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Rays of Dharma
it, as if we have gained the boon of immortality!
Upadhyäy Yasovijayji has therefore said, “The friends of our childhood time have left; those whom we respected as elders have left; those whom we heartily loved and whose love we expected to continue indefinitely, have been reduced to ashes; yet we fail to think about our outcome! What a great indolence?"
We need to remain aware that we have to leave one day. As a balloon collapses when the air goes out, this body will be reduced to a lifeless bundle, when the soul leaves it; deprived of consciousness it will start stinking within a few hours. The body of which we took enough care during the life will be cremated. Everything in life is uncertain, but death is a certainty. It is therefore necessary to set a goal in life.
A river while turning out from the mountain has the set destination to reach the sea. As such, it makes way out of hills, forests and thickets, does not stop anywhere and advances towards the sea. The same way, the spiritual aspirant, who has set his objective, undergoes various activities in life, but does not get stuck to any of them. The vital question is how to handle what has to be done. For instance, a cat picks up in its mouth its young ones as well as a mouse. While picking up the young ones, it takes care that they are not hurt; but squeezes the teeth hard while picking up the mouse. The approach differs, because the young ones it picks up for protecting them, while the mouse it picks up for food.
Take the case of sugar and honey; both of them are sweet. A fly can sit over sugar and leave it after extracting sweetness; when, however, it sits on honey, its wings get stuck therein and it fails to
fly,
While undertaking any activity one therefore needs to keep in mind how best it can serve his objective. As such, he does not resort to lies, nor does he do anything inappropriate or indulge in sinful activities. Since he knows that ultimately he has to give up everything, he stays away from deeply getting involved in any activity. This would 158