Sapta Bhashi Atmasiddhi

SR No.: 002593
Original Sutra Author: Shrimad Rajchandra
Author: Pratapkumar J Toliiya, Sumitra Tolia
Publisher: Jina Bharati Bangalore
Publication Year: 2001
Total Pages: 226
Language: Sanskrit, Hindi, Gujarati,
Classification: Book_Devnagari, Spiritual, & Rajchandra
File Size: 21 MB

Page 216

(७) सप्तभाषी आत्मसिद्धि
174
SAPTABHASHI ATMASIDDHI
He uses leather only of animals that have died naturally. And he wears only homespun cotton clothing, as Mahatma Gandhi did, because he believes the exploitation of workers in textile mills is a kind of violence, too.
high in the spiritual world, I must have lesser material attachments. We are only a tenant in the house. The spirit is the tenant, the body is the house."
Toliya is a follower of Gandhi's philosophy, and when he was a boy, he met the Indian independence leader. Toliya was 13 or 14 then, and his scout group went to work at Gandhi's camp.
Toliya tries to accumulate a minimum of wealth. As the father of five daughters, he acknowledges that some savings are needed, to provide for one's children. But he believes each person should give away 25 percent of his or her income. To be much richer than others causes them pain and is a sin, he says.
"My impression was Gandhiji was full of joyous mood, jolly mood. I never saw worry on his face even though he was undergoing a tremendous moment for India," Toliya says.
He urges his Indian friends in the United States not to become too materialistic, and to pass on the best of Indian culture to others in this country.
He meditates each morning and evening and uses breathing exercises to focus his concentration before performing music. He breathes deeply, humming as he exhales, to calm himself.
He believes that all religions have a common essence - Self-knowledge. Although he is a follower of Jainism, a form of Hinduism resembling Buddhism, he believes each religion has value. He says all religions have a common essence to attain self knowledge.
"We forget all thoughts, all worldly desires and attachments. We become one with the sound and the self," he says.
Although he believes in reincarnation, Toliya says he has an interest in this life as well, and is opposed to nuclear war.
Like Gandhi and others who follow eastern religions, Toliya tries to remain detached from the material world. He says he enjoys material things without trying to cling to them.
"Science should be mixed with non-violence," he says, "Science plus violence is the downfall of all mankind."
For instance, he admits he is fond of his Sitar, the stringed instrument fashioned from a carefully grown gourd, carved from teak and inlaid with ivory from elephant tusks. But on his last trip to the United States, the airline smashed a sitar. He says he did not allow himself to become upset.
Toliya will answer questions about his philosophy at the India Association booth from 7 to 10 tonight at the Ethnic Cultural Festival at Rogers Park. He will perform music tomorrow at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. in the festival stage shows.
"I took it lightly. It was going to break someday or another. Sitar is just an instrument to me, like a ladder to go up".
The News Times
By CATHY SHUFRO Danbury, CT.,6-7-1984 (The interviewer of "THE NEWS TIMES")
Just as an airline passenger can carry only a certain number of pounds of luggage, Toliya says, "If I want to float
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