a poker player.

Dadashri: Others know that, but they do not set an opinion about that for him, (5)whereas you do and that is why you are bothered by it. You should let go of that opinion. You are the one who created that opinion and therefore it is your own fault, and that is why it bothers you. He does not tell you to have opinion about him. (6)If it bothers you, then it is the result of your own mistake.

How to get rid of opinions

(1)If someone has deceived you, you should not keep reminding and remembering it. It is very harmful to think about the past. You simply have to ‘see’ what that person is doing at present; otherwise it is called prejudice.

Questioner: But should I not keep that in my awareness (dhyan)?

Dadashri: That is there naturally for sure. (2)It becomes a prejudice when you keep it in dhyan – active attentive awareness. Prejudice ruins the worldly life interaction again. You should remain vitarag (free from attachment-abhorrence). (3)You will naturally be aware of the past, however it is not a helpful thing. (4)He behaved towards you the way he did due to the unfolding of your own karma. (5)His conduct towards you will be positive if the unfolding karma is good. Therefore, do not have prejudices. (6)How can you know that the person who cheated you before has come today to bring you a profit? Interact with him if you want to and don’t interact with him if you do not want to. However, when the time comes where you have to interact with him, then do not hold any prejudice against him.

Questioner: Does having opinion destroy our vitaragata?

Dadashri: Yes, you should not have opinions. (7)Opinion is non-Self, and you have to ‘know’ that it is wrong; that it is harmful. (8)You bind opinion through your own fault, your own mistake and your own opinion. What right do you have to form an opinion?

Questioner: If an opinion is formed and it is not wiped off, is a karma bound?

Dadashri: For the one who has attained this Akram Vignan and the bheda Gnan the separation between the Self and the non-Self has happened, then there is no binding of karma. Yes, if pratikraman is not done for the opinion, then it will continue to have an effect on the other person and he will not have a positive feeling for you. If one lives with a clean inner intent he will not bind a single karma. If he does pratikraman,the effect of the hurt will disappear. Purusharth is to ‘divide by seven if it was multiplied by seven.’

(9)Everything, from birth to death, is in the hands of scientific circumstantial evidence, so where is the need to have any opinion? After attaining knowledge of the Self, after attaining the knower-known (gnata-gneya)relationship, You pass with honors if You get rid of the few opinions that remain.

(10)You cannot ‘see’ things as they are

(Pg.18)

because of opinions; you cannot experience bliss of freedom because there is a veil of opinion. You can become flawless when you do not have any opinions at all. After attaining Self-realization as long as you have opinions, you are considered to be free but not absolutely free. Your infinite samadhi (absolutely unaffected state) is halted because of opinion only.

(11)The causes that were created in the past life are unfolding as effects in this life. To that effect, to give opinions ‘this is good and this is bad’ creates attachment and abhorrence. Actions (kriya)do not create causes—bind karma. Causes are created through opinions.

Practice of countless past lives

In my youth, the intellect (buddhi) was like this: It would quickly form opinions about the other person. It would form a very quick opinion about others. Therefore, I can understand what must be going on within you.

Actually, (1)it is not worth forming an opinion about anyone in this world. To form an opinion about someone is our bondage and the absence of any opinion is liberation (moksha). (2)What is the relationship between you and anyone else? The other person has to deal with his karma and you have to deal with yours. Everybody is suffering their own karma. No one has to do anything with that. There is absolutely no need to form any opinion about anyone.

Lord Mahavir goes as far to say that if someone took a hundred rupees from your pocket yesterday and you come to know about this through some evidence, then when he comes back the next day, it is wrong to have suspicion about him as soon as you see him.

Questioner: And the opinion that he is a liar, is that a mistake?

Dadashri: (3)It is a mistake (dosh) to harbor suspicion towards anybody. The Lord says that (4)he was a thief yesterday due to unfolding of his karma (udayakarma), whereas he may not be a thief today. This is all according to unfolding of one’s karma (udayakarma).

Questioner: So how then should I behave? If I do not harbor an opinion about him, then he will get accustomed to it and feel it is okay to continue the cheating because I am not going to say anything.

Dadashri: No, you have to proceed with caution but without maintaining an opinion. If you keep money in your pocket, and you know that this man had taken your money, you still should not form the opinion that he is a thief. In this situation, put your money someplace else.

Questioner: This is not like that. Here Rameshbhai who owes the money to Nagindas tells him, ‘I have told Chandubhai and he has sent you the money.’ That is when I feel, ‘I have never had this discussion with Rameshbhai. He has not called me, and he is lying in this manner!’ How should I act when this happens to me?

Dadashri: Yes, a person will tell lies, but why did he say such things? Why did he tell you a lie and not anyone else? (5)Therefore, you must be guilty; you must have made a mistake sometime in the past life. The unfolding of our karma is verily the mistake.

Questioner: But how should I behave here?

(Pg.19)

Dadashri: This world exists on attachment-abhorrence (raag-dwesh). (6)The main cause of all this is raag-dwesh. Why do raag-dwesh occur? (7)They occur because one interferes (dakhal) with others. Even if he steals from your home, (8)if you believe that he is a thief then your raag-dwesh will arise. (9)This is because you believe that he is a thief, and that is worldly knowledge. (10)Real knowledge (alaukik) is not like that. Real knowledge says just one thing and that is, ‘It is unfolding of your own karma.’ (11)He took the money due to the unfolding of his karma, and the unfolding of your karma came together with his. In all that, why are you binding the opinion that he is a thief?

If there is a rabid dog running loose, ‘we’ tell you to be careful and you should immediately close your doors. But if you go around saying this dog has rabies, then you are considered to have formed an opinion.

Questioner: You know, Dada, instead of closing the door because the dog may get into the house, I am likely to react so angrily that I will bang the door and hurt the dog!

Dadashri: This is all worldly (laukik) knowledge. Lord Mahavir’s real (alaukik) knowledge says, ‘Do not blame anyone. Do not form opinions about anyone. Do not have any kind of inner intent (bhaav) towards anyone. (12)The world is flawless (nirdosh).’ When You know and experience this, You will be liberated. (13)‘Every living being in this world is nirdosh—flawless, and I alone am the one with mistakes (doshit). (14)I am bound by my own mistakes.’ You will attain liberation when you will attain such vision (drashti).

Lord Mahavir has seen the world as flawless (nirdosh). I too do not see anyone as doshit - with mistakes. Whether one puts a garland around my neck or curses me, no one is doshit. “The world is flawless.” (15)It is because of illusionary vision (mayavi drashti) that one sees faults in others. The mistake lies only in this viewpoint.

When a philanthropist makes a donation, people will say, ‘He is so generous and nice; he is giving donations!’ Whereas the Lord says, ‘Why do you feel so happy in this? He is enjoying the unfolding of his karma. (16)Even the recipient of that donation is enjoying the unfolding of his own karma. Why are you needlessly getting in the middle? (17)A thief steals; he too is suffering the unfolding of his karma. (18)The entire world is suffering (vedey)its own karma only.’

From the moment ‘we’ have seen you and known you, (19)‘our’ opinion about you will never change. Then whatever you do; it is all dependent upon the unfolding of your own karma.

The worldly life will remain as long as one cannot see his own mistakes and sees mistakes in others. As long as this vision continues, so will the worldly life. When one does not see a single mistake in others and sees all his own mistakes, then know that his time has come for moksha. That is it! This is the only difference in the vision (drashti)!

(20)That you see mistakes in others is really the mistake of your vision (drashti). (21)This is because all living beings are under the authority and realm of some other entity; they do not have any independent authority. (22)They are all dependant on their

(Pg.20)

own karma. They are constantly suffering their own karma. (23)In all that, no one is at fault. The one who understands this will go to moksha. But if one begins to justify things with his intellect, he will remain entrenched here. (24)If he tries to weigh things according to worldly justice, he will remain entrenched in the worldly life.

When opinions leave, You are free

This whole world runs because of opinions. So one does not form an opinion himself; his (1)opinions are formed by the influence of the beliefs of others (loksangnya). (2)Opinions are formed according to each individual’s relative-self (prakruti). Will we not have to remove all such opinions that have been formed for anyone? (3)When you wash off all your opinions, then you are free.

My principle has always been that even if a plant that I watered and nurtured is in the way of my plans to run a railway line, I will take the railway line around it but I will not uproot that plant. There should be a siddhant (incontrovertible principle) that accomplishes the goal. You should not destroy something once you create it. Leave aside talks of destroying, but (4)the impression I have of you from the first time we meet, will always remain the same; it will never change, not even for a moment.

What a magnificent principle of the Gnani Purush!

Today, if I decide that this gentleman is clean and honest and he takes money from my pocket and even if someone brings me proof and tells me that he saw him taking the money from my pocket, or even if I have personally seen him do so, I will still tell you that he is not a thief. That is because My understanding is different. (1)Once I have ‘seen’ what this man is like forever, I do not make any mental note of whatever he does due to the force of circumstances. Everyone makes notes of circumstance-driven actions.

(2)The prakruti (non-Self complex), may keep opinions and everything else, but You should become free of opinions. (3)‘You’ are separate from prakruti. This ‘Dada’ has made that separation for You. Thereafter ‘You’ have to play Your role separately. (4)You should not get involved with problems of others.

As is the opinion, so is the effect

Questioner: If someone is playing a large drum, why does it upset an irritable person so much?

Dadashri: (1)It is because he does not like it. If this person is playing the drum, you have to tell her, (2)‘You play the drum very well.’ By saying this you will not be affected internally. (3)Once you have the opinion of, ‘This is annoying,’ then everything from within becomes ruined. So you have to make a positive comment in a ‘dramatic’ manner.

Who clashed with whom?

If a person trips over a small rock sticking out from the ground, he will say, ‘I was walking along but the rock tripped me.’ (1)The rock has always been there (2)and the rock would say, ‘You foolish man, you bumped into me. You keep bumping in to me. I say no and yet you are bumping into me. I have always been in this place. (3)You are blind for running into me.’ The rock is correct! Such is the nature of this world so how can anyone find liberation even if he is looking for it?

(Pg.21)

Who joins you in the funeral pyre?

Questioner: So does that mean that I should not have the belief that, ‘Whatever I say is correct’?

Dadashri: (1)Even if it is the truth, how does it concern ‘us, the Self’? (2)What I am saying is that one has to go alone on his funeral pyre, does he not? So why carry the burden of all this needless strife?

“It went on before you were born and will go on after you die.

Never will worldly interactions end; relative is the worldly life…”

“Janma pahela chalto ney mooa pachhi chalshey.

Atake na koi di vyavahar re, sapeksha sansar re…”

- Navneet

One is caught up in the same old misery for infinite lives. The wife and children are of this life, but one has had wife and children in every past life. He has done nothing but created attachment-abhorrence(raag-dwesh) and bound karma. (3)There is no trace of those relations now! (4)It is karma that keeps giving the fruits. Sometimes it gives light and sometimes it gives darkness. Sometimes it gives a beating and sometimes it showers flowers. Can any relations be in this?

(5)This has been going on since time immemorial. Who are we to ‘run’ all this? All we have to ‘see’ is how we can become free from our karma. ‘We’ the enlightened ones’ have nothing to do with the children. It is nothing but unnecessary burden. (6)Everyone is subject to his karma. If there were such a thing as a true relationship, then everyone in the home would make a decision not to fight. But within an hour or two, they start fighting. (7)This is because it is not under anyone’s control, for sure! It is all nothing but unfolding of karma. Karmas unfold and they go off like fireworks! (8)No one is a relation and no one is a beloved here! So where is the ground for any doubts or suspicion here? (9)‘You’ are a pure Soul (Shuddhatma), and this ‘neighbor,’ the body, is the only one that is going to hurt you and bring you pain and suffering. And (10)your children are your ‘neighbor’s’ children. Why should ‘we’ quarrel with them? And when the neighbor’s children do not listen and you try to say something to them, they will say, ‘How can we be your children? We are ‘Shuddhatma’!’ (11)No one cares about anyone else!

Take the beating and be free

(1)What is the rule of this world? The strong take advantage of the weak. (2)Whom does nature make strong? It makes strong those who have committed fewer demerit karma (paap); and for those who have committed greater paap, it makes them weak.

(3)If you want to be free and liberated, then take the beating in this life. That is what I have done all along in life – this one and previous ones. Thereafter, I came to the final conclusion that I have no beating of any kind left to take and, therefore, I have no fear about anything. I have deduced what the whole world is all about. I have the answers and I also help others come to that conclusion.

Sooner or later, will you not have to come onto this line? (4)The law of nature does not spare anyone. The slightest mistake could bring a life form with four legs and a tail (one takes birth in the animal kingdom).

(Pg.22)

Is there any happiness in a life where one has four legs and a tail?

(5)Just stop all mistakes that hurt others. By practicing nonviolence (ahimsa) through thoughts, speech and acts, you will not have to fear any hurt. Do not have any fear of someone hitting you or something biting you. Even if the room is full of snakes, when a non-violent (ahimsak) person walks in, the snakes will scurry away and climb on each other and not even touch him.

Therefore, proceed with caution. (6)This world is very different. It is absolutely just. Only when you come to the exact conclusion (taaran) of what the world is all about, and you take it to the stage of experience, will everything work. The research, ‘What will be the consequence of this?’ will have to be done, will it not?

Questioner: One embarks upon the research after taking a beating, does he not?

Dadashri: Yes, (7)true research is done after taking a beating, not after giving it.

What does commonsense mean?

What does one need for worldly interactions in order to become pure (shuddha)? (1)Complete commonsense is needed. Patience and depth of understanding is needed. Commonsense in worldly interactions is needed. Commonsense means ‘everywhere applicable.’ If there is commonsense along with Self-realization, everything will become beautiful.

Questioner: How does commonsense arise?

Dadashri: (2)Commonsense will arise when one does not get into conflicts with anyone, even if the other person is seeking to clash and cause conflicts. And he lives his life in this way. And he should not clash with anyone; otherwise, commonsense will go away. (3)There should be no friction from his side.

Commonsense will arise when another person begins a clash-conflict with you. The energy (shakti) of the Self is such that it will show you all the solutions when friction arises, and once it gives you the solution, that knowledge will never leave. In this way, commonsense will gradually increase.

A person can remain in this state after he attains the knowledge of ‘our’ science – Akram Vignan. There are certain other rare persons amongst the general public who are with merit karma (punyashadi), who can also remain in that state; however, they can maintain this equanimity only in certain situations, not in all situations.

(4)If ever the energy of the Self is used up, it is because of conflict (gharshan). If you react to conflicts (sangharshan) at all, that is the end of it. (5)You should maintain equanimity when another person gets into conflict with you. Reaction to a conflict as clash (takaraman)must not occur. (6)You should never get into conflict with anyone at all, even if it comes at the cost of you losing your physical self.

(7)This body is not going to go away just because someone wants it to. It is under the control of vyavasthit (scientific circumstantial evidences).

(8)Conflicts occur in life because of life after life enmity (veyr). Enmity and vengeance are the main seed of the worldly life. The one in whom enmity (veyr) and conflicts (gharshan) stop is in moksha –

(Pg.23)

liberation. Love (prem)is not the hindrance; love arises when enmity leaves.

Usually, I do not have any friction/conflict (gharshan). I have tremendous commonsense and so I will immediately understand what you are trying to say. People may feel that others are doing harm to Dada, but (9)I will immediately understand that this harm is not actually harm. It is neither a worldly harm nor a religious one. And there is no spiritual harm at all. People may think that spiritual harm is being done, but ‘we’ see only a benefit in that. That is the beauty of commonsense! That is why ‘we’ have defined commonsense as ‘everywhere applicable.’

The demarcation between the intellect and pragnya

Questioner: Which part of the antahkaran is affected first? (Antahkaran – theinner functioning complex of the mind, intellect, chit and ego.)

Dadashri: (1)The intellect (buddhi) is affected first. There is no effect if the intellect is not present.

Questioner: How can we know whether this has been done by the direct light of the Self (pragnya) or by intellect? What are the definitions of intellect and pragnya?

Dadashri: That which causes uneasiness and restlessness (ajampo)is the intellect (buddhi). There is no uneasiness or restlessness in pragnya. (2)When you experience the slightest of uneasiness or restlessness, realize that it is the intellect at work. Even when you do not want to use the intellect, is gets used. (3)It does not let you sit in peace. It makes you emotional. You should tell the intellect, ‘Listen Madam Intellect, you need to return to your own home. Now I do not have any dealings with you.’ Do you need a candle when the sun is shining? Therefore, there is no need for the light of the intellect after you have the light of the Self. ‘We’ (the Gnani and the fully enlightened Self) do not have intellect. ‘We’ are without intellect that interferes and makes one emotional (abuddha).

Repentance from the heart

Dadashri: It is all natural. But at the same time, (1)you should understand that ‘This intellect (buddhi) is wrong’; from there on, the tubers get destroyed. Gnan is the only light in this world. (2)One can destroy those tubers if he attains the Gnan, through which he gains the understanding of what is harmful to him.

Questioner: But everyone believes and knows that it is wrong to tell lies, it is wrong to smoke, to eat meat, to act wrong, etc., and yet they continue to do so. Why is that?

Dadashri: (3)Everyone says, ‘This is all wrong, I should not do that,’ but they say it superficially. They say it superfluously, not heartily and sincerely. If they say it heartily, then it (the wrongdoing) has no choice but leave after a certain time. No matter how bad the mistake may be, if you regret it heartily, then that mistake will not occur again. And if the mistake occurs again, there is no problem; the important thing is to continue repenting heartily.

Now there are some people who wonder why the mistake keeps occurring even though they have repented for it very heavily. (4)Actually, if the repenting is done heartily, the mistake will definitely go away.

(Pg.24)

Supreme Soul veiled by kashayas

(1)These anger, pride, deceit and greed are all considered weaknesses. The supreme Soul (parmatma) manifests when these weaknesses go away. (2)These are veils of ignorance in the form of anger-pride-deceit-greed. (3)There are many prejudices. If you believe a person to be a certain way, then you will see him that way all the time. One is never the same forever. (4)There is a change occurring every second. (5)The whole world is constantly changing.

A life without conflict is the path of moksha

If the other person feels hurt because of your gusso -irritation (anger without violent intent) or if it causes him harm in any way, then tell ‘Chandulal,’ ‘Hey, Chandulal, do pratikraman. Ask for forgiveness.’ If the other person is egoistic, and if you ask for his forgiveness by bowing before him, he will tap you on the head and tell you, ‘Now you have finally come around!’

The heck with such ‘big’ men! You should cut down your interactions (vyavahar) with such people. (1)But you must forgive his mistake (guno). (2)Regardless of whatever intent (bhaav), good or bad, he has come to you with, you have to decide in advance how you deal with him. (3)You should not bother with the other person if he has an awkward and difficult relative-self (prakruti). If you have seen someone stealing for the last ten years, if his prakruti is that of stealing, just because he comes and bows down to you and asks for forgiveness, do you have to trust him? You cannot trust him. (4)You can pardon him for his stealing and tell him that as far as you are concerned he is free and you will not hold it against him, in your mind. But you should not trust him and you should not associate with him. (5)It is also a mistake if you associate with him and then do not trust him. (6)The best thing is not to associate with him, but if you do, then do not have any prejudice against him. (7)The approach you have to take here is, ‘Whatever happens is correct.’

This is a very subtle science. Such science has never come forth before. Every talk has a new look and it can benefit the whole world.

Questioner: The entire worldly life can improve with this science.

Dadashri: Yes, yes, people’s worldly life will improve and their path to ultimate liberation (moksha) will become easy and straightforward. To improve the worldly life interaction (vyavahar) is verily a straight path to moksha, whereas in their search for the path to moksha, people keep ruining their worldly life and making it more complex every day.

The worldly life exists due to unsettled account of karma

Questioner: What should we do when we dedicate our mind, body and wealth in doing good, but some people say hurtful things about us and insult us?

Dadashri: Insult will not bother you if you are Self-realized. If you do not have Gnan, (1)then you have to tell yourself that being insulted must be the consequence of your mistake from your past life. It must be your fault that the other person insults you. The other person is avenging the debt of account of karma from the past life so take it and ‘deposit’ it into your account

(Pg.25)

of karma. (2)If you tell the person insulting you, ‘Sir, insult me again’, he will say, ‘Do I not have anything better to do?’ (3)He gives you only that which is coming to you.

(4)The one who hurts and insults you is binding tremendous demerit karma (paap). (5)Now, your karma gets washed and (6)the one insulting you becomes the nimit (a living or non-living instrumental evidence in unfolding karma effect) in the process.

(7)It is when you do not see any fault in the one who slanders, accuses or hurts you. Your Gnan is such that, in spite of his actions against you, you do not see any faults in him and (8)you have the awareness that it is all due to the maturation of your own past karma. The Lord has called this dharmadhyan.

Squeeze the juice out of the ego

Nobody likes insults but I am telling you that (1)it is very helpful. Respect and insult are the sweet and bitter juices of the ego respectively. (2)Those who insult you come to squeeze the bitter juice out of your ego. When someone tells you ‘you have no sense’, (3)he extracts the bitter juice out of your ego and breaks it proportionately, without any effort of your part. The ego is full of juices. Before when you did not have the awareness (of Gnan) and someone squeezed the juice (insulted you), it caused you tremendous agony. Now with this understanding (Gnan), let the ego be squeezed knowingly and naturally. (4)What is better than someone else doing this for you naturally? (5)People can be extremely helpful in this matter.

Account of respect-insult

(1)The rule is: ‘No one will insult you when you no longer fear insults’. As long as there is fear, the ‘transactions’ will keep coming but they will cease when your fear is gone. Keep both, respect and insult in your account. (2)Whatever respect or insult people offer you, credit them to your account. Do not create a new account by reacting to the insults. However large or small the dose of bitterness people serve you, credit it into your account. (3)Decide that you want to credit about a hundred insults a month in your account (4)and the more the insults, the greater the profit. Now if you get seventy instead of hundred, you are in a loss by thirty and therefore you have to credit one hundred and thirty the following month. (5)Those who have a credit of three hundred or so insults to their account will not experience any fear of being insulted. After that there is smooth sailing to the other shore (liberation). So you have to start keeping a record from the first day of the month. Can you do that much or not?

The phenomenal value of pratikraman

Questioner: Sometimes I feel offended and hurt that I do so much and yet he insults me.

Dadashri: You will have to do pratikraman for him. (1)This is simply an interaction in worldly life (vyavahar). (2)There are all kinds of people in it. They will not let you go to moksha.

Questioner: Why should I do pratikraman?

Dadashri: The reason you do pratikraman is this: (3)‘Him insulting me is the maturation of my karma (udaya) in which he ends up binding demerit karma for himself. So I am doing pratikraman for

(Pg.26)

him. (4)I will never do anything again for which I become a nimit in someone else binding karma.’

The world is not likely to let anyone go to moksha. They will find a way of holding you back. If you do pratikraman, you will be able to break away from that grip. That is why Lord Mahavir has given all these three in pratikraman: alochana,which is to recall and confess the mistake; pratikraman, repentance and asking for forgiveness; and pratyakhyan, vowing never to repeat the mistake. He has given us all three in just one word. There is no other solution for this. Now when can a person do pratikraman? It is when he has awareness. Such awareness arises when he attains Gnan from a Gnani Purush.

(5)You should do pratikraman so that you become free from liability of karma.

In the beginning, people used to attack me too. But then they got tired of doing so. (6)If we respond by retaliating, people will not get tired of attacking us.

(7)This world will not let anyone go to moksha. The world is full of interfering intellect. Amidst it all, if one passes through with awareness and closes all accounts of karma, then he will attain moksha.

Purification of mistakes with pratikraman

(1)‘You’ have to tell ‘Chandubhai—the relative self’ to do pratikraman for everyone in the family and for any hurt that he has caused in the past. He has to do pratikraman for all the mistakes related to attachment and abhorrence, sexual tendencies, anger, pride, greed and deceit in this life and numerous other lives. (2)Every day take one member of the family and do pratikraman to them. Then do pratikraman towards all the people around you. Do the same for the neighbors, with the same awareness. Keep doing this and the burden of your load will become lighter. It will not become lighter without your doing so. (3)This is how ‘we’ had cleared our account with the entire world, and that is why this liberation has come about.

(4)As long as in your mind there exists a mistake on my part, it does not allow me to be at peace. So whenever ‘we’ do pratikraman in this way, everything gets erased over there. (5)You have to clear each sticky file which you have attachment and abhorrence with by doing pratikraman with upayog- focused awareness as the Self. You have to do pratikraman especially for the file which you have attachment with.

Resolving the complaints through memory

‘I do not want any temporary thing in this world.’ You have decided this much, have you not? So why then does a memory event (yaad) arise?

(1)It is because somewhere ‘it’ is stuck within. Nevertheless, this is a relative sticking; it is not real. (2)You should simply do pratikraman (ask for forgiveness from the pure Soul of the one you have ‘hurt,’ coupled with remorse of the wrongdoing) for memory of any being, thing or event, even when you are relaxing. You do not have to do anything else.

If you do pratikraman and (3)still the memory event arises, then know that a complaint is still pending. Therefore, all you have to do is do the pratikraman again. I have shown you the whole path that I have

(Pg.27)

followed to attain liberation. That path is very easy and straightforward. Otherwise, liberation is not possible. Lord Mahavir (a fully awakened, enlightened being in India, 2500 years ago) could do that; no one else can. The Lord was truly a great hero (Mahavir; maha – great; vir – hero). Even then, he had to take so many higher and lower level births.

Everything will fall into place if you follow what the Gnani tells you.

Free yourself from all your past life agreements

After attaining Gnan, ‘You’ do not have to do anything. You just have to decide, ‘I want to remain firmly in Dada’s Agnas.’ And do not worry if You are not able to follow them. You have to make a strong firm and unwavering decision (nischaya). Make a decision that ‘my mother-in-law scolds me, so with her (1)I want to practice Dada’s Agnas, and I want to deal with her with equanimity, without fail.’ Before you even see her, You have to make this decision. Then if you cannot settle with her, with equanimity, you are not liable for that. (2)You are responsible for remaining in the Agnas and for your determination (your nischaya), but you are not responsible for the result. Your nischaya should be that You want to remain in the Agnas, and then do not worry if you are not able to do so. But do pratikraman for it, the way I have shown you. (3)You committed aggression through thoughts, speech or action (atikraman), hence, do pratikraman. This is an easy, simple and straightforward path that needs to be understood.

Prakruti (the relative self) does wrong: Purush (the Self) does right

(1) Prakruti may do wrong but You correct it from within. (2)What do ‘You’ have to tell ‘Chandubhai’ when he does something wrong? ‘You’ have to tell him, ‘Chandubhai, what you are doing is wrong, it should not be so.’ So then ‘Your’ work is done. (3)Prakruti can be good today and turn out awkward tomorrow. You do not have anything to do with it. (4)The Lord says, ‘You do not spoil it for yourself.’

(5)Human nature is such that one becomes like his prakruti. When the prakruti does not improve, he says, ‘Ah! Forget it!’ Hey! (6)Do not worry if it does not improve, You just improve things from within. Then it is not your responsibility. That is how scientific all this is. There is no responsibility on your part whatsoever for anything that is going on externally. If you understand only this much, you will be able to solve your problems.

Analysis of the prakruti

Questioner: Please explain how to analyze the relative-self (prakruti).

Dadashri: (1)When you wake up in the morning and there is an inner calling out for a cup of tea or something else, can You not tell? That is prakruti. Then what else does it ask for? Then ‘it’ will say, ‘Bring me some snack and breakfast.’ Would You not know that too? (2)If You ‘see’ the relative-self (prakruti) this way all day, then the analysis of the prakruti will occur. (3)You have to ‘see’ (jovoo) all that by remaining separate from it. (4)Nothing is done with our free will. The prakruti makes us do it.

Questioner: This is at the gross (sthool) level, but how can we ‘see’ what goes on, inside?

Dadashri: (5)You should see who is having the desire: ‘Is this desire ‘mine’ (of the Self) or the prakruti’s (relative-self)?’ That is all You have to ‘see’ because there are only two things within.

Questioner: Are we to remain separate and then ‘see’? Is that what we have to practice?

Dadashri: If You do this for just one day, then You will know how to do it. You need to do all this for just one day. Then it is just a matter of repetition for the rest of the days.

(6)That is why ‘we’ tell you to try this experiment of ‘letting go of the reins’ for one day, on a Sunday. With this process your belief of, ‘It happens only because I have the control of it,’ will go away.

Questioner: When one says that he has taken hold of the reins, is that not the ego?

Dadashri: Yes, but that is discharge ego. You should recognize the ego and (7)You should also know on what basis does everything happen. Despite this, ‘it’ (the relative-self) ends up having the wrong inner intent (bhaav) that, ‘It happens because of me.’ Therefore, when you do this experiment, then all the wrong bhaav will go away.

If your son says, ‘I am your father,’ you will get upset with him if you feel ‘he is the one speaking.’ There is no telling what will come out of your son’s mouth. Therefore, there should be the awareness (jagruti) of, (8)‘Speech is a record, the speaker does not have this energy (here, shakti isthe power to speak), neither is it ‘my’ energy. (9)This is an alien, non-Self (parki) thing that is being thrown out.’

Then as You go further, (10)when you say something about some fellow, Rameshbhai, You should have the awareness at that time that he is a Shuddhatma, a pure Soul. When you are reading a book, and you read that, ‘Mangladevi did this and she did that,’ at that time You should be able to ‘see’ Mangladevi’s Shuddhatma.

Do whatever you can in this manner. You do not have to do it all in just one day. There are no grades that you have to attain here, but make it possible without fail; make it happen. Gradually, You have to become an embodiment of pure love with everyone (shuddha prem swaroop).

Questioner: Shuddha prem swaroop; how does one become that?

Dadashri: (11)If someone leaves after cursing and insulting you, then when he comes back to you and Your love towards him remains the same, then that is a form of pure love (shuddha prem). It does not increase even when he showers you with flowers. That which increases and decreases is attraction(aasakti). When it does not increase or decrease, it is called shuddha prem, pure love.

Through the elemental vision the world is always flawless

Do not look at the physical body (pudgal); (1)do not focus your attention on the pudgal. Focus your attention only towards the Atma. Lord Mahavir even regarded the people who pierced nails into his ears, as being without fault. (2)You are the one at fault when you see faults in others. It is the ego on your part and when you do this, you get double the beating! To begin with, you are not rewarded for your ‘efforts’ and on top of that you get a beating! (3)When you say that people create obstacles in your path of liberation, you perceive it through your senses and are speaking from the relative perspective. (4)In reality however, no one has the capacity to hinder you spiritually or create obstacles on your path to salvation, (5)because no living entity is capable, even in the remotest sense, of interfering with another living entity. This is exactly how this world is. Everyone in this world is a puppet on a string being pulled by the prakruti. (6)The prakruti pulls the strings and people dance according to their own prakruti. So no one is to be blamed at all. (7)The whole world is innocent. I myself experience this innocence. When you experience this innocence yourself, you will be liberated from this world. Otherwise, as long as you consider any living being at fault, you are not free.

This whole science is worth understanding. This science of the Vitarag Lords is very profound. This is a very subtle science. Such science has never come forth before. Every talk has a new look and it can benefit the whole world.

~ Jai Sat Chit Anand