THE  FLAWLESS  VISION

 

The Reality of This Universe

 

Questioner:  Tell us about the reality of this world. 

 

Dadashri:  People relate to this world in two ways; a worldly way and in a way that is not of this world. 

 

The worldly views is that God resides in the heavens and that He ‘does’ everything, and yet at the same time people believe that they are the ‘doers’ as well.  They are not aware of this contradiction. Believing in God as the Higher Authority above them, they live in the fear of God who punishes them for bad deeds.

 

For the thinkers of this world, for those who do not want the burden of anyone’s authority over them, should there not be a reality that is beyond the common worldly view?  In fact, in reality there is no single all-powerful authority.

 

In this world only your own mistakes and blunders have authority over you.  There is no other authority whatsoever.  

 

Who Is Our Boss?

 

 

Who can make such a bold statement?  A person would have to be absolutely fearless to make such a statement.  Why should you be afraid of anyone? I have searched far and wide and have discovered that there is no one in this world above you to whom you are answerable. The entity that you consider God above you is your very own Self. And God can never be anyone’s superior.  So then who is your superior? – Your own blunders and mistakes are your superiors. I have no boss because all my mistakes and blunders have been cleared. You too can be free as me.

 

On your way here to satsang, you are involved in a minor car accident and you fail to stop when the police signaled you. If the policeman were to come here, you would immediately realize that he has come for you. You will be aware of the mistake you made. Now you have to rectify your mistake. Until now, you have always looked at other people’s faults and blamed them. You could not see your own faults. When you see your own faults and you destroy them, you will become God.

 

What is the Fundamental Mistake?

 

The ascetics and seekers keep suppressing and pushing aside their desires, but on the contrary, their desires keep increasing. Desires are not easy to push aside. People do not know the root cause of such desires. To desire is not a mistake. The root cause of the desire needs to be dealt with. You cannot stop a revolving fan by holding back the blades with a stick. You need to switch off the power to the fan..

 

You must first erase the fundamental mistake: the belief that I am Chandulal. Such a belief is a projected belief. It is not real.

 

If you disguise yourself as Indira Gandhi and go around telling everyone that you are Indira Gandhi, taking advantage of the situation, would that not be a blunder? Would you not be held accountable for it?  By the same token, you have been taking advantage of your false imposition of ‘I am Chandulal’ and that is your blunder. Through this false imposition, faults happen..

 

Only these two are your superiors, your blunders and your mistakes. Your assertion that ‘I am Chandulal’ is your blunder. Then, your assertions, I am her husband’, ‘I am his son’, “I am a doctor’ etc, etc are your mistakes. How many such mistakes are there?

 

Questioner: Innumerable.

 

Dadashri:  You will not be able to get rid of the blunder by yourself.  I will destroy your fundamental blunder and thereafter you can tackle the mistakes on your own. There is no other boss, except for the blunder and mistakes. People have unnecessary anxieties about some superior power over them.

 

When can you realize your mistakes?

 

People believe that God is their superior and that if they were to pray to him, he will free them from everything, but there is no superior. You yourself are your superior. You are your own protector and your own destroyer. You are whole and sole responsible for yourself. You are the only boss. Absolutely no one can meddle in this.    The reason that you have a superior over you is because of your mistakes.  You will have to destroy these mistakes, will you not?

 

If you want absolute independence and freedom, then you will have to destroy all your mistakes. You can only realize and see your mistakes upon discovering who you really are. This happens  when you become Self Realized.

 

Who is the owner of this world?

 

Every living being in this universe is the Lord of this universe.  It is because of your ignorance of your Real Self that you live life like a struggling creature.  He that has no sense of ownership of his own body is the owner of the entire universe.  This whole universe belongs to you.  To understand this is liberation. Why then do you still not understand this?  It is because you are still bound by your own mistakes.

 

I have no superior over me.  There is absolutely no one above you up there, only you. There is no one to impose any punishment on you, nor is there anyone to grant you life. You yourself are responsible for your birth and for the cycle of your birth and death. All these contracts and agreements are yours.

 

If you asked me whether anyone was capable of interfering in your life I would give you three categorical no no, no. If you ask me whether I have any superior over me, again I would give you three categorical no, no no. Your superiors are your mistakes and your blunder..  How can you destroy them?  You have to come to me. I will destroy the blunder and I will show you the way to destroy the mistakes.

 

Misunderstanding Creates Misery

 

All misery and suffering in this world is a consequence of lack of understanding. All suffering is self-inflicted because of an inability to perceive the reality.  If you ask a person who has burnt himself why he did so, he would tell you that it happened because of his mistake and not deliberately.  In the same way all suffering is a result of similar mistakes.  All suffering is a result of our own mistakes. Once these mistakes are gone, your work is done. 

 

Questioner: Do we suffer because of our karmas?

 

Dadashri: These are all our karmas and that is why the mistakes are ours and no one else’s. In this world, no one else is at fault. They are but merely instruments in delivering the effects of our karmas to us. The suffering is yours but it comes by way of others.    How can you blame the postman who delivers news of your son’s death? 

 

Others are merely instrumental

 

If you have no place to stay and someone offers you accommodation, you will feel a sense of gratitude and attachment towards him.If he asks you to leave, you will feel resentment and abhorrence towards him. There is no need for attachment or abhorrence.  He is merely an instrument in the process.  When your merit karmas come into fruition you will encounter people who will help you and when your negative karmas come into fruition, you will meet with your adversaries.  In either case they are all just instruments; they are not at fault.  Everything depends upon your karma and the timing of their fruition.  This is what our spiritual science says.  How wonderful and simple it is!    

 

A person who does not have true knowledge will be overcome with attachment if someone praises him and if someone insults him, he would be overcome with abhorrence.  Whenever a person praises you, it is indicates that your merit karma is in operation and whenever someone insults you, it indicates that your demerit karma is coming into fruition.  The important fact is that in either case, the other party is not at fault. You will receive praise at the hands of your instrument who is meant to praise you and defamation at the hands of your instrument who is meant to denounce you.  They are not at fault.

 

Questioner: Is everyone an instrument?

 

Dadashri: There is nothing else in this world besides an instrument.

 

Questioner: What is the instrument of my coming here to satsang from the market place?

 

Dadashri: That is actually your karma coming into fruition.  It has nothing to do with an instrument.  The fruition of your karma for spending time at the market place came to an end and the one for you to come to satsang started, so you automatically had the thought to come here.  An instrument only comes into picture if for example you were on your way to attend this satsang and you meet with someone who insists that you go with him to take care of a very important and urgent matter. That person is the instrument.  Otherwise everything runs in accordance with the fruition of one’s karmas.  

 

There is no suffering, where there is no fault.

Questioner: Would a person be considered an instrument, if he comes and insults me? Even though I am not at fault?

 

Dadashri: No one, absolutely no one in this world has the right to say anything to you if you are not at fault. So whenever someone says anything to you, it is because of your own mistake and you are being returned that which you gave.  Your mistake of your past life, is being returned to you. He is merely instrumental in the process.  You are the one at fault and that is the only reason why he speaks to you in this way.

 

He speaks to you in this way because the fault is your own. In doing so, he is liberating you from your mistake of your past life. You must not have any ill feeling towards him. You have to pray to God to grant him right understanding.  That is all you have to do, because he is only an instrument

 

   

Attacking the Instrument

 

I do not have any negative thoughts about anyone.  Even when someone creates problems for me, I do not have any negative thoughts about that person. He is just acting according to his perception.  How can you blame him?  And what is the reality of this world anyway?  No one in this world is at fault.  It is because of your incorrect perception that you see others at fault.   I do not see anyone at fault.  From now on conduct your dealings with the understanding that no one is at fault. Will you do this?

 

Questioner: Yes I definitely will.

 

Dadashri:  You will begin to see others as being without faults only when you realize that truly people are without faults. They are merely instrumental in the process and yet we see people readily attack their instrument, do they not?

 

Questioner: Yes, we do that even when we should not.    

 

Dadashri:  To see a fault in other is the same as attacking the instrument. The other person insults you because of your own past karma coming into fruition, and yet you attack him? You are the one that must suffer the effect of your past karma.  The other person is merely caught up in the middle.  On the contrary, you should be indebted to that person for freeing you from your karma and yet you behave with contempt towards him. This is the same as attacking him.  Mahatmas (those who have attained the knowledge of the Self from me) have become fearful after understanding this and resolve not to attack their instrument from now on.

 

You will bind terrible karma when you accuse your instrument of cheating you. You would bind lesser karma if you slapped him instead.  A person can only cheat you if and when your own past karmas come into effect.  It is only the fruition of your past karmas coming into effect that allows the other person to be able to cheat you.  How can you then blame the other person? On the contrary he became instrumental in liberating you from your own karma.

 

 

The Consequence of Inciting Others

 

Questioner:  Can a person be punished or held liable for others’ mistakes? 

 

Dadashri: No, no one else can be blamed.  It is because of your own fault that the other person becomes your instrument.  The fault is of the sufferer.  To do, to make others do and to instigate others into doing, will bind karma, which brings new results in next life.  There is no effect without a cause

 

Questioner: Can you explain what constitutes an instigation of karma?  

 

Dadashri: If someone hesitates in doing something and you encourage him to do it, it is called instigation. The person who encourages the action bears a greater liability than the person who carries out the action. Who carries greater liability in the causal karma? The one who uses his intellect more becomes more liable in the blame.    

 

 

Attain Perfection Through Abstinence From Retaliation

 

In this world, any person that harms you in any way, is simply an instrument. You are responsible because you suffer the damage. In reality, this world is truly independent and no one can interfere with another. And if this were not so, there would be no end to people’s fear and no one would achieve liberation. Even Lord Mahavir would not have attained liberation. Lord Mahavir was completely impervious to any feelings projected towards him by others. People’s feelings towards him ranged from reverence to contempt; from love to sexual desire; from respect to insult. Nothing affected him. There was no element of retaliation in him to anything. The one who is free from retaliation attains final liberation. The one who retaliates has to stay behind to suffer the consequences.

 

The world will go on binding you with all sorts of negative and positive feelings. If a pickpocket sees you putting money in your pocket at a train station, would he not make the intent to steal it? And suppose you were to suddenly board the train as it was pulling away, leaving the pickpocket behind, even though he missed the opportunity to steal your money, he still formulated the intent to steal and this will bind him for new karma effects.

 

Everyone in the world is going to have such positive or negative inner intent but if there is no retaliation from you then you will be left alone. If you do not put your own intent in others’ intent, no one in the world can bind you; otherwise there would be no end to it. 

 

 

From One to Infinite Through Ignorance

 

If you press your eyeball with your finger, you would see double. The eyes are not the real form of the Soul; they are the relative form.  Nevertheless even when there is only one mistake, do you not see two?  If there were fragments of a broken mirror lying on the ground, you would see so many eyes peering at you. From a slight mistake made by the eyes you would see countless eyes. In the same way, it is not that the Soul becomes compressed, but the pressure of circumstances distorts the single real view of the Soul into a multitude of forms. This entire living world is in the form of the divine. With just the mere thought of chopping down a tree, you will bind karma. To have good intentions about others will bind merit karma and through negative intentions for others you will bind demerit karma.

 

When you come to satsang and see people standing around, you may ask yourself why they are standing around and thereby spoil your inner intent.   You must immediately pratikraman for this mistake.  

 

 

There Are Only Two Things In The World

 

There are only two things: the Pure Soul and circumstances.  Why do circumstances arise? Everyone faces different circumstances. One person never encounters hostility in his entire life, while another suffers abuse all the time. Why do two people encounter entirely different circumstances? The reason for this is that the one living the peaceful life has never had the intent to hurt anyone, while the one being abused has had nuemerous intentions to hurt other living beings. How do these circumstances arise? It is possible to find the causes of these circumstances.

 

Say you come across a very poor old man in the street and you give him eleven dollars. Your friend is astounded that you are giving him so much money and tells you to give the old man only one dollar. Now you are the giver and the old man is the receiver, but since your friend interceded, he created an obstruction for the recipient. An obstructive karma has been created for your friend.  This obstructive karma of  your friend will prevent the inflow of money to him in the life to come. 

 

 All that you encounter in your life are the collective circumstances of everything you had done in your previous life. They are not new circumstances. You have no superior power above you nor do you have anything that works beneath you. The world is entirely independent. Your mistakes and your blunders are your only superiors.

 

So if you are not at fault, no one in this world will bother you. Do people or policemen in the street bother you? Does anyone harass you?   If not, then you had not committed any faults.

 

Inviting a Slap with Compensation

 

Consider yourself very fortunate if someone insults you or speaks ill of you.  A few years ago I used to announce that anyone in need of money could come and give me a slap and I in return would pay him five hundred rupees.  Everyone refused and said they could not do it. Where can you find someone willing to slap or insult you even if you were willing to pay them for it?   So people who are insulted frequently in their homes without having to pay for them should consider themselves fortunate. As for myself, although I was willing to pay five hundred rupees, I was not as fortunate. 

 

Before attaining spontaneous Self-realization, I used to insult and belittle myself because no one else would do it for me!  Even though I was willing to pay to be insulted, no one would oblige me and that is why I had to do it myself.  I used to tell myself, ‘you have no sense whatsoever!  You are stupid!  You are an imbecile!’ I would ask myself: ‘what kind of a person are you?  Is the path to liberation so difficult to warrant such behaviour from you?’  I would insult myself in this way. What else could I do when no one would oblige me? You on the other hand don’t even have to search for insults or pay for them, because you receive them anyway.  Hence, shouldn’t you take advantage of this situation?

 

 

Even the Bandit Can Not Hurt A Morally Upright Person

 

The power of morality is so great that no one in this world can harm you.  If a moral and honest person were living amidst bandits and vagabonds, even if he was laden with jewelry from head to toe, not a single bandit would be able to harm him.  None of them would dare touch him!  There is no need to be afraid of anything in this world.  Whatever fear you experience is the effect of your own mistakes. This is what I have to reveal to the world.  People think that this world is not totally precise.. It is not so. It is precise and exact.

 

Questioner: They lack in their understanding.

 

Dadashri: It is because of this lack of understanding that this world continues. There is no need to be afraid of anything in this world.  Whatever fear you experience is your own mistakes. Settle all matters without any retaliation or else you will create a new account.

 

If someone says something negative to you just once, you may ask yourself why he is doing so, and in your mind you would even curse him a few times.  In so doing, you are creating a new account with him while settling an old one.  When he came to return what you yourself previously gave to him, instead of accepting and depositing it, you cursed him several times.  You are not able to tolerate even a single insult from him and yet you insult him several times over. Now how is the human intellect to reach such depths?  Instead people gradually bind themselves deeper and deeper and increase the confusion.

 

For the past fifteen years, I have not retaliated at all and consequently cleared up so many of my accounts.     I have accepted everything that has come my way. I had told ‘him’ (Ambalal- Dada’s relative self) to deposit everything as it comes. Everything is easy. Is this not an easy path to follow? You will not find such knowledge in the scriptures.

 

You are independent, and absolutely no one can do anything to you. You have no boss to command you. What does it matter when even God is not your superior? When you say that God exists as your superior, you are using him as your scapegoat. You are expecting his forgiveness when you do something wrong. On the contrary, you yourself are assuming the responsibilities.

 

The Gnani Has No Suffering

 

Whenever you hurt someone even slightly, you should realize that you are at fault. You will understand this because you will feel uneasy and agitated from within, because the other person is obviously suffering the hurt. Granted the fault is his, but you have become instrumental in his suffering.  You are the one who told him off and so the mistake is also yours.  Why does ‘Dada’ have no suffering?  It is because he has no more mistakes. 

 

If someone gets hurt or affected by your mistakes, you should immediately do pratikraman in your mind and settle the matter. As long as the inner enemies of anger, pride, attachment and greed exist within you, you will continue to create new accounts.  So in opposition to them, settle your karmic debts.  If you make a mistake, without doubt you will create a new account, but you can erase it by instantly doing pratikraman.  You should do the same, i.e. confess (aalochana), ask for forgiveness (pratikraman) and take a vow never to repeat the mistake (pratyakhyan), even if you are hurt by the mistakes of others.

 

 

He Who Destroys His Mistakes Becomes The Supreme Self.

 

Once a person decides that he wants to destroy all his mistakes, he can become fully enlightened.  We are all bound by our mistakes.  If you destroy all your mistakes, you become fully enlightened. The absolute Self has no faults whatsoever.  What do these faults cry out for?  They are crying for recognition..  People consider their mistakes as their virtues.  It is the nature of a mistake to overpower and rule you, but once you recognize a mistake as a mistake, it will leave. People however remain unaware of their mistakes and continue to defend them. This only reinforces the mistakes and strengthens them.

 

People Support Their Mistakes By Siding With Them

 

Questioner: Dada, how can you side with your mistakes?  

 

Dadashri: You would be siding with your mistake if after you scold someone, you try to justify your action by saying that the person needed the scolding and that otherwise he would not have understood. This would be siding with your mistakes.  The mistake knows that you are supporting it and so it will never leave; on the contrary it will become even stronger, because by siding with it, you are nurturing it.  By supporting your mistake even once, you are extending its longevity by twenty years.  You should never side with any mistakes.  

The Key to Destroying Your Mistakes

The most importance is given to the awareness of aggression caused to others through the medium of thoughts speech and acts and to ask for forgiveness in the direct presence of the awakened Lord within. You should maintain awareness in every step of daily living.  The inner component of anger, pride, attachment and greed within you will continue to create new karmic accounts without fail.  And it is against this very component that you have to do pratikraman immediately and erase everything.  You cannot afford to let this business of binding karma continue.   

 

Questioner: But the mistakes we make now, are they not of our past life?

 

Dadashri: These mistakes are the results of the very demerit karma that you committed in your past life.  Not only do people not destroy their mistakes in this life, but they also go on increasing them. In order to destroy a mistake, you must accept it and regard it as a mistake. You cannot go on protecting it. This is the key the Gnani gives you to solve all your problems. It can open up the most difficult of locks.

 

How can a Gnani Purush help you? All he does is to simply shed light on your mistakes;  and show you ways not to support and protect your mistakes. But should you ever say something like, ‘Oh but I have to live in this world, how can I possibly do that?’ you are supporting your mistake. You should never support your mistake in this way. When you do this, not only are you supporting your mistake, but also creating bondage for infinite rebirths.

 

Once you begin to recognize your mistakes; they will be destroyed. When cloth merchants swindle their customers by stretching the cloth before cutting it in order to sell them short, and brag about their ruse, they are essentially committing negative karma that is detrimental to one     and others. This actually supports their mistakes. There is no need to support your mistake like that. By cheating others, one is doomed to face infinite rebirths.

 

Stop Nurturing Inner Enemies

 

If a person wants to be free from mistakes, I would tell him that he should stop feeding his inner enemies of anger, pride, attachment and greed for a period of three years. When these are starved of nourishment, they will become ineffective and lifeless. When you no longer give sustenance to mistakes, they will abandon you. Any support for anger, pride attachment and greed is defined as a mistake. If for just three years, that support is not given to these inner enemies, they will disappear.

 

People will never realize their mistakes unless a Gnani Purush points them out. There are infinite such mistakes, not just a few.

 

Questioner: I of mine can only see a few mistakes of mine, not many

 

Dadashri: When you sit here in this satsang, many veils of ignorance are lifted enabling you to see more of your mistakes.

 

Questioner: How do we acquire the awareness, which allows us to see more of our faults?

 

Dadashri: You have a lot of awareness within you, but you have not developed the inclination yet to look for your mistakes. If a policeman wishes to look for a thief, he will find one. If on the other hand he just casually says, ‘ It’s not worth going after a crook. We’ll just catch him when he comes along.’ the thief would thrive. Likewise, these faults are hiding from you, and if you go in search of them, you will catch them in no time.

 

What is the fruit of all your life labor? You have really earned something only when you can see your faults one after another. This entire satsang is about trying to see your own faults. Only when you can see your own faults, will you be rid of them. When will you see those faults? You will see them when you become Self-Realized. You are a spiritually elevated being when you can see more and more of your own faults. When you become totally impartial towards your physical behaviour, your thoughts and your speech, you will be able to see all your mistakes.

 

Darkness Prevents Us From Seeing Our Faults

 

Dadashri: How many of you’re faults are you able to see and how many of them do you erase? 

 

Questioner: I see many of my faults. I see my anger and my greed.

 

Dadashri: That is just a handful and it’s the same as not having seen them at all. But when you see others’ faults, how many of them do you see?

 

Questioner: A lot of them.

 

Dadashri: Do you see many?  

 

Questioner: Yes.

 

Dadashri: You even criticize the way people walk and yet you cannot see any faults of your own. Your inner enemies of anger, pride, attachment and greed obscure your vision and blind you. You wander around blindly with your eyes open. What invited suffering!

 

With their eyes open, all human beings of the world are sleeping. This is what Lord Mahavir has said, because people are hurting themselves in this darkness. When you acquire the knowledge that you are the Pure Soul, you awaken from this sleep and are able to see your mistakes. Only then are you truly awake!  

 

When The Intellect is The Lawyer, The Mistake Wins

 

Once you are awakened to The Self, you become aware of your mistakes; otherwise you can never see your own faults or mistakes. Perhaps you will see a few obvious ones, and may even admit to others that on occasion you get angry or that you have a little miserly streak in you.  If someone were to tell you that you have a bad temper, you will immediately become defensive. You would protect your mistakes by arguing in their defense. Whatever you try to defend an inner enemy, it will always overpower you.

 

Everyone in this world seeks to rid himself of his anger, pride, attachment and greed. No one wishes to possess any of these. These are your archenemies. Despite knowing this, people continue to nurture them and make them stronger. In not being able to see your own faults, you continue to sustain them. You see only a handful of your glaring, big mistakes.

 

The Gnani Confesses His Own Faults

 

When a mistake arises, I know what perpetuates it. At times, a person would approach me and in the presence of other people, ask me how I had the audacity to call myself a Gnani when I could not even get rid of my habit of smoking through an elaborate smoking pipe.  I would admit to him that it was an obvious weakness on my part, which I had been aware of for a long time. If I had told him that the Gnanis were impervious to everything worldly, the smoking pipe would have immediately realized that it had been granted an additional longevity of twenty years, because its master is kind and would protect it in any way that he could. I am very shrewd and have never protected any of my mistakes. Do people not generally defend themselves?

 

Questioner: Yes, they do it very vehemently.

 

Dadashri: One man was sniffing snuff.  I asked him whether he really needed to do so.  He said that there was nothing wrong in sniffing snuff. I told him that he had no idea that he was increasing his addiction for snuff by another twenty years. How does that happen?  Any event that takes place, occurs only after its end has been decided. People lengthen the event even after its end has been determined. What can one do when the living augment and reduce things in this way? By protecting their mistakes, people lengthen the duration of their mistakes. To defend something which is wrong or to say ‘Don’t worry, nothing will effect me.’ is a terrible mistake. 

 

Questioner: Those who have slipped into theoretical knowledge, which by its very nature does not produce any spiritual results claim that the soul is impervious and it is the physical body that is affected.

 

Dadashri: There are many such people.  They create more confusion for themselves; that only perpetuates their confusion and entanglements.

 

After listening to everything they have to say, I tell them that the Lord has said that one must have the following qualities: Non-violence in speech and forgiveness. You see none of these qualities and yet so much arrogance!

 

Egoism and the Soul are poles apart.

 

Such laxity prevails because people have not known the real answers and so everyone continues to be negligent in matters of spiritual progress. But when someone like me comes along and puts them on the spot by asking them questions, it shakes them up.

 

 

 

Accept Faults Without Retaliation

 

I have no inflexibility in me.  I accept my mistakes readily when they are pointed out to me.  I am even thankful to the person who points out my mistakes to me, because if he sees them then it means that the mistakes are there.  I would not question whether he is right or wrong.

 

If someone wrote, ‘Dada is a thief’, on the back of my coat, would people not read it aloud? Now why would people call me a thief? Because it had been written on the back of my coat. I would only find out about it when I take my coat off and see the words. Someone wrote the words. Others simply happen to read them aloud. I must not react to such events.

 

Questioner:  Dada, I read somewhere in one of your Aptavanis that if someone were to write such a thing, you would be greatly indebted to that person.

 

Dadashri: Yes indeed that is written in the Aptavani.

 

Questioner: How is that?

 

Dadashri: Unless you feel grateful to him, your entire ego will rise up and result in abhorrence.  What does the other person stand to lose? He has nothing to lose but you will. You should be grateful, because you do not want to incur a loss. The other person does not care. He can only say such things because he is irresponsible.  We would be just as responsible if we imitated him. If we bark back like him, we are not better than barking dogs. So consider yourself indebted to him. Do you understand?

 

Questioner: Are we to be grateful to him because we see and understand the resulting effect of our past life mistakes?

 

Dadashri:  Yes. You should be grateful from within whenever your faults manifest; only then will these faults cease to exist. If you feel hatred towards a policeman you should be grateful to him and the fault will cease. Consider the person that you find disagreeable your benefactor and you will no longer find him disagreeable. Each and every word I utter is like a medicine. All these are remedies; how else is anyone to understand the statement that you must be indebted to the person that calls you a thief! Take this as a command from Dada as it is of the utmost benefit for you. 

 

Questioner:  If Dada himself is grateful to the other person, then what is wrong for us in following the same? 

 

Dadashri: Yes, this is how you should look at it: Tell yourself that he is just calling you a thief and not devious or evil.  It is good of him not to say anything else; after all it is his mouth and he can say whatever he wants.  Do we have the right to stop him?  You just have to feel grateful to him. By doing this you will not spoil your mind, and you will keep your peace. Do you understand?

 

This is a principle!  How is it so?  If someone called me a thief, I would be grateful to him.  Why so Dada?  No one would say such a thing in the first place.  All this is nothing but a result of your own projection, a result of whatever you yourself had uttered in your previous life.  I give you absolute written assurance that this entire world is in the form of results of projections. That is why I am grateful and you should also feel the same. If you felt the same way, your mind will not be disturbed.  If you are hurt when people call me a thief, consider the fact that I have been called many different things. Even Lord Mahavir encountered abuse from people and his followers had to stand back and accept it. All  the devotees accepted whatever was said about the Lord, because he himself had taught them to do so. 

 

You Are The Wrongdoer

 

Questioner: So do we now have to train ourselves to see the world without faults?

 

Dadashri:  If you yourself had not uttered anything in the first place, there would be no problem.  But instead you go around blaming others and questioning why they say such things to you.  You are the culprit behind these recurrent situations and now you accuse the other person for insulting you.  Someone else might teach you to ignore the other person who insults you, and instead just respond by telling him that he is a king and your statement will come back to you in the form of an echo that you are a king.  Everything is your own projection.

 

Take A Lesson From Me

 

People ask me why I need to disclose my faults openly and what benefit is there in doing so.  I tell them that I do it to encourage you all to follow suit. How can you not find courage from what I say? Whenever you disclose your faults, your mind gets exposed and thereafter it will live in fear of being caught. Thereafter it will live in fear of you because it knows you will expose it.  Your mind will think of you as a naïve person who has a tendency to divulge everything. I have told (my mind) that I will divulge everything and open everything to the sky. And that is when all my faults disappeared. Faults come to an end in this way.

 

The Method of Destroying Faults…

 

Dadashri: How many mistakes are you aware of? 

 

Questioner:  A few. About four or five!

 

Dadashri: Who determines whether or not they are mistakes? 

 

Questioner: You realize it is a mistake when you experience a loss.

 

Dadashri: Yes of course you would realize it then! But who is the one that tells you that you have made a mistake? The person committing the fault does not readily admit it, but when a ‘judge’ tells you that you have made a mistake, you would recognize it and accept it; otherwise you would not. Generally people do not admit their mistakes unless they can recognize them as such. As soon as you make a mistake you should admit it immediately; it should be ‘shoot on sight.’ Your mistakes will not decrease if you do not do this. Do people around you admit their mistakes?

 

Questioner: No they do not.

 

Dadashri: Indeed, no one admits his mistake. People think themselves intelligent and yet no one would be willing pay even penny for that intelligence! Everyone has intelligence, so why would they want to buy it? Do you admit your mistakes readily?

 

Questioner: Yes I do. Can I tell you one of my faults?

 

Dadashri: Yes.

 

Questioner: I love playing cards.

 

Dadashri: Is that so? Playing cards is simply your karmic account. You are experiencing the effect of the intent you had in your past life.

 

Questioner: I like playing cards but my wife objects to it.

 

Dadashri: If she does not like it, it is her problem, because she is the one who suffers. The fault is of the one who suffers. If she did not suffer, then it would not be her fault at all. Since she is the one who is suffering, the fault is hers.

 

Questioner: She insists that it does not bother her, but I think that it does bother her.

 

Dadashri: When she herself tells you that she is not suffering, let it go. Do not be concerned. Before she received Gnan, she may have suffered. Now she understands that habits are hard to break and have nothing to do with the Real. She understands that the habit is the result of past life mistakes. She knows that you cannot get rid of it even if you want to. The habit does not let you go. She knows that it is a mistake on her part to scold you. 

 

Questioner: But Dada is there no way around it? There should be a way to get rid of that habit, shouldn’t there?

 

Dadashri: The only way around this for him is that while playing cards he must be aware within that this is wrong, this is wrong, this is wrong.. This should be the constant integral feeling within him.  And if someone were to criticize him for playing cards, he must not defends his action by saying that it is a good thing to play cards. If he does so,  the habit will be perpetuated. At such a moment, he should admit that it is indeed a bad habit. People keep a habit alive by defending it and then they complain about not being able to break it. So don’t reinforce your habits by defending them.  

 

I also dealt with a similar experience through which I managed to find a way out. Although I have some faults like my pipe smoking, yet from within I had the contrary opinion. Things should not make you dependent on them. However, if you do become dependent on things, you should know how to be free from them. You become free the moment you discover the method to freedom which is to harbor the contrary opinion.. In no time your habit will leave you. A habit is considered broken only when it breaks by itself. If you venture to break it forcefully through your ego, it remains unresolved and you will be forced to face it in your next life. It is better that you break the habit through understanding.

 

So whatever habits you may have, whether it is playing cards or anything else, you may indulge in them as long as you oppose it within your mind and tell yourself, ‘ this should not be so’, ‘this should not be so’, ‘this should not be so’.  

 

 

So in a scene while giving a spiritual discourse to a gathering of a thousand listeners if someone openly lashes at you saying, ‘what is the meaning of your preaching when you yourself cannot let go of your card playing habit?’ At such a time you must not defend and hide your habit. You must openly admit that playing cards is indeed your weakness.

 

 

Questioner:  Should I confess my mistake in front of a thousand persons?

 

Dadashri: All you have to do is confess so the cards will not overpower you. If you do not, then the cards will takeover. They will assume that you are a weakling and that they can stick around. So confess it at any time, even if it hurts your reputation. Not just your reputation, but even if it means that you will be insulted, you should confess.   You should be staunch in your confession.

 

If you want to be in control of your mind, you can do it through confession. If you confess all your weaknesses, your mind will come under your control, otherwise it will not. If you do not confess your weaknesses, your mind will become careless and unruly because it will know that you will not expose it.

 

Confessions To A Gnani

 

Your mistakes will leave you the instant you confess them to me. I really do not need to know, but it is a way for you to become free from your mistakes. You can only confess your mistakes to a fully enlightened being.  Only such a person is flawless. Everyone else has flaws. I am never astonished by any of your confessions. I never feel that one fault is graver than another. To me, both are equal, the one who confesses and the one who hides.  All human beings are prone to make mistakes, so why should you be afraid? Confess to the One who can destroy mistakes and ask him to show you how.

 

Your Intuition Grows In This Way…

 

Once you destroy your mistakes, you will have accomplished your work. How will you do this? You have within you a power called intuition.  Do you not find a way out of a problem when you are confused? Even if you do nothing, don’t you eventually find a solution?

 

Questioner:  Yes.

 

Dadashri:  Does anyone come to give you this insight? This intuition is the only power within you that has the potential to liberate you.  Every living being is endowed with the power of intuition.

 

Even a cow that is trapped will find a way out because of the intuition within her.  You can increase this power by destroying your mistakes. The more mistakes you destroy the stronger this internal power will become. When you confess your mistakes, your strength begins to grow.  

 

How Can You Lose Your Reputation When You Never Had One to Begin With?

 

Can people not at least tell that they have done something wrong when they get angry? They realize that they have overreacted.  This means that they understand their mistake.  If a guru is angrily scolding his disciple and a nobleman asks him why he is venting so much anger, the guru tells him that his anger is justified because his disciple deserves it. The fool!  He knows that he is doing something wrong when he gets angry and yet he covers up his mistake.  Instead he should admit that he made a mistake and that he will not repeat it. Thus he will overcome his mistake. 

 

Why should you defend your mistakes in the presence of certain people? Is it to preserve your reputation?  Do you not know that those very people have no reputation to speak of?  People in the guise of a façade portray a reputation, otherwise what reputation do they have? Do you see anyone here with a reputation?   

 

Ten Reduced to One

 

The world is ‘relative’. It is interactive socially. You cannot utter a single word to anyone and if you practice absolute humility  then you must not even look at other person’s fault.  It is not worth finding faults with anyone in this world.  You do not know the consequences of doing this.  

 

When you continually criticize and find fault in others you are suffering a loss. It is like giving a ten-rupee note and getting a rupee back for it.   Why waste energy in doing something when you get nothing in return?  When you engage in criticisms you are dissipating your own energies.  If you know that what you are crushing is sand and not sesame seeds, why would you waste your time and energy to grind it?  When you criticize others, you are in fact washing their clothes, while you soil your own.  When will you clean up your mess?

 

Do not look at anyone’s negative qualities.  If you must, then look at your own.  How does it affect your mind when you look at people’s faults? And how does it affect your mind when you look at people’s virtues? Do you not feel glad?

 

You Are the Cause of All Suffering.

 

The other person is never at fault in any way. His belief is that the world is the source of all happiness, and that is correct. If you try to convince them otherwise, the fault is yours.  People have a tendency to find fault in others.  No one is at fault.  Whatever unhappiness you experience, arises within you.  People around you, such as your family, strive to make you happy.  Your wife takes so much care when she cooks for you.  You are not even aware of the painstaking effort your family makes in order to put food on your table.  Each morsel of bread you eat is made from flour, which they themselves grind from wheat. Prior to grinding the wheat they  have sorted  out pieces of gravel by hand from it.  If it were their intention to make you miserable, why would they bother doing all this?  

 

You should never look another person’s faults. When you do this, you are spoiling your life in the world.  You should only look at your own faults.  Every event and circumstance is the fruit of your own karma, so is there anything left to be said?  People go around accusing, criticizing and finding fault with each other and yet they sit together to dine.  This is what perpetuates vengeance, and vengeance is the reason this world exists.  That is why I tell you to settle your dealings with everyone, with equanimity so that vengeance comes to an end.     

 

No One is At Fault in the World.

 

One should be liberated from each and every karma. Each time your mother-in-law torments you, you should become free from that karma.  What should you do to achieve that?  You should regard your mother-in-law as blameless and accept that it is because of your own karma that you have encountered her. This is the only way you can free yourself from the karma. After all, she is an instrument. If you look at her fault, you will increase your karma, then how can anyone help you?  How can even God help you?  

 

Live in such a way that you do not bind any karma. Keep your distance from this world.  It is because of your karma that you have encountered all these people.  Who are all these people at your home?  They are the very people you have bound karma with and they are even capable of harming you.  Even if you resolve not to speak to them, they will force you to.  This is revenge created from the past life. Vengeance from your past life!  Have you experienced this anywhere? 

 

Questioner:  Yes, it is rampant everywhere. 

 

Dadashri:  That is precisely why I am telling you to leave all that and come to me.  I will give to you what I have attained, and your work will be done and you will be liberated.  Otherwise you will not find  freedom.

 

I never look at anybody’s faults, but I do take note of what this world is like.  I have seen the world in all its aspects.  The fact that you see faults in anyone is your own mistake. At some point in time you will have to see the world as faultless. All this is nothing but your own account from previous life .If you understand just this much, it will be very useful to you.

 

I see the entire world as absolutely faultless.  When you see it in the same way, the whole puzzle will be solved for you.  I will give you such a clear vision and I will destroy so many of your sins, that you will be able to retain this vision and see the world in this light of innocence.  Along with this vision, I will also give you five Agnas( Dadashri’s Five Directives after The Gnan Vidhi).. As long as you abide by these aagnas, you will preserve the Gnan that has been given to you.

 

 

 

The Faults Leave Upon Awareness Of Their Existence.

 

When you begin to see your own faults, you have attained Right Vision. This right vision is synonymous with awakened awareness. This awareness lets you see your own faults.  Everyone in the world is asleep (in spiritual ignorance). You should not be concerned whether your faults end or not. It is your awareness that is important.  After you attain awareness, new faults will not arise and old faults will dissipate.  You have to be aware of how faults arise. 

 

Your faults begin to leave the moment you see them. Even the stubborn ones will leave. They may take a little more time, perhaps a few months or a year, but they will eventually come to an end as you become aware of them.  They will readily leave.  If a robber is in the house, how long will he be able to remain in the house?  As long as the owner is not aware of him, the robber will stay, but once the owner becomes aware, the robber will immediately flee.

 

 

Ultimately The Faults Are Of the Prakruti

 

Questioner:  Dada, are we to see virtues and not faults in others?

 

Dadashri: No. Do not look at the vices or the virtues.  Whatever virtues you see, belong to the prakruti (the complex of thoughts, speech and acts, the relative physical body) and none of them will last forever. A philanthropist may be donating money all his life but this will end if he becomes psychotic. The virtue remains as long as there is a balance in the three components of his prakruti. When all the three components become bad then psychosis results. There is little value of such virtues like mercy, kindness, peace etc., because they are always subject to change.

 

A person accumulates such virtues and vices in countless lives. However, faults should not be accumulated. The virtues will be helpful, because by their presence one gets to meet and absorb the message of a Gnani Purush and  attain Self-Realization.

 

But you should not put too much emphasis on these virtues, because there is no telling when they may change.  These virtues are not the virtues of the Pure Soul.  They are the virtues of the prakruti.  I call all prakrutis as spinning tops (toys). 

 

The entire world lives in the attributes of the prakruti.  The entire world is like a spinning top. Although it is the prakruti that makes a person do samayik (the process of internal review of errors committed) or pratikraman, the person claims to be the doer of these and takes pride in this doership. The Lord tells you that you are not the ‘doer’ of anything.  When you become the doer, you are planting the seed of a new karma for your life to come.  Everything around you is happening according to the unfolding of your past karma; but instead you take credit for it.  Ascetics and gurus take the credit of doership in events, while the events are unfolding naturally as a result of their past karma.  It is a grave mistake for such people to do this. They would achieve liberation if only they could destroy this mistake of false doership. All you need to do is observe whether or not your guru is taking the credit of doership.  You do not have to look at his external effects of his worldly conduct. 

 

Every living being is a vessel of countless mistakes.  “I am a vessel of countless mistakes, O compassionate One!” This is what Krupaludev asked the seeker to recite.

 

The Gravest of All Faults: The Blunder

 

The Lord does not regard what the world considers to be a fault, a fault. It is the ignorance of the Self that is considered the gravest of all faults, and this is the blunder. This blunder exists as long as you believe, ‘I am Chandubhai’, and once you become aware of your true Self, this blunder is destroyed.

 

You do not see even a single mistake of yours.  When you ask a person if he has any faults, he will tell you that he has a few: some anger and greed but no other faults.  He goes around singing what Krupadudev has taught,” I am the abode of infinite mistakes1”, and yet when asked, he has the audacity to say he has but a few faults.  He is afraid of spoiling his reputation, but did he even have one in the first place? Reputation is defined as that which prevent a person from taking birth in lower life forms of animal kingdom etc.

 

What a shrewd man!  He tells the Lord he has countless faults and to the world he claims to have only a few.  When confronted, he defends himself, saying that it is acceptable to say it to the Lord but not to the world.  These melons are better than him; at least they do not have so many faults!  How could he say one thing to the Lord and another to people? Does he know how many more lives he will have to wander? 

 

If you cannot see your own faults, then do not have any hopes of liberation or any such expectations!  Every human being is a vessel of infinite mistakes, and if he cannot see them, it only means that he has a very dense veil of ignorance.  People cannot see their mistakes at all! 

 

Are you able to see at least some of your mistakes? 

 

Questioner:  Now I can see them.

 

Dadashri:  The nature of mistakes is such that once you become aware of them, they leave. But the following day, just as many will appear.  This body is nothing but a warehouse of mistakes!  People become angry but after they vent their anger, they do not know how to make amends, and instead go around sulking.  If you dirty your plate, should you not know how to clean it at least?    

 

When you are full of mistakes, you naturally become mortal; otherwise you are really immortal.  Why do we have this difference between mortality and immortality? It is because of these mistakes that this difference exists.  Once these mistakes are destroyed, the puzzle is solved. 

 

When One Does Not See One’s Faults…

 

 Dadashri: The spiritual verse by Krupaludev begins: 

 

‘I am a vessel of infinite faults, O’ compassionate One!’

 and ends with:

 

‘But if I cannot see my faults, then how can I find liberation?’

 

Even I understand that I am a vessel of infinite faults, and yet I cannot see any, so is there any way out?  Why can I not see my faults? 

 

One can only see one’s own faults when one begins to see the world as totally faultless. As long as he sees the world at fault, he will not see a single fault of his own.  It is so easy for one to see the world at fault.

 

You Should Not Look At Anyone’s Faults    

 

Questioner: I tend to see the fault of a person more readily than his virtue.  Why is this so?   

 

Dadashri:        It is the case with everyone.  Their perception is spoilt. They never see the good in others but are quick to find faults in them. They readily find faults in other people but they cannot find their own faults.

 

Questioner:    Does it mean that whatever fault we see in others, we have that fault in us? 

 

Dadashri:        There is no such rule, but nevertheless there are such faults.  What does the intellect do?  It conceals one’s own faults while seeing the faults of others. Such is the industry of the average worldly being.  The person whose faults are destroyed will not see faults in others.  Such a person will not have this bad habit.  Such a human being will instinctively see the entire world as innocent. The Nature of Gnan is such that not the slightest bit of fault of the other is seen. 

 

Questioner: People are always searching the faults of others? 

 

Dadashri:        One must not see fault in anyone.  It is a grave mistake to do so.  Who are you to pass judgment? What do you gain by looking at people’s faults? Who do you think you are that you can see faults?  If you see faults then you are ignorant.  You are deluding yourself.  Is there such a thing as a fault?  How can you look at other people’s faults?  To see faults is a fault in itself.  When you cannot see your own faults what business do you have seeing faults in others?  The only faults you need to look at are your own and no one else’s. 

 

And if people continue to look at each other’s faults, what would happen? You must not look at anyone’s faults.  In reality there are no faults.  Anyone looking for fault is a worthless human being.  If I were to see even the slightest fault in another human being, it would mean that worthlessness exists within me.  Such behavior has negative intentions behind it.   Where did these faults arise?  Each person is acting according to his or her own prakruti, so where is the fault in this?  Is this a judicial process of some kind?  Everyone acts according to his prakruti.  I too act according to mine.  Of course the prakruti will always be there.

 

Questioner:    We forget that the other person is not the doer.

 

Dadashri:        Yes, there is no fault as long as you have that awareness that the other is not the doer at all. You create a new world each time each time you look at people’s faults.  And until you destroy this fault, you get nowhere; you remain confused.

 

Even for an instant I have never seen faults in others, and if I do, I would immediately say it to them.  I do not hide it from them, but express it to them directly.  I tell them that if they have any use for my observation they should accept it or else, just disregard it. 

 

Questioner:    You say it for their salvation..

 

Dadashri:        If I say anything to them, it is to caution them so they can find a way out of their life after life confusion, but if they choose not to heed my advice, I am not offended.  I have no objection whatsoever.   If I tell someone to do something and he does not listen, it does not matter.

 

Questioner:    It would not affect you at all?

 

Dadashree:     It is because I understand the reason behind why he says what he says.  He speaks that way he because of his karma is unfolding. Does anyone disobey my Agna intentionally? He would never do that intentionally, would he?  That is why I do not consider it a fault on his part.  It is because of his unfolding karma that he speaks the way he does and so I have to accept it. If his prakruti becomes uncontrollable and belligerent, I have to restrain it, because he hurting himself and others. The world is full of prakrutis with infinite mistakes.

 

Are you able to see your mistakes clearly and completely? 

 

Questioner:  Yes, I can see them.

 

Dadashri: And I am telling you that you cannot see even a single mistake of yours!

You have more faults than you have hair on your head.  How can you understand this?

 

Questioner:    Whether I make mistakes or not, is dependant on my karma is it not?

 

Dadashri:        Aha! So, you have made a good discovery!  What childishness. Complete ignorance and childishness. When it suits you, you make excuses by saying that your actions are dictated by your karma, so why then are you so attentive when walking close to a well, or why do you quickly cross the railway tracks when a train is approaching?  And if need be, you even start running to protect yourself.  Why do you not let your karmas dictate here? 

 

How can a person see his own faults when he is smothered by moha (ignorance of his Real Self, deluded world view)? Moha is the dictator here.  ‘I am so and so’, ‘I am like this and like that’- delusion about being such and such.  Of course people are deluded about their true nature, are they not? 

 

Questioner:  Yes there is a lot of delusion.

 

Dadashri: That is all there is.  There is no thing else.  It is not worth denouncing people, but this is how it is everywhere. 

 

And That Is When He Starts On The Path Of Lord Mahavir

 

When you begin to see your own faults, you have finally understood the essence of Krupadudev’s dharma.  Today you see your faults, but tomorrow you will not see the same faults but new ones and the day after, you will see newer ones.  That is when you can be assured that you understand and are following Krupadudev’s dharma. You have not understood anything until then.

 

In the Kramic path (the traditional religious path), one never sees one’s faults.  People on this path will even admit that they are aware that they have a lot of faults, yet they are unable to see them.  If they confess this, then I would concede that they are indeed worthy of liberation, but if a person tells me that he sees only a few of his own faults, then such a person has a long way to go.. How can you tell me that you can only see a handful of your faults when you are saturated with them?  Do you think that the faults that you see are the only faults that you have?

 

When can you claim to have attained the path of Lord Mahavir? When you see hundreds of your faults each day and you do as many pratikramans, you can say that you are on the path of Lord Mahavir. Thereafter, Self-Realization is so much further along the path.  But after reading a handful of scriptures, people go around intoxicated with the belief that they have acquired Self-Realization.  They have not experienced even a drop of Self-Realization.  When real knowledge stops growing, egoism increases. Ego impedes enlightened worldview.  The two of the most treacherous pitfalls on the path to liberation are egoism and self guided spiritual endeavors.  

 

You Have Never Seen Your Own Faults

 

Dadashri:        Can you see your own faults?

 

Questioner:    That is what a person needs to do.

 

Dadashri:        Yes, so why can’t you see them?

 

Questioner:    We are trapped in this worldly life and so engrossed in our day to day living that we do not see our faults.

 

Dadashri:        No, there is something wrong with your ability to see your faults.  You have set yourself to be the judge, the defendant as well as the defending lawyer.  So whenever you are at fault you become your own defending lawyer.

 

Questioner:    So we are wrongly defending ourselves.

 

Dadashri:        Yes, all along that is exactly what you have been doing. Nothing else. You have wrongfully continued to defend yourself.

 

This entire world has been sleeping with its eyes wide open.  So how can people realize their own faults? You do not see your own faults. How can a person see his own faults?

 

Questioner: I can see some of the obvious ones but not the subtle ones.

 

Dadashri:   Why can’t you see faults?  Don’t you have a soul within you?  Of course you do!  And that soul is in fact the real judge.  The ego is the plaintiff.  When you have just the ego and the judge, then you will be able to see all your faults.  You will see many of them. It is the lawyer within you (your intellect), who defends your faults by telling you that everyone is doing the same thing.  Alas! The entire fault is overlooked!   You know that people solicit lawyers don’t you?  Can you become free from your faults when you are the judge, the lawyer and the plaintiff? 

 

Questioner:    No, we cannot. 

 

Dadashri:        Your ‘lawyer’ will go to any length to conclude in your favor, would he not?  

 

Questioner:    Yes he would.

 

Dadashri:        This madness continues throughout the day and that is exactly why you suffer. So tell me how many of your faults will be uncovered?  How many of your faults will you attest to?

 

Questioner:  So what kind of a testimonial will it be? 

 

Dadashri:        You have as many faults as you have hair on your head but how will these faults come to surface if you are the judge, the lawyer and the plaintiff?  You cannot have impartiality and fairness.  If you are impartial then liberation is at hand. There is too much lawyer work(intellect) going on within.  

 

And if you have to, you will find faults in others, because then you become the judge.  But when it comes to looking at your own faults, you do not judge them at all; instead you become the judge, the plaintiff and also the lawyer.  So what kind of a judgment will you render for yourself? Obviously you will make the judgment, which is in your favor.

 

Questioner:    Convenience. We manipulate things for our own convenience

 

Dadashri:        That is precisely why you do not become free from these worldly ties.  On the one hand you want to become faultless, while on the other you want to do only what is convenient to you.  You cannot have both ways. Only in the absence of the lawyer (intellect) will you realize your faults. But today’s people cannot do without lawyers

 

You will immediately begin to recognize your mistakes and faults after acquiring this Gnan and that is because the lawyer no longer remains in the middle.  The ‘culprit’ is there, but the lawyer is not there.

 

You can become The Lord by looking at your own mistakes.  It is because of these mistakes that you remain a mortal, but when all these mistakes are gone, you will be immortal. 

 

You have not looked at your own faults and that is why they remain.  And it is these faults that rule over you unobstructed.  You say that you want to be rid of your faults and yet these faults construct scaffolding within you, ready to build a home.  They have constructed a strong foundation. The faults know that they are not going to be hassled and that they are only being paid a lip service and nothing more. What can the owner do to us they say.    

 

Anyone who can annihilate a single fault of his is able to become God. A single fault is all it takes! When you destroy just a single fault you can become God. People manage to destroy their faults only by creating new ones.  In comes the new and out goes the old.   

Otherwise it is possible for one to become God by getting rid of just one fault, permanently.

 

Questioner:  How can we prevent creating new faults?

 

Dadashri: There are only mistakes and nothing else.   But when can one destroy a mistake?  One can only destroy one’s mistake after attaining Self-Realization.  Until this is achieved, not a single mistake can be destroyed. Unless people achieve Self-Realization, they will simply continue to ‘dig’ and ‘fill’, and  ‘dig’ and ‘fill’, in order to destroy their mistakes. Nothing they do will be of any use and all their efforts will be in vain.     

These are the Qualities of a True Jain!

 

Dadashri: Do you have at least two or more faults?

 

Questioner:    More than that.

 

Dadashri:  About ten or fifteen faults?

 

Questioner:    Countless.

 

Dadashri:        Yes, that is a true Jain.  A true Jain is certain that he has ego and faults.  It does not matter that he cannot see his faults, but as long as he has the conviction that he does have faults, he can be called a Jain. One is a vessel of infinite faults.  When will one empty this vessel?

 

Questioner:    When we have your blessings. 

 

Dadashri: You made a very important statement.

 

As Many Faults: That Many Pratikramans Needed

 

You are a vessel of infinite faults, so you will have to do that many pratikramans.You will be able to see all the faults that you have brought with you after the Gnani Purush gives you Gnan.  Ignorance (of The Self) prevents you from seeing your faults. To see the fault of others is mithyatva (delusion). 

 

When the Gnani bestows upon you Gnan and the light of pure vision (divyachakshu), you will be able to see your own faults. You will be able to discern the slightest degree of disturbance within the mind in your daily interactions with others and recognize that a mistake has occured.  This is the path of the Vitaragas, The Absolute Enlightened Ones. It has the potential to liberate you in this lifetime.  It is a very solemn path that is charged with great accountability.  You must clear everything in this lifetime.    

 

You are a warehouse of faults.  If you come to me for this Gnan, I will cleanse you of all your faults.  This task has befallen me.  After this you will be able to see your mistakes.  And the moment you begin to see your faults, you can be assured that you are verily on the path of liberation.  Otherwise people are not able to see their own faults.

 

The Soul Is The Thermometer

 

When a person does something he is never aware of the mistake in it.  When he does something naturally and spontaneously, he never sees himself making a mistake. Even when someone points out to him that he has made a mistake, he cannot see it as such.   Whenever he practices his religious austerities (meditation, fasting and penance), he can never see his faults.  The mistakes only become apparent when the Gnani Purush gives you the knowledge whereby you realize the Soul. The Soul is the thermometer by which you can gauge mistakes that occur. Otherwise no one can show you your mistakes.    

 

When a person destroys his mistakes, he becomes the Absolute Supreme Soul (Parmatma). He is in the Absolute Soul, but he can only acquire the powers of Parmatma when he destroys his mistakes.  These mistakes however are not destroyed and so a person does not acquire these powers. Otherwise he continues to exist in the relative world as a father, father-in-law, son, doctor, etc. thinking that that is where his happiness exists. If he destroys his mistakes, he will acquire the powers of Parmatma. After this Gnan is bestowed upon him, he attains the awareness that he is Parmatama. Thereafter, the powers of the Supreme Lord begin to increase within him. 

 

The only truth is one that enables you to see your own faults.  There are countless faults.  The One who destroys your blunder (I am Chandulal) is God.  

 

You have been taught through traditional religion to see God in others, but you forget this when you quarrel with people.  You quarrel over the most trivial things.  You scold your child if he spills his milk.  Now would any child spill milk on purpose? 

 

From time immemorial, people have acted on the custom that parents should scold their children.  Is this the quality of a human being?  Humanity is supposed to be beautiful, dissipating its fragrance for miles around.  When you begin to see your own faults, know that you are making progress. People in general cannot see a single mistake of theirs. 

 

Such is the Nature of Mistakes

 

When the ego is dissolved blunder is destroyed.  The ego will not dissolve by itself, nor can crushing it dissolve it. The ego melts as the faults are seen. The ego is the manifestation of your mistakes.  The entire structure of egoism is made up of the original blunder and consequent mistakes.  When one is unaware of his real Self, the ego arises and along with it all the mistakes, some small and some big.  These mistakes will  leave as one sees them.  And they will only see their mistakes when they become impartial. 

 

The speech that exists within you encompasses the speech of all scriptures.  Such speech will only express itself when your mistakes are destroyed. This speech is impartial; the kind of speech that people of all faiths and races will want to listen to.   Impartial speech is one that appeals to people at each and every stage of spiritual development. 

 

What kind of person is impartial when it comes to his own faults?  Krupadudev was one such person, along with one or two of his followers.  In the process of seeing one’s own faults, where is the question of taking sides? He does not know the way to see his own faults.

 

The Gnani’s Absolute Vision

 

He that destroys a single of his mistakes is considered God.  There are many people who will point out your mistakes, but none can destroy them for you. One should know how to point out mistakes. If you do not know how to show others their mistakes, you should consider it your own mistake.  It is a task of great magnitude to be able to show a person his mistakes. In addition to show a person his mistake he that can destroy that mistake is God. Only the Gnani Purush can accomplish such a task.

 

In this world, I simply cannot see anyone as having faults.  Even a pickpocket or a person of an immoral character, is faultless in my Vision. My Vision is established on the Real Self within all living beings. This is the absolute vision (tatvadrashti).  I do not look at the packing. There are infinite varieties of packing. I see only the Real.

 

We attained this total faultless vision first, and thereafter we saw the entire world as absolutely faultless. This is why only the Gnani Purush is able to destroy your mistakes.  It is not the work for anyone else.

 

Only He That Has Crossed the Ocean of Life Can Help Cross It.

 

You have these mistakes don’t you?  You have never looked into them, have you? 

 

Questioner:  I know that I make mistakes, but I can’t stop myself.  The more I try to break free from them; the deeper I sink.

 

Dadashri: You should not even try.  You were asked to fill up the hole here and dig the soil from the spot out there. You have done the reverse of what was asked.   Who will pay you for doing the wrong work? 

 

Questioner: No one.

 

Dadashri:  Besides, you will be punished for spoiling the landscape and you may even be taken to court and pay the damages. They will demand that you refill the hole you dug and level it. 

 

All the worldly people are simply digging in the wrong place. It would be better if they did not dig, but instead sought help. If they only asked others for help, they would get it.  Only the free can free you.  How can a person who is drowning save you from drowning?

 

Questioner: For so long I have sought help, but no one was able to rescue me from drowning. Whatever medicine I was given made my pain worse in spiritual matters.

 

Dadashri:  The doctor who gave you the medicine was not qualified.  The doctor’ himself was trying to keep his head above the water. Go to one who tells you that he has crossed the ocean of worldly life wanderings himself. Only he can give you the right medicine. 

 

Besides no one will tell you that he has crossed the ocean of life. This is in fear that he may be found out if ever he himself were to land in a troubled situation.  Such a person knows that he will be answerable to those who ask him why made such great claims when all the while he himself was drowning. In your case, your circumstances then were against you.  This is not the case for you now that you are here in front of me.  Now your work is done.

 

How is anyone to acquire salvation amidst all this?  Goodness! You can count the hair on your head quite easily but you won’t be able to count your mistakes.

 

If you could manage to see even twenty-five or so of your mistakes, a formidable strength will arise from within you.  Nothing stands in your way. Not even your physical body and its needs can hinder you.  You are not bound by penance or renunciation.   You are only bound by your own mistakes.  And within you, you have innumerable mistakes. If you could only destroy twenty-five or so of your big mistakes, the rest of your mistakes will be destroyed on their own.    Many people are aware of their mistakes but it is their ego that prevents them from admitting them.   How can you afford to do this, when just a single mistake of yours can ruin countless lives ahead of you? Somewhere in your previous lives you had made a solemn vow (niyanu – a strong vow) that you wanted liberation, but that vow was not strong enough.  That is why you find yourself in your current predicament.  In the end you had to come to Dada, did you not?

 

Only Then Can You Consider Your Mistake Destroyed

 

If you had destroyed even one mistake in each of your past lives, you would have already become liberated. Instead of destroying mistakes you have increased them fivefold. Your external appearance is pleasant, but within you there is endless strife. When do you know that you have destroyed your faults? You have no upri over you, but you do need someone to point out your mistakes. You can destroy your mistakes, but how will you be able to find them by yourself? It is not as if you have only a few of them; you have countless mistakes. The mistakes of the physical body appear very serious – Some people use such brash language that even if they were to invite you to dinner for a sumptuous thirty-two course meal, you would be turned off.  You would think to yourself that it would have been better if they had not invited you in the first place. People speak harshly and their minds are full of venom.

 

Who Erases Your Faults?

 

Who will destroy your mistakes for you? Only the Gnani Purush, the one who has destroyed all his mistakes can do the same for you. He is the one who despite the presence of the physical body, lives with the sense that he is not the body. He is Vitarag, absolutely detached. This sense of total detachment from all ownership of the body is the seed of Knowledge. After destroying all seeds of ignorance and the seed of Knowledge begins to thrive. If you have even the slightest attachment for your body, it would not be regarded as the seed of knowledge. As long as there is ignorance, this attachment will not leave.

 

In this world, you can find everything except your own mistakes. That is way the Gnani Purush is needed to show you your mistakes. Only he is capable of showing you your mistakes and only then you will be able to destroy them. This can only be achieved after you meet the Gnani Purush and he helps you become impartial. You can  attain your spiritual goal after you become impartial towards your worldly self. You cannot however, acquire this state of impartiality until the Gnani bestows upon you the Knowledge of your Real Self. ‘Gnan’ does not see fault in anyone.  It is the intellect that will look at faults in everyone, even one’s beloved brother.

 

 

Mistakes Of The Darkness

 

It is because of the Gnani Purush that you are able to see your mistakes.  Otherwise how are you to know about your mistakes? Your ship would be sailing in the wrong direction because your compass is broken. You think that you are sailing north but in fact you are sailing south. Now what can you do when your compass is broken?  You do not  know how to navigate by the North Star.

 

Swachhand (to proceed in spiritual matters without accepting guidance from an enlightened one) is a person’s most grave fault. It gives rise to an entire army of negativity in spiritual progress. Moreover if a person defends such a disease by arguing that there is nothing wrong with having such an attitude, then that person is doomed, he will ruin his innumerable lives to come.

 

“ I know it” and “ I am safe now”, are two of the greatest dangers in spiritual progress and are the cardinal mistakes of darkness. This darkness shields the presence of mistakes to the extent that the owner does not realize it as a mistake. These two grave mistakes will lead to one’s own destruction. Only the Gnani Purush and no one else can claim not to have any more mistakes left in him. Each mistake must be seen and then destroyed. Everything is created through one’s own mistakes. You are bound because of your mistakes, and when you begin to see them, you will attain freedom. It is through constant observation of my faults that I too have become liberated. You will become free as well, as soon as you begin to see your mistakes. No one else has the capability to destroy your mistakes but the Gnani. 

 

I accept and deal with equanimity my mistakes immediately. You on the other hand continue to make them because you failed to do so them in your previous life, and that is why the same mistakes return to you in this life. You do not know how to get rid of them and so instead of destroying a single mistake, you end up creating five more.

 

You Have No Boss

 

Questioner:  But Dada, would we be able to understand our mistakes if you were not in front of us?

 

Dadashri:  Alas, how else can one understand?  If a person cannot see his own mistakes, how can he destroy the mistakes of others?

 

Only he, who does not depend on anyone to show him his mistakes, can destroy his mistakes. Such a person does not need a boss, for he himself knows all his faults. You will need a boss as long as you cannot see your mistakes, or if there are certain mistakes that remain with you.  When will you become free from a boss?   When you will see all your mistakes.   This is a logical fact. You do not see all your mistakes and that is why I still remain your boss.  I am your boss as long as you are not able see your faults, but when you begin to see them on your own, why should I remain your boss?  Why would I even bother? It is a natural law that when a person begins to see his own mistakes, he will no longer have a boss.

 

That is why I tell you that I can see each and every one of my mistakes, even those that are seen through Absolutely Enlightened World View.  Now tell me, how it is possible for me to see these mistakes through this view, even though I am not completely there yet?

 

The Vision Towards One’s Own Faults Within…

 

After you attain this Gnan, you will commence seeing everything that happens within you. This seeing within is the domain of the enlightened worldview. Not the total enlightened worldview, but a fraction of it. You will observe negative thoughts as well as pleasant ones. There is no attachment towards the good thoughts and no abhorrence for the bad thoughts. Since it is not under your control, it is not necessary for you to look at what is good and what is bad. So what do the Gnanis look at? They look at the world as being faultless. The Gnani knows that everything that happens in the world is a discharge. He knows that the world is not to be blamed.

 

Even the insults that you encounter or your dispute with your boss is simply the discharge of past karma; your boss is only an instrument. No one in the world can be blamed. All the faults that you see are your own. These are the blunder and the mistakes.

 

 

Deviating From The Self, Faults Arise.

 

No one is at fault in the world. If you do see anybody’s faults, it is because of your own weakness.  You see faults in others because your vision has become impure. Your vision should be absolutely pure so that you do not see faults in anyone. 

 

Questioner:  What do you mean by impure vision Dada?

 

Dadashri:  When something deviates from its own properties and its own nature, it becomes impure.  Stay within your real nature. This is possible only after The Gnani Purush shows you your Real Self.

 

 

The Enlightened Ones Spoke To Liberate

 

You become confused because of your own misunderstanding.  Come to me if you are confused about anything. And ask from me the solution. That is why we keep these satsangs.

 

With one less karma, your confusion will gradually decrease.  If in a single day you manage to decrease one karma, the following day you will manage to decrease two.  But people on the other hand continue to increase their confusion and mistakes everyday.    They wear an expression of being constipated on their faces as if they just took a dose of castor oil. Do you think they all go out and buy bottles of castor oil?  How can they all afford to buy it in the first place?  The expression on their faces turns sour the moment their inner state changes. The fault is theirs but they blame others for it and that is why their inner state changes.  ‘Look for your own faults’, the Vitarag Lords have said.  ‘Look for your own faults and be free’.  This is the only thing that will liberate you.  This is the only thing the Lord has said for you to do.

 

Pure Knowledge and Understanding Are Needed

 

Once a senior monk asked the Lord when he would achieve liberation and the Lord told him that his liberation would come when his Knowledge and his understanding became flawless. Your mistakes have become the obstacle to your liberation.  When your knowledge and your understanding become without mistakes, then you will achieve liberation. Now what is wrong in that?

 

Questioner: That is true.

 

Dadashri: Thereafter someone asks, whether religious austerities, like penance or fasting are necessary. There is no need for such austerities, but should you have an upset stomach on any particular day, it is good to fast.  Penance or anything else however is not necessary.    Make your understanding and your knowledge pure, by any way you can.Is there anything wrong with what the Lord says?

 

There are so many mistakes. You claim that you are Chandulal, that you are this woman’s husband and this boy’s father.  So many mistakes…! There is no end to the mistakes.  The root of this is the blunder (I am chandulal).  At its core there are two things:  one is permanent and the other is temporary.  When people try to identify the eternal with the transient, they lose sight of the eternal. The solution never comes.    

 

Has the Lord told you to do penance or starve yourself or renounce anything?  Has he said any such thing?  The day you make your Knowledge and your understanding free of mistakes is the day you become liberated.  You will be liberated while living in this body.

 

Questioner:  Can you please explain again what you mean by understanding without a mistake?

 

Dadashri:  Yes.  When your understanding becomes free from mistakes, you will be liberated.   And when your understanding becomes faultless as a result of constantly being in my company, your work will be done. But as long as there are mistakes, how will you make any progress?

 

The Lord also tells you that you are yourself the embodiment of liberation; you are the Absolute Divine Soul. All that you need to do now to be aware of that understanding and knowledge which is without mistakes.

 

Knowledge should be perfect. It should be free of faults and mistakes. And so too should your understanding.   It would not benefit you to have the knowledge without the understanding. That would be like having a papaya tree that would not yield any papaya. Have you seen such papaya trees?

 

Questioner: Yes Dada.

 

Dadashri:  You have? You care for the sapling and nurture it until it becomes a tree, and even after you do all that for it, it still bears no fruit.

 

So both knowledge and understanding should be perfect. Knowledge alone is of no use, but right understanding would still be helpful. Understanding reaches the heart whereas knowledge reaches the intellect.

 

The current knowledge, the knowledge that people have in their everyday lives, reaches   the intellect.  Understanding, reaches the heart.  Anything done heartily will take one all the way to final liberation.  People refer to this as intuition. Whatever understanding one has, gives rise to intuition, and whatever intuition one possesses, will lead to increased understanding.  Of all the things that will help you achieve liberation, this is very valuable.    

 

With mistakes, not even your day-to-day life will run smoothly, so how can you expect to attain liberation? Your knowledge and your understanding should become pure, without mistakes. You will understand what knowledge and what is not knowledge, ignorance. All mistakes are due to ignorance.  From that moment your knowledge will grow. 

 

Even at the age of eighty, a man is not ashamed to call himself a husband. Even his wife will proudly proclaim that he is her husband.  They are not embarrassed to say this because that is what they believe and people will say what they believe.  What else can they do?  But that knowledge is not entirely wrong.  Whatever knowledge they have is knowledge according to the world, relative knowledge.  It is not Real knowledge.

 

According to the Real Knowledge, you are a Pure Soul and so is she.  But you need to acquire this knowledge first.  Now you believe that you are Chandulal, that you are a Jain and that you are seventy-four years old.  You have so many such beliefs.  You can even recall where you used to play as a child.  You also know where you made your money and where you spent it.  You have the knowledge of all this except the knowledge of who you really are. 

 

Questioner:   We wish to have this knowledge and that is why we have come to you.  Please give us this knowledge.

 

Dadashri:  You have had this desire in many previous lives, but you were not absolutely committed to it.   If you had, you would have used up all your merit karma effects in acquiring it. That would be the result of an absolute commitment for liberation.  

 

Instead you have used up your merit karma to acquire material wealth, and physical comforts.  You have spent all your merit karma on everything else but your liberation.   If you had made the absolute commitment for liberation, you would have spent your merit karma for only that.  Look at me.  I made the absolute commitment for liberation and therefore, I do not encounter any obstacles.  Other people have obstacles but not me. 

 

Knowledge And Understanding Without Any Mistakes

 

Questioner:  When one’s knowledge and understanding become flawless, one is liberated. What a great statement! The fundamental problem is the false location of the ego sense( I am Chandulal), and it is this  that creates bondage.

 

Dadashri:  Yes. And unless you have this science, you will not have such a clear explanation.  Even the scriptures do not elucidate this; the scriptures merely tell you to do good and be good. No one except the Gnani Purush can explain the intricacies of this science.

 

People can understand through their intellect that they are making mistakes, that they are making big mistakes, but if they don’t meet a Gnani Purush, what can they do? They just go on suffering. They try to analyze everything with their intellects, but they still fail to draw the right understanding. Their confusion will dissolve when they meet a Gnani Purush. Unless he can explain and solve all your puzzles, he is not a Gnani. Everything has to be clarified.

 

 

 

The Conviction Of A Mistake Is Enough

 

People now admit that they are aware of their faults, but now they want to be rid of them. They tell me that they will suffer through anything, provided that I get rid of their faults for them. How can this be done?

 

You must find out how your faults and mistakes appeared in the first place. Then you will know how to be rid of them.  When the fault entered, one did not have to force it in; it came in of its own accord. When you did not do anything for it to enter, you will not therefore have to do anything to make it leave.

 

Now people expect me to remove their faults. But my dear, how did they enter you? Why did these mistakes take hold within you?

 

 

Here is the answer: A person goes to a nightclub. There his experiences of pleasure convince him that this is good for pleasure. His conviction on this knowledge is now established. This is how the mistakes enter.

 

 

Likewise, how do I proceed with those who want to be rid of their mistakes? These are the folks who assert that they have no faults; all faults are of the others, the world. I change this conviction of theirs and establish the new conviction that all the faults that arise are one’s own and the world is faultless. They are then convinced by one hundred percent. They even agree and accept that all the faults are theirs only.

 

In response to their further request to me to get rid of their mistakes, I tell them that nothing more needs to be done. The conviction has changed, and the mistakes begin to leave automatically. All you have to do is to have an open mind within and tell the faults to leave.

 

The conviction is the key. With conviction faults enter, and with conviction they leave. You do not have to labor to do anything. Do you understand all this?

 

The conviction must not be stained.

 

 

Questioner:  Dada, you are not addressing the symptoms but treating the root cause. Where will we find such doctors like you?

 

Dadashri:   There are no such doctors anywhere. That is why there are so many problems everywhere. Not only the doctors but also the right medicine is also not available. and that is why chaos proliferates That is why they continue to change the effect, the result of past life karma which can not be changed.

 

The fault was created because of your initial belief and conviction and it will leave only through your conviction. You must have the conviction that it is indeed a fault. Once you are convinced, that it is a fault, the fault will disperse. This is the only rule.

 

Also as long as you do not defend your fault in any way or give it any protection, it will leave.  People generally tend to reinforce their faults: ‘ Are you still sniffing your snuff?’ I ask. ‘ Oh it’s okay, there’s nothing wrong with it,’ you say. That is how you protect a fault, even when you know that it is wrong. The conviction-that it is wrong- is there but you protect it all the same. You should not protect it. Do people not protect their mistakes?

 

Questioner: Yes, they do that.  

 

 

 

He That Destroys His Mistakes is God

 

A man who destroys one single mistake of his own permanently is called God. Many can point out your mistakes, but they cannot destroy them for you. You should know how to recognize your mistakes and if not, you should at least admit that you have them. To show a person his mistakes is not an easy thing to do, but if you succeeded in destroying his mistakes you would be God.  Only a Gnani Purush can do this.  I do not see anyone  at fault in this world.

 

I have made my vision faultless (to see the world faultless) and through it I see the entire world as faultless. That is why only the Gnani Purush can destroy your mistake! No one else is capable of such a feat. God has not called the world’s faults, faults. It is your ignorance of your Real Self that is your biggest fault. This is the blunder. The belief ‘I am Chandulal’ gives rise to countless other mistakes.

 

 

 

Flawless Vision and Flawed Behaviour

 

He that finds his own mistakes becomes God. 

 

Questioner: Has anyone ever become God in this way?

 

Dadashri:  All those who have found and destroyed their mistakes, have become God.  They destroyed their each and every mistake. They were able to see all their mistakes. Not a single mistake eluded their vision, not even the subtlest of mistakes. Even I see a five to fifty of my mistakes everyday.  These mistakes are extremely subtle and they are not harmful to anyone. If I say anything negative about anyone, inadvertently during the course of the satsang, that  is a gross mistake.

 

Who can see faults? The conviction of flawlessness of His Self exists. And yes, the conduct that is flawed also exists. Such a person can see his mistakes. I call such a person as separate from his worldly (relative) self.This is the initial stage of liberation. The final liberation follows when the conduct becomes flawless.

 

 

What is the nature of flawless conduct? Such a conviction of the flawless state of the Self must exist within (I am Pure Soul). Through this vision not even the subtlest of mistake must remain unnoticed. Then only the mistake of the relative self(Chandulal) can be seen. The seer must be absolutely clear to see. That is why we say that the Lord with the vision of 360 degrees within, is absolutely clear and shows us our unclearance(mistake).

 

After this Gnan, one can see within and without.  The experience of flawlessness (The Self, I am Pure Soul) is the reality within. Through that experience one sees everything else. And that is why he is able to perceive his mistakes.  Therefore the observer of the mistakes remains separated from the mistakes. As the clarity and transparency within increases, so does the ability to perceive even the subtlest mistakes. The moment the mirror (The Self) is cleared everything that is reflected shines within. In the same manner all mistakes are reflected and hence seen.

 

Do your mistakes shine within?

 

Questioner:  Yes I can see them. Is it because I have the vision of flawless conduct( I am pure Soul), but my current conduct(Chandulal’s) is flawed that I am able to see? 

 

Dadashri:  Yes, instantly. The Flawless(The Self)  is aware of the flaws (The relative self, Chandulal).  

 

Highest Spiritual Effort: Samayik

 

 

Thus faults begin to be seen. As they are seen they leave.

 

Can you see some of your mistakes? Can you see at least five to ten a day? Once you begin to see them, you will begin to see more, increasingly more.  The more mistakes you see, the more the veils of ignorance that cloud your vision will break, allowing you to see even more.    

 

You may not be able to stop certain mistakes (heavy karma effect). These will only stop after you experience the suffering they entail. I know that such karma will not end stop without suffering. Only the experience through the suffering will release him.

 

You can put in as much spiritual effort as you want. Many of the mahatmas are already doing this. There is purushaarth(highest inner effort), but not everyone knows how to do it. Doing samayik (to view the flaws via the flawless state, to view the mistakes of the relative self by being the Real) is a great purushaarth. The nature of a mistake is such that the moment it is discerned, it begins to dissipate. It does not linger on. There is nothing wrong with making a mistake, but you should be able to see that mistake.  There is no punishment for making mistakes, but there is a reward for seeing those mistakes.  No one is able to see his own mistakes.  You become impartial after being Self-Realized, and that is when you begin to see your mistakes.

 

After Gnan you become impartial, but the residual partiality towards your physical body becomes like you relationship to your neighbor. So whatever faults there are, you will see and as you see them, they will begin to leave.

 

Nothing Touches The One Who Remains In Flawless State.

 

Now it is this Gnan that shows you your faults. If Chandubhai(your relative self) becomes angry with anyone  you (the pure soul) will become aware that there were so many faults in him. The One that has become impartial and sees the faults is the Soul. Faults will not touch you as long as you are the Soul. And if you are in the state of absolute flawlessness, should you do something wrong, your actions will not affect you.

 

No karma touches the one who maintains the State of The Self. Acharayas (religious leaders,teachers) tell me that they practice ahimsa(non-violence) because they walk barefoot, while I on the other hand travel by car whereby so many insects get killed. They agree that my Gnan is correct, but they are not convinced that I am not creating new karma through killing insects when I travel by car. I tell them that I am in established as The Pure Self, the flawless state. Therefore I am unaffected and do not bind new karma.

 

Science Impeded by Accusation

 

Whose faults will you see if you see the other as faultless?

 

Questioner:  The greater the ignorance, the greater the faults of the other will be seen.

 

Dadashri: Yes, to these people, others appear to have faults, but those who have Gnan do not see faults in other people at all.

 

Now you do not see people at fault, but surely someone is guilty and responsible? All the faults that are created are yours alone. The progress of this Science has been impeded simply because people have failed to look, consider and accept all faults as theirs only. They have not been able to deal with their problems as they should have been dealt with because they continue to blame others for making their mistakes.    This science will move forward when you understand your own mistakes.

 

 Intellect: The Expert Fault-Finder

 

Absolutely no one in this world is at fault. The fact that you see faults at all is your illusion. Do you understand this, somewhatl?

 

Questioner:  I understand some of it.

 

Dadashri:  No one is at fault. It is your intellect that relentlessly shows you the faults of others. This is why the world continues on. The intellect is an expert at looking at other people’s faults. Such a person will say, ‘That man has done this wrong’. If you were to ask this person to talk about his own faults he will tell you that he have very few faults. Both of these responses are of the intellect.

 

Always Look At Your Own Fault.

 

Questioner: Since no one is at fault, then it would also mean that I am faultless too? 

 

Dadashri:  No. If a rock from a height fell on me and I am hurt, whose fault would it be?

 

Questioner: No one’s.

 

Dadashri: In such a situation you will infer that it must be my fault and hence this happened to me. You will have to acknowledge that it is indeed your own fault. Unless a person can see his own mistakes, how will he make any progress?

 

When someone curses you, and you remain unaffected, and you retain a constant understanding that it is the result of your own mistake, and that the other is absolutely faultless, and simultaneous pratikramans are being done, then this is the highest knowledge of the Lord. This indeed will lead you to final liberation. If you follow this one sentence of mine your liberation is guaranteed.

 

 

 

 

The Intellect Is Pacified When It Is Allowed To See Faults

 

Questioner:  You mean it is our entire fault, and no one else’s?

 

Dadashri: Yes. You will not accomplish anything unless you pacify your intellect.  The intellect will be pacified if you see faults in others but it will also be pacified if you see others as faultless and see your own faults. There is no other way to pacify the intellect.

 

Questioner:  So that fault is somewhere.  That means that if the fault is not with the other person, then it must be here within me? 

 

Dadashri:  Yes. That’s the only difference.

 

Questioner:  Now I understand how others are without any fault.

 

Dadashri:  What does the intellect want? The intellect seeks closure. It wants to be still. It will become pacified when you put the blame on someone else, regardless of what consequences of doing this entails or it will also be pacified if you place the blame on yourself. The latter way of pacification and stillness of the intellect is a way to liberation.

 

The intellect will become still either way, but that stillness should not come from blaming others. If you place the blame on yourself, your problems will be solved and the intellect will also be stilled.

 

 

This false use of intellect is what complicates and entangles the world. This is what prevents the detection of one’s own mistakes, and quickly brings forth many mistakes of the others. Those in whom the intellect does not arise have no problems whatsoever. There are so many animals and other such living beings on this earth and none of them complain. Only man complains, because the intellect arises.

 

Questioner:  Dada, this is an extraordinary enlightening statement from you about pacifying the intellect! So far we were indeed pacifying the intellect by seeing the faults of others.

 

Dadashri:  Yes. For the purpose of pacifying the intellect, people end up blaming others rather than themselves. What else can one do? People need to appease their intellect somehow, and so they blame others. So when the intellect becomes restless, what should you do? You should say that the fault is entirely mine. Therefore, the intellect will be stilled within. Otherwise the moment the intellect becomes restless, it sets the entire the inner complex of mind, chitta and ego rippling into motion. It shakes up this inner complex, creating havoc. Until the intellect is pacified again it will continue to riot. Those without Gnan try to appease their intellect by looking at the faults of others and they do so at their own risk, while you folks who have Gnan will pacify it by looking at your faults exclusively. Once the intellect becomes pacified, the internal unrest will cease, if not, the thoughts will continue to flow in a torrent of an endless stream.

 

If you say that the other person is at fault, then your intellect will become still and you will be able to finish your meal in peace.  When you blame others, you prolong your worldly life times. We need to be rid of all worldly life interactions. Therefore, we say that the fault is mine only. And then also you will enjoy your meal in peace. Do you understand this?

 

Questioner:  It is very easy to understand that the intellect can be pacified in these two ways.

 

Dadashri:  Yes because as long as the intellect remains restless, it will not let you eat, sleep or do anything peacefully.  When you feel restless, it is not your mind but your intellect that is restless.  Once it has been pacified, the problem is solved.

 

Questioner:  You say that the intellect can be pacified either towards worldly interactions or towards the Self…

 

Dadashri:  Your intellect becomes still when you look at others’ faults and so it will allow you to eat, drink and sleep in peace. It will let you do everything. But when you blame others, you perpetuate the worldly life. What I am telling you is that if you want liberation, you must accept that the fault is entirely yours and in reality this is the fact.  The intellect will become still even if you take on the blame on your self.. The intellect is indifferent to where the blame is placed, but it needs to be pacified all the same. You cannot function without pacifying your intellect. Have you come across anything like this anywhere in the scriptures?

 

The total bottom line of this universe no longer exists in the scriptures. I am making this clearly open now that no one in the world is at fault.  What is apparently seen as rampant injustice, murders, riots, looting, acts of revenge, deceit etc., in all that no one is at fault. This is the Real view. If you ever acquire the Real through this vision, your faulty vision will vanish. You will become God.  That is all.

 

To Attain Liberation You Must Look At Your Own Faults

 

The entire world is eternally faultless. Even a snake or a tiger is faultless. Everyone including all these politicians, genocidal dictators, terrorists, predators, rapists etc., is faultless. But we still see fault in them, do we not? The science of liberation in action is the process of the cessation of seeing faults in others. The continuance of seeing faults in others is the foundation of the worldly life.

 

The faults are yours and no one else’s. When you stop seeing faults in others, your liberation is at hand. The entire world is preoccupied with looking at faults in others. This world is there for one to look at one’s own faults. It is because people look at fault of others that this worldly life continues. What kind of person looks at faults in others? It is one who seeks superiority.

 

A person who wants liberation will look at his own faults, while a person who looks at the faults of others, continues to wander endlessly in the quagmire of the world. There is no need to become frustrated with those who look at other people’s faults; such people are doomed to wander around. How else could they achieve this?

 

Come, Accept This One Principle

 

If the world is pleasant to you and you want to remain in it, you can continue to see the faults of others. If you do not like your worldly life interactions, you must come to this one understanding: keep seeing the world as faultless and accept that it is because of your own faults that you encounter problems.

 

The Fault Always Exists Within

 

You should not see faults in anyone.  The world should appear faultless to you.

 

Questioner:  Is it true that whatever fault we see in others, is the same fault we have in ourselves?

 

Dadashri:  That is why you see the fault.

 

Questioner:  And does one’s vision become purer as one sees more of one’s own faults?

 

Dadashri:  Yes, it correspondingly becomes purer.

 

 

Your Gutter Stinks And You Have Gone To Clean The Gutters Of Others

 

 

People’s faults are their gutters. Even the gutters in the streets are kept covered. A young child knows not to keep the gutters and sewers open. If you have a kitchen, surely you will have a gutter outside and you will always keep the gutter covered with a lid. People have certain faults; a person may be cranky or angry – to look at their negative qualities, is equivalent to opening up a sewer. It is better to look at their good qualities instead. You only need to look at your own gutter and keep it clean, so it does not clog up. People do not realize that their drains are clogging up, and if they did, would they know how to take care of the problem? They reach their limitations, and that is why all the disease sets in. Through reading the scriptures they learn to say, “You should not speak ill of others!” And although they go around exclaiming this, the underlying gossiping continues. Whenever you utter even the slightest negativity about anyone, you have undoubtedly caused damage. No one opens the lids of the outside physical gutters, but people tend to keep opening other people’s gutters.

 

I came across a man who was kicking the door of a latrine. When I asked him why he was doing that, he said, “ Even though I do my best to keep this toilet clean, it still smells bad!” Now is that not sheer foolishness? If you keep kicking the toilet door, and the toilet still continues to smell bad, whose fault would it be? 

 

Questioner:  The one who kicks the door.

 

Dadashri:  What a big mistake! Is it the poor door’s fault? Perpetual kicking of that which is faultless creates more stink and that is the nature of this world. By such useless acts one only invites problems and breaks the doors

 

What I am trying to impress upon you, is that as you begin to see your physical and mental faults, the freer you will become. You need not do anything else in order to get rid of your mistakes.  There is no need for you to kick the latrine door. Besides would the smell go away if you did that?

 

Questioner: No it would not.

 

Dadashri: Would this affect the toilet in any way? People are similarly engaged in useless acts. In their attempts to change the effects (faults), they end up creating and binding more karma. In the process, whatever merit karma and net gain they had derived is wasted away. The net result is a birth in the animal kingdom.

 

Vision Without Opinion: The Flawless Vision

 

Stop looking at faults as of this moment.

 

Questioner: Now if we did stop looking at faults, would we not be considered foolish in the eyes of the world? 

 

Dadashri:  So by looking at other people’s faults you accomplish something?

 

Questioner:  Not by looking at their faults, but by discriminating amongst the nature of faults. Like saying, this man is like this and that man is like that.

 

Dadashri: No. That is a very dangerous thing to do. That is prejudice. You should not be prejudiced towards anyone. If someone stole your coat, you cannot have a prejudice for him by having an opinion that he will steal again. All you can do is leave your coat in a safe place. If you left your coat lying around yesterday, then you should be cautious and put it away today. More importantly, you must not harbor any prejudice. That is precisely why there is all this suffering in the world. Why else would there be any misery in the world? God is not making you unhappy.  All the misery you experience is your own creation. What can God do in this? So do not harbor any prejudice towards anyone. Do not look at anyone’s faults. Things will become clearer and less confusing if you understand just this much. 

 

If you do not do pratikraman, your opinion remains. This opinion binds you.. Whatever fault you commit will have an opinion behind it, and it is from these opinions that the mind arises. I hold absolutely no opinion about anyone. After seeing a person just once, I do not change my opinion about him.

 

If I happen to see a person stealing, even then, I would not call him a thief, because it is the circumstances that drive him to do so. People in general incriminate the one who is caught. The world does not care about whether he is a victim of circumstances or that he has always acted as a thief.  I would only call someone a thief if he stole all the time. I have not changed my opinion about anyone to this very day. The relative self is dependent on circumstances. And the Real Self is one with all. I do not hold any difference with anyone in this world.

 

Questioner:  You would not Dada, because you do not think of anyone as faulty.   From the Real perspective you do not see anyone as having faults.

 

Dadashri:  I do not see any fault in anyone, because in reality no one is at fault. One only sees fault in others when one’s own vision is faulty. If your own vision became faultless, you would not see fault in anyone.

 

Thus…Finally A Solution

 

When does the confusion come to an end?  There are only two things in this world: the Real and the relative. “All these relatives are temporary adjustments. And Real is the permanent” Now if you could draw a line of demarcation between that which is Real and that which is relative, your confusion will end. The twenty-four Tirthankars drew this line of demarcation. Kundkundacharya did the same and now I am drawing the line. This will immediately solve all problems. The confusion and puzzle has arisen because of the mixture between the relative and the Real This line of demarcation will clearly separate the two, making a clear distinction about that which belongs to You(the Real Self) and that which does not. From now on, you are not to consider anything that belongs to the relative as your own. Thus the puzzle is solved.

 

People have taken possession of everything that was not theirs to begin with and this has given rise to conflict. The confusion is the continued state of conflict where people do not see even a single mistake of theirs, when as it is, the entire world is replete with mistakes.

The separation of The Real from the relative is associated with the vision  that lets one see their  own mistakes only, and not other’s.  Wherever you look, you will only see your own mistakes.  Besides it is these very mistakes; no one else’s, that have given rise to the world. Once you destroy all your mistakes you will be liberated forever.

 

Where Ownership Ceases Completely…

 

The more faults of yours you see, the more of them you will decrease from within. These faults will continue to decrease until they are completely gone. You will then be absolutely flawless, at which point you can say that you have entered the realm of your Real Self forever.

 

Now when will this happen? You have been wandering through countless lifetimes, multiplying your faults. Only through the grace of the Gnani Purush- the giver of liberation- can you attain your salvation. That is what he has come for; he desires nothing for himself.

 

When you have the complete and continuous awareness of the Self, you will no longer make even a single mistake. To make the slightest mistake is lack of awareness. Unless you void yourself of all your faults, you cannot become faultless. And without becoming faultless, there is no freedom.

 

When you become faultless, you will become The Pure Self. Otherwise, when a few faults are remaining, if you let go of the ownership of the mind, speech and the body, you will be The Self. This body is not mine, this mind is not mine, this speech is not mine, then you will become faultless. But, at this moment you are the owner aren’t you? You have ownership and a title, don’t you? As for myself I had destroyed the title a long time ago, so since that time- some twenty-six years ago- I have not been the owner of this body, this speech or this mind. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PART II

 

After Self- Realization

 

The Snake Runs When The Eagle Comes

 

There is an example in the scriptures describing a jungle full of snakes that sit coiled around the sandalwood trees in the coolness of the shade. But as soon as an eagle appears, the snakes scamper and scurry away. In the same way, I have placed an eagle re, which will make all the faults flee. The eagle is the  Shuddhatma (The Pure Self). Your faults will scurry away. Now that Dadabhagwan is your guardian and protector, what fear should you have?  I have so much courage, with Dada Bhagwan as my guardian and protector. You will too.

 

Questioner: Yes I would have absolute courage.

 

The Impartial Vision

 

Dadashri: Without the knowledge of the Self, you will not be able to see your own faults, because you have the belief: ‘I am Chandubhai. I have no faults and I am a ‘goody-two-shoe’. When you acquire Self-Realization, you are no longer partial towards your mind, speech or body. And it is this very impartiality that allows one to see one’s own faults.  When you find your own fault; when you see the faults that you make in each and every second; you are aware of when they happen and where they happen, you have become fully Enlightened Self. You become impartial after this Gnan, because this Gnan gives you the understanding that you are not Chandubhai- the relative self, but you are in fact Shuddhatma (the pure Self). You can only become impartial after you attain this separation from the relative.

 

You can say that you have accomplished your work when you no longer see the slightest fault in others, and you see all your own faults. Before this, you believed: ‘This is who I am’ and so you were partial. Now that you have become impartial, you have begun to see your own faults. Now your focus is directed inwards towards the relative self, and therefore you do not see other people’s faults. Having begun to see your own faults, this Gnan will progress and yield its fruits for you. In this innocent world, where no one is at fault, how can we blame anyone? As long as there are faults, the ego is at play, and as long as the ego is involved, none of the faults will be erased.  Unless all the faults are destroyed, the ego cannot be destroyed.  You have to erase your faults to the point where your ego is destroyed.

 

 

And This is How the Soul Shines…

 

Questioner: Do the faults automatically decrease after one’s experience of the Soul?

 

Dadashri: Absolutely! The fact that they decrease is the proof of the experience of the Soul.  As the belief that I am Chandulal decreases, the exactness of I am Shuddhatma increases.

 

In the beginning, with the right belief (I am Pure Soul), one does not see all of one’s faults, but as one’s awareness of the Self grows one begins to see them. When you begin to see your faults, it is called the initial experience of the ultimate Self has been established, and this is the state that is instilled in everyone here, free of cost.  Is it not surprising that people still do not come to me even when I invite them and offer them a cup of tea for this state?

 

As you begin to see your faults, you will say, “Now Chandubhai, you have committed atikraman (aggression through one’s thoughts, speech or actions), so you must now do pratikraman (apology for that aggression)” In this world, one cannot see one’s own faults. The people that do see their faults have attained the state of the Self. You are Shuddhatma only when you can see your own faults; otherwise you will not see them. And the more faults you see of yours, the more the Soul manifests.

 

No one has this kind of awareness. As long as this man here has not been given this ‘Gnan’, he will not have any awareness at all. Once he receives this Gnan, awareness takes hold and grows within him, so that if he makes a mistake, because of this awareness, he will be able to see his mistake as it happens. People in general have none of this awareness, therefore at best; they are only able to see just a couple of their mistakes. They fail to see any others. After this Gnan you see all your faults and that is because of this awareness.

 

The Most Secret Science

 

Questioner: Why do we see faults in other people Dada?

 

 

Dadashri: You see their faults because of your own faults. Dada sees everyone as faultless, because he has destroyed all his faults. It is one’s own ego that makes one see fault in others. Anyone who sees only his own faults will always see others as faultless..

 

Whoever makes the mistake is the one who has to amend it. Why should anyone be preoccupied with the mistakes of others?

 

Questioner:  Dada, what can I do when, although I do not wish to see others’ mistakes, I see them anyway and those mistakes keep hounding me?

 

Dadashri:  It is the intellect that throws you into such confusion. This corrupt intellect has existed for a long time, because it has been given support. That is why it doesn’t leave you.  Once you let this intellect know that it is not needed anymore, you can be rid of it. It is like asking a servant to run errands for you when you have already dismissed him from his work and told him that his services are no longer required. In the same way you should not reemploy the intellect and make it work. You should never support with the intellect. The corrupt intellect shows you worldly gain and loss, whereas the pure intellect helps you towards the path of liberation.

 

Questioner: What can I do if I am unable to be free from my mistakes?

 

Dadashri: You will not succeed in freeing from of your mistakes. The one way to be free from them is to stop owning them. Tell them that they are not yours.

 

Questioner: What if even after we say that, what should I do if they do not leave?

 

Dadashri: How can you expect the mistakes that are frozen solid like ice to just suddenly disappear? Still, even these kinds of mistakes will leave you as long as you deal with them from the aspect of their being the known and you being the Knower. You should not support them in any way. Without your support they can only fall. They have no alternative. Everything around you manages to survive because it receives support. When things do not receive any support, they fall. The entire worldly existence remains because of support. If it not supported, it would not remain, but no one knows how to take that support away. That is the work for the Gnanis. The world is a mystery in itself. How can one understand the deepest   of its secrets?

 

Mistakes Have Layers

 

Mistakes become the object to be perceived. The more of these mistakes yousee, the freer you will be from them. A mistake is like an onion; it has layers just like an onion. As you go about seeing your own faults, the layers in turn fall away. When all the layers fall away, the mistake is gone from its very root. Many mistakes only have a single layer, and because they do not have a second layer, seeing them just once can destroy them. The ones that have many layers need to be seen again and again, and pratikraman must be done for them repeatedly, before they are destroyed.  Some faults have so many layers that they require continuous pratikramans.  It may appear to others that you continue to make the same mistake and they may remind you about it.  All you have to do is to agree with them. People are unaware that mistakes occur in layers and that  these layers can be innumerable. 

 

Questioner: On the one hand you say that this Gnan works by itself and yet you tell us that if we make a mistake, it is the discharge of our past karma.  Is this not an adjustment of some kind?

 

Dadashri: They are all discharge.  Everything is discharging.  There is nothing that you have to acquire or renounce.  There is contempt and abhorrence in renunciation and there is attachment in acquisition.  All of it is nothing but discharge, if there is no attachment or abhorrence.

 

Why can you see your own faults?  What proof is there?  There is proof in this, because when Chandubhai becomes angry or upset, you do not like it: This is proof that You have actually seen Chandubhai’s fault. This happens frequently in the course of a day each time you are aware of the mistakes. 

 

The Responsibility of Deeds: Good Or Bad

 

This world is vyavasthit. Vyavasthit shakti (Scientific Circumstantial Evidences) is responsible for sending us the fruits (consequences) of our past life offences. You should allow them to come to you, accept them and settle them with equanimity. Whatever mistakes you had made in your past life are coming back to you in this life, so even if you steer straight in this life, the mistake will still get in the way, which is why it is considered your fault.

 

There are two kinds of past life mistake results: Someone praises you or insults you, both circumstances represent your mistake. Praise is the result of merit karma and insult is the result of demerit karma. Whatever mistakes you have made previously are fed into the master computer and then and justice is then carried out accordingly through scientific circumstantial evidences. You have to pay the price for whatever offense you have committed. All you have to do is resolve your mistakes with equanimity, without protest. What happens when you do not raise any objections? When the time comes, the effects of your mistakes will unfold, they will be experienced, and then the fault will leave.  The problems are compounded when people raise objections, so it is best to remain silent in order to resolve past accounts.

 

In his previous life, the Gnani Purush has not made any mistakes and that is why he has all material comforts at his disposal.  Since all of you have now met a Gnani Purush in this life, all you have to do is deal with your past mistakes with equanimity. If you do not create any new ones, you will not have to face any more difficulties and you will achieve liberation.

 

Will you not have to destroy your mistakes?

 

Questioner: But first we should be able to see our mistakes.

 

Dadashri: You will see them gradually.  As I this discuss this matter with you, you will begin to see them. You will acquire a vision that will enable you to see them. From the moment you decide that you want to see your mistakes, they can no longer remain hidden.

 

The mistakes that manifest now are the mistakes that are already in the reservoir and they will continue to flow out. But there will not be any new ones flowing into the reservoir.  At first these mistakes will discharge with a heavy force, but after a few years, the ‘reservoir’ will become empty.  At that time even if you were to call for your mistakes, they will not come.  Your life will become beautiful after that.

 

I have created a safe-side for you. By this I mean that I have elevated you from making any distinctions between the good or the bad. Your awareness of what you have attained must be such that you do not slip back into these distinctions of good and bad, virtue and vice etc.

 

Questioner: Yes.

 

Dadashri: But instead you come complaining to me when lose your temper, when all you have to do is simply observe the one who lost the temper. Are you now not aware that it is your relative self that is getting angry?  Before, you were not even aware of your anger, and what is more, you believed that you were the one losing your temper.  Is there not a separation now? 

 

Questioner: Yes.

 

 

After Self-Realization

 

Dadashri: This is pure science.  Science is a science. 

 

I have absolutely blocked twenty-five types of attachments that charge new karma for next life.  The attachment of discharging karmas is inevitable. Lord Mahavir too had discharge attachments, but since most of his had been discharged, there was very little of it left.  We, on the other have a lot left to discharge.  The Lord had only a handful to discharge, whereas we may have millions.  He had already paid off all his debts and you will too, ultimately.  And are you not settling all your debts with equanimity?  Yes, and that is all you have to do.

 

Good habits and bad habits are nothing but an illusion. Now you are above all illusion.  Why should you cling on to what is no longer real?  

 

You have to observe the faults and know how many of them there are. See fault as a fault and virtue as a virtue. Good is considered a virtue and bad is considered a fault.   This distinction is not applicable where the Soul is concerned.  As far as the Soul is concerned, there is no such thing as virtue or fault.  These are all distinctions made in the worldly life, which is the language of illusion.  Where the Soul is concerned, there is no such word as fault. 

 

Lord Mahavir did not see any one at fault, not even a pickpocket.  Not even the person who tortured him by putting nails in his ears as he sat in meditation.  On the contrary the Lord felt compassion for him, knowing the consequences to him for his actions.

 

This is a short cut. You have acquired your Soul and the fact that this awareness has been acquired is a monumental achievement. No one is able to acquire the awareness of the Pure Soul, even for a fraction of a second, so you have attained the highest state. The day you acquired this Gnan, many of your sins were destroyed and that is why this awareness remains constantly, without faltering.

 

Sometimes when the force of past karma unfolding is heavy, you may feel suffocated or puzzled, but even at that moment it You are not affected..  Your Soul does not go away during that time.  It is only that the bliss of your Soul is transiently obscured.  This is not so in my case. I constantly experience the bliss of the Soul. It overflows to those around me who also feel the bliss.  The bliss of the Soul is such that it is constantly over flowing despite having a physical body in the current difficult time-cycle.  

 

Whenever the mistakes happen now, do you see them?

 

With awareness, one is able to see all of one’s faults.  Being able to find faults in others is not considered awareness.  This occurs a lot in those who are ignorant. True awareness is when you do not see faults in others, and have not enough time to see your own faults.

 

 

Therefore You Have Become a Gnani

 

Questioner:  Is any identification with the relative self considered a fault?

 

Dadashri: You no longer are identified with the relative self. You are not Chandubhai.  The faults you see now belong to the mind, the intellect, and the residual ego. These faults are of the inner complex, the mind, citta, intellect and ego. Can you not see ‘Chandubhai’s faults?  

 

Questioner: Yes.

 

Dadashri:  When you see Chandubhai’s faults, you have become a Gnani. You have been with me for about ten hours total so far.

 

I have placed in your hand a priceless diamond.  But it is like giving a diamond to a child; the child has no appreciation of its value. 

 

To See The Waterfall of Faults

 

Can you see your faults from moment to moment? 

 

Questioner:  I see some, but not every moment. 

 

Dadashri: You will be able to see them every moment.  There are still many faults, countless faults, but you are not able to see them. Ordinarily, a person is not able to see any of his faults, but he may admit to a few. When one begins to see one’s own faults, one is ready for liberation.  

 

Are you able to see a constant flow of your faults?  Whatever faults you see, are gone.  The next day, many new faults will become evident. There will be a constant flow of these faults and they will continue to flow until they finish.  From now on your load will begin to lighten.

 

Attain that level of awareness that you begin to see the flow of your faults.  You are separate from Chandubhai.  If Chandubhai does something good, give him a pat on his back and encourage him.  Tell him that he will be able to free you when he himself becomes free, and that as long as he is in bondage, he is keeping you bound.  Encourage him to finish his daily duties so he can attend the satsang in a timely manner.  You have to tell Chandubhai what to do. If he gets angry with the children, correct his behavior by talking to him and correcting him.  Tell Chandubhai that a man has never been without offspring in any of his past lives, even as a dog or as a cat.  Alas, these children are temporary. These are all worldly attachments. Are they real?

 

You have to tell Chandubhai that it is because of his own faults he has encountered the people and problems around him. Otherwise he would have encountered people that would respect and praise him.  Just look at me. People show so much respect and reverence for me. 

 

What Mistake in One’s Home May Be Criticized?

 

Home lives have become ruined. Life should not be like this. It should be full of love; where there is love, one cannot look at mistakes.  If you want to point out your wife’s mistake, you should also be able to make her understand. If you offer her a suggestion by saying ‘Maybe we should do it this way’, she will accept it and be glad you advised her. 

 

Some men will kickup a big fuss even over not having sugar in their tea.  All I say is ‘For heaven’s sake just drink it in peace’.  Surely she will find out when drinks the tea. She will even ask you why you did not ask for the sugar. 

 

People do not know how to live their life in the home.  One should not, in one’s home, point out anyone’s mistakes.  People nevertheless do this, do they not? 

 

Questioner: Everyday. 

 

Dadashri: You criticize everybody at home: your wife, your children, your father, everyone but yourself.  That is how awkward are.  What wisdom!  So from now on become wise and do not commit any aggression through mind, speech and actions.     

 

Be quick to remove any stains that may splash. When mistakes arise, and they will, you should wash them off immediately.  Mistakes do occur but your job is to wash them off.  

 

Questioner: But one has to acquire the ability to see the stain.

 

Dadashri:  That we have acquired. Others do not have this ability but you do and that is why you are able to see your faults.  The nature of your awareness is such that it will show you your mistakes.  As the layers are shed, you will begin to see your mistakes even more.    

 

It is only when you begin to see everyone in the home faultless, and see only your own faults, then true pratikramans have happened.

 

This is How Karmas are Cleared.

 

Questioner: When will mahatmas reach a state where no pratikraman is required? 

 

Dadashri: When there is no aggression, there is no need for pratikraman. 

 

Questioner:  How long does one have to do pratikraman for one’s old mistakes?  

 

Dadashri: As long as the fault is living and if someone is hurt by it, you should tell Chandubhai to do pratikraman, otherwise there is no need.

 

Questioner: How does one become free from the faults that were committed, not in this life but in the previous life and do pratikraman for them? 

 

Dadashri: How will you know that the mistakes occurred in your previous life? Only the claims that present in this life need to be addressed.  What can you do if there are no claims? Do pratikraman only for the claims you encounter.  If you keep remembering someone, or have negative thoughts about anyone, then you must do pratikraman. The entire world is faultless.  Why is it that you do not see it faultless?  It is because of your intrinsic nature to attack. The person that insults you is faultless.  Even the person that beats you or harms you, is faultless. You are the one who created the account, and he is merely repaying you.  If you retaliate, then you will be creating a new account, but you will bring an end to it if you accept that everything is vyavasthit. Tell Chandubhai, see the account has been settled.  If you see everyone faultless, you will be liberated. Seeing people as faulty, means that you have not seen them as the pure Soul. When you see the pure Soul in the other person, then you will not any fault in him. 

 

 

See Others As Non-Doers

 

What good is it if you say something to someone but he sees it as a fault on your part? 

 

Questioner: Where is the benefit in that? There is only damage in that.

 

Dadashri:  With which knowledge does he find fault in your words?

 

Questioner:  Where is the Gnan in that?  Does he not see it as a fault because he is ignorant?

 

Dadashri: Yes, but when he sees your fault in spite of having taken this Gnan, what is he doing?  He is weakening his own Gnan.   He is a non-doer and yet he sees the other person as a doer. In doing so, it is synonymous as becoming the doer himself.   To see others as doers, even in the slightest degree is to regress in your own Gnan.  That is what our Gnan says.  Even if the prakruti is quarreling or fighting, do not see the person as the doer. There is no telling what the prakruti will do.  

 

Questioner:  Sometimes the prakruti continues to quarrel beyond limits..

 

Dadashri:  Beyond limit?  Well that is still better than physical blows.  The prakruti can become crazy even and it may even pick up a gun!

 

Anything is possible.  Whatever baggage lies within is the baggage that will come out.    But if you see him as a doer, then your Gnan will become weak.  In reality, he is not the doer and everything is under the control of other forces. Does your Gnan sometimes become weak in this way? 

 

Questioner:  Yes, sometimes it does. 

 

Dadashri: There is no problem with the prakruti fighting, but do not see him as the doer. The prakruti behaves according to the way it was created in the past life; it will quarrel, it will fight, but you should not see him as the doer. 

 

No one is doing anything wrong at anytime. Whatever faults you see in others, is the weakness in your Gnan. Everything is entirely your own account.

 

Ultimately It Is The Ego

 

Are you able to see your own faults now?

 

Questioner:   Yes I am.

 

Dadashri:  The one who is ignorant of his Real Self is established in false egoism. This is egoism from the perspective of the Self. In short, ‘I am Chandubhai’ is ego. Such a person cannot see his own faults. He may be aware of a few gross faults.

 

The Tirthankars never interfered when anyone made a mistake.  It is the ego that meddles.  The one that sees the fault is the ego. And the fault itself is also the ego.  Both are egos.  

 

Questioner:  What about the one who commits the fault?

 

Dadashri:  That is the ego and so is the one that sees the fault. 

 

Questioner:  Why do you say that the fault is also ego?

 

Dadashri:  By that I mean only the doer of the fault.   However the doer of the fault may or may not have an ego. For example, if a person has taken this Gnan and abides properly by the Five Aagnas, then his faults are not considered faults, because He (the Real Self) becomes the seer of his faults.  These faults are considered discharging baggage, but they do not belong to the Real Self.  The faults are relative to the Real Self; He has not become one with the faults.  Nevertheless, the one that sees faults in others is always the ego. 

 

Questioner: So Dada, the one who is seen to be committing the mistakes may not have an ego.

 

Dadashri:  Yes that is correct. 

 

Questioner:  The one who sees faults is always egoistic.

 

Dadashri: Absolutely. It is the ego that makes one see faults of others. 

 

The Importance Is Of The Awareness Of The Mistake

 

If a person were aware of his mistake the moment it happens, he would not make them.  Otherwise a day may pass without being aware of a fault that happened. 

 

Questioner: He will become aware when the resultant suffering is experienced.  

 

Dadashri:  The suffering because of his mistake could be delayed to even six months later and he will be unaware that it was the result of the fault committed six months ago. 

 

Do you become aware of the mistakes that are made? Do you try to correct them?  Do you do this the instant you become aware of them? 

 

Questioner: Yes.

 

Dadashri: That is good. Mistakes will continue to happen, but when you become aware of them happening then your awareness will increase.  He that becomes aware of his own mistakes, I call a Gnani!  The Self Realised person may see his mistakes with or without suffering. In the initial stages after Gnan, there is some effect of the mistake or transient suffering. Upon investigation on the reason for suffering he becomes aware of his mistake and reverts to the Self. When the mistakes come into awareness without any suffering then Gnan State has increased. The distinction between knowledge and ignorance is established.

 

 

Questioner: When a person recognizes his mistake, will that mistake cease?

 

Dadashri: It is not important whether it ceases or not.  What is important is the awareness of the mistake. He is forgiven regardless of whether or not his mistakes cease, but the unawareness of the mistake is not forgiven. There is absolutely no question about stopping the mistakes, but the unawareness of the mistakes is not forgiven.  Mistakes occur out of unawareness.  

 

Questioner: Unawareness after Gnan prevails most of the time, so does that mean that mistakes are occurring during this time? 

 

Dadashri: It is not that they might be occurring, they are occurring. 

 

Questioner: How do we get rid of that unawareness so that we may become free from our mistakes?

 

Dadashri: One has to attain higher levels of awareness through active application of my five Agnas.

 

 

Purushartha (Individualised Effort) or Krupa (Grace)?

 

Questioner: Does one have to make a strong purushaarth in order to see his own faults?

 

Dadashri: For that you need grace, not your own effort. All efforts are irrelevant here.  You do need grace however, and that is bestowed upon you when you keep Dada happy.  And how do you do that?  By abiding by his Agnas.  

 

Dada is only concerned about how much you abide by his Agnas.  It is not important to him whether or not you garland him with flowers.  You do however; gain some worldly and  some spiritual benefits in doing so.

 

To destroy all your mistakes you will have to either immerse yourself in serving the Gnani and the mahatmas or do that which leads to the Self.  If you come to do Dada’s darshan, you will reap devotional benefits but no benefits of Gnan. If it is your firm decision that you want to abide by Dada’s Agnas, then through his grace you will be able to do so.  When you abide by the Agnas, you will remain as The Self.

 

This science is the cash bank of divine solution, and it gives you instant results. If you remain in my Agnas for one hour, you will attain full Self State.

 

 

Detached Attitude Inside: Sternness Outside

 

Questioner: The topic of settle with equanimity of files had come up in the satsang, and it was said that it is not necessary for one to be overly kind towards the sticky files, if in doing so, those files react even more negatively.  

 

Dadashri: There is no need for one to do that, but it is difficult for one to assess when this is necessary.

                                                                                                                                   

Questioner: How can one make that assessment?

                       

Dadashri: People always say that the other person is at fault.  However, in reality the fault is one’s own.  I tell them they should not be excessively humble, but they should maintain a Vitarag (detached) attitude towards the other.  This external reaction can be stern if necessary as long as you are vitarag within.  

 

Questioner: But that is so difficult, how can one remain vitarag within?

 

Dadashri:  It can be maintained very well, if you are not at fault, but if you are at fault, then you will not be able to do so. At the root of it, the fault is yours. Those that look to place the blame on others are really the ones at fault. They are simply protecting their mistakes.   

 

Your perception of others is a reflection of yourself.  No one can utter anything to you unless you yourself are at fault.  You are the one at fault each and every time, but because you do not understand this, you continue to blame others.  To see faults in others is the greatest of ignorance of all! When I keep repeating that the whole world is faultless, over and over again, then why would I ever blame anyone under any circumstances? That would be foolish. Would it not?

 

Questioner: Absolutely. 

 

Dadashri: Those who saw their own faults were victorious and liberated themselves.. So remember that unless it is your fault, no one can utter anything to you. Be aware and remain aware of this.

 

Questioner: These words of yours will immediately become effective within us. 

 

Dadashri: These words are always effective if you embrace them.  What can be done if you do not? 

 

 

The State After Gnan

 

The ultimate vision is that no living being is at fault. A snake, scorpion, tiger, lion, none appear at fault. You have acquired this vision and with it you will not see anyone at fault in this world.  

 

Questioner: Yes Dada, we have acquired this vision.

 

Dadashri: Then you will experience the bliss of liberation here and now.  There is nothing but bliss here.  Suffering exists as long as you see faults of others.  You are liberated when you cease to see faults in others. 

 

Questioner: When I become angry with my wife, is that the same as seeing faults in her? 

 

 

Dadashri: But it is not ‘you’ who gets angry is it?

 

Questioner: Not I, the Pure Soul.   

 

Dadashri: Yes, therefore you are able to see your fault regarding the anger, are you not? 

 

Questioner: Yes, I can.

 

Dadashri: So you see your own fault and not your wife’s, right?

 

Questioner: Right, I do not see her fault.

 

Dadashri: That is all there is to it. You should not be seeing anyone’s faults except Chadubhai’s (file no. 1) 

 

Questioner: Yes, but is it not because I saw her fault that I became angry? 

 

Dadashri: No. It is because you saw her fault that you are saying that Chandubhai is the one at fault.  The fault is always separate from the one who seemingly does it. In this case Chandubhai reacted to a fault arising in his interaction with his wife. The fault arose as a result of the interaction with her. It does not exist independently and therefore no one is the owner of the fault. In other words all are faultless. The One who is separate from Chandubhai, The self is eternally aware of this. Chandubhai is not. Therefore the Self sees the reaction of anger as the fault of Chandubhai.  The Self never sees anyone as faulty, but the existence of the fault is recognized. You will not see the wife as faulty.

 

To say it again, You are not really seeing the wife’s fault but really You are seeing Chandubhai’s fault. Therefore, the fault is yours.

 

 

Questioner: I realize that after I become angry.

 

Dadashri: Even after becoming angry, do you see Chandubhai as the one at fault? 

 

Questioner: Yes.

 

Dadashri: Only then is it considered a fault. It is considered a fault only after it has occurred. The fault of the other did not arise and the fault of the self( Chandubhai) was seen. You will feel that Chandubhai is guilty.

 

Questioner: Yes that is exactly how I feel. 

 

Dadashri:   Chandubhai will feel that the wife is at fault.  But You will feel that it is Chandubhai who is at fault. Chandubhai is the one who has seen his wife’s faults and become angry with her and so Chandubhai is the one at fault. 

 

Questioner:  Once I became extremely angry when I called out to my servant and he did not answer me. I knew he was awake and pretended to be asleep.  What should I do?

 

Dadashri:  Are you able to see your fault after you become angry?

 

Questioner:  Dada, it is when you see the fault first that creates the anger, is that not so?

 

Dadashri:  Yes that is why you become angry, but when you realized later on that the servant was not at fault, then you are able to see your own mistake, were you not?. 

 

Questioner:  But I do not see it right away. 

 

Dadashri:  Nevertheless, you did realize even later on that it is you who are fault and not the servant.  If the fault were to lie with the servant, then you would never be able to see that it was your fault in this matter. 

 

Questioner:  This happens everyday. Anger arises frequently between us.

 

Dadashri:  Then you must do pratikraman.  But what will be reason for the pratikraman?  Why should you repent? Why does the wife behave in this manner towards you?    She behaves this way because of the unfolding of your karma.  She makes mistakes because of your own karma.  Whatever mistakes anyone makes towards you, they are merely instruments in the unfolding of your own karma.  You should continue to repent; there is no need for you to become angry.  How can you repent if you cannot see your own faults? You must have the understanding that it is your own karma that is unfolding and that you are the one at fault. 

 

If someone were to come and slap me, I would instantly bless him.  Why would I do that when he is the one that slaps me? It is because in this world no one is able to do this without a reason. A few years ago I had offered a reward to anyone who would come and slap me.  Nobody, even those who desperately needed the money, came forward. They felt that it was better to borrow the money than to earn it by slapping me and face the consequences of their action. 

 

The entire world and its functioning is under exact laws.  God does not run this world, but nevertheless it still runs under very precise laws.  It runs in the presence of God.  Whoever causes you any grief, does so because of your own doing. Absolutely no one is at fault in this world.  I see each and every living being in this world as faultless. Illusion means to see others at fault. Our spiritual science says that the faults you see in others are actually your own faults.  This reaction to a fault is there because of your own fault.  The Soul is Vitarag and so is the prakruti.  But whatever faults you see in others, has a reaction as a consequence. 

 

That is When The Fault  Discharges…Forever.

 

Everyone is faultless. The fact that we see others as faulty is the fault of our own. No living entity is at fault in this world. If you can see this, then it is Gnan.  But generally people cannot see it this way, can they?   

 

Questioner: I do not want to see the other as faulty, but if he is seen faulty, can it be called a discharge?

 

Dadashri: It is a discharge, discharge that is habituated. When it is not under your control, it is considered habituated.

 

Questioner: How can seeing someone’s faults be considered a discharge? 

 

Dadashri: It is a discharge when you do not have the intention to see faults. Such a person is not quite following my Agnas, but as he begins to do so more  and more, he will see less faults.  Until then he must continue doing pratikraman.  

 

Questioner: I have come to accept the fact that everyone is faultless, but sometimes I still see some people as faulty. 

 

Dadashri: That is why I have used the term ‘habituated’ – it happens even when you do not want it to. 

 

Questioner: Why has our vision not become faultless yet?   

 

Dadashri: Your vision is faultless. Chandubhai’s vision is faulty. 

 

Questioner: Our intentions are to see others as faultless but despite this we continue to see faults in them.

 

Dadashri: You are now observing the one (Chandubhai) who sees faults in others. That is all there is to it. The discharge is what you have brought with you.   

 

Questioner: But do we not have to do pratikraman for that? 

 

Dadashri: You have to do pratikraman for that. Why did you bring such baggage?  

 

Gnan Begins with Vision and Ends with Conduct.

 

Our Gnan is pure Gnan.  Our understanding too is pure. The entire world should appear faultless to you. At first this becomes established in your faith, then gradually it becomes established in your understanding. You are The Self.  Even a pickpocket should appear faultless. 

 

Whatever you come to know, first becomes established in your faith and then in your conduct. So as yet, this Gnan has not become completely established in your faith. As it does, it will begin to show in your conduct.  This process is taking place slowly.   Surely it cannot occur overnight. And it can only take place once you come to know  it. 

 

Questioner:  We have known this for some time now.

 

Dadashri:  No, but that is not considered as having known. It is only when it becomes ingrained and growing within you, that it can be said that you have come to know it.   At the moment you do not know it completely. Your knowledge currently is at the superficial level, beyond this when your knowledge reaches the subtle, subtler and subtle most levels, then it will become ingrained within you completely and will manifest in your conduct.  

 

Never Leave This Satsang

 

No matter what happens, you should never leave this satsang.  Even if they assault or abuse you in this satsang, you should not leave it.  If you are going to die, let death come in satsang, nowhere else, because it will give you the link to what you are aiming for when you die. Does anyone here harass you? Would you run away if they did?    This world is arranged very precisely (according to the laws of nature), so what would happen if you look at people’s faults?  Is anyone at fault?

 

Questioner:  Maybe no one is at fault, but I still see faults of others.

 

Dadashri:  What you are seeing can be incorrect.  If you see an animal from far away, it may appear to be a bull and so you will say that it is a bull, but when you approach it, it turns out to be a horse. Would you then not realize that your vision is not good?  So the next time round you should know that you cannot be sure of what you see.  

 

Questioner:  Dada no one is faulty in our Gnan vision, but why do I see them as faulty?

 

Dadashri:  You are not applying the Gnan in what you see.  You are letting ignorance prevail.  If you were to wear ‘Dada’s’ glasses, you would not see anyone’s faults, but instead you keep wearing those ‘other’ glasses!  There is no one at fault in this whole world; this is my very invaluable discovery.

 

Steer Away From That Which Sees Faults

 

 

Do not see anyone’s faults.  The moment you cease to do this, you will become wise.  In reality, no one is at fault.  People are quick to become judges.  They cannot see their own faults and yet they are too eager to see faults in others.  A human being has the power to see faults, but this power is meant for him to see his own faults and not those of others. By misusing this power, you weaken your ability to see your own faults. Does anyone appreciate being told of his or her faults?  

 

Questioner:  No.

 

Dadashri:  So then should you not stop?

 

Who is at Fault When Vyavasthit is the Doer?

 

You should be firm in your determination to maintain awareness.  You (the Pure Soul) can never make mistakes and there is no question or doubt about this.  But the one that makes mistakes should understand and be aware of the mistakes.  And although he understands that vyavasthit is the ‘doer’, he must do pratikraman beacuse he is an instrument for the mistake. He must repent and be of the opinion ‘things should not be this way’; otherwise there is no progress.  The doer is vyavasthit and that is why we never look at anyone’s faults.    

You should totally stop seeing other people’s faults in this satsang.  No one is at fault.  Everything is done by vyavasthit.   –   Get rid of your vision that makes you see faults in others, otherwise your progress will be hindered..

 

Questioner:  If we continue to see faults in others, do we not regress spiritually?

 

Dadashri:  You will be destroyed. Vyavasthit is the doer of everything.  After acquiring this Gnan, everything that happens is dictated by vyavasthit.

 

Indestructible Mistake

 

 

If you have made mistakes elsewhere, you will be able to destroy them here (with Gnan), but if you make mistakes here (in the satsang environment, amongst other mahatmas), you will create permanent bondage.  That is why I tell you to erase your sins. You can do this by admitting your mistakes and vow never to repeat them. I will always tell you that you should never see anyone’s faults here, you can go see faults elsewhere.  You will be able to erase the faults you see outside of satsang environment, but the faults you see here will bind you in such a way that you will never be able to become free.  Do not see faults in anyone, no matter how inappropriate the person’s behavior may be.  And if you happen to see someone’s faults, erase it immediately otherwise your own mistake will become indestructible. 

 

You must erase your mistakes immediately.  The moment you get a negative thought, erase it immediately.  You should not concern yourself with whether someone is behaving correctly or incorrectly. 

 

This is the Satsang – place of worship.  If you make mistakes when you are rooted in your satsang place of worship, your mistakes become indestructible.  If you make a mistake at home, you can erase that mistake here in satsang, but mistakes made in satsang,  become indestructible.

 

Questioner:  They become indestructible even if we are sitting with you Dada?

 

Dadashri:  No, but you do not get the benefit of being close to me that you otherwise get.   These are the kinds of mistakes you are making.  That is why I am cautioning you.  The Gnan does not go away when you make mistakes. But by being careful things improve.  

 

 

The One Who Sees Faults in The Gnani

 

Dadashri:  Do you  see a fault in me, sometimes?

 

Questioner:  No.

 

Dadashri: Never? And this is the first time this poor man sees faults in me.  That is why I do not let strangers come too close to me.  When a person uses his intellect he will inevitably see faults, and this leads to his downfall.  It will take him to hell and just because he did not understand!  Alas! People look at faults even in the One represents the potential for the salvation of the entire world.  People do not understand this and that is why I do not allow them to come too close to me. and when I do, it is only for a couple of hours.

 

Niruben is the only one who has not seen faults in me.  She has lived with me for so many years and yet she has not seen any faults in me.  Not even for a second! That is something!  Have you ever seen faults in me sometimes?  Not ever?

 

Questioner: Dada, this science of yours is divine. Here there is no reason for us to look for faults.  Not in you who is remains in absolute knowledge.

 

Dadashri: You Jains are good about this; even a small child who is negative would say that whatever Dadaji says is correct.   Other people are not as sharp.

 

Questioner: Dada you remain constantly at the level of the subtlest of awareness where there can never be any faults.   So how can one ever see faults in you?  

 

Dadashri: They have no understanding at all.

 

Questioner: We should never see the faults of those who remain in the state of absolute awareness regardless of what their external appearance may be.  Srimad Rajchandraji has gone even as far as to say that one should not see faults in a Gnani even he becomes delirious or outright mad.

 

Dadashri:  But one must have that kind of understanding.  It is not easy to understand!

 

Questioner:  On the contrary, even by asking you these things we neglect our humilty towards you and we are creating mistakes, which we will have to erase. 

 

Dadashri: It is a wonder in itself that people see faults even where they should not!  I can destroy their mistakes if they see faults elsewhere, but who will destroy their mistakes if they see faults in me?  No one can will be there for such a person to do that!   That is why I caution people about this matter. The unfortunate people have no insight about this. They have some awareness because they have this Gnan, but only if they are sincere. But they have no understanding of what they are doing.   People become trapped by their own intellect and yet they do not realize this.  The intellect can trap everyone – it can make you see even what you are not supposed to see.

 

I must say that Niruben is unique in this matter.  She has never had a single negative thought about me. Even if she were to see me hitting someone, she would not question it.  She would automatically assume that I am doing it for the benefit of that person.

 

Questioner:  That is the way it is.

 

 Dadashri:  How can the intellect of the one who sees my fault reach this understanding?

 

Questioner:  There is nothing but pure compassion and intent of salvation here.

 

Dadashri:  He too will gradually come to appreciate this.. 

 

Questioner: How can one see fault in a Gnani, when according to this Gnan one is not to see fault of anyone in this world? The world is to be seen as faultless. It is through one’s own fault that one sees fault in others.

 

Dadashri: Yes, but the poor man is not aware of this, otherwise he would not do this. He would not take such a risk. It is a grave risk. That is why I asked that gentleman to come after eight o’clock, because if he was to see me drinking one and a half cups of tea, his intellect will make him question why I have to drink a cup and a half and why can I not be satisfied with just one? 

 

Questioner:  All one needs to see is your internal detachment, even when you are drinking tea! 

 

 Dadashri: From where will one acquire the ability to see in this way?  It is good enough that they find some inner peace because of this Gnan.

 

Questioner: Dada you say that you never lose sight of your aim for final liberation, not even for a moment. 

 

Dadashri: Not for a minute, not even for a moment.

 

Questioner: Dada, you have to remain within the limits of this path of liberation; and at the same time carry out your worldly interactions. You have to be careful not to hurt each and every individual that comes to you, and yet at the same time, you often have to speak harshly with some people in order to help them be rid of their spiritual disease.  You have to do all this Dada!

 

Dadashri:  And sometimes I even read storybooks about outlaws and bandits.

 

Questioner:  You have to do that too and at the same time not lose sight of liberation.

 

 

Infinite Grace Of The Gnani For The Simple-Hearted

 

Even after acquiring this path of liberation, this person cannot progress as fast as you.  Spiritual apathy is inevitable and I have to ‘carry’ many people.  Some people are like kittens, the cat has to carry her kittens herself, whereas you are like the baby monkey, which clings to its mother and never lets go. But I have to carry a person, like this man here.  His simple-hearted and straightforwardness pleases me and that is why I ‘carry’ him around.

 

Straightforward people open up everything. They open all the cupboards. See it all, they say. This is what we have. And deceitful ones will open only one cupboard, and say that the second cupboard will be opened only if asked by Dada, otherwise not. And these others will open up everything even before being asked. Do you understand straightforwardness?

 

Virtues You See in Others Will Manifest Within You

 

The virtue that you see in others will manifest in you. If you consider a person virtuous because he does not retaliate, even when insulted, the same virtue will then manifest within you. In reality no one is at fault in this world.  Everything you experience is because of your own faults.

 

 

The Karma Is The Fault

 

People go around talking about karma, and yet they have no clue about karma.  Your karma means your own fault.  The Soul is faultless, but it is bound because of the karma you created. You will begin the process of liberation as you begin to see your own faults.  Some faults have tens of thousands of layers, and so you will have to see them tens of thousands of times in order for them to dissipate.  Your mind, speech and body are full of faults. In this Gnan, I have seen for myself what keeps the whole world in bondage.  The world is bound by it’s own faults.  There are warehouses of countless faults within any given person.  Your liberation is at hand when you begin to see your own faults from moment to moment.  You have carried forward all this baggage of faults, without questioning it but now that you are Self-Realized, you will begin to see your faults.  If you cannot see these faults then it is sheer spiritual laziness on your part.   

 

Pure Awareness Of the Soul

 

What is pure awareness of the Soul?   It is the One(The Self) that you never leave unattended.  If you are flying a kite and feel sleepy, you should tie the kite string down to your big toe and take a nap but as soon as you are refreshed you must take hold of the string. In the same way you cannot afford to leave your Soul unattended even for a moment. You should be able to see the faults of your mind, speech and body every moment of the day. In this current time-cycle, there is not a single person without faults. The rays of the light of the Self will increase as the clouds of faults dissipate and you will see more faults more clearly within you. In this day and age you have acquired this phenomenal pure science of Akram.   All you now have to do is be aware from this level  (I am Pure Soul) and get rid of the baggage you have brought with you.  Keep washing your faults away through pratikraman. 

 

There are countless mistakes.   It is because of these mistakes that sleep overcomes you. This is the sleep of lack of awareness of The Self.  Otherwise how is it possible for you to be sleepy?  Sleep is the enemy of your awareness. You may fall asleep physically or even when you are wide awake. The latter is spiritual laziness.

 

Even in pure awareness spiritual laziness is considered unholy awareness.  The Gnani sleeps for only one hour, because he is constantly aware.  Your awareness will increase when your food intake decreases and sleep decreases. Your awareness will also increases when you follow my five Agnas. Too much sleep is a sign of spiritual apathy and laziness.  It is like tying up the Soul in a bundle.  When your need to sleep decreases, when your food intake decreases, know that your laziness, both spiritual and physical has decreased. A person who has destroyed his mistakes will have radiance on his face. His speech will be enormously attractive and people will follow him wherever he goes.  If a person believes he has no faults then how will he be able to see them? He then sleeps soundly.  The ascetics sleep very little; they have tremendous awareness. 

 

Mistakes Of Darkness: Mistakes Of Electricity

 

Your observable mistakes will cease because they create conflict with others.  Besides these, there are countless faults at subtle and deeper levels, which once they begin to come to light and clear, will result in a noticeable change in you. This change is the attraction people will have for you and your company and speech. These subtle mistakes are because of lack of awareness and you are not able to see them. It is only when the Gnani sheds light on them, that they become apparent. The obvious mistakes are like electricity. They sting you and you become aware. They are much better compared with these subtle ones, which do not sting you easily; they are easier to see and clear.

 

Questioner: What kind of mistakes are these that have electricity?  

 

Dadashri: These faults are straightforward and uncomplicated.  They result in irritation but then, dissipate. These mistakes are better because they keep one in a state of awareness, whereas no one can see these other mistakes of the darkness, which are very subtle. These mistakes are such that the person himself cannot see them; he is engulfed in spiritual laziness. He is the guilty one himself and yet there is no one around to show him his mistakes.  Mistakes of the light can be distinguished as others easily point them out.   Mistakes that harass and gnaw at you, I call them your electrical mistakes – mistakes that are visible.  Those that do not bother you, I call your mistakes of darkness. The mistakes that bother you will quickly become apparent but those that do not, slip away unnoticed and remain hidden. It does not matter how difficult or awkward a person is.It matters whether the mistakes are of the light or darkness. The mistakes of the light will leave easily. The mistakes of darkness are very difficult to be rid of.

 

 

Absolute Enlightenment: Last Mistake Is Destroyed.

 

No one should ever claim that they have no fault.  It is only at the stage of Absolute Enlightenment that there are no mistakes left.  Even Lord Mahavir could see his own mistakes up to the point of attaining full Enlightenment.  For Lord Mahavir, Absolute Enlightenment was simultaneous with the witnessing of his last mistake. This is a natural scientific principle. Awareness must remain all the time. How can we allow to the Soul to be tied up in a bag even during the daytime? You can only progress if you keep a vigil on your mistakes and also by abiding the Five Aagnas.  For awareness you will need satsang and Purushaarth.  In order to remain within satsang, you must first remain within the Agnas.  

 

Mistakes Of Darkness

 

You commit a very grave mistake if you curse someone in your mind or commit any acts in a secret manner.  You may think to yourself that no one will find out but this world is not chaotic. It is exact.  There are indeed grave consequences for such mistakes.  It is because of these mistakes that people suffer today.    

 

‘I know something’ is a very heavy mistake of darkness and another one, ‘there is nothing wrong with what I am doing’ will kill you.  Only the Gnani can say that he has no mistakes.  Each and every mistake will have to be acknowledged and will have to leave.  You have be aware that you are Pure Soul and for the outside world, ‘I do not know anything’. If you keep this awareness, you will not have any problems.  Do not let the disease of ‘I know’ take root within you.  You are the Pure Soul and the Pure Soul has no faults, but whatever faults you see in ‘Chandulal’, must be dealt with equanimity.  Mistakes made in darkness and mistakes buried in darkness are not easy to see.  As your awareness increases, you will begin to see increasing number of your mistakes.  Even by merely seeing your overt and obvious mistakes, your awareness will increase.  As your mistakes decrease, your speech will improve and people will want to listen to you.

 

Dada – The Doctor Of Mistakes

 

When you come to know that you have countless mistakes within you, you will be able to see those mistakes and that is how your mistakes will diminish.  Do you think that I ever see other people’s mistakes?  Do you think I even have the time?  It is only because of your great merit karma that I point out your mistakes to you.  These mistakes of darkness proliferate within you like a disease.  When your merit karma unfolds I use my powers to dissect these mistakes within you.  As compared to the surgeries these doctors perform, the operations I perform require a hundreds and thousand times the effort.  

 

 

 

College Of Mistake Destruction

 

This is the college where while playing and amusing each other you get rid of your life long mistakes. Otherwise it is not possible to get rid of mistakes, without creating new attachment and abhorrence.  Is it not amazing that this college runs on fun and laughter? That is the wonder of Akram Vignan.

 

Questioner: Dada your words are so powerful that even as you utter them, I begin to see my own faults, and they fall off. 

 

Dadashri: Yes that happens.

 

How can you tell that you are beginning to see your faults?  It is when you dislike ‘Chandubhai’ becoming angry. That is when you come to realize and see Chandubhai’s faults. It is said that ‘Unless I am able to see my own faults, what other solution to salvation is there for me?’(Krupaludev)  The moment you begin to see your own faults, you begin your journey to the state of full Enlightenment.  Ordinarily no one is able to see his own faults. When even just a fraction of your illusion is shed, it will dawn on you:  Oh my goodness! So many faults!

 

Chandubhai is getting angry; Chandubhai is the one at fault. Can You see and catch Chandubhai’s faults?    

 

Questioner: Yes I am beginning to catch them.  Dada I really liked what you said when you said that the fault is gone the minute I see it.

 

Dadashri: It leaves the moment it is seen.  That is why the scriptures say that Lord Mahavir has said that you should look at the fault.  You fail to see your faults because you are immersed in them.  Your faults have taken possession of you and therefore you become blind to them.  But if on the on the other hand, you simply see them, they will leave.

 

What demands are being made upon you now?  The body complex now raises the issue: what is to become of me now that you have become Pure Soul?  If you say that you do not have anything to do with it anymore, it will not accept that.  It will accuse you of spoiling it in the first place and will demand that you now turn it back to the way it used to be.  You have no choice in the matter. So how are you to break free?  The answer is that whatever you have previously seen and therefore acquired through ignorance of the Self, has been the cause of bondage and so now you will have to see it through Gnan(The Self)in order to become free from it.  So without Gnan, you will not get rid of your faults. Ignorance creates bondage and Gnan liberates.  Gnan means to ‘see’.  Once you see the faults, you become free of them, no matter how grave the fault.

 

Above it all, this is Akram.  In the Kramic(traditional spiritual) path people have evolved through their ongoing efforts to be rid of their faults but here  in Akram no one comes prepared, and faults are rampant.  That is why if Chandubhai says anything hurtful to anyone, you have to reproach him and tell him to do pratikraman.  

 

Questioner: Shoot the faults on sight by pratikraman. Immediately.

 

Dadashri: Yes, and not throughout the day but if you feel that you have hurt someone by what you have said, you must do pratikraman for it.  Pratikraman has to be done by the one that does atikraman(aggression), not the real You.  You will have know the entire principle of this Science in your heart. You do not need to remind yourself by writing it down. All we are concerned with is to accomplish our goal of liberation.

 

Questioner: I really liked what you said in Aurangabad Dada.

 

Dadashri: Yes.

 

Questioner: You said, “pratikramans occur before the faults happen”. Your pratikraman reached the other person even before the mistake occurs.

 

Dadashri: Yes, they are shoot-on-sight-pratikramans. They start by themselves even before the fault is committed and you would not even know how they started.  That is  the result of  inner awareness.

 

Faults Disperse As The Veils Of Ignorance Are Dispelled

 

Before you met me you could not see your own faults because the Soul within was not awakened.  It is the power of the awakened Soul within that allows you to do this.  

 

Questioner:   We could not see our faults after we met you, and taken Gnan from you. Does it mean that the Self had not awakened? 

 

Dadashri: No it was, but I was slowly breaking the veils that shrouded it so that you could see your mistakes.

 

Whatever faults arise cannot leave without being seen.  If it leaves without being seen, then this is not Akram Vignan. This Science is such.  This is a Science.

 

Faults are be erased through pratikraman.  Faults become apparent during times of conflict and friction with others.  Without friction, they remain hidden.  You can be assured that when you begin to see four to five hundred of your faults in a day, then