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154
Aptavani-8
have become convinced that 'I am not the Atma (Shiva)', you have become deluded.
'I am Chandubhai’; that is what you believe. Just because they gave you that name, does it mean you have to believe it? You truly are the Atma (Shiva), but only if you understand the difference between an embodied self (the non-Self; mortal; jiva) and the Self (immortal; Shiva)!
Questioner: Then does it not become non-dualism (adwaita)?
Dadashri: When there is no longer a difference between jiva and Shiva, then it becomes non-dualism (adwaita). When a jiva (embodied self) and Shiva (Self) appear as one form, it is non-dualism (adwaita)! And when the jiva is separate, and Shiva is separate, it is illusion (bhranti)!
Questioner: But the Atma was Shiva, so how did it become a living being (jiva)?
Dadashri: It is because of wrong belief. Due to a wrong belief it has become a jiva. The Gnani Purush “fractures” (destroys) these "wrong beliefs” and installs the right belief, so that one oneself becomes the Atma (the Self) again; one becomes the form of the Self (Shiva swaroop).
It does not take long for a mortal (jiva) to become the Atma (Shiva; immortal). You yourself are the Atma (Shiva)! But because this illusion (bhranti) has set in, all the wrong beliefs have settled within you. When this wrong belief changes, and the right belief is established, the puzzle will be solved. Only the Expert Can Cause the Separation
Questioner: But what is the difference in the definitions of these three: the material world, the self and the Atma (bhautik jagat, jiva and the Self)? Why are they different?
Dadashri: The jiva (the self), is itself the material world