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Aptavani-2
387
major reference text on Akram Vignan) that you can project into the world as you would in a water well. If you say you are a thief' into a well, an echo of you are a thief will come back to you from the well. So if you don't like that echo, then say, "You are a king" and it will come back telling you, "You are a king." This is what the world is like.
There is no one above you as your superior. If someone wants a guarantee of this, then I am willing to give this in writing, "There is no one above you as your superior, and in the same token there is no underhand below you."No one has yet been born who can interfere in anyone else's life. And yet just look at how complicated this world has become. Who are your superiors? There are only two: your own mistakes and your own blunder: What is the blunder? The blunder is to claim to be what you are not. To say 'I am Chandulal', is a blunder because in reality you are a pure Soul. When the blunder is removed, what remains? When someone insults you, can you not understand that it is the consequence of your past mistake? Therefore you have to deal with all situations with equanimity.
What happens if you drink a nice cup of tea after eating sweets? The tea will taste bland; you will not be able to taste the sugar in it. But really there is sugar in the tea; you simply can't taste it because of the effect of eating sweets. Therefore no one can escape effects (of past causes), but truly no one can understand this.
Vows : Major and Minor as prescribed by the Lord
Dadashri : What is your religion? Questioner : I am a Jain.
Dadashri : If you are a Jain, then there is nothing more for you to learn, is there?
Questioner: There is always something to learn as long as we have this body, is there not?
Dadashri : Should we not have the awareness of how many miles we have covered and how many miles remain on this path of liberation? Many just keep on walking ahead, so surely they must have covered so many miles by now?
Questioner : Yes they must have. Dadashri : How many miles must have been covered?
Questioner: How can I say that? I am not enlightened. How would I know?
Dadashri : As many major vows (mahavrars) one has adopted, that many miles he has covered. Or in lieu of the mahavrat, if he has adopted minor vows (anuvrat), then his progress is in proportion with the sincerity with which he has adopted the anuvrat. Because in the anuvrat, he takes a vow not to steal but within him there is also greed, hence on the one hand he has needs and on the other he is adopting the anuvrat. So in the process of preserving the anuvrat he is also addressing the greed within. Hence as many anuvrats he has covered is the number of miles he has progressed.
