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have any understanding, no money and yet he has endless arrogance) and some even used to say that I had lot of ghemraji (such people do not value anyone). I did not have Gnan at that time, but because I had collected baggage (karmic) of such high quality from my past life, I felt that I was somebody. I knew that and consequently had ghemraji about it.
I have awareness of what the ego (ahamkar) should be and what abhimaan should be. Today you cannot find a person with only ego (ahamkar); there is always some degree of perversion of the ego and for sure it has progressed to the stage of abhimaan.
A person with ego only is considered spontaneous and natural. It is a natural ego but such a person is not to be found in this current time cycle. Where can one find such an 'ego only' person? Today we have people with abhimaan. What is ego? It is the belief, 'I am Chandulal', but that is a natural state and he is not at fault for having this belief. But what is abhimaan? When someone says, 'see this bungalow of mine, see this hospital of mine, see this factory of mine' then realize what is talking; his abhimaan is talking.
Questioner: But you said that your abhimaan had increased, then how did it go down to zero?
Dadashri: All of a sudden! I did not do anything. 'This is but natural'; it occurred naturally. That is why I tell people they should not try to imitate this. What are you going to do when it is a natural phenomenon? Now come to me and I will show you the way. I have found a path. But if you try to follow the path that I took to get to this stage, you will die, because my abhimaan had gone from 25% to 150%, and I could not bear it. Only I know how I managed to pass those days!
Questioner: There is a saying, 'one had abhimaan worth a quarter of a pound. As he became learned it increased
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four times and when he became a guru, it increased forty times.' Now the only thing of importance is how one can come down to the level of zero.
Dadashri: Now after attaining Gnan, where is your purusharth (independent spiritual endeavor) of day and night taking you? This purusharth is taking you towards zero. What was the case before? It used to increase three fold, and it was headed in the direction of growth. Now You are headed towards its dissolution. So it is futile to look for solutions here. Everything here is very systematic. You are headed towards the 'zero state', and that state will come for sure.
After Self-realization...
After attaining Gnan, you have no ego at all. What is the definition of ego? To decide and believe, 'I am Chandulal' is ego (ahamkar). Now you have doubt over the knowledge of 'I am Chandulal'. So now that you are not Chandulal, but the pure Soul (Shuddhatma), you do not have ego. 'You' are egoless
Questioner: So you consider 'I am Chandulal' as the
Dadashri: Yes, that is called ego (ahamkar).
Questioner: That ego part is gone, but does our abhimaan still remain?
ego?
Dadashri: Yes, but there is no problem with abhimaan. It is a discharge (nikali). You do not have ego left at all. There is no problem with abhimaan. Maan and abhimaan are a discharge. Then beyond this there is garva (doer-ship) and other things. The main ego is gone but the effect of that ego remains, does it not? The root cause is gone but the branches still remain, however they will eventually dry up.
Questioner: So is abhimaan the result of the old ego?
