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The World Is Without Any Substance
This world is empty, without any substance. I am saying this as I see it in my knowledge. If you think that this world has any substance or any worth, then you are mistaken.
There was an ayurvedic doctor who prescribed a very good medicine to his patient and instructed him not to eat any chilies because his disease was a result of eating an excessive amount of chilies. The doctor worked very hard to get his patient the best of medicine and treatment. For several months he tried various medicines and yet he could not see any progress in his patient. One day the doctor decided to pay his patient a visit at his home. On entering the house he saw the patient having his dinner and on his plate were two large green chilies. Upon seeing the chilies on the patient's plate, the doctor was overcome with such a rage that he suffered a heart attack and died instantly. Now whom can you blame here? The poor unlucky fellow! The patient may drink poison but why did he drink it too? Everything is so empty and without any substance in this world, you cannot afford to get stuck anywhere otherwise you will be trapped. Here the patient was the one eating the chilies but instead it was the doctor who was overcome with tension and ruptured an artery. It is nothing but poison of knowledge. If a person sees nasal mucous fall in his tea, he will not drink it but if he had no knowledge of it, he would drink the tea with pleasure. Ignorance is bliss. You only feel that something is wrong if you come to know about it; you get scared when you learn the truth but up until then, you have no fear of it. This is the very meaning of hollow and empty.
A man used to visit me frequently. He had a daughter. I had explained to him from the very beginning that the current time of kaliyug has a negative influence even on the most well meaning people. I cautioned him about such an influence on his
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daughter. He understood what I meant and later when his daughter eloped, he remembered me and came to me. He told me that I was right and that had I not said anything to him, he would have committed suicide. This is how the world is. It is empty and without substance. You will have to accept whatever happens. Is anything worth sacrificing your life for? Besides if you do, people will call you foolish. People keep their reputation intact by hiding everything and then claim to be noble and honorable.
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A Gnani Purush is very wise. He acts before the damage is done. He cuts out the rot before it sets in. Do you think it is easy to see this world as empty, shallow and superficial?
What does a shepherd do? He gathers his sheep and lamb with his calls of 'tihi, tihi' and rounds them up in a fenced compound so they cannot escape. The sheep think that he is protecting them form the tigers and the shepherd even tells them so. But little do they know that he is exploiting them by milking them everyday, shearing off their wool which protects them from the cold and eventually serve them as a meal to his guests! This is called superficial and empty.
Non-Dependency Of Humans
All human beings of this time cycle are considered as having no dependency or protection. The animals are regarded as having dependency but the humans have no one to depend on. Even if you find a person on whom you can depend, he himself has no one to depend on, so how can he help you? Let me explain to you what I mean by non-dependency:
A wealthy man, a priest and his dog set out on a journey. They come across a dense forest and in the forest they meet four robbers carrying guns and daggers. What effect does this event have on each of them? The wealthy man has fear of what