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Aptavani-6
105
Then this lady asks me why her mind will not remain concentrated and attentive. How does the concentration with purpose (ekagrata) remain when she is buying vegetables? This is about experience. This is not baseless; there is no interest in God and that is why the ekagrata does not remain. When love for God occurs, that is when concentration will come.
As long as there is interest in money, one will be attracted and caught up with money, and when he gets interested in God, then interest in money will leave. Therefore, the interest should change.
Now, it is not your mistake that you do not have interest in God. How can you develop interest in something you have never seen? You have seen this sari and its beautiful colors, so interest will naturally develop in it. But God cannot be seen, can He? That is why it is said that you should form an interest in a representative of God, such as a Gnani Purush. Interest will be formed there and when you form an interest in the Gnani Purush, recognize that it will reach God.
If interest is formed wherever there is anger, pride, deceit and greed (kashays), then that interest is kashayik - it, too, is laden with anger, pride, deceit and greed. That conviction (kashayik pratiti) is such that it will break. The interest formed through attachment (raag) is broken through abhorrence (dwesh), whereas interest on the representative of the Lord is not formed through raag. There is nothing in Him for which you can have raag.
[12]
Attributes of the Non-self are Unreliable
Whoever's shadow of influence falls upon us, we inevitably become infected by that person's 'disease.' No matter how good this mango looks on the outside, what are we going to do with it? No matter how many good qualities it has, of what good is it to us? Someone may tell us, "This person has so many good qualities. He is the abode of good qualities.'
But what have the Vitarag Lords (the fully enlightened ones) said?
They may be all first class qualities, but what are those qualities dependent upon? They are not dependent on the person; they are dependent on the equilibrium of the three humors that govern the biological, psychological and physiological functions of the body (pita, vayu and kapha) and constitute everything of a being except the Self (prakruti). When all three become excess, one will become delirious and people will curse him. What happens when a man who never curses or has a bad word for anyone becomes delirious? That is why Lord Mahavir has said that all these non-Self qualities (paudgalik) are such that they can be destroyed in only forty-eight minutes (one gunthana); such is their temporary nature. How long will you continue to accumulate such qualities? It will be all over the moment you have a disorder of the three humors (tridosh) body, the effects of imbalance and excess of biological, psychological and physiological functions of the body.
When a person cannot bear any suffering, a 'crack' will occur in his mind, i.e., he will have a nervous breakdown. That
