AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Of

GNANI PURUSH DADASHRI

&

THE LIFE OF

AMBALAL M. PATEL

 

 

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Gnani Purush Dadashri

and

His Life

 

November 7, 1908 --- January 2, 1988

 

 

 

[1] How and When Did This Supreme Knowledge Manifest?

 

How Akram Science Manifested Within Me

 

Questioner: The Gnan that manifested within you, how did you acquire it?

 

Dadashri: I did not acquire it, it happened naturally. It arose spontaneously.

 

Questioner: Did it occur naturally?

 

Dadashri: Yes, this is but natural.

 

Questioner: The phenomenon that occurred to you at Surat railway station does not occur to everyone.  Did it occur because of your past spiritual endeavors in the kramic path? (Kramic path to self-realization is an arduous path requiring severe discipline and austerities).

 

Dadashri: Yes, everything I did was only in the Kramic path but the fruit it bore was that of Akram (step-less path of Self-Realization – requiring no rituals or austerities). However I failed at the level of Keval Gnan (Absolute Omniscience) and that is why this science of Akram arose within me.

 

The Difference between a Comma And A full Stop

 

 

Questioner:  First of all, I want to know about Akram Vignan?

 

Dadashri:  The ‘full stop’ of the ego, is Akram Vignan. The ‘comma’ of the ego is the Kramik Gnan path. Akram Vignan is the internal science, which takes you to your eternal bliss. This is also therefore known as the Science of the Self. The other is the science of the external, the non-Self. It is gives transient and temporary happiness. The external science perishes ultimately, whereas the internal science is eternal and leads to the Eternal.

 

Karmas Destroyed In the Fire Of Gnan

 

Questioner: What is this process, which makes a person absolutely worry free within an hour? Is it some kind of a miracle? Is it some kind of a ritual?

 

Dadashri: Lord Krishna has said that a Gnani Purush can destroy all one’s bad deeds in the fire of knowledge. That is what I do and that makes one worry free.

 

There is No Difference in the Light of Knowledge

 

Questioner: Do you believe in the theory of the Bhagwad Gita?

 

Dadashri: I believe in all the theories. Why would I not? Is there not only one main spiritual theory? There cannot be any difference in this theory or that theory. There is no difference in the light of the Self. The difference is only in the method by which the Self is realized. The light of the Knowledge (Gnan), whether it is of this path or another, is the same. This method is of mine is extraordinary and new. Here a person becomes Self-realized and worry free within an hour.

 

All Efforts To Know The Self Only

 

Questioner: Did you perform rituals of penance, and sessions of meditation in the past?

 

Dadashri: I did all kinds of rituals but I did not do them to acquire any material things, because I did not need anything.  I had no desire for worldly things. There was no need for such rituals. My spiritiual efforts were only for the eternal (the Soul), not for anything temporary.  I never performed any other sadhanas.

 

Deep Introspection Before Gnan

 

Questioner: You must have done a lot of instrospection and deep thinking before your enlightenment.

 

Dadashri: There is nothing in this world that I have not thought about. That is why this Gnan manifested. By the time you speak two words, a whole poem is analysed by me. With five thousand revolutions of thought processes per minute going on within me, I can extract the essence of any scripture, within two minutes. The scriptures are not complete. Only a Gnani has the complete knowledge. The scriptures only show the direction.

 

Did Not Meet Or Make Any Guru in This Life

 

Questioner: Who is your Guru?

 

Dadashri: A guru is only a Guru if you meet him directly, face to face in this life. I did not meet any such a person in this life. I met all kinds of saints, but none worthy of making a guru. I had a lot of spiritual discussions with them and had served them but none were worthy of becoming my guru. I did read about all the human beings who became Gnanis, but did not meet them.

 

Shrimad Rajchandra cannot be considered a Guru for me because  I did not meet Him personally. I had taken support of his writings along with some others, but his writings were the greatest support for me.

 

I used to read books of Shrimad Rajchandra, Lord Mahavir, the Gita message of Lord Krishna, volumes of Vedantas, works of Lord Swaminarayan and also of the Moslem religion.  I discovered what they all are having within, trying to say, and covey. They are all are correct, but from their own perspective. Within their own degrees of spiritual vision, they are all correct.  The total perspective is of three hundred and sixty degrees. Some are at fifty, some at hundred, some at a hundred and fifty. They are all correct. But no one has three hundred and sixty degree vision. Lord Mahavir had three hundred and sixty degree vision.

 

Questioner: From where did you acquire all this?

 

Dadashri: It is a study of many many previous lives.

 

Questioner: What was it like initially, after birth for you? Where did it start from, after  your birth?

 

Dadashri: After birth, I observed the religions of the Vaishnav, of Swaminarayan, of Shiv and many others. Then I studied Shrimad Rajchandra. Then I read all Lord Mahavir’s books. I read extensively. This is all I did everyday while conducting my worldly business of a building and construction works.

 

Sincerity Towards The Vitarags, The Fully Enlightened Ones

 

Questioner:  What else did you do?

 

Dadashri: Nothing, except I constantly remained sincere towards the vitarag Lords and towards Lord Krishna. I had no interest in the worldly life. I have never been greedy about anything. From my very birth, mature was without greed.  As children when we went out, we used to visit big gardens; there were all kinds of fruit trees: pomegranate, apples, oranges etc.  The other children would bring back a lot of fruits but not me.  I was never inclined to collect anything.  But I had so much pride that  I felt that there was no one like me in this world and only I know how much that pride hurt me.

 

Questioner: What was it like for you, before this Gnan?

 

Dadashri: I had a feeling that I would attain the right vision of the Self. I figured out what the true essence was from all the books I had read. I did understand it all and was convinced that the tirthankaras, the vitaragas are real and that their doctrine is absolutely correct. This was my spiritual search from endless past lives. My worldly religious conduct was like that of both a Vaishnav and a Jain. In some situations it was Vaishnav like, while in others it was Jain like. I always drank boiled water, even at work. Even you as a Jain would not have done that. But that is not the reason why this Gnan manifested. The Gnan manifested as a result of many other evidences coming together. Otherwise this phenomenon is not possible; the Akram science would not have expressed. This Akram science is the collective science of all the past twenty-four tirthankaras. This science is now the final opportunity for those who were not able to attain the Self when they were in the presence of the twenty-four tirthankaras.

 

The One with an Honest Heart Found The Real Thing

 

Questioner: How did Akram Gnan manifest within you? Did it occur naturally by itself or did you have to meditate for it?

 

Dadashri:  It occurred on its own; it was ‘but natural’.  I did not do any such meditation. How is it possible for me to acquire something so phenomenal? I did have some inkling that I will be blessed with some light of the Self. My heart was pure; I had done everything with a pure heart and that is why I felt that I would acquire something worthy, like Self-realization. I felt I would acquire some light of Knowledge but instead what manifested was total radiance of the absolute knowledge.

 

The Worldly Life Is Not An Impediment To Liberation

 

Questioner: Why did you not become a renunciate?

 

Dadashri: There was no circumstance for renunciation. It is not that I disliked renunciation, but I did not see any circumstance for it and besides, I believed that the worldly life does not obstruct liberation. I believed very strongly in that. It is not the worldly life that obstructs liberation, it is the ignorance of the Self that does. Yes, Lord Mahavir did talk about the path of renunciation but He spoke about it in the general. He did not emphasize it. And it is with emphasis and assurance that I am saying that the worldly life does not obstruct liberation.

 

Akram Vignan Is The Result Of Many Lives Of Spiritual Search

 

Questioner: Akram Gnan is the bottom line of how many previous lives spiritul endeavor?

 

Dadashri: It is the balance and extract of many previous lives. As a result of them all this Akram Gnan has  manifested naturally.

 

Questioner: This occurred ‘but naturally’ to you, but how?

 

Dadashri: I have to say ‘but natural’ for people to understand but it occurred as a result of many scientific circumstantial evidences coming together.

 

Questioner: Which evidences?

 

Dadashri: There were all kinds of evidences; the time must have been right for the salvation of the world. Once that happened, an instrument was then necessary to present it to the world.

 

The State Before Gnan: The Dawn Before Sunrise

 

Gnanakshepakvant is a state wherein a person has continuous thoughts related to the Soul and it never breaks.  Such was the continuity of thoughts I had - it would continue for days and days. I checked about this state in the scriptures and then I understood that what I was experiencing was the state of gnanakshepakavant.  

 

Who do you worship?

 

Questioner: People come to do your darshan Dada, but who do you worship? Which God does Dada worship?

 

Dadashri: I worship the Lord, Dada Bhagwan that has manifested within me.

 

‘I’ and ‘Dada Bhagwan’ Are Not the Same

 

Questioner: Why do you allow yourself to addressed as Bhagwan (God)?

Dadashri: I, myself, am not God. I too bow to the Lord, to Dada Bhagwan within. I am at the level of three hundred and fifty six degrees of spiritual achievement, whereas Dada Bhagwan is at three hundred and sixty degrees, absolute. I lack the four degrees and therefore I bow down to Dada Bhagwan.

 

 

Questioner:  Why do you do that?

 

Dadashri: It is because I want to attain the remaining four degrees. I will have to complete them, will I not? I failed by four degrees. Do I have a choice, but to pass them?

 

Questioner: Do you have a desire to become Bhagwan?

 

Dadashri:  I find it burdensome to become Bhagwan. I am a laghutam purush, the most humble of the humble. There is no one in this world humbler than myself.  Therefore I feel it burdensome to be  called a Bhagwan. On the contrary I feel awkward.

 

Questioner: If you do not want to become God, then why do you want to make the effort  to complete the four degrees?

 

Dadashri: It is because I want to attain final moksha. What do I want by becoming a God? God is anyone who possesses godlike attributes.  Such people become God.  God is an adjective.  Whoever possesses such qualities, people will refer to him as God.

 

The Lord of The Fourteen Worlds Has Manifest Here

 

 

Questioner: Who is the word ‘Dada Bhagwan’ used for?

 

Dadashri: It is used for Dada Bhagwan, not for me. I am a Gnani Purush .

 

Questioner: Which Bhagwan?

 

Dadashri: Dada Bhagwan, the One who is the Lord of the fourteen worlds. He is within you too, but is not yet manifest and here, within me, he is fully manifest and is ready to give rewards.  Your work can be accomplished even if you were to take His name even once.  But you have to call Him with an understanding and then salvation is yours.  His name will even remove any worldly obstacle you may have.  But you must not have such worldly aim because there will be no end to it if you become greedy. For worldly difficulties use His name sparingly. Do you understand who Dada Bhagwan is?

 

What is The Real Nature of Dada Bhagwan?

 

Questioner: What is the real nature of Dada Bhagwan?

 

Dadashri: He is one who has no attachment, no ego, and no intellect. He is Dada Bhagwan.

 

The Power Of The Words Of The Gnani Purush

 

The Gnani Purush fell short by four degrees in attaining Keval Gnan, absolute knowledge, but he has gone above and beyond attaining the knowledge of the Soul.  He has arisen above the knowledge of the Self but has not reached the final destination of full enlightenment. The world cannot know about anything that is seen and known of this in-between stage of the Gnani.  People have no knowledge of a single sentence the Gnani utters; they have no clue about it.  You understand whatever I say through your intellect – it is not as if what I say is incomprehensible.  The intellect is a light; it is through the power of this light that you are able to comprehend what is being said; it is this light that gives credence to what is being said. This however, will not be remembered when needed. Now because it is the Gnani Purush who is uttering the words and there is power in the spoken words of a Gnani Purush, these words will manifest at the right time. The power of the spoken word is defined by its presence when the need arises in situations of conflict and difficulty.  

 

 

Absolute Understanding: Absolute Knowledge

 

I am person who failed to acquire Absolute Knowledge.

 

Questioner: What are the four degrees that you speak of?

 

Dadashri: Whatever you see; the attachment to worldly things in my conduct that you see.  It is irrelevant that I am really unattached from within. These degrees are automatically deducted when others see imperfection in me.   I have seen the universe as it seen, understood, but not known and experienced it as is needed in absolute enlightenment.

 

Questioner: How can one tell the difference between understanding and experience?   

 

Dadashri: It has come into my vision and understanding but not yet in my knowledge and experience. It would have been total enlightenment had it come into my experience and  knowledge.  But because it is only in my understanding, it is called  absolute understanding or darshan.  

 

Questioner: I do not understand what you mean when you say that you came to understand it but you do not know and experience it. 

 

Dadashri: What is this world? How did it come about? How did the mind arise? Who is the ‘father’ and ‘mother’ of the mind? What is intellect? What is ego? What is chit? Why are people born? Who runs this world? Does God or someone else run this world? Who are you? Who am I?, all this has come into my exact understanding. And furthermore with my divine inner vision I see the Soul everywhere, in every creature. All this has come in my understanding and that is why it is called keval darshan, absolute understanding.

 

It is The Taped Record That Speaks

 

Dadashri: Who is doing this talking? Who is talking to you?

 

Questioner: I do not know that.

 

Dadashri: I, the Self am not talking to you. I am the Self. I am just observing you. I remain in my place as an observer and this speech, is a ‘tape record’ (speech recorded in the past life).  It is a mechanical record, which can be recorded again.

 

The person you see in front of you is the Patel of Bhadaran and the speech that is flowing is a tape record. It is the original tape record. I live in unity with Dada Bhagwan that has manifest within me.   Sometimes I become one with Ambalal Patel. I have to maintain relations with both the sides.  I have to go with Ambalal in my worldly interactions, otherwise I remain one with Dada Bhagwan.  

 

On The Day of Gurupunan: Full Darshan Of The Gnani Purush

 

There are three very auspicious days: The Indian New Year Day, Janmajayanti, birthday of the Gnani, and Gurupurnima. On these days there are no external interactions with anyone and therefore I, the Gnani Purush become one with Dada Bhagwan within and consequently am in an absolute state.  You can reap tremendous benefit from darshan of this state.  That is why it is very important to do Dada’s darshan on these days.

 

 The Eleventh Wonder : Akram Vignan

 

Up to the time of Lord Mahavir, there were ten wonders in this world and this is the eleventh wonder. The Gnani Purush remains a vitarag (completely detached) even though he is conducting business in the world. Is it indeed a wonder that you are able to do such a darshan, see this.  Just look at my topi and my coat! Should a Gnani even have a need for these? Why does he have an attachment to worldly things?  The One who has absoltely no desire for any material things, is trapped in worldly things. He is in the final stages of becoming absolutely enlightened. It must be people’s misfortune that the Gnani is in mundane worldly attire and not in the clothes of a sadhu. Otherwise millions of people would have been blessed if his attire were that of the renunciate. Alas! People’s merit karma falls short, as they fail to recognize me as a Gnani Purush.

 

Let This Bliss Be Known To The World

 

Questioner: What inspired you to spread this new religion?

 

Dadashri: The inspiration to spread religion comes naturally.  I felt the desire to make others experience the same bliss that I experience.  This is the inspiration.  

 

People ask me how I will be able to fulfill the commitment that I have taken for the salvation of the world now that I am getting old when I take so long to finish even one-cup tea in the morning.  I do not have to do the work on a gross or a physical level.  It is all occurring at a subtle level. The external events are merely a drama.  I have to support them.

 

Gnani’s Compassion Is A Thing To Behold

 

Questioner: As a vitarag, what is your relation with worldly interaction?

 

Dadashri: Vitarag bhaav, an inner intent without any attachment. The inner intent of salvation of the entire world is the vitarag bhhav. There is no other relation. The one you are questioning now is not vitarag at the moment. I am a meddlesome vitarag; meddlesome as far as wanting others to be free. The real vitarags do not get involved with anything. They merely give darshan to people.  They do not have any dealings with people, none whatsoever. 

 

Questioner: But when the vitarags associate with people, is it to discharge and be done with their own karma?

 

Dadashri: They do so to clear their own karmic accounts from past life, not for others. They have no other inner intentions. My only intention is that people attain liberation, the way I have. The real vitarags are not like this. They have no inner intents or wishes. They are absolutely unattached. Where as, I do have this one, intent.  That is why I get up early in the morning and start this school, satsang which lasts till eleven thirty at night. Why do people suffer so much misery needlessly?  There is no misery and yet they are suffering so much. All their suffering will disappear when they get rid of their misunderstanding.

How will the misunderstanding go? It will not happen by telling them anything. It will only go when they actually see me, and my state. The person that does this is considered the embodied manifest, the Lord in human form.  They are considered embodiment of faith; the one in whom people can place their total faith. 

 

Questioner: How do the thoughts, speech and acts of an aptapurush, the fully awakened one come forth?

 

Dadashri: His speech is such that it conquers and wins the mind, the mind stops.  His worldly interaction is extraordinary and spell binding and the speech is without a trace of ego.  His conduct is egoless. Such a conduct is almost never to be found.

 

Whom Can You Consider A Gnani?

 

Questioner: How do you define a Gnani?

 

Dadashri: A Gnani is where there is constant light.   He is the personification of knowledge.  He knows everything. He is the one who has nothing more left to know. Gnani means complete light; complete light means there is no trace of any darkness.

 

A Gnani is to be found once in a while; there is never more than one Gnani in the world at a time.  If there were, it would create competition between them.  To become a Gnani is a natural occurance. It happens. No one can become a Gnani on his or her own accord.

 

Gnani Purush is the one who is absolutely liberated.  He is absolutely free and unique. No one can come even close to a Gnani.  Nor can anyone compete against the Gnani because he who competes is not a Gnani.

 

Free From All Bondage Of The Universe

 

The vitarags have said that one will be freed eternally if one worships the lotus feet of a Gnani; the One who is absolutely unrestricted by dravya, kshetra, kaad and bhaav. Dravya is matter. Kshetra is location. Kaad is time. Bhaav is inner intent.  Such beings can never be held back. These are the only four things in this world and it is because of these four that the world exists. However, none of the four can hold down or bind a Gnani Purush. Lord Mahavira has asked us to worship the feet of such a person.

 

No Attachment or Abhorrence, No Renunciation Or Acquisition.

 

A Gnani is he one who has no need to renunciate or acquire. He is natural amidst these states, and is unaffected by them.  He does not have likes or dislikes. He has extraordinary quality of not having any attachments or abhorrence.

 

The Flawless Vision

 

I do not see anyone in this world as being at fault. Even if you were to pick my pocket, I will not see you as a theif.  I have compassion towards everyone including the thief and the murderer.  I am beyond all feelings of duality, kindness or pity.  Humans feel pity. A Gnani Purush does not have any pity. Gnanis are beyond all duality. I have the elemental scientific vision, the flawless vision, and therefore I do not see any faults anywhere. My vision is not guided by any circumstances. I directly see only the Soul in every being.

 

[2] Childhood Events

 

Practice of Non-violence instilled by my Mother

 

My mother was thirty-six years older than me.  One day I asked her if the bed bugs in the home bit her also.  She replied, ‘ my dear, yes they do. These poor bugs don’t come with containers to carry away extra food with them.  They eat their share and go away’.  I said to myself, ‘Blessed is this mother and blessed also is the son born to such a mother’. 

 

I used to let even the bed bugs bite me. I would tell the bug, ‘ now that you are here, eat a full meal. Do not leave hungry’. This body of mine is a hotel. It is such that all must feel comfortable and none be hurt through it.  This was the business of my hotel.  Thus I have even fed bed bugs. Would anyone fine me if I did not?  No!  My sole intent was to attain the Self.  I constantly observed the rules of not eating after dark, not eating root crops and dranking boiled water.  I had left no stone unturned in my spiritual efforts and therefore Akram Vignan came forth, a science that will purify the whole world. 

 

My Mother Taught me Never to Hit Back

 

My mother was very noble and she gave me the highest lessons of life. One day I was very young I came home after a fight with a boy in which I bit him to the extent that he was bleeding.  When my mother found out she took me aside and told me, ‘my dear that little boy is bleeding.  Suppose some were to hurt you and you were to bleed, would I not have to nurse you and take care of your bleeding?  Would his mother not be nursing his wounds now?  And just imagine how much that poor boy must be crying from the pain.  So from now on come with beating but do not ever come home after beating anyone.  I will nurse you and take care of you’. Such was her nobility. Now tell me, would such a mother not make a Mahavir out of a son? Such were the noble lessons, she had instilled in me.

 

Who is The Loser in All This?

 

Sometimes I used to sulk when I was young. Once when I had sulked. It was not a very prolonged sulking incident. I analysed it, and I realized that ultimately I was the loser. From there on I had decided no matter what others did to me, I would not sulk. That day because of my sulking, I lost my share of the morning milk. I reflected on the events of that day and came to the final conclusion that I had gained nothing. 

 

Once I told my mother that she was treating my sister-in-law Diwalibhabhi, and me the same by giving her the same amount of milk as gave me and that she should give her less. I told her was satisfied with the amount she gave me and that I was not asking her for more but I wanted her to reduce the amount she gave to Diwalibhabhi. My mother told me, ‘you have your mother here, whereas she does not have hers. So I have to give her the same amount otherwise she will feel bad.’ I was still not satisfied but mother kept explaining things to me trying to make me understand. She kept patching up situations. One day I threw a tantrum but in the end I lost out.  I then told myself I should not be awkward again.  

 

Clear Understanding At A Very Tender Age

 

When I was twelve my kanthi snapped.(a necklace of tiny wooden beads usually given to a disciple by his guru in exchange for loyalty to the guru and his teachings). My mother suggested that we should go and tie another kanthi.  I refused and told her, ‘Although our forefathers may have been following this age-old tradition, I do not believe in it. Just because they jumped in a well, should we all blindly do the same? In those days the well may have been full of water, but today I do not see any water. All I see is large stones and snakes at the bottom. I refuse to jump in it.’ First we should check to see if there is any water in it before you jump in. What is the point of jumping in a well and breaking your head?

 

I believed that a guru should be someone who would show me the light; he should show me the way.  He should be able to guide me spiritually. I did not see any point in undergoing religious rituals of having cold water sprinkled or poured over my head and having someone tie a kanthi around my neck. But I also felt that if a person were worthy of being a true guru, then I would not only let him pour cold water over me but even if he were to severe my arm, I would let him because I have had arms and limbs for infinite births.  In which birth did I not have these?  And if otherwise someone came and cut off my arm, would I have a choice in the matter?  So why would I not let a guru cut it?  If some dacoit were to come and along and cut it, do people have a choice?  And what if the guru were to cut my throat?  No Guru would do such a thing.  But if he did, is there any reason why you should not let him?

 

My mother told me, ‘Then everyone will call you ‘nugaro’. At the time I did not understand what that meant. I thought it was a term people used to tease others. It wasn’t until much later that I realized it meant someone without a guru.   So I said to her, ‘ Never mind if they call me nugaro. They will only make fun of me, that is all and no more’. 

 

No Need For Such A Moksha

 

When I was thirteen, after school I used to visit a couple of ascetics from North India at a nearby ashram in Bhadaran. I would massage their feet because they were very pure.   One day one of them said to me, ‘Son, God will take you to moksha.’ I told him that I would appreciate it if he did not say such things because I found that unacceptable. He felt that I did not understand since I was only a child. He told me that gradually I would understand it.  Later on my thought processes were these: if God were to take me to moksha, he would become my superior and would dictate over me. He would offer me a place to sit but later when his acquaintance comes, he would ask me to vacate that seat. If that is what moksha is, then he can keep his moksha.

 

Instead of this of dependency it is better to enjoy some bhajias with your wife. That kind of dependency is better. Such a ‘moksha’ is better than the other. I do not want moksha where there is a superior above me who dictates my moves.

 

So even at age of thirteen I had such thoughts about independence. I did not want any kind of moksha where there was a superior over me. If such a moksha did not exist, even then one thing was for sure. I did not want either a superior above me or any subordinate under me. For sure I did not want any subordinates.

 

I did not want moksha where I am told where or where not to sit. I wanted moksha where there was no superior above me, and no inferior below me.  I wanted a path of liberation void of any attachments. At the time I was not aware that the path of the vitarag Lords was indeed there.  All I knew was that I did not want any superior.  I did not want a God that dictates.  Such a God can go home, what use would I have for such God?  If he is a God, then I am also God.  It does not matter if he tries to keep me under control for a while but I don’t want it and for what purpose? For the gratification of these five senses?  What is the use of such gratification? Animals have temptations and so do we, so what is the difference between the animals and us?

 

Independent By Nature From The Very Beginning

 

From the very beginning I knew that I would not work for anyone. I always felt that it was better to die than to work for someone, because that meant having a boss who could scold me. This was my biggest shortcoming, but this very shortcoming also saved me in many ways. The biggest disinclination I had was that I would not work for anyone.  A friend asked me one day what I would do if my elder brother threw me out of the house. I told him that I would open up a paan shop (selling beetle nut leaf with condiments), but I would not work for anyone.   I would keep the shop open till ten o’clock at night, go home late for dinner and go to bed at eleven.  I might earn three rupees a day, or even just two, but I would make do. I did not want any kind of dependency, whatsoever.

 

Always Protected Subordinates

 

Do you know what I practiced all my life? I made it my principle to confront superiors and protect the subordinates. I rebelled, but against people in positions of power.  What do people generally do? They submit to their superiors and intimidate their subordinates. Whereas I would rebel against my superiors and consequently did not make any material gains. That did not bother me. But I had taken great care of the subordinates. Protecting the subordinates is the greatest quality.

 

Questioner: That is because you are a Kshatriya.

 

Dadashri: Yes, because I am a Kshatriya. That is a Kshatriya quality. If I see two people fighting, I will side with the underdog. That is my kshatriya quality.

 

In My Youth I was Rebellious: The World Melted My Ego

 

I can see it all. If I look in that direction, I can see it all and the words come forth.  I can see whatever I want to and I say it like it is.  Otherwise how am I to remember everything? I can see everything all the way to my childhood days. I can see all the phases of that time; how I used to go late into the classroom, after the bell rang. The teacher used to get irritated, and yet he could not say anything. 

 

Questioner: Why did you enter the classroom after the bell?

 

Dadashri: My arrogance. Such was the false pride I had in my mind. It is because of such arrogance and rebellion that I suffered.  A normal person would be seated well before the bell rings. 

 

Questioner: But to be arrogant is to be on the wrong path, is it not?

 

Dadashri:  It is definitely a wrong path. The teacher would already be in the classroom but I would go to the class after the bell. It was acceptable for the teacher to be late but by school laws, the students were supposed to be there before the bell. But I was obstinate and arrogant: ‘Who does the teacher think he is?’ This is what I used to think! Just look at the arrogance:  ‘The fool! Do you go to school to study or for confrontation?

 

Questioner: But did the teacher not say anything to you?

 

Dadashri: He did, but with reservation about his own safety.  He used to be afraid of being beaten up outside of school. 

 

Questioner:     Dada, were you that rebellious?

 

Dadashri: Yes, I was rebellious and mischievous. The whole stock (brought forth from past life) was of obstinacy and rebellion.

 

 

Questioner: And in the midst of all that, this Gnan manifest within you. That is a wonder.

 

Dadashri: Gnan happened. I did not have attachment (mamta) whatsoever. The problem was only of the ego. The Gnan happened   because of no attachment. I did not have a trace of attachment or greed, but if someone were to stir my ego, then I would not spare him.  Many people would talk behind my back calling me all kinds of names related to a heavy ego. They used so many adjectives to describe me.  I was aware of everything going on behind my back, but I had no attachment and that was my foremost attribute, and very commendable at that!  The ego without attachment is such that it projected aura and power.  On the other hand it does not matter how calm and friendly a person maybe, if he has attachment, then he is sunk deep in the worldly life.  The joy I experienced was because I do not have any attachment. It is attachment that is the cause of the worldly life, not the ego.

 

Now I know that I have become ego less. Now, no one needs to do anything to straighten me up.

 

Questioner:  How did you straighten out, Dada?

 

Dadashri: People straightened me up by hitting me with all manners of insults, negativities. Some even trapped me in situations from which I had no recourse but to soften up.  I learnt a lot from these interactions.

 

Questioner: Did everything start clearing up for you from your past lives? 

 

Dadashri: It was because I began to straighten up in several  past lives that I was able to completely straighten up in this life.

 

Interest in God, Not in Learning A Foreign Language

 

I told the teacher who taught English, who was a friend of my elder brother Manibhai, ‘ you can say whatever you like but I am trapped in your class. I have been studying for fifteen years and still have not been able to pass matriculation. I would have discovered God in these many years. I have unnecessarily wasted my time in learning the ABCD’s. Does one have to spend fifteen years learning someone else’s language to gradute from high school? What kind of madness is that? Half of a person’s life is wasted in learning a foreign language.

 

Thus Discovered God

 

One has been learning the same thing over and over again for infinite life cycles and then he or she forgets; a veil of ignorance covers it all. Ignorance (worldly life) does not have to be studied; it comes naturally. Spiritual knowledge has to be acquired. I realized this at the age of thirteen because I had a very thin veil of ignorance over me eve then. My math teacher told me to find the smallest indivisible number, which was present in all other given numbers (lowest common denominator) i.e. find the smallest indivisible number which could divide all the other given numbers. When I was young, I used to talk about people as ‘numbers’ and therefore this suited me. From this class assignment I discovered God, because God is indivisible and is present in all.

 

I Learnt Nothing Except The Soul

 

When I was young I used to ride a Raleigh bike, which I had bought for fifty-two rupees. In those days people would repair their cycle punctures themselves. However I was generous and would tell a mechanic to do it for me. People would ask me why I had someone else repair my punctures when they were so easy to repair. I told them I had not come here, to this world to learn everything. There are so many things in this world and I have not come here to learn all of them. I have come here to learn about the Soul and if I spent time learning about other things then my quest of learning about the Soul will be compromised. Therefore I did not learn anything. I learnt to ride a bicycle but did not learn to mount it the right way. I would rest my foot on the axle of the rear wheel and then mount it. I did not even try to learn the right way. I learnt all I needed to. There was no need to learn other things.

 

The Wristwatch Became A Source Of Burden

 

I never paid attention to anything specific.  I never learnt anything new. If I spent time learning anything new, I would short change the other (spirituality). Therefore I would not learn anything.

 

I had bought a used wristwatch for fifteen rupees. One day I fell asleep with my arm under my head, it really hurt my ear. I told myself that the watch turned out to be a source of discomfort.  I have not worn a wristwatch since then.  

 

Not Wasted Time In Winding A Clock

 

Even winding the clock everyday was bothersome so on the recommendation of my business partner; I bought a clock that required weekly winding. Then one day one of my acquaintances complimented me on the clock so I told him to take it because winding it was a problem for me. This upset Hiraba, (Dada’s wife), ‘you give away everything to others. How am I going to tell time without the clock?’ So I have never even wound a clock. My nephew, Bhanabhai Rasikbhai has been winding the clock for the last fifteen years. I do not even look at the calendar. What do I need a calendar for? I do not have time for all that. When will I devote my time for my spiritual advancement if I waste it on things like winding a clock? Therefore, I have not given time to any thing except for the Soul.  

Considered Radio A Madness

 

A friend told me to get a radio for myself. A radio!! You expect me to listen to a radio?  I listen to a radio, then what about my time? It was tiring enough just listening to the radios of all human beings, so how could I own one? That is all madness.

 

Did Not Even Acquire A Phone

 

Someone once asked me, ‘Shall we get a phone?’ I said, ‘No, why would I acquire an unnecessary burden?’ It will not allow me to sleep peacefully so why acquire such a nuisance! If someone needs me, he will come here. I do not have such needs. People install phones for pleasure or to show off. It is fine for those prestigious people who want to impress others.  I am not like them. I am just an ordinary person who prefers to sleep peacefully, sleep in own independence. So who would keep a nuisance of the telephone? It would ring and cause a nuisance. I would just throw it out. Occasionally a mosquito may disturb my sleep but that is an unavoidable nuisance, but this is avoidable. How can you afford to have such a nuisance?

 

Once I owned a car. The driver would come and tell me that the car had broken down and that it needed certain parts. I had no clue about parts. That is when I realized that it was a trap. I had already fallen into one trap of having a wife and children. A person could start one ‘business’ if he wanted to but he could not start several ‘businesses’, which trapped.   How many more traps can you endure overhead?

 

This is all commonsense. The driver would siphon the petrol and then tell the owner that the car needed more petrol. The owner would not know any better. Why go through such problems? Therefore, I did not keep the car. But depending on the circumstances I would ask for one. 

 

 

Did Not See Any Happiness In Worldly Things

 

Questioner: Dada, why is that we want these worldly things, whereas you do not?

 

Dadashri: You learn by seeing others, I have never done that. From the very beginning I have always done things contrary to what others do. If people go in a round about way, I find the shortest and quickest way to achieve the same goal.  I was never dictated by the social norms. I go against the social norms.  I never found happiness in where people believed happiness to be.

 

Taste For Good Clothes

 

I had a affinity for dressing up smartly. In this regard I was cheated in my steadfast desire for the Soul. You can call it a habit or some attachment I brought with me, but I was fond of dressing up sharply, nothing else. I did not care about what kind of a house I lived in. 

 

Questioner: Was this from your childhood Dada?

 

Dadashri: Yes, right from childhood.

 

Questioner: Did you wear good clothes even at school?

 

Dadashri: Yes even at school. No matter where or when, I wore good clothes.

 

Questioner: Even at college…

 

Dadashri: I did not attend college.

 

It is only for clothes that I used my energies. I even used to instruct the tailor how I wanted the collars on my shirt. I did not spend my energy anywhere else, not even  for my marriage was concerned.

 

Failed My Exams But I Had Planned To

 

At the age of fifteen I picked up the habit of smoking from the bad company. You can call it bad company or good company. It could also be the other way around; that I was a bad influence on the people I hung around with. Parents often claim that their child became spoiled because of the influence of the bad company he keeps. How can they be sure that it was not their son who influenced the other boys negatively?  If all the parents of the same group of boys claim their son has become spoilt, then who is truly the one with bad influence?  They should at least do some investigating?  Instead they should say that their son is on the wrong track; similarly I had gone off on a wrong track. I indulged in smoking bidis, cigarettes and the water pipe.  I would go out frequently and eat jalebi (sweet snack) and ganthia (savory snack). That had caused me to fail my exams.  What was the reason behind me failing my metric exams?  One cannot just fail without a reason!

 

There was an ice-cream shop at the station. I was staying at a nearby hostel and my brother remained at home. If I were to stay at home, I would not have the freedom to go out and enjoy myself. So on the pretext of being able to study better for exams I stayed in a hostel. In those days the food served in hostels was good and pure. So I ate well and enjoyed life. In the evenings some friends and I would get together at the ice-cream shop. We would sing film songs and eat ice cream. Other boys were also there to take exams, just like myself. I had no problem making friends because birds of the same feathers always flock together.  I did not have to go out looking for such friends. So I failed my exams!

 

My father Muljibhai and elder brother Manibhai had conspired to make me a collector. One of my relatives was a collector and so they wanted me to become one too. I had overheard them talking about it. I thought that if I were to become a collector then I would also have a commissioner over me who would censure me and so I did not want to be a collector. I thought to myself that I have acquired this human birth with great difficulty and what would be the point of it if I were to acquire a superior over me? When I did not want any material things, why would I put up with someone who would boss over me? It may be acceptable to those who desire materialistic lifestyle, but I was not for it. I would rather own a small paan (beetle leaf) shop than be bossed over under any circumstances. So I decided to fail my matriculation exams so that my brother and my father would stop entertaining the idea of me becoming a collector.  That is why I was so lax about my schooling.

 

Questioner: So you planned to fail?

 

Dadashri: Yes, I did. I planned to fail. So I am a person who failed his matriculation.  People ask me about my academic achievement when I use words and statements like: scientific circumstantial evidences, or ‘The world is the puzzle itself; there are two view points… etc.’ People think I must have been a college graduate atleast. I tell them there is not much joy in divulging my qualifications and when they insist, I would tell them, ‘I am a metric-fail person!’.

 

When I failed, my brother told me, ‘You do not know anything’. I replied, ‘ My brain is not working.’ He asked me, ‘How come before you were learning so well?’ I replied, ‘That it may be but now my brain does not function.’ So he asked me, ‘Would you like to join our business?’ I told him I didn’t know how to work the business but I would do what they told me to. After a year and half in the business, my brother was impressed with what I had done.  I developed an interest in that business and learnt how to make money.

 

They wanted me to be a collector but when they realized that I had gone off on a wrong track, they decided it was better to get me involved in the family business. Then I knew that my fortune had turned. My stars, which were unfavorable, changed. I learned the business very quickly and at the same time I could even go out and enjoy myself. This meant I could eat in hotels and have tea and bhajias without restrictions. And the business was business of contracts, which was full of corruption and politics.

 

Awareness Even When Getting Married

 

I was sixteen years old when my marriage was decided. My bride Hira was fourteen years old. On my wedding day I was wearing a new turban; it became displaced from the weight of the headdress made from flowers. I looked to the side and did not see Hiraba anywhere. The turban had tilted to one side.  I looked up to take a peek at Hiraba but I could not see her because of the headdress.  Surely the groom is going to be curious about the bride because in those days it was not customary for the bride or the groom to meet before their marriage.  They would see each other, for the first time at their wedding alter. Because of my big headdress, I could not see Hiraba.  It was at this time it occurred to me that although we were getting married, one of us was bound to become a widow, not both of us but one of us.  Such a thought occurred to me during this time; it touched me for a moment. It was because I was not able to see Hiraba’s face. 

 

Considered Them As Guests

 

I was nineteen years old, when a son was born. To celebrate his birth I had distributed pendas (sweets) to all my friends and shortly after when he died, I celebrated his death by distributing the sweets again.  When I distributed the pendas the second time, people thought we had a second son. When they asked about the occasion, I told them, ‘ First eat the sweets and then I will tell you the occasion’, because if I were to tell them the reason beforehand, they would not accept the sweets. After they finished eating I told them, ‘the guest who had come , is now gone (died).’ They were appalled and asked me how could I do such a thing because the news I gave them made them feel like throwing up.  I assured them there was no need for them to do so.  I told them he was a guest only and that when guests come we welcome them and when they leave, we bid them farewell.  They asked ‘How could he be your guest, he was your son?’  I told them they can think of him as my son, but to me he was a guest.  The same thing happened when a daughter was born to us.  Everyone forgot about the incident with my son.  They ate the pendas, when she was born and even when she passed away.  People tend to forget.  How long does it take to forget?  Does it take long?  People forget easily because they live in illusion. Illusion of the world makes one  forget.  

 

Super Human Being

Questioner:  How old were you when you start giving satsang? And when you distributed sweets in the park, is that considered a satsang?

 

Dadashri: No that is not considered satsang. That is my inner understanding and visionfrom the spiritual perspective. Satsang commenced in the year of 1942, so about forty-one years ago. I was born in 1908 and satsang started in 1942. That makes me thirty-four years old but actually I was about thirty-two, when satsang started.  Previously however, people did receive some sentences of spiritual significance. 

 

When I was twenty-two, I told my friends that they need not do any of my work for me. I had a big ego. I also told them that they could call on me at any time for their work. My friends told me there was no need for me to say such things and turn the issue into an affair of mine-yours.

 

It so happened that once I had gone to someone’s place at midnight after watching a movie. On seeing me that person thought, ‘How come this man who never comes so late, has come here today at midnight? May be he wants to borrow money? His demeanor changed. I did not want anything from him. I saw the change in his demeanor from his usual one. When I went home I analyzed the situation and realized that it does not take long for people to change their worldly appearances and expectations. That is when I decided that for anyone who is close to me, I should impart such a state that he or she does not become apprehensive or harbor fear because of me.  I then told everyone, ‘you do not have to do any work for me. You do not have to be apprehensive or fearful that I will ask you for anything.’ They questioned why I was saying such things to them. I told them, ‘ I am not looking for anything from any two-handed creatures because they themselves are unhappy and are looking for something. I do not expect anything from them. But you may continue to keep expectations from me because you are searching for something and therefore you are free to ask. Get your work done from me without having to do anything for me in return.’ I told them this and removed any apprehension or fear from them. Their reaction was, ‘No person, other than a superhuman being can make such a profound statement.’ What they meant was that only a superhuman being can have such a trait and not an ordinary human being.

 

Constantly a Thinker For Welfare Of The World

 

In 1928, when I was twenty years old, I had gone to watch a movie and a question arose in my mind as to what kind of negative influence the movies would have on our people, our culture and our values. The thoughts that arose next were, whether there was any solution for all the thoughts I was having and whether I had a control over anything in the first place.  I concluded that I definitely had no control over anything, if I had, then there would be some point to my thinking and analysis.  It was nothing but sheer egoism to think and fret over things I have not control over. Then I had another thought, ‘Is this going to effect Hindustan in a negative manner? Those days I did not have Gnan. I acquired Gnan in 1958 so until then there was only ignorance. In that state of ignorance I saw that, ‘As fast as this movie culture spreads negatively, it can also spread positively. So this was the best instrument as far as positive impact was concerned. I had thought this way before Gnan, but since acquiring Gnan thoughts regarding this have not arisen.

 

That Was The Principle In Life

 

I had learnt one thing when I was young - who ever I met I would tell them, ‘Since you have met me, you should get some kind of happiness form our meeting otherwise this meeting was in vain’.  This is what I used to say.  It was immaterial to me how undeserving that person may be but how could I be content if he did not gain something from me?  If he did not gain any fragrance from me, how could I be happy with that?  Does the incense not give fragrance, even to the undeserving?

 

Questioner: It gives fragrance to everyone.

 

Dadashri: Similarly if my fragrance does not affect you, then it is not a fragrance. My principle has always been that you should derive some benefit from meeting me.

 

Whenever I came home late in the night, I would make sure that my footsteps did not awaken the sleeping dogs.  As it is they do not have a comfortable place to sleep but at least we can let them sleep peacefully. 

 

Questioner: Dada why do you have calluses on your feet?

 

Dadashri: It is from a penance I imposed on myself to acquire the Soul. Whenever a nail protruded through the sole into my shoe, I would not smooth it off. I would keep walking in that shoe as it was. Later I realized I was on the wrong path. I carried out penance normally practiced by the Jains. I used to believe that if the nail affected the soul as I walked, I had not yet acquired the soul. So I let the penance continue and the scars of that penance still remain. The scars of penance never go away. I eventually understood that it was a wrong path. Penance has to happen within.

 

Silently Accepted The Penance, Without Anyone Knowing

 

Once I had to travel from Bombay to Baroda in a car. As soon as I sat in the car, I told myself, ‘you will have to sit in the same place for seven hours. This is penance that has come your way.’ Such internal talks are constantly taking place even as I am talking to you all. That day I told Ambalal Patel, “Today you have to accept this penance, and you are not to say a single word.” People tried to make the journey easy for me by asking me if I was comfortable and I would tell them, “I am very comfortable”. I never give any commission, by telling others of these difficulties. I accept without any complaint. Some other Dada may speak up, but not this one. That is called accepting and going through the penance that presents to you.

 

So Much Suffering In Waiting: Covert It To The Use Of The Self

 

Once at the age of twenty-two, I missed my bus by a minute. Actually I had come to the bus station an hour earlier, but I got delayed at a restaurant and missed the bus by a minute. This situation is one of turmoil. It would have been understandable if I were late in reaching the bus station in the first place; I would have accepted the fact that I was late and would not have been so annoyed. But here I had come an hour early and yet missed the bus and had to wait an hour and a half for the next bus.

 

 

Now let me tell you what state I was in when I had to wait for an hour and half.  What a thought struggle was going on within. An ordinary person, for example would have say fifty thought struggles going on within him whereas I would have a hundred thousand. You can imagine the suffering. I never liked waiting, even if someone were to offer a comfortable seat during the wait. That hour and a half seemed like twenty hours. That is when I realized that waiting for someone or something is the greatest foolishness in this world. So from the age of twenty-two I stopped waiting for anything. And if in case I had to wait I would engage the mind in something. There are times when you have no choice but wait. I saw a great opportunity in such a situation. Instead of idling away the time worrying about the arrival of the next bus, I made some internal adjustments. Then I was at peace. Can some adjustments not be made?

 

Questioner: Yes they can be.

 

Dadashri:  Is there not a lot to be done?

 

Questioner: So get the mind occupied in something.

 

Dadashri: Yes, get the mind occupied in something.

 

Questioner: In what?

 

Dadashri:  In anything.  I will tell you what I did. I would read Krupadudev’s writing or some other saint’s. I would not recite it but I would read it.  To recite it is to repeat from memory. Instead I would read it. Do you understand this?

 

Questioner: How could you read without a book, Dada?

 

Dadashri: I would read without the book. I would visualize the written form: ‘Dear Lord’ and then I would read it. Recalling and memorizing involves the mind,wheras reciting is mechanical and frees the minds. When the mind is free it wanders. ‘Dear Lord’, ‘Dear Lord’ ‘it’ keeps saying mechanically, and the mind becomes free to wander out. The nature mind is such that it memorizes what you feed frequently and thereafter it becomes mechanical. In all this I had adopted the technique of visualizing each and every word, ‘Dear merciful Supreme Lord, what can I do? I am full of infinite faults.’ I would see each and every word including the comas, exclamation marks and the capital letters. Reading this way is my greatest discovery. I teach others to do the same.

 

Questioner: But Dada, did you have this ability at age twenty-two?

 

Dadashri: Yes. I had the ability at that age.

 

It is out of such internal struggles that this knowledge arose. If it was not for being frustrated for that hour and a half…

 

Questioner: If you had not missed that minute…

 

Dadashri: This knowledge came about as a consequence of missing that minute. It is from having stumbled over and over again in life, that this knowledge and inner clarity has arisen. One becomes aware after one stumbles and falls. That inner clarity has always been very helpful to me. After what happened at the age of twenty-two, I have never waited for anything. If a train is late for three and a half hours, I would not pass my time unnecessarily doing this or that, I would remain in the awareness of the Self.

 

Set Up Counter Pulley This way

 

My revolutions of thought processing were very high. The laborers have fifty revolutions per minute, whereas I have one hundred thousand per minute. So how much difference is there between the laborers and me? And when you say something to those with lesser revolutions, it takes a while for them to understand and react. They do not understand even simple talks about worldly dealings. So you have to explain things to them in a way they will understand. I used to accuse them of being useless and not very smart and would lose my temper. Later I realized that it was the difference of revolutions that was responsible for my inner frustrations and therefore it is my own fault for seeing deficiencies in others. So I started to apply a  ‘ counter pulley’.

 

An engine of three thousand revolutions per minute will destroy a pump that runs on fifteen hundred revolutions per minute and therefore you have to use a counter pulley if you want to run a pump using the engine. Both will work fine despite the differences in the revolutions but you have to place a counter- pulley between the two in order for the pump to receive the cycle of fifteen  hundred revolutions. Do you understand this concept of a counter-pulley? I used the same concept when talking to other people with lesser revolutions so that they would understand what I was saying. Doing this stopped me from losing my temper.

 

[3] Awareness Of Ego and False Pride

 

Choosing Neighbors For Harmony

 

If you combine some traits of a vanik (business caste) with those of a vshatriya(warrior caste) or vice versa, it will create a great mixture. This is what I learnt later. Initailly this is what used happen. We used to live in a colony of mostly Patels. My elder brother Manibhai Patel used to interact with them and like to live amongst them, but I disliked the interaction with them. I was young and only twenty-two years old them. Let me give you an example. Whenever I went to Bombay I would bring back some halva (Indian sweet) with me. My sister-in law Diwalibhabhi would send some to the neighbors. She had done this a few times. Once I forgot to buy the sweets. Now whichever neighbor she met, would pester her, ‘Did he not bring any sweet this time?’ So I started to question how this problem came about in the first place: ‘we never used to have this problem before! Before nobody used to insult me if I did not bring back anything. So it was a mistake to bring anything in the first place. I brought it twice and when I forgot the third time, I had problems. So it is not worth having worldly interactions with these people’.

 

Do you know how kshatriyas deal with people? They will lay down their lives for others but they will also expect the same from them in return. They will not hesitate to give their own life or take someone else’s. They are big speculators in business and their dealings are extravagant in all aspects of life. I could not afford this ‘I-will-give-you-my-head-but-I-will-also-take-off-yours’ mentality.  I did not want anyone’s head and what if he was to come for mine?  I wanted no part of any such transactions and that is why I decided that it was best to live with the vaniks.

 

Someone asked me if I knew why Ravan lost his empire. I told him, ‘Why did he lose his empire? Why don’t you tell me?’  He proceeded, ‘Ravan would not have lost his empire if he had a vanik as his advisor.’ I asked him in what way and he said that when Narad told Ravan about Sita and her exquisite beauty and charm, Ravan became very tempted and made up his mind that one way or another he was going to have her. Now if Ravan had a vanik as his advisor, he would have said, ‘Sir, be patient a little longer because I have seen another, even more beautiful a woman.’ This way he would have been successful in diverting Ravan from that critical moment which led to his demise. If one is diverted at the most critical of moments, he will live to be one hundred. This is what the man told me.  I told him there was a lot of wisdom in what he said and that we definitely need to be guided during such critical moments. That is why I chose to live between two vaniks and lived between them for forty years.

 

I had instructed my family that if someone were to come to our home asking for something, they should give it and if they returned whatever they took, that was fine but the family members were never to ask them to return it. Even if they had to give a hundred times over, they should still not ask for it to be returned. However if that person came to return what he had borrowed, they should accept it.  The worldly interactions of the vaniks are beautiful, they will never complain whether you send them a large piece of halva one time and a half the next time. And even if you do not send anything, they will never complain. I could afford to interact with such people. How can you interact with anyone who complains and grumbles?

 

A man once asked me to hire a vanik accountant because he knew of my partiality towards them. I told the man he was welcome to work for me. I had many workers in my factory and he was a vanik on top of that!  I always used to keep vaniks by my side.

 

All This I did For Feeding False Pride

 

Every day there would two or three cars parked in front of my house when I lived in Mamani Poda, Baroda. Mamani Poda had a reputation of being a residential area for many prestigious and cultured people.  Not many people lived in bungalows about fifty years ago.  And Mamani Poda was the place to be.  When ordinarily the rent was seven rupees, we paid fifteen!  I used to live in Mamani Poda and I was a reputable contractor.  To my home, in Mamani Poda would come men who lived in bungalows!  They would come in their fancy cars.  Why? Because they would be in a lot of trouble and they would come to me for help.  They would indulge in distortion and unethical business practices and when they got caught and became trapped, they would drive to Mamani Poda.  Somehow or other I would help them find  ‘back door’ solutions. Just look at this! They are the ones who would break the law, I would be the one to help them escape; hence I took the liability upon myself.  Why would I do all this?  I used to do it to gain false self-importance and pride. I would use my cleverness and they in turn would escape.  They gave me a lot of importance but the liability of their actions fell on my shoulders. Later I realized what liabilities I had taken on in my state of ignorance; I did all that just for feeding false pride.

 

Questioner: You discovered that all this was to gain importance. How did you destroy this false pride?

 

Dadashri:  False pride cannot be destroyed. You can lessen it but you cannot destroy it.    How can one destroy it, if he is the one who wants it in the first place?  I somehow managed to pass my days by reducing it.    

 

That Ego Bothered Me Day And Night

 

My intellect and my ego used to be very heavy.  My older brother was extremely egoistic but he also had an impressive personality. His personality was so powerful that people would move out of his way the moment they saw him.  His eyes were very commanding and he had an imposing face. Even I feared him. In spite of this he used to tell me, ‘I have never seen an egoistic person like you.’ And yet he was the one I was afraid of. Nevertheless he would tell me confidentially that he had not met anyone with an ego like mine.  Later on I truly saw that ego.  It was when that ego troubled me and made me suffer that I realized what my brother was saying about my ego.  I used to say, ‘I don’t need anything’.  I had no greed of any kind whatsoever. So just imagine the kind of pride I had. If pride and greed were evenly distributed within a person, his pride would be considerably lesser. The ego was extreme because there was no element of greed.

 

The Falsehood Of False Pride

 

I used to think very highly about myself; I felt there was no one better than me in this world. I thought so much of myself!  I was not wealthy; all I had was a home and a small piece of land, only about two acres! But my mind behaved as if I was the king of Charotar, Central Gujarat. This was worsened because the people of the surrounding villages goaded me on and fed into my conceit.  They would tell me that I was a man who could demand whatever dowry I pleased.  This filled my mind with arrogance.  That coupled with something I had brought forward from my past life, filled my mind with a lot of false pride and arrogance. 

 

My brother Manibhai, also exuded a lot of aura of pride too. I used to call him a proud man, and he accused me of being the same. One day he told me, ‘’I have not seen a more proud man than you in my life.’ I asked him where he detected my pride. He told me it was openly evident in everything I did.

 

Then when I investigated this, I could see my pride in everything I did and this was the very thing that agitated me all along.  And what wouldn’t I do for some respect and importance!  People used to address me as ‘Ambalalbhai’ and I had become accustomed to being called this way and because I had tremendous pride; I would protect that pride also.  But sometimes a person may not be able to say all the six syllables of ‘Ambalalbhai’ or if someone was in a hurry and did not say the name in full and just said’ ‘Ambalal’,  is it a crime? How can one say such a mouthful in a hurry?

 

Questioner: But you expected them to, did you not?

 

Dadashri:  Oh yes! I would then start weighing things in my mind: ‘He called me Ambalal. Who does he think he is? Can he not address me as Ambalalbhai?’ I owned some land in the village and nothing much else to speak of and yet so much arrogance? ‘I  an Amin of the six elite villages of Vakadavada’. Do you not have Desais of Vankdavada?  They too are very conceited.

 

If by some chance someone did not address me as ‘Ambalalbhai’, I would not be able to sleep at night, I would be agitated the whole nightlong. Just imagine!  What was I going to gain from this?  What sweet pleasure was I going to get out of it?  Can you imagine what kinds of self-interest people have?   There is absolutely no joy in such self-interest and yet even then I had this fixation in my mind and that too because of societal influence. People put me on a pedestal and they believed me to be very important!  Of what use to me are other people’s impressions of me?

 

It is like this. When these cows and buffalos look at you for a while and then wag their ears, does that mean that you have to believe they are showing respect towards you?  That is exactly how everything is around you.  We may believe in our mind that people are looking upon us with admiration and awe but in reality everyone is caught up in his or her own turmoil.  These poor people are caught up in their own worries, each and every one of them.  Do you think they have time for you?   

 

 Ego That Gave Pleasure Became Painful

 

People around me looked upon me as being a very successful and kind man.  My business of contracts was successful; wealth flowed back and forth to me. To them I was a very caring man who showered love upon everyone.  They even considered me God like and someone who was extremely happy.  And yet I constantly worried; there was no end to my worries. One day my worries would not cease and I could not fall asleep at night.  I then sat down, took all my worries, wrapped them up in a package, uttered a few mantras, and stuck it between my two pillows’ and went to sleep; I fell asleep soundly.  The next morning I took the package and dropped it into the Vishwamitri River in Baroda. After that my worries became considerably less but when I acquired Gnan I saw and knew the whole world.

 

Questioner: But were you not aware of your ego even thought you did not have Gnan?

 

Dadashri: Yes I had that awareness. I also knew that it was my ego, but I liked and nurtured it. It wasn’t until it started troubling me so much that I realized that it was a foe and not a friend and that there was no pleasure in it.

 

Questioner: When did you start feeling the ego as your enemy?

 

Dadashri:  When it would not let me fall asleep, I questioned that ego. That is why that night I wrapped it up and dumped it into the Vishwamitri River. What else could I do?

 

Questioner: What did you wrap in that bundle?

 

Dadashri: All the ego. The heck with everything! What was it all for anyway?  Everything was in vain.  People thought that I had all the happiness in the world, whereas I could not see a trace of it within me. All I had was worries and suffering because of the ego.

 

Only Gnan Can Get Rid Of The Ego

 

Questioner: When did you feel like getting rid of that mad ego?

 

Dadashri: It is not something you can get rid of even if you want to.  Can one get rid of the ego at all? It just happened to leave automatically when this Gnan manifest within me at Surat Station. Otherwise it will not leave even if I tried to make it.  Besides who would set it free when it is the ego that reigns in the first place?  The entire kingdom is of the ego, so who would set it free? 

 

The Gnan Event And Its Description

 

Questioner: Can you explain the event of your enlightenment at Surat station? How did you feel at that time?

 

Dadashri: There was no change in my feelings. I had gone for business at Songadh and Vyara by the Tapti railway line. While returning I had stopped at Surat station. Along with me there was a gentleman Ranchodbhai Patel, who always accompanied me. In those days I used to have my dinner before sunset and so I finished my dinner in the train and at six o’clock we disembarked the train at Surat station. This was in June 1958. Ranchodbhai took the dirty dishes to clean while I sat alone on a bench on the platform number two. It was then that the enlightenment happened, the Gnan manifest. I saw the entire cosmos. What is this universe? How does it function? Who runs it? It was on that day when all trace of egoism went away. From that day onwards I began to live in a different state altogether, without egoism and without attachment.  ‘Patel’, the non-Self remained the same, but ‘I’ the Self became completely detached. From that day onwards, I have not experienced anything but constant samadhi, bliss of the Self.

 

What Did I See At Surat Station?

 

Questioner: Dada what did you experience when you had enlightenment at Surat station?

 

Dadashri: I saw the entire universe; I saw how the universe functions; who runs it; who is God; who am I; on what basis do things come together etc. I understood everything and I experienced absolute bliss. After that everything became very clear to me. The scriptures do not describe everything in its entirety.  Only that which words permit is described in the scriptures. There is a lot more to the universe, which is beyond any words; it is way beyond words.

 

Solitude Amongst Crowd Leads To The Explosion Of Gnan

 

Questioner: The direct inner light that you experienced at Surat station, did it occur suddenly on its own?

 

Dadashri: Yes, it happened suddenly. I was sitting on the bench and it was very crowded but this happened all of a sudden. 

 

Questioner: What happened after that?

 

Dadashri: After that I saw everything completely and it everything changed.

 

Questioner: Yes but at that time the people around were the same people, were they not? 

 

Dadashri: Yes, but after that I could see the external packings (bodies) of people as well as the internal content; the pure Soul within.  There are so many varieties of packing but the content is the same.  Therefore, the entire world appeared completely different to me.  

 

Questioner: Were you able to carry out your worldly work after Gnan?

 

Dadashri: Yes, and beautifully at that. Previously the ego used to ruin my worldly interactions and work.   

 

Questioner: In one of the spiritual song it is written: ‘solitude amidst crowds and awareness of the Self amidst a noisy environment filled with hustle and bustle’, can you explain that?

 

Dadashri: ‘Solutitude amidst the crowd’, means that man cannot experience solitude in a solitary environment because of the mind. That is why solitude is experienced amidst a crowd. Then, ‘shukladhyana’ arises in a noisy environment’. There was a lot of noise and a very crowded environment around me, and I was in the bliss of the Self. This means, I saw the whole universe, as it is, in Gnan.

 

Questioner:  How long did this state last?

 

Dadashri: It lasted only for an hour. In that hour, the entire vision became exact. Then I could see all the changes that had happened. The ego within was gone from its very roots.  All remnants of anger, pride, attachment and greed departed. I had never expected anything like this. 

 

People ask me how I acquired this Gnan. I tell them that this is not something that can be imitated, if that indeed was what they were trying to do. This was a phenomenon that occurred naturally. It was but natural.   If this were something that could be imitated then I would tell you exactly how I achieved it. But the route I had taken would not yield such a magnificent reward. My expectations were only for about five percent; actually not even five percent spiritual reward.  I was hoping that I would receive at least one percent reward from the power of all my efforts.

 

No Desire Left Even To Remember The Date

 

Questioner:  Dada On what date did this Gnan manifest?

 

 

 

Dadashri: The year was 1958 but I didn’t know at the time that it would be important for me to remember the date or that someone would ask me about the date. All I knew was that all puzzles were solved.

 

Questioner:  You not have to focus and find that out!

 

Dadashri: No,  it will happen on its own accord, if it is meant to be discovered. Why should I bother with it?

 

Questioner: Was it a rainy season?

 

Dadashri: No it was between the rainy season and the summer

 

Questioner: Was it July?

 

Dadashri: It was not July; it was June. I did not pay much attention to that. The enlightenment was all I cared about at the time.

 

Questioner: People will fret to look for it later on, will they not?

 

Dadashri: It will be discovered when they try hard enough surely. It will come about when there will be a need for it.

 

Do Pratikraman This Way

 

At that time because of my ignorance, before Gnan I had a tremendous ego: ‘This man is like this and so and so is like that’ – there was nothing but contempt, contempt, contempt, contempt…but I would also praise people. On the one hand I would praise one person and be disgusted with another.  Then after 1958, after Gnan, I told ‘A.M.Patel’  to purify all his mistakes of contempt he had for others. I told him to apply the ‘soap’ of pratikraman and cleanse everything.  That is what ‘I’ did.  I recalled every individual, all the neighbors, the aunts and uncles and all the relatives.  Contempt was directed towards everyone.  I washed off all those mistakes. 

 

Questioner: Did you do pratikraman in your mind or in person?

 

Dadashri: I told Ambalal Patel that I could see where he had done wrong to others and he that needed to wash away all those wrong doings. I showed him how to do it. I told him to recall all his misdeeds; for example if he had chided and verbally abused Chandubhai all his life; he had been contemptuous towards him.  I described it all to him in details.  He should do his pratikraman in the following manner: He should say: ‘Dear manifest pure Soul of Chandubhai that is separate from Chandubhai’s mind, body and speech and  all karmas! I ask You for forgiveness for all faults and caused to Chandubhai. I do this with Dada Bhagwan as my witness. I vow never to repeat those mistakes’. I told Ambalal Patel to do this.

If you all were to do this, you would notice a change of expression on Chandubhai’s face. As one does pratikraman here, the changes will be visible at the other end. 

 

The State After Gnan

 

All scientific circumstantial evidence came together at Surat Railway Station. The time was right and the Gnan manifest. At that time of the manifestation of the Gnan  I saw, not with my physical eyes but my internal vision, the complete science behind how this world runs and functions.  The ego simply departed. The feeling of ‘I am the body’ and everything else vanished.  Since then there has been nothing but an absolute state of enlightenment.

 

I lived in Baroda in this state of enlightenment. My friends continued to visit me back and forth because the karmic ties still remained. I would interact with them just as before, asking them how they were etc., but the attachment that was associated with all that was broken. Before I used to interact to earn respect. I had never taken anything from anyone for free. In return that earned me my respect from people. So no work was carried out without getting something in return. Now all the work is getting done without involvement and expectation of respect.

 

It was four years after the enlightenment before anyone realized that something had happened. Then  the crowds  began to come here.

 

[4] Business Life

 

Took only the salary as any other employee from his business firm

 

At a very young age I had decided that, if possible, I would not let any dishonest money enter into my worldly transactions and if for some reason it ever did, I would leave it in the business and not let it come into my home. Today I am sixty-six years old and I have not allowed any dishonest money to enter my home and no conflicts or tension has arisen at home. We had made a decision that we will manage our home within a certain amount of money. The business made hundreds of thousands of rupees. What would Ambalal Patel make if he had a service job to make a living? How much would he earn?   He would not make more than six or seven hundred rupees.  Therefore I took six hundred rupees a month from our company to run our home. The rest of the money I would keep in the business.

 

Our business of construction contracts was a partnership. My partner was Kantibhai Patel of Bhadaran, living in Baroda.  All businesses are a play of karma. If they do well it is the result of merit karma. If they fail it is a result of demerit karma. If ever the business were to get a letter from the income tax office, I would instruct them to use that money to pay off the tax liabilities. There was no telling when the business would get an ‘attack’, and if all the money was spent and the business were to get an ‘income tax attack’, then we were also likely to get a heart attack.  Such attacks are everywhere. How can you call this living? Do you not see anything wrong with it? It is this wrong that we have to destroy. 

 

Never a Famine, Nor a Feast of Money

 

I have never experienced shortage of money neither has there been any surplus. The thousands we earned in the business were spent away when business problems arose. There has never been shortage of money, nor has there been a surplus. I have never stashed away any money deceitfully, because I never touched any dishonest money. We were fine with no shortage or surplus.

 

Problem Of Giving And Collecting

 

I had fun with my friends and I also helped a lot of them with money.  In the year 1942, I was 34 years old and my friends had borrowed money from me but they never returned it. I was not bothered about a few hundred rupees that people would not pay back.  But I had helped a lot of my friends because I had the money, however none of them came to return the money.   Hence a voice within me said, ‘It is good this has happened because if you were to ask for it back, they will come to borrow again.’ If I were to ask them for the money, they may pay back the five thousand a little at a time but they will come back to borrow ten. So I wanted to put a stop to this hassle, and this was a great opportunity to do so. I could put an end to it from here on. If I try to collect it, they will be back again.  This way they will think they have it made because I was not asking them to pay back. They then stopped coming over altogether. And that was exactly what I wanted. ‘Blessed is the event that breaks worldly ties; now we can merrily worship the Lord’.  So at that time I discovered this tactic.

 

We had an acquaintance that once borrowed some money, but never came to pay it back. I realized that this was the result of past life enmity and unsettled account. It was correct that he took the money.  With this awareness, I told him that he was free to keep the money and that he did not have to return it.  If you can destroy enmity by letting go of your money, then do so. 

 

I Cleared Past Life Debt By Paying Double

 

You borrow from others and others borrow from you; in this world such give and take is inevitable.  If you lend money to someone and that person does not pay you back, you get agitated and keep wondering when he or she will pay it back. How can there ever be an end to all this?

 

This happened to me once. From the very beginning, I was never bothered much if people did not return money they had borrowed from me.  I would, however, once in a while remind them about the money they owed me.  Once I had lent five hundred rupees to a gentleman without any kind of a written note of this transaction. I did not make him sign any note or anything like that. I had forgotten about this altogether.  About a year and a half later I happened to meet him and this jogged my memory. I told him, ‘If you have the money, please send the five-hundred rupees you borrowed.’ He replied, ‘what five hundred rupees? When did you lend me money? On the contrary you have forgotten, that I lent you five-hundred rupees.’ I immediately understood. I told him, “Yes, let me recall for a moment’ I pretended to think and then told him, ‘yes I do recall that.  Why don’t you come by and pick up the money to-morrow? ’ Then the next day I gave him the money.  What could you do if such a person were to come the next day accusing you for not returning his money?  There have been such incidents.

 

How is one to cope with such a world? Expecting people to return money you lend them is the same foolishness as harboring expectation for a bundle of money wrapped in black cloth and thrown in the ocean.  If the money even does come back, accept it.  Serve the man some tea and snacks and tell him, ‘my dear friend, I am grateful to you for coming to return the money.  It is a wonder because in this day and age, money never comes back’, and if he tells you that he will not pay you any interest, you can tell him that it is enough that he is paying back the original amount. Do you understand? This is how the world is. There is no joy for the one paying back the money and no joy for the one taking back the money either!  Now who is happy in this matter? And what is more, it is all vyavasthit. It is vyavasthit when a person does not pay back and vyavasthit when I give him the same amount again, without receiving the original amount. 

 

Questioner: Why did you give that man another five hundred rupees?

 

Dadashri: To make sure that I will never have a cause for interaction with him again, in my life to come.  We should have this much awareness from having deviated in our past life. 

 

Allowed Myself to be Deceived To Avoid Kashayas

 

My business partner Kantibhai once told me that people take advantage of my naïve nature. I told him, ‘ you are naive to think that I am naive. I am letting people deceive me deliberately’. He then told me that he would not say such a thing again.

 

I am always aware of the motives of the one I am dealing with. I take pity on his covetous nature and intent to deceive, so I let him go. We all have come here in this life to become free from kashayas (weaknesses of anger, pride, attachment and greed) and it is because of this that I allow others to deceive me.  And I will continue to do so.  Is there not fun in being deceived with this awareness?  There are only a handful of people who will do so. 

 

Questioner:  There are no such people. 

 

Dadashri: This was my principle from very young age. Otherwise it is not possible for anyone to deceive me and make a fool out of me.  What was the outcome of my allowing others to deceive me deliberately?  The brain became very strong.  Even the brains of highly intellectual and learned judges could not match it. The judges too would knowingly allow others to cheat them. When you do this, the power of your brain will reach to the top.  But be careful, you should not attempt to experiment in this way. You have taken Gnan have you not?  Such an experiment is to be conducted when a person does not have Gnan.

 

We have to allow ourselves to be knowingly deceived.  But whom should you allow to do this?  Let those with whom you have to deal with day in and day out deceive you.  And also you may let a rare outsider do the same to you, but you have to have this understanding.  The other person thinks he has fooled you and you know that he is the one who is a fool. 

 

 Open To Sky Policy in My Business

 

Questioner:  Tell us more about your business. You keep telling us in our business.

 

Dadashri:  Where am I going to find the time to talk about my business?  What do I have to do in my business? 

 

In my business I would tell everything as it is. A man once asked me why I would talk so openly about my business.  I told him that a person who wants to borrow money for his business would keep everything confidential but I did not want to borrow any money and if someone wants to give me the money let him do so openly.   With me everything is open to the sky.  Therefore I would candidly tell people, ‘This year my business had a loss of twenty thousand rupees’.  I would openly declare everything then there is no problem. 

 

The Ego Is The Cause Of Worries

 

Before Gnan, a senior inspector of construction work suddenly caused an unexpected loss of ten thousand rupees in the business. He rejected one of our finished projects. Today ten thousand rupees seem trivial but in those days it was a significant amount.  This event had an impact on me to the point of beginning of worries.  But then I immediately found the answer from within.  I asked myself, ‘What is your portion of this partnership?’  Those days there were only two partners.  I then analyzed everything further.  There were two partners and only those two were on the business papers and documents, but how many partners were there in reality? There was the two of us and then our wives and also my partner’s sons and daughters. They were all partners in this, were they not? Then it dawned on me as to why I was the only one carrying the burden on my shoulders?  And why was no one else was worrying about this set back?  That day this thought saved me.  Is it not true?

 

 

Decrease Your Expectations Of Profit For Happiness

 

 

We have done all kinds of business contracts in my life. Amongst these we have also constructed jetties on the sea. I had made a decision that I would be satisfied with a profit of one hundred thousand rupees even when a contract would yield five hundred thousand.  Or in the worst case it would be enough for me if I were to break even as long as it paid for my daily expenses and the taxes. Then if the realized profit turned out to be three hundred thousand, I would be very happy because it was more than I had expected. People become miserable when they expect forty thousand but get only twenty.

 

 Lose All Expectations And Be Free

 

 If a person were to expect only a loss, treating all worldly endeavors as a loss, then no one would be happier than him.  This awareness is such that he will never be subject to any loss in his life.   A believer in loss from this viewpoint will never experience loss in his life.

 

Endured Difficulties To Avoid Disputes

 

I conducted business with my partner for forty-five years without the occurrence of a single dispute.  So you can imagine how many difficulties I would have endured within.  Surely the internal difficulties had happened. What does it mean to have difference of opinion and disputes? The world deals with them by reacting and attacking the other.  Confrontation is the wrong approach.

 

 

As A Consequence The Partner Saw God

 

Even before Gnan I did not allow differences to occur, not even with the bedbugs. The poor bedbugs too realized that I was a man without differences and conflicts and so they would take their quota and move on.

 

Questioner: How can you be sure that all this was not a settlement of past life accounts in whatever you were giving away?

 

Dadashri: It is an exact settlement. It is not something new. But this is not a question of settlement either. You should not spoil your current bhaav, deep inner intent, should you? The other is a settlement, it is an effect of causes from past life, but the new inner intent should not be spoilt. My new inner intent became strong that only this is correct. Do you like what I am saying or are you getting bored?

 

Questioner:  Yes Dada I like it.  And you experienced freedom from all inner conflicts.

 

Dadashri: Yes, by enduring you become free from conflicts and not only that but the other person, my business partner and his entire family move on to a higher life form.  By observing me, their minds too would become broader and open. Narrow minds become open. Kantibhai, my partner despite being with me daily, would say, ‘Welcome Dada Bhagwan, you are definitely Bhagwan.’ He remained with me all the time and yet developed affection and no negativity towards me. Just imagine how much he gained from that.

 

I have not done anything for my own benefit. My business ran without me. Kantibhai told me to continue doing my spiritual work and that he would take care of the business. All I had to do was to come to the business once in a while and show him what needed to be done. That is all he expected of me.

 

Questioner: But isn’t there self-interest for the partner in entering into business with you?

 

Dadashri: Yes.

 

Questioner: What did he gain from it?

 

Dadashri: He acquired monetary as well as worldly benefits.  He had told his children that Dada’s presence was his wealth and that he had never ran short of money as my partner.

 

[5] Principles Of My Life

 

 After Gnan: I Reconfirmed Vyavasthit

 

In 1961 or 62 I told everyone that I would give five hundred rupees to anyone who would come and slap me. No one did. I told them if anyone was short of money, he or she should come and slap me. Their response was, ‘What would become of us if we did that?’ Now who would be willing to do such a thing? So if someone were to do this, you should consider it tremendous merit karma of yours; you should consider it as a big reward.  Besides that person is not holding anything back, you are only getting what you had given yourself.

 

What I am saying is that the order of this world is such that if you were to get bunch of shirts in 2007(future) but you use up that quota of your shirts earlier than that, then you will be without one that year. So use everything methodically. Do not discard anything without first getting good use out of it and until it is worn down. Such was my principle. That is why I say that it is meaningless to get rid of something if it is not worn out, especially if you can still get more use out of it. Do you not think there is an account behind all these things you use?  It is an account and such an account, that it is very precise all the way down to each atom. You cannot change this. Such are the laws of vyavasthit; every account is precise all the way down to the atomic level. So do not waste anything.

 

    This World Is Exact

 

I am forced to waste water here.  I am a Gnani and for a Gnani there is no need to renounce or acquire. And yet I still have to waste water when I use it. Because I had injured my leg I had to use the western toilet, the one with a flush. Now how many cans of water must I be wasting whenever I flushed the toilet? Am I concerned about wasting water because there is a shortage of it? No.  Do you realize how many living souls would die needlessly in the water by colliding with each other? Why should you waste so much water when only a small amount is needed? Because I am a Gnani, I can remedy that mistake by doing pratikramans and make do for few months. Even I have to find a remedy. It does not matter whether one is a Gnani or not.  Nothing will work here.  This world is not governed by a disorderly rule, it is governed by the rule of the vitarags; the twenty-four tirthankaras. Do you like this law seen by the tirthankaras?

 

Awareness of Separation

 

If I am running a fever and someone asks me, ‘Do you have a fever?’ I would tell them , ‘yes A.M. Patel  has a fever, and I am aware of that.’ If I were to say, ‘I am sick’, then it would stick to me, because you become what you say. Therefore I never say that.

 

This Is Something From ‘My’ Experience.

 

I do not travel by first class because other passengers would come to bug me. And I do not know how to twist things when I talk to them.  I do not know how to say things diplomatically.  If they were to ask me my address, I would give it to them and they would come visiting at home.  All this is nothing but endless bother. Instead the third class passengers are just like my brothers, they are much better. When boarding or disembarking the train, if someone stepped on my feet, it would be the opportunity to examine the inner reactions and tackle the inner enemies, weakness of anger, pride, attachment, greed, that arise. 

 

Then when this leg would hurt, I would say, ‘Ambalalbhai, your legs are hurting, aren’t they?  You have been sitting in a cramped position for a long time’.  I would then take him to the bathroom and looking at the mirror, pat him on his back and tell him, ‘Don’t worry I am with you, why are you anxious? I am the Lord within you and I am with you.’  Thereafter, Ambalal feels like he is in First Class.   

 

If ever you encounter difficulties, you should pat the back and talk to him, and say ‘Before there was only you but now there are two of us.  Before you had no one to depend on.  You were looking for someone to lean on all by your self.  Now you have me as well.’  Have you done something like this? 

 

Questioner:  Yes I have.

 

Dadashri:  Did you experience something different at the time?  You should speak as if you are the king of this entire universe.  I am showing you everything that has worked from my own experience. 

 

I used to talk to ‘Patel’ a lot.  I used to say things I used to enjoy. I used to tell this 73 year old man, ‘Do you think you were wise all the 73 years?  You have become wise after being molded’.

 

Questioner:  When did you start having this conversation, Dada?

 

Dadashri:  After the Gnan.  How could I have done so before Gnan?  It was after the Gnan that I became aware that ‘I am separate’.   

 

I would even recall the moment when Ambalal was getting married.  ‘Aha Ambalal, when you were getting married and your turban tilted to one side, you had thoughts about becoming a widower.’  This is what I used to say.  I can see it all: The tilted turban; the wedding alter, I can see it all.  The moment the thoughts arise, I can see it all clearly.  I talk to him and he becomes happy. If I talk to him in this way, he becomes happy. 

 

[6] Adjustment With Hiraba, Wife

 

I Kept Vigil in order to avoid Conflicts

 

In the marriage ceremony, the priest recites: ‘Be vigilant to circumstance’. The priest is correct in saying that it is important for one to be vigilant in every circumstance; only then can one get married in life. And it is negligent to become agitated when she does. Whenever she gets excited you should remain calm. Should you not be cautious?  I was always cautious. I would not let any tear appear in our marriage. I would take out the welding gear as soon as a split, dispute or difference of opinion arose. 

 

I had repaired everything by the time I was thirty years old.  After that there were no problems at home, no differences whatsoever. Initially we did have our problems because of misunderstandings. This was because I attempted to exercise my authority and dominance as a husband.

 

Questioner: Is there not a difference between you showing your authority Dada, and other men doing the same thing?

 

Dadashri:  Difference? What difference? Husbandly dominance is nothing but madness. How many different kinds of darkness are there?

 

Questioner: All the same, you are different Dada.  Everything you do is different; it is something new.

 

Dadashri: There is a little difference. Once I decide to put and end to any conflict, I will not allow any new ones to occur. If any new conflict were to occur, I would know how to solve it. Differences would naturally occur because I would say something to her for her own good but even then she would not appreciate it, so what other solution is there? In this world it is not worth looking at good or bad, right or wrong. Whatever works is good and what doesn’t is bad. The key thing is to live life without conflict. Everything works with me. You must have so many occasions where things do not work, am I right? 

 

Questioner: It is only with dada that everything works, not with others.

 

Dadashri: Is that so? So be it. It is more than enough if it works in this ‘office’. This is considered the head office of the whole world. I am the emperor of the whole universe. People become elated when they hear the term the ‘Emperor of the Universe’! No one has ever said such a thing.  It is true, is it not? The one who has no ownership of the mind, speech or body is considered the emperor of the universe.

 

Promise To The Wife, Unbroken

 

In 1943 Hiraba lost one of her eyes. She had glaucaoma and in an attempt to operate on that eye, the doctor damaged the eye even more and she lost it altogether.

 

So people around me started to think of me as a prospective new husband and some had designs to get me married again.  Back then there were a lot of brides-to-be available. Parents were only interested in getting their daughters married, even if it meant marrying them to their doom.  There was a man from the village of Bhadaran who came to me with a proposal for his brother-in-law’s daughter. I was thirty-six at the time in 1944. He cited various reasons. The first was the loss of Hiraba’s eye. The second was the lack of any children to carry on the Patel name. He suggested that I   remarry. I told him it was true I had no children, but neither did I have anything to pass on. I refused. I told him that I had made a promise to Hiraba to take care of her when I married her.  What can anyone do if she has lost one of her eye? Besides even if she were to lose the other eye, I would take care of her.  I would hold her hand and guide her around. He tried to entice me with a dowry and I asked him,  ‘Do you want to throw your daughter in the well? Besides Hiraba would become very unhappy. She would feel that I remarried because of her eyes. She would feel terrible about her eyes. Would she not?’ I had made a promise to pay, take care of her.  I told him, ‘I am not a person who would ever go back on his word.   No matter what happens in the world, a promise is a promise.  I have given a promise and once a promise is given, there is no going back on it. So what if it takes this entire life to fulfill that promise to her, there are many more lives to come. I had given her my hand in marriage and when I gave that hand to her, I had given her a promise. I gave her my hand in everyone’s presence, and I gave her a promise as a kshatriya and I will have to devote one life time to fulfill that promise. 

 

What Understanding! What Adjustment!

 

If the kadhi, common Gujarati soup, served to me turned out to very salty, I would eat less of it and if I had no choice but eat it, then to cut down on the salty taste I would very subtly add some water to it and dilute it. One day Hiraba caught me doing this and she exclaimed, ‘Oh, what did you do, you put water in it?  Throw it away!’ I told her, ‘You add water to the kadhi when it is on the stove, and when it boils you know that the kadhi is cooked, so do you think that it becomes uncooked just because I add water to it on the table?’  There is nothing to it. But they would not let us eat kadhi this way; don’t they add water to the kadhi when it is on the stove? 

 

It is all in the mind. Just because people believe something should be done in a certain way, they think it becomes ruined if anything is done contrary to the way they do it.  Nothing is ever ruined. Everything is made of the same five elements- air, water, fire, earth and space. So nothing is going to be ruined.

 

Constant Worldly Awareness Led To Akram Vignan

 

Questioner: But Dada you had so much awareness.  You subtly added water to the kadhi because you did not want to tell her that the kadhi was salty because it would hurt her feelings.  

 

Dadashri: Yes that is right. And many times I had remained silent when there was no sugar in the tea. People would caution me and tell me that if I did not say anything, things would  become worse. I would tell them, ‘Just wait and see.’ The next day Hiraba would ask me, ‘ Why didn’t you tell me there was no sugar in the tea yesterday?’ I would tell her, “There was no need to tell you because you would find out when you drank the tea yourself. Now I would have to tell you if you did not drink tea, but since you do, is it necessary for me to tell you?’

 

Questioner: But that calls for tremendous awareness every passing moment.

 

Dadashri: Every moment. Twenty-four hour awareness was there. It was after such worldly awareness, this Gnan commenced; it did not just happen to occur on its own.

 

Whatever events I talk about and when you ask me questions about them, I visualize the place and the situation as it was.  Darshan means I can actually see everything the way it occurred. 

 

Cautious Before Difference Of Opinion Arises

 

If you do not have any conflict-laden material within you towards anyone, then neither would others have any towards you.  If you do not get angry and agitated, the other person will remain calm.  You should become like a brick wall so nothing will affect you. We have been married for fifty years and yet we have never had any conflicts. Even when Hiraba spills ghee, liquid butter, I merely watch her do it. Gnan is present at that moment. The Gnan says that she is not the one doing the spilling.  She would not spill even if I ask her to.  Would anyone deliberately spill ghee?  No. Never the less when the ghee does spill, it is something to be observed, so observe it. For me Gnan is readily at hand before any conflict occurs.

 

Solutions Through Knowing The Nature Of The Other Person

 

I have never had any conflicts, even at home.  We Patidar Patels are set in our ways.  When we pour ghee over our food, we just tip the container 90 degrees, we don’t tip it slowly, a few degrees at a time, like other people do in their homes. Hiraba, she would tip it carefully, a few degrees at a time.  I did not like that; it was bad for my reputation.  But I also understood her prakruti, her overall nature, and so I knew that there would be no problem if I were to spill the ghee, because she would scoop it up.  She used to tell me that I was very  naïve and generous and that I give everything away to people. She was right.  That is why I had given her the keys to the cupboard because I would give away things to anyone who would come giving me a sob story without thinking whether he was truly unhappy or otherwise. I would continue to make such mistakes and this only served to encourage people. This is what Hiraba experienced and so I gave her the keys. This was before I acquired Gnan.  After Gnan there has never been any conflicts between us. 

 

I Would Take Back And Turn My Words To Avoid Conflicts

 

Whatever I tell you has been tried and tested on myself first. Even before I attained Self-realization, I never had any conflicts with the wife. To have conflicts is the same as banging into a wall. People may not have such an awareness but I would realize that I had banged into a wall with open eyes, whenever I got into a conflict.   

 

Once I had a difference of opinion with Hiraba. I address my wife as Hiraba. (‘Ba’ means mother).  As a Gnani Purush, I can refer to all women as ‘ba’ and all girls as daughters.  This is not a long story; I can tell you if you want to hear it.

 

I had a difference of opinion with her one day.  I became almost trapped that day.  Hiraba announced one day that her brother’s oldest daughter was getting married and she asked me what wedding gift of silver should we give her.   I told her to give from whatever silver we had in the house.  Do you know what she said to me?   Normally we never used words like ‘yours’ or ‘mine’, in our home. We always said ‘ours’. That day she told me, ‘For your uncle’s son, you give big silver dishes.’  That day the interaction turned to ‘mine and yours’  “Your uncle’s son”, she announced, it came down all the way to this level.  I was taken aback by my own misunderstanding and so I immediately turned things around; there is no harm in doing that. It is better to turn around than get into conflicts.  I said to her, ‘I don’t mean to say that.  Also why don’t you give her five hundred and one rupees?’  ‘What?  You are naïve. You are too naive.  How can you give so much money?’ She responded. Did I not win?  I proceeded, ‘Give her five hundred one rupees in cash and give her something small from the silver in our home’.  She insisted that I was very naive and that we could not give so much money.  Did I not avert a conflict?  No matter what, I would not allow a conflict to take place and on top of that she tells me that I am naive.  Instead of allowing thoughts such as ‘To my brother you give little’, to enter her mind, she instead began to tell me, ‘We cannot give so much money.’

 

 

Coin Without Value

 

Do not try to have your own way at home. The one who tries to keep control will have to wander. I told Hiraba that I am a coin without remunerative value. I cannot afford to wander. What does the coin without any value do? He has to sit next to God all the time. Usually such coins end up in the temple. If you try to do things your way in the home, will it not result in conflicts?  Now, after Gnan, all you have to do is settle matters with equanimity. At home you have to live with your wife as a friend. You have to live as friends with each other. Here no one takes notice of who is in control. Neither is it recorded anywhere else in the municipal offices.  God too does not keep any record of it.  What is important, control or living happily? So find out where lies the happiness. If they kept a record of who was in control, at the municipal offices, then I would not adjust.  But here no one keeps records.

 

 

When I go to home to Baroda, I live as Hiraba’s guest. Hiraba would have a problem if a dog were to come into the house, but not the guest.  If a dog were to come inside the house and do some damage, it would be a problem for the owner, but not for the guest.  The guest  merely observes everything.  He can ask what happened and if the owner tells him the dog ruined the ghee, the guest will say ‘That’s too bad’.  He may say this but he speaks superficially.  He has to say ‘That’s too bad’, because if he said ‘That’s good’, he will be thrown out!  

 

‘I Do Not Like Being Away From You’  

Even at this age I tell Hiraba that I do not like going out of town and being away from her.  She may be thinking, ‘I like it, why does he not like being away?’  If you say such things, your worldly life will not worsen and slip.  From now on why don’t you do the same?  Add some ghee to the dough of your life otherwise it will become bland and tough to chew. Pour some sweetness into it.  She will ask me, ‘You think of me too?’ I tell her, ‘Very much. If I think of others why would I not think of you?  And truly I do think about her, it is not that I don’t.

 

Hiraba Does Vidhi At The Feet Of The Gnani Husband  

 

I have not had any conflicts with the wife in forty-five years of marriage. If she speaks within the boundaries of our role, then I too will speak keeping these norms in mind. And if some day her words cross these boundaries, I would understand that she has done so.  I would tell her that she is right but I would not let a conflict arise.  She will never feel that I have hurt her even for a minute, and neither do I feel that she has hurt me.

 

 

One day someone asked me, ‘what kind of a relation do you have with your wife now after your enlightenment? Do you still interact with her without calling her by her name?(this generation in India is such that they never address each other by their actual first names)’. I told him, ‘No. I call her Hiraba. She is seventy-six and I am seventy-eight years old, do you think I would still call her in that manner?  I call her Hiraba’.   He then asked me if she revered me.  I told him that when I go to Baroda, she would first come and do the vidhi, by touching her forehead to my toe and then she would sit down.  She would do the vidhi everyday. People have seen all this. How well must I have cared for her that she would come and do the vidhi?  No Gnani’s wife has done such a vidhi to him before.  So imagine how well I cared for her.   

 

Addressed The Wife as ‘Ba’ After Sexual Relations Ceased

 

I have addressed Hiraba as ‘Ba’, from the time all sexual relations ceased between us. (Dada became celibate at the age of 35).  Since then we have not encountered any obstacles. And whatever few obstacles we had before that, were because of the sexual relations.  But as long as the bite effects of sexual relations remain, so will the obstacles. I am telling you from my personal experience. It is because of presence of Gnan that bites do not bother. In the absence of Gnan, the bite effects of sexual relations will continue to sting and burn because the ego is present there. There is a portion of the ego that has to do with the claim that ‘he took pleasure from me’ and he would claim, ‘she took pleasure from me’, but after Gnan, it is nothing but discharge of karma. However, there will be some quarrel even though it is a discharge.  But we did not have that either.  We did not have any such disputes.

 

[7] The Gnan State And Its Worldly Expression  

Passed Through Every Phase Of Life after Life  

Everything here is what I have analyzed.  This analysis is not the result of this one life.  Is it possible to analyze so many things in just one lifetime? How much can be done in a time span of mere eighty years? This analyses that presents today is from so many past lives. 

 

Questioner: How did these analyses of all past births come together and manifest today?

 

Dadashri: It is because of the destruction of the veil of ignorance.  The Gnan is already there, but the veil of ignorance has to be removed. The Gnan is already there within, as a balance of all those lives, but the veil has to be removed for it to manifest.

 

I have passed through all the phases of that which is to be known. I have traversed through every phase and have brought an end to each of the phases. It is after doing this that Gnan manifest. 

 

Pure Awareness Even When Talking  

Whatever I speak, it is with pure awareness and focus.  This ‘record’ is playing, meaning the words are flowing. On that I have my full focused awareness.  There is critical examination of the presence or absence of mistakes in the record, which is playing. By mistakes I mean whether any element of the speech is going to be hurtful to any one.  It is also a taped record even when others talk, but they believe that they are doing the talking. I constantly remain as the pure Self, even when I am talking to you.

 

Not a Moment Wasted Without A Vidhi  

I am constantly observing what is happening in conversations, which are talking place.  Not even for a second am I without awareness. I am always aware as the Self.  

I have vidhis to perform and whenever the mind does not have a task, I start doing the vidhis from within. At that time it may appear to you that Dada is involved in some activity, but people are not aware of this inner vidhis, so I let it be. I am not able to complete the vidhis before people come to visit in the afternoon, so I take care of them whenever there is a free moment.  These vidhis also, are done with complete awareness. 

 

Dadashri’s Awareness While Eating Or Sleeping  

What do I do while I am eating? It takes long to eat.  I eat little. I do not talk to anyone while I am eating. There is full focus on whatever I am eating. I am able to chew my food and so I chew it.  I do not get absorbed in the taste, I am aware of it. People derive pleasure from the taste and get carried away by it, whereas I am just aware of it. Certain subtle tastes are released in the food and I as an observer; I know very subtle tastes of the food.

 

 

If someone were to cover me with a blanket on a cold night, I would remove it partially. The cold or an occasional cough will keep me awake during the night. Therefore I can remain in the awareness of the Self.

 

 

For years, no matter how sick I am, or regardless of what happens the night before, I get up exactly at 6:30 AM. It is 6:30 when I get up, but in reality I have not slept at all. The vidhis take me about two and half hours every night.  The satsang goes on until 11:30 PM and I go to bed at midnight. I do not take the pleasure of sleep or any worldly happiness. 

 

 

Even The Shop Bows Down To This Vitarag  

In America, mahatmas take me to shopping malls. ‘Lets go Dada’, they would say. Even the shop itself ‘bows down’ to me and says, ‘this is amazing grace, behold this man who does not want anything from us, and has not shown the slightest trace of desire’. I look at the merchandize in the shop but I am never tempted by anything, because nothing there is of use to me. You would be tempted, would you not?

Questioner: One buys what is necessary.

 

Dadashri: Yes. I do not get tempted but at the same time I do not shun anything either.   I have neither likes or dislikes towards any material things.  I remain completely vitarag (detached). The store would say, ‘Here comes the vitarag Lord’.

 

Vitarags Are The Salvation Of This World  

Just because I attend a wedding, does that mean I am affected by it? I attend weddings but I remain completely detached from within. Whenever I am in a shopping area, I become completely vitarag from within and whenever I am in an atmosphere of devotion, that detachment becomes a little weak. 

 

Interactions Without Attachment And Involvement  

One has to take care of worldly obligations such as weddings etc. I meet those obligations and so do you, but you fulfill your obligations by becoming engrossed in it whereas I do so while remaining detached from within.  So all you have to do is change your location, (i.e. come into your real Self), nothing else.

 

Gnani’s Conduct Is That Of The Manifest Self  

Questioner: For the last three days I have been bothered with this one thought.  At the age of seventy-five, you sit here in one place from morning till the evening, whereas I start fidgeting after only an hour and half. What energy or power enables you to do so?

 

Dadashri: This body may be old but what is within is very young, and that is why I can sit in one place and talk for ten hours. Others too have witnessed this.  This body and hair may show its age but everything else within is still young. And whenever this body experiences difficulties or ailments, I assure people that there is no need to worry. This body is not ready to leave; it is still young from within. This gives them some comfort because they are not aware of my internal state, which is quite different. I do not get tired even for a minute. I would sit till 3:30 AM if there were someone to sit with me. This freshness has never left me. When you remain fresh (the non doer Self), you will also realize that Dada has made you fresh.

 

Questioner: Dada, even though I have aged?

 

Dadashri: Yes even then. It is the body that has aged, not you. How are You, the pure Soul going to age? But besides that, you have a psychological effect on you whereas I do not have any effects such as ‘I am not feeling well’. If someone asks, I would say so, but I would immediately erase it. I maintain that awareness.

 

I Remain as The Self: Patel does the Vidhis For Savation.  

Most of the time ‘I’ remain as ‘the Self’. The relation I maintain with this body is that of a ‘neighbor’. Only on certain occasions, I come into this body. When one remains as the Self, nothing can affect the freshness. I have never slept at night. I may doze off once or twice for about fifteen minutes but the rest of the time only the eyes are closed. Because I am hard of hearing, people think Dadaji is asleep. I have to perform a lot of vidhis so I remain in the Self and A.M.Patel is doing the vidhis.  Day and night he is performing vidhis for the salvation of this world.  

 

Padmasana And Power Of The Eyes  

 

People think that Dada is taking a nap inside but there is no truth in that.  I sit in the padmasana pose.  Even at the age of 77 years, I am able to sit in a padmasana pose.  My legs are very flexible and that is why my eyes and the power in my eyes is very strong.   

May The Whole World  Attain This Bliss  

I have been free and without any tension for the past twenty-seven years. Whatever tension there was, belonged to A.M.Patel. But as long as A.M.Patel is under tension, I carry the burden, do I not? When that ceases, then we will be fully liberated.   But as long as the body is there, there is still bondage.  I do not have any problem with that anymore, even if there are two more lives left. My goal is that, ‘ Whole world acquires the bliss that I have attained.’ Now tell me where is the hurry? Are you in a hurry to get there (attain liberation)?

 

Blank Check Of Dada  

This ‘Dada’ is such that a person who cannot move would jump up, upon hearing Dada’s name.  So get your work done. Such is this Dada Bhagwan.  You can get any kind of work done but make sure that your motives are good. If you are an invalid, do not ask for strength to go to a wedding, ask for strength to be able to attend this satsang. So make good use of Dada and do not abuse it. Dada will help you again in your difficulties if he is not misused.

So this is the blank check of Dada. Do not cash it unnecessarily. Use it only in dire emergency.  If you pull the emergency chain on the train because you dropped your cigarette packet, will you not be fined? In the same token do not use this check lightly. 

 

 

The Egoless State: The Sack  

Look, I am telling you that I have spent a lot of time in search for this path.  And that is why I am showing you the easy way.  I had to search many paths for this one path.  I am showing the path that I have traveled myself. I am giving you the key to unlock all the locks.

This ‘Ambalal Muljibhai Patel’ has let go of his total ego and surrendered it to Lord within.  The Lord takes care of everything for him.  He takes very good care of him.  But this happened only after the total surrender of all aspects of ego.  Otherwise it is not easy to get rid of the ego.

People in Bombay and Baroda tell me that it would have been better had I gone there earlier.  I tell them I am like a sack. I come when they bring me and go back when they take me. They then understand. If this is not a sack, then what is it? There is the Lord within, but it is only a bundle outside. So there is no sense of ‘my’ in it, the sack. 

 

 

The Mahtams Of The Gnani Will Attain Absolute Enlightenment  

Questioner: You said that you intend to make God out of everyone of us, it is fine when that happens, but as yet we have not become God, have we?

 

Dadashri: But that will happen, because this is Akram Vignan. It will definitely happen.  The one who wants to turn you into God is the instrument, and the one who has the desire to become God; when the two continue to meet, it will happen without fail. The one who is going to make you God is pure and your purity is also there. You do not have any other intentions. So one day all the obstacles will be destroyed and you will become God, the Self.

 

Jai Sat Chit Anand

 

 

 

The Lord Of The Fourteen Worlds Is Manifest Here

 

Questioner:  For whom is the title ‘ Dada Bhagwan’ used?

 

Dadashri:  For ‘Dada Bhagwan’. Not for me. I am a ‘Gnani Purush’. ‘Dada Bhagwan’ is the Lord of the fourteen worlds. He dwells within you also, but He has not awakened yet, he remains unmanifest.  Here within me, He is fully awakened and manifest. He is capable

 

 

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This web version is the translation of the Book entitled: Dada Bhagwan Kaun? Edited by Dr. Niruben Amin. Date of Web Upload: July 19, 2004. The print version will be available in about a year’s time. The print version will have any necessary corrections. This book represents the Autobiography Of The Gnani Purush Dadashri. Dadashri however never wrote a word. All the material has been compiled from his talks in satsang during his lifetime . Much of it has been derived from actual tape records recorded by Dr. Niruben Amin.