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(112) The collection of Gadasti is an excellent person, a unique and supreme being in the world. Therefore, the devotion of an excellent man becomes an excellent seed, because it causes the practice of joining and connecting with the Supreme. “With love for excellent qualities, we obtain excellent deeds… Excellent qualities increase one’s own glory, illuminating the excellent abode… Qualities”—Shri Yashovijayji “Excellence increases with excellent company, along with infinite joy; with detachment, we connect with the passions, and attain liberation from the cycle of births and deaths.”— “The purpose of the Jina is equality, the nectar of equanimity; the Lord is the support for attainment, the rules proclaim this.”–Shri Devchandraji Thus, here in the path of yoga—the path of liberation—the Lord, the scriptural scholar, has given the first place to devotion to the Lord. To perform devotion to the Supreme Soul, the pure self-nature, who has manifested the Supreme Self, to the best of one’s ability, is the first step in the cure for disease, the best seed of the tree of liberation. One who performs devotion to the Lord with pure intention, is sure to attain the fruit of liberation. “Devotion to the Jina is the path to liberation, the unparalleled seed of auspicious happiness.”—Shri Devchandraji “Without devotion, there is no liberation, nor is there any individual without form.”–Shri Rupvijayji Because by worshipping the Lord, by chanting the Lord’s name, by remembering the Lord’s qualities, by praising the Lord, by singing the Lord’s character, by contemplating the Lord’s form, by meditating on the Lord, and by feeling oneness with the Lord, the devotee becomes aware of the Jina’s own self-nature. “The lion’s nature remains in the flock of sheep” A child forgets the form of its father, but when it sees the lion, it immediately becomes aware of its true nature. Similarly, when the devotee becomes absorbed in the Lord, his original pure innate self-nature is remembered. Therefore, truly, devotion and worship of the Lord with a selfless intention is devotion and worship of the father’s self-nature. Regarding this, the great souls have said: “In worldly affairs, the Lord is the Jina, in solitude, I am the Lord; understand this, it is the imprint of the Jina’s teachings. The Jina’s nature is one’s own nature, there is no difference, this is the goal, the scriptures have spoken of this auspiciousness.”—Shrimad Rajchandraji