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Aptavani-2
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Aptavani-2
absolute Self (parmatma) here. How can you do purusharth (true inner endeavor)
without becoming a purush (the Self)?
A prominent professor once came to me. He harbored the notion 'I know something' and 'I am doing some purusharth. 'We asked him, "What do you do? What is your purusharth?" and he replied, "All my efforts are solely for the soul." 'We' asked him, "How can you do purusharth without becoming a purush? You dance according to the tunes of your relative self (prakruti) and you say, 'I danced."
"We'challenge anyone in this entire world that whatever he is doing, it is not under his own independent power. Arey! Even when you go to the toilet to evacuate your bowels, it is not your own independent doing. Some 250 very prominent doctors came to satsang in Baroda and 'We' asked them, "You claim to treat your patients who are constipated, but do you think it is under your control to evacuate their bowels?" They all claimed, "But indeed we are the ones who help them go to the toilet." 'We'asked them, "When you do not have independent control over your own bowel movements, how can you have control over someone else's? You will realize this when you become constipated yourself, you will discover that it is not under your independent control. The prakruti makes one do everything but the ego within says, 'I did it." That which increases the keyf (intoxicate the
ego) is relative knowledge The knowledge of all prominent scholars, of those who have studied the scriptures extensively, the knowledge of prominent sages, preceptors and spiritual teachers is all worldly knowledge; it is relative knowledge (prakrutgnan). The difference between prakrutgnan and armagnan (knowledge of the Self, real knowledge) is like the difference between milk and buttermilk. How does relative knowledge work? It uses prakruti
to wash away prakruti; doing this makes the prakruti light. A person can spend his entire life time washing away his prakruti (the non-self complex) but if in his next life he falls into bad company, his prakruti can become very dense again. The Lord has equated this to an elephant bathing in a muddy pool. When an elephant bathes in water, he becomes nice and clean but the moment he comes out of the water, he dusts his body with mud. Such is the state of the human being. Atmagnan is rare, extremely, extremely rare. Liberation is merely a word and any reference to it is mere talk because it is not so easy to attain. Everyone with prakrutgnan believes, 'I know everything. The pitiful ones! All they know is prakrutgnan; it is all relative knowledge. What they need to know is atmagnan (knowledge of the Soul). For so many lifetimes all you have attained is prakrutgnan and what do you claim? All along the prakruti has been the doer and yet you claim, 'I did it'. Prakruti makes you dance, it makes you wake up in the morning, but you claim, 'I woke up. Even when you sleep, it is the working of the prakruti. Sometimes you cannot sleep even when you want to and when the prakruti makes you sleep, you claim, 'I fell asleep!
'We are telling you this with absolute assurance that the entire world is caught up in prakrutgnan. Whether a person is reading the scriptures, or reciting Lord Mahavir 's forty-five Agams or reciting the four Vedas, 'We would still tell him that he is under the spell of prakrutgnan. The difference between atmagnan and prakrutgnan is like the difference between milk and buttermilk; they both look white. But prakrutgnan increases one's ego (keyf) whereas atmagnan decreases it. That which decreases the ego is atmagnan.
Questioner : Does the ego increase by studying scriptures?
Dadashri : Yes, because it is prakrutgnan, it serves to increase the ego of, 'I know. For heaven's sakes what do you
