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Aptavani-8
193
The Real Understanding of the Omnipresent
Questioner: The Atma is complete (sarvansha), so is it also omnipresent (sarvavyapi)?
Dadashri: No. The Atma being omnipresent; is in the relative sense. However, this is not always so. The omnipresence you are referring to, is it from the independent perspective (nirpeksha), or the dependent perspective (sapeksha)?
Questioner: The real sense.
Dadashri: Does this light illuminate the entire room or not?
Questioner: Yes, it does.
Dadashri: And what if you covered it up with paper or something?
Questioner: Then it would get dark. Dadashri: Then you would not see any light here, would
you?
Questioner: No, I would not.
Dadashri: So at that time, is it omnipresent (sarvavyapi)?
Questioner: At that time we feel illusion (bhranti), but nevertheless, the light is still everywhere (sarvavyapi)!
Dadashri: No, it is not like that. People have misinterpreted the meaning of omnipresence (sarvavyapi) and used it in the wrong context. You say, 'the Atma is omnipresent', but your understanding is wrong. I will explain the meaning of omnipresent (sarvavyapi) to you.
In the final avatar (birth; lifetime), when there is the final body (charam deha), the Atma becomes fully uncovered. And at that time, that Atma is omnipresent (sarvavyapi) throughout the entire universe. However, it is not the same for all Atmas.